Quest For The Crown (Part Three)
The castle doors slammed shut behind Twilight Sparkle and her friends and they quickly formed a battle position. All except for Fluttershy who’d chosen the very middle of their closed circle to hide within.
“You don’t think…” she began lowly. “You don’t think every villain is in Celestia’s castle right now, do you? Like… even that salespony that tried to rob me of my bits that one time? That pony was just so rude to me.”
Irritably, Rainbow Dash blew a bit of mane from her eyes. “You’re worried about running into ponies like that? What about Chrysalis or Sombra or—”
“Trixie?” Twilight finished for her with a sharp inhale.
“Rarity, Twilight! Light up your horns!” Princess Cadence did the same and strolled around the castle’s immense foyer. Every one of them had been there several times prior and already they could sense something was off. It was oddly dark inside. And silent, too, except for the light taps of hooves on solid marble.
Not what one would expect from a castle under siege by villains of all makes and sizes.
Twilight stopped by a gold-framed painting on the wall. “Anyone remember Celestia commissioning this?”
The rest of her party stopped by the picture and blanched.
“Well,” Rarity offered helpfully, “it is a rather nice picture of her.”
The painting in question was one of the Great and Powerful Trixie seated on a lush throne with a golden scepter clutched tight to her chest. On her head was a crown; plunked down overtop her trademark magician’s hat.
“And there are more of them over here.” Cadence shined her horn on another set of Trixie-related paintings: Trixie happily prancing within the royal gardens; Trixie seated in the royal dining hall imitating a walrus with the aid of two carrot sticks; Trixie peacefully asleep on Celestia’s rug in front of a roaring fireplace; Trixie barking out orders to the Elements of Harmony, who were all bowing and wrapped up by thick lengths of chain.
Applejack pointed at the last one. “Now hold on just a second! None of this stuff has even happened yet!”
“Yet, my apple loving mare,” Trixie spoke from the top of the staircase across the room. “But just you wait. Already Trixie has laid claim to Canterlot castle and all those that lay within! Soon, Trixie’s influence will spread even further than one could imagine!” She chuckled to herself as she descended the stairs a step at a time. “The Princesses are already under Trixie’s control as well as all the members of the Coalition of United Terrible Evils! With them on Trixie’s side, do you honestly believe victory can be attained tonight? Hmm, Twilight?”
Twilight gave a curt nod. “Yep.”
The fast response made Trixie pause. “Really? But I’ve already taken everything from you.”
“No, you haven’t.” Twilight indicated the framed painting nearest to her. “See all these artworks? They all have a plaque at the bottom with the places and dates they were completed. Each of these paintings is labeled ‘Cantaloupe Castle’. It’s supposed to be ‘Canterlot’. You set your illusion spell to auto-correct, didn’t you?”
The blush on Trixie’s face told her enough.
“You must’ve been in a hurry to create this illusion for us,” Twilight continued. “An entire fake castle merely to distract us? What was the point of all this, Trixie?”
“To buy other villains time to get Celestia’s crown out of the castle so Trixie could steal it afterwards.” Trixie slapped a hoof over her mouth after speaking so bluntly. She gave her head a shake. “Trixie means: bow before the Great and Powerful—”
Twilight motioned with a hoof. “Come on, girls. This has all been a ruse. Whatever’s happening tonight has something to do with Celestia’s crown and I have a good idea what that is.”
As the seven mares exited from Trixie’s fake castle, Trixie undid the spell holding the illusion in place and watched as it all vanished around her like dust in the wind. She then sat in the suddenly vacant space of dirt with a pout. “Oh, crabapples.”
***
On numb hooves, Tic, Tac, and Toe entered the room and stood beside the hole in the wall. Only moments ago, all three of them had watched in utter and total shock as Terrible Colt had propelled Gilda the griffon directly through three solid walls with merely a punch. More than anything, they didn’t want to receive that same kind of treatment—especially considering how fragile changeling shells were known to be.
Of course, that was why they all took on completely different disguises for the mission at hoof.
“You three call yourselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, do you not?” Terrible Colt took a step towards them, eyeing them all in turn.
Tic—currently as Sweetie Belle—nodded eagerly.
Terrible Colt laughed. “So you wish to put a stop to Terrible Colt? I would love to see you try. Leave now and I promise no harm will come to you. Just walk away and I will spare your lives.”
Toe, disguised as Apple Bloom, turned to Tic. He whispered as softly as he could in his click-style changeling voice. “Is he serious? Bad Dude was right—this colt’s crazy!”
Tic grimaced. “That’s why we need to be careful around him.”
The last of the changeling brothers joined their hushed conversation: Tac as Scootaloo. “Well, to be fair, Bad Dude’s not all that right in the head, either. I mean… if it wasn’t for him, would any of us be here in the first place?”
Toe had to ponder on that. “True, but I don’t think he meant for things to turn out this way. Plus, Bad Dude gives the best hugs and there’s no denying that fact.”
Toe’s brothers nodded assent and nearly drooled from the thought alone. If there was one thing the three of them knew for a certainty, it was that Bad Dude was loaded with delicious and nutritious love that they simply couldn’t get enough of. And of course, they all loved him in turn.
Toe had always wondered if normal ponies could feel it when a changeling was trying to give them their own version of love essence.
“What are you three whispering about?” Terrible Colt asked. “How best to stop Terrible Colt? It cannot be done.”
Tic shook his head and gave Sweetie Belle’s curly locks of mane a gentle flick. He held out one hoof and waved it from side to side in a soothing manner.
“No fight?” Terrible Colt sounded surprised. “You are wiser than I gave you credit for. Fine. You three shall be accompanying Terrible Colt back to C.U.T.E. along with Celestia’s crown. Then our Coalition will have the upper hoof on the Elements once and for all.”
Again, Tic shook Sweetie Belle’s mane and stepped towards Terrible Colt as he took a step back.
“What are you doing? I will be the one—”
Bringing a hoof to his lips, Tic shushed the foal and took off the silver skull mask he wore before dropping it to the ground. The child underneath the disguise appeared much more confused than before. Even more so when the changeling disguised as Sweetie Belle gave his cheek a small peck.
Terrible Colt choked on air as his face flushed. “You… you like me? You don’t even know who I am. I… I’m not used to talking to mares much.”
Tic gave him a faint smile, indicating that everything was fine.
Terrible Colt viewed them all hopefully. “Does this mean you three want to be villains too?”
Tic, Tac, and Toe didn’t waste the offered opening and collectively agreed. If they could stall him for at least another couple of minutes, the odds of him returning to Discord with the crown would only become more and more improbable.
“It wasn’t until I heard about Bad Dude that I decided villainy was the only path for me,” Terrible Colt continued on unabated. “They seemed like the only ones that could understand me. That’s why I stole that invitation to attend their party. Black letters with blood red writing? They weren’t that hard to find; that mailmare had dropped so many by mistake already.” He quivered out an eerie laugh. “Working at my dad’s shop for so long, I never really understood what it actually meant to be normal. Conversation has always been difficult for me. I either came across as too friendly or too weird to everyone. Perhaps never being around foals my own age was the cause. Homeschooled and all.”
Toe shot Tac a look. “Villains sure love to monologue, don’t they?”
Tac had to stifle a laugh. “Still, I feel a bit bad for him. Think we should tell Bad Dude to reconsider? This colt might only need a good friend to—”
Across the room, Terrible Colt scooped up his metallic skull mask to admire. “I could go on about villain motivations and all, but truthfully… I gave up on being popular long ago. I also gave up on being liked or loved. I’ve only been a villain for less than an hour now and already I’ve discovered something important—something I must’ve been longing for all along. It’s much better being feared than afraid. And I think I rather like that feeling.”
All good humor left Tac as his shoulders fell. “I take it back. This colt’s clearly insane. We need to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone else tonight.”
“So what’s your plan, then?” Tic hissed back at him.
“Put a bag over his head? I did bring a burlap sack along.”
“I think we’d need a distraction for that.”
That was when Gilda shook herself awake on the floor and bit into Terrible Colt’s leg, causing him to scream.
“That’ll do,” Tac spoke, unfurling the burlap sack from his travel bag.
***
Outside in the hallway, Princess Celestia had Starlight Glimmer pressed up against the wall. “You’re that unicorn Twilight told me about—the one with the town all her own and with no cutie marks allowed.”
“Maybe,” was all Starlight answered with.
“It’s clear the Coalition has something to do with this, so why aren’t they here? And why does everyone seem so interested in my crown? If you all wanted to strike my sister or myself down this evening, collectively you could’ve done so by now. So what’s the plan?”
“Maybe.”
Celestia raised a brow. “Maybe doesn’t really work in this context.”
Starlight narrowed her eyes at her. “If I tell you, will you let me go?”
“Only if you tell me the truth.”
“Fine. The first one back to Discord with your crown gets to be the next official member of C.U.T.E. No strings attached. Neither Sunset Shimmer or myself were all that interested, but… well, we didn’t have much else going on tonight anyways.”
The warmest of smiles crossed Celestia’s lips. “Thank you, my child.”
“So you’ll let me go?”
Celestia shook her head. “Of course not. You broke into my home and attacked my staff. Something like that cannot go unpunished.”
Starlight’s mouth popped open. “You lied! Princesses don’t lie!”
“Please. Princesses lie all the time—just so long as it’s for the greater good.” Celestia glanced behind her. “Luna! Events have changed! Give me only a moment of your time to explain!”
Diamond Tiara’s butler tapped on Celestia’s shoulder. “Sorry to intrude, your highness. I was only wondering if I could borrow your crown for a few hours in order to brighten up a little filly’s day. I promise to return it the instant a successful copy has been made.”
Celestia’s grip on Starlight weakened as she stared at the wizardly butler. “Another one of you? I think you’re a little too old for this game. Depart from this castle before you do something you’ll regret.”
The butler gave her a small bow. “I’ve lived with regret every day since Diamond Tiara was born. I doubt another couple of hours will be enough to finally finish the job, your highness.”
Wiggling as hard as she could, Starlight eventually wormed her way our of Celestia’s grasp and dropped to the floor where she teleported away. Once she reappeared down another hall, she repeated the same teleportation trick until she stood on the lawn outside.
She exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Starlight Glimmer?” Twilight Sparkle asked incredulously. “You’re here too?”
Starlight snapped her jaws shut. “I’ve been around much longer than you’d think, Twilight! But we’ll have to save that discussion for another day.” Then she teleported herself a safe distance away in search of Sunset Shimmer.
***
It was unclear to Tic, Tac, and Toe whether Terrible Colt either had an overwhelming fear of small spaces, the dark, or burlap sacks in general, but once they’d successfully caught him inside of it (thankfully without dropping their Crusaders disguises), he began to thrash as if he’d been hit with a thousand volts of electricity.
“I’m outta here!” Gilda exclaimed, holding her claws to her stomach. “I think you broke something, you little jerk! If I ever see you again…” She never finished that thought, though. Only coughed and then sluggishly flew out of the hole in the wall.
For a while, the three changelings only watched Terrible Colt’s continued struggles, as he first wobbled and fell inside the sack, before smacking into a wall as he tried to somehow hover around while still completely trapped.
“He’ll wear himself out soon,” Toe told the other two.
“I hope,” Tic added.
Another half-minute passed and Terrible Colt finally sank to the floor motionless. Curious if he was done for good, Tac cautiously approached the sack until he heard something electric begin to hum from within. That was when Terrible Colt punched a hoof-sized hole through the bag, causing them all to jump.
Tac backpedaled a number of steps. “Time to retreat?”
His brothers nodded as Terrible Colt punched another three holes in the sack and ripped it wide open. Red-faced and shaking with rage, he crawled out and glared at them. “That wasn’t very nice!”
Tac was the first one to drop his Crusaders costume, with the other two doing the same soon afterwards. They all knew they’d need their wings to get out of there as fast as they could; which they did when they zipped out of the hole in the wall and out of Terrible Colt’s sight.
“Changelings?” he said to no one in particular. “You only want Bad Dude all to yourselves, don’t you? That’s why you tried to sabotage me!”
In a flurry of wing flaps, Terrible Colt shot into the air and gave chase, colliding with the wall out in the hallway and bounding off of it to give him a boost. The closest creature to him was Tic; the changeling drone narrowly avoiding a sideways lunge by his Piston Hooves. When Terrible Colt’s punch missed its intended target, another of the castle’s walls came crumbling down.
Terrible Colt swore under his breath before he went silent again. The changelings were getting away and there wasn’t much he could do to bridge the distance between them. Unless…
“Time for some pest control!” Terrible Colt snagged the silver nozzle from underneath his belt and directed it up the hallway. He cranked the settings to eleven and let it rip, blackening and scorching every inch of floor and wall in a ten meter diameter.
Toe and Tac had already rounded the next corner by the time the hall was engulfed in flames. Tic, on the other hoof, was still directly in the middle of it when the blast came and consumed him.
“One down!” Terrible Colt shouted. His lips were pulled up into a tight grin; his eyes unblinking. That was until he saw Tic had been safely concealed inside a magical pink bubble. “What? How!?”
Clearly angered, Terrible Colt re-aimed his flamethrower at the encased changeling and jolted when his device was slapped to the floor by some magical aura. Next his Piston Hooves were stripped from him much the same way.
“You are in a world of trouble, little one.” Princess Cadence stepped out into the hall and brought Terrible Colt’s two weapons to hover near her head. When she crossed Tic floating in the air, she used her horn to pop the bubble he was in, ignoring him as he went to join his brothers in the next hall. “You could’ve seriously hurt someone or even killed someone tonight. All to acquire some crown? All to join some club of super villains? What do you have to say for yourself, young colt?”
Cadence now stood directly in front of Terrible Colt—her eyes as hard as stone.
“Bite me, Princess.” Terrible Colt gave her his best stiff upper lip.
Twilight Sparkle came to stand beside Cadence. She held both of his weapons in her hooves to read from. “How odd. Says here these items are called ‘The Birthday Candle Igniter 3000’ and ‘The Ultimate Furniture Lifter’. These aren’t even weapons at all. Just poorly made gadgets.” She turned to Terrible Colt. “Your father owns that gizmo shop in Canterlot, doesn’t he? Ticking Clock? You work there, too. Mr. Clock’s Mechanical Wonder Emporium. I thought I recognized you. You’re his son: Crooked Clock. Celestia had wanted me to visit your father’s store a few months ago to see if it was up to code or not.”
Terrible Colt—Crooked Clock—made no comment. Only glared at her as if thoughts alone would be enough to set her on fire.
Twilight said more to Cadence, “Already this Bad Dude’s having a negative influence on ponies. Any sign of Shining Armor yet?”
Cadence shook her head. “No sign of Shining or any other core members of C.U.T.E.; only mid-level villains all in search of Celestia’s crown. I can see Discord now, laughing his head off at all the chaos they’re causing.”
“Any idea where the crown is now?”
“Not a clue, but thankfully the fight’s been taken outside for the most part. Now all that’s left is to roundup whoever we can and deal with them in turn. Starting with…” Smirking slightly, Cadence lowered herself to Crooked Clock’s level. “You must realize the amount of trouble you’re in, right?”
“What’re you going to do?” Clock spat. “Ground me for the rest of eternity?”
Cadence’s smirk grew. “I’ll do you one better: grounded until you’re married. Because once you’re married, you won’t have much of a life anyways. And I’ll make sure to find you a very needy partner just to make sure.”
Crooked Clock’s ears went flat. “No! I don’t wanna get married! Send me to Tartarus instead! Please! Anything but that!”
Ignoring his pleas, Cadence and Twilight escorted the little troublemaker outside.
***
On the rooftop across the way, Discord waved his arms around as if he were directing some invisible orchestra. Although none of them could see inside Canterlot castle to tell exactly what was going on, the noises and bangs that reverberated from within had told them enough:
That now was not a great time to be Princess Celestia.
“Has anyone kept track of the crown?” Sombra asked tiredly, his head held up with a hoof. “Is it still in the castle or has someone grabbed it already? That is the whole point of this exercise, is it not?”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Who cares? I want more mayhem and destruction! Where’s that Bizarro-Bad Dude when you need him? For all we know, he could be eating a puppy right now!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sombra replied. “Puppy meat is far too stringy to be enjoyable. And by the looks of it… Terrible Colt has already been dealt with.”
“He has?” Bad Dude followed everyone’s example by leaning over the roof to watch what was happening down below. It seemed what Sombra said had been true. Out through the castle doors marched Terrible Colt, wrapped tight in magical bonds. Leading him out was Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence, also with Garble, Ahuizotl, and some unknown older stallion in tow. Side by side, they sat them in a row on the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bad Dude noted Tic, Tac, and Toe sneaking out one of the castle’s side doors. They gave the rest of the ponies around them a wide berth.
“So who has the crown?” Chrysalis asked.
“Sunset Shimmer does.” Lightning Dust landed on the roof with a thud; one of her wings appeared to be sprained. “Unless she gave it to Starlight Glimmer or someone else already. The Elements of Harmony swarmed the castle and took out that teenage dragon and some old geezer with impeccable manners; Ahuizotl was found passed out on the castle roof and no one seems to know how he got there or why. I also heard some grumblings about Luna. I know there’s been a lot of talk about her lately—missing public appearance and whatnot—and it looks as if the rumors are true. Celestia’s herself asked her for help and Luna didn’t do squat. She must be depressed about something major this time around.”
“Luna acting moody? What a revelation!” Discord began snidely. “But as much as I appreciate the news update, just why are you bothering us and not creating a nice loud racket by going after Celestia’s crown?”
Lightning Dust shrugged. “Bonus points? Thought maybe if I gave you some specifics, I might get something in return.”
Discord’s mood seemed to brighten a bit. “You’re right! You do get something in return!” He brought back his lizard leg to kick, hitting Lightning Dust squarely in the butt and sending her sailing into the pitch-black distance. “A life lesson! Get that crown, you idiot!”
Using his horn, Sombra yanked on Discord’s tail until he collided with the roof. “What did you do that for? Something is happening in that castle and now we have no idea what that thing is!”
Discord rubbed at the part of his rump that hurt the most. “What do I care? Who wants to know everything when we can be kept in the dark instead? Does no one like good ol’ surprises anymore?”
“Then I know just what to get you for your birthday,” Sombra warned. “A knife in the kidney. You won’t even see it coming.”
“As long as there’s cake afterwards, I don’t care how many times you stab me. Cake cures all, remember?”
“Chrysalis and I are leaving. We will gather what we left at the party and return to the fortress. Tonight was nothing more than a waste of time.”
Bad Dude listened intently for another minute before he cast his fuzzy blanket aside. Now would be as good a time as any, he thought, before he dangled his legs off the roof and crawled down a drainpipe to the street.
Tirek nodded. “I concur. It is late and that half-finished novel on my bedside table will not read itself.”
Discord scoffed at that. “Your books don’t read themselves to you? How droll.” He hesitated before adding, “But since I hate talking to myself, I’ll tag along, too.”
***
Crooked Clock struggled against his bonds until the moment he saw Bad Dude step onto the street a good two blocks away. Trying to remain out of sight, Bad Dude traveled from one bush to the next, doing little to hide himself. But that was all right, though. No one was looking over there now. Only Crooked Clock.
When Bad Dude finally met up with the three changelings from inside the castle to lovingly embrace, it felt as if someone had replaced all of Crooked Clock’s insides with smoldering ash. He felt used. Dry and bitter and somehow both tired and enraged all at once.
He wanted to yell—to voice his distain—but instead only opened his mouth to utter a single word: “Oh.” Somehow it seemed to sum up everything he was feeling at the time.
Tick-tick-tick.
Whenever Crooked Clock had something important on the mind, he always heard that same damn ticking noise in his head.
Tick-tick-tick.
The same sound that was a constant in his father’s dusty work shop.
Tick-tick-tick.
Only this time it sounded as if it were counting down to something, but what?
Tick-tick-tick.
Until that moment he would finally show Bad Dude what real villains acted like when they were ruthlessly betrayed.
Crooked Clock felt it would only be a matter of time until such a day.
Everything was only a matter of time, was it not?
***
“Thank goodness you’re okay, Princess!” Twilight Sparkle began, wrapping Celestia up in a hug. “We tried to get here as fast as we could, but were tripped up by Trixie for a bit.”
“That is all right, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Everything is as it should be and the threat has been taken care of. Tonight was nothing more than a game. Discord set a bounty on my crown and they took it and left. Those that stuck around to battle it out have been taken care of and those that didn’t have already scurried away into the night. The castle has seen worse damage over the years.” She sighed. “If only I knew what they were after all along, then I could’ve saved them all some time and hoofed over my crown myself. I do have over a dozen extras tucked away in a dresser drawer.”
Twilight looked up at her. “And Shining? My brother?”
“He was not involved in tonight’s festivities, and neither was Discord or any other ‘top tier’ member of C.U.T.E. This was all some sick kind of joke, told at our expense.”
Twilight nodded solemnly. “Where’s Luna? Did she help you during the attack?”
“Actually…” Celestia took a moment to nudge Twilight and her friends a good six feet to the right, leaving most of the street empty. She continued on a bit louder than before, so even those watching from a distance could hear. “Princess Luna hasn’t been herself as of late. After Bad Dude came to see her and request the return of Nightmare Moon, she has locked herself away and barely spoken to anyone. I had hoped it would pass in a matter of weeks, but after tonight…”
“You think tonight might have crossed a line?” Cadence asked uneasily. “It could, considering how many ‘would be’ villains were in the castle only a brief while ago. During her short reign, Nightmare Moon reveled in destruction and fear. This might’ve only reminded her of that, and just how much her other personality enjoyed it.”
Garble stared at them all deadpan. “Do you really have to talk so loud? I can literally hear everything you’re saying. Sounds mighty personal, too. Just letting you know.”
“Thank you, Garble,” Celestia said with a smile, “but this conversation has run its course. Following this very sentence—and if nothing peculiar happens immediately following this very sentence—I will return to my sister and together we shall finally put this whole Nightmare Moon business to rest.”
Celestia paused to glance around the area for a moment. She pursed her lips.
“I said: together we shall put this whole Nightmare Moon business to rest!”
A rich cackle filled the air, echoing throughout the streets. Overhead, the clouds covering the moon dissipated, illuminating the night with a haunting glow. The air became thick and silent; up until the top two floors of Canterlot castle were blown outwards, raining thousands of shards of glass onto the spot Twilight and her friends had occupied moments before Celestia had moved them.
“Look! Nightmare Moon!” Celestia held a hoof towards the sky.
“Where?” Rarity squinted her eyes to try and see. “It’s so dark, I can’t see anything.”
“Oh, wait. She hasn’t left the castle yet.”
All eyes turned upwards as the fully formed Nightmare Moon shot into the sky, her mad cackle continuing to reverberate all over Canterlot. Before she spoke, a single lightning bolt erupted behind her, momentarily casting her thin figure in a darkened silhouette.
“Fools!” Nightmare Moon spoke—her voice the combination of two voices speaking at once. “You all call yourselves villains? Bah! There has only ever been one true villain in Equestria! And her name is Nightmare Moon! And tonight… she rises again!”
Nightmare Moon stopped cackling for a moment to readjust her helmet. Then she began cackling again.
***
Discord kicked open the doors to the building they’d used to host their party in. Since they were last there, chairs and tables had been overturned and the one punch bowl they had used had been dropped and smashed. Bits of confetti blew across the empty dance floor. The blaring music had all but stopped and the DJ they’d kidnapped earlier was nowhere to be found.
“There better be some brownie squares left!” Discord fumed. It was clear he was more than disappointed by the evening’s eventual outcome. “As if not a single one of them could nab Celestia’s crown! What a bunch of buffoons!”
“You mean this crown?”
Discord and the others turned to the voice and froze. In a darkened corner of the room sat Nightmare Moon on a throne of her own creation: part couch, part table, and part stack of pizza boxes. Below both of her forelegs sat Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, visibly shaken. Nightmare Moon ran a hoof along the tops of their manes. Celestia’s shimmering golden crown sat tilted on her head.
Chrysalis got over her fright and snorted. “Get lost, Luna. There’s not a chance in Tartarus you’re really Nightmare Moon. Everyone knows you’re too chockfull of friendship for that anymore.”
Nightmare Moon flashed her some fangs. “Yes, it is true. Luna had a taste of true friendship… and she found it rather lacking overall. There is a freedom to the art of villainy, wouldn’t you say?”
Sombra took a glance at the clock on the wall. It was still five minutes to midnight. “So you stole the crown from those two unicorns and now expect us to just let you side with us? As easy as that?”
“Yes,” Nightmare Moon answered coolly. “Were those not the rules set in place? These two unicorns have been most helpful: giving me the crown; telling me about this place and the game you’ve set in motion. Leave us, girls.” She gave both Sunset and Starlight a small shove so they would rise to their hooves. Without prodding, they both trotted for the doors and out of sight.
Sombra was about to say more to her, but was halted when Bad Dude entered the building and his eyes grew as large as the full moon currently outside.
“Nightmare Moon!?” He quickly ditched his changeling friends by the door and leapt onto her lap, wrapping his tiny forelegs around her middle. As Sombra bared his teeth in clear disgust, Nightmare Moon only stroked the top of Bad Dude’s head with a smirk. “This is the best thing ever!” Bad Dude’s words were mostly muffled while his face was pressed tight against her armor plate.
Sombra felt a tap on his shoulder and looked. Discord was attempting to get Chrysalis’ and his attention.
He spoke softly, “There’s a sixty-forty chance that Luna is only pretending to be Nightmare Moon in order to get close to us. That means we can’t trust her.”
“Obviously,” Sombra replied.
Discord held up a claw. “And yet this is still a win-win for us. Option one: she’s really Nightmare Moon and we have ourselves a new and rather talented member. Option two: she’s still Luna, but pretending to be Nightmare Moon. All that means is that as long as she keeps up the charade, we still have her all to ourselves. What this also means is we can make her do a bunch of stuff that she doesn’t want to do… because she’ll have to now.”
“And if it all blows up in our face?” Chrysalis asked.
Discord waved a hand. “Doesn’t matter to me—still had chaos.”
Grumbling, Sombra and Chrysalis faced Nightmare Moon again, who was currently regaling Bad Dude with the exciting story about when she nobly tried vanquishing her own arrogant sister.
“I still have a bad feeling about this,” Chrysalis finally spoke.
Sombra shut his eyes. “Obviously.”
Glad that's over with. Should be entering a moment of calm again. As slice-of-life as I can get. (Which isn't very much. 
)
Wanted to have more scenes involving Garble, Sunset, Starlight, and others but found this section overlong already. Plus, I think this story is more about dialogue and scenarios than action set-pieces.
"Quest For The Crown" in a single sentence: "That Terrible Colt/Crooked Clock sure is weird. Oh, hey, Nightmare Moon. Took long enough."
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Luna missed her cue the first time. XD
Yeap something is seriously wrong with Cooked Clock...
Oh hey, Nightmare... Wait, you already said this in the author's note... Gotta think of something original to say!
Uh...
SO SPELLS HAVE AUTOCORRECT ON 'EM, HUH?! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!
... Did it work? Am I not making an ass of myself?
what
Goddamn amateurs always missing their line cues.
Aww, I loved Terrible Colt. I loved the way his character turned out, and I want more of him.
*gasp* i just realized, there are 6 elements of harmony, and now there are 6 elements of disharmony! joy!
...And that is how the Master came to be in Equestria. Looks like "Time Turner" & Ditzy Do are going to have a lot of trouble to deal with in a few years...or a few hours, what with time travel and all that. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, and all that jazz.
um... is't that three sentences at least that's what i think the little dot at the end of each sentence means
One: you seriously had me worried for a second there.
Two: Cadence's aura is more of a teal color, the same shade as her cutie mark. If it was Twilight's aura, that should probably be specified, and I'm not sure Cadence should have been able to pop it.
Oh, Celestia, no!
My overall thoughts (just in case you care):
*I really pity that poor butler.
*Terrible Colt/Crooked Clock/Cuckoo Clock -- whatever his name is -- is going to be a real problem in the future, isn't he?
*The fact that Nightmare Moon had a cue line, Celestia was aware of what was going on, and she had some clear faltering moments certainly indicates that she's a double agent. However, I won't be too hasty to place my bet on either side. After all, look what happened with Snape...
7288468 Too late.
Can't *grunt like *snort* story *mashes Like button more
So Canterlot, the capital of Equestria, is so unimportant that it's not even a word in the dictionary that an autocheck spell uses? I find that fishy to believe, unless the autocorrect was created by a rival nation that doesn't recognise Canterlot as an entity or something?
Even if Nightmare Moon is Luna, she'll soon fall into the Bad Dude trap. Bad Dude is so much better a fan than Pipsqueak could ever hope to be.
So that is what Luna was up to. Seems like Luna wants to be Nightmare Moon to try and spy on C.U.T.E.. I did like how she appeared when Celestia had to shout the second time in order for her to appear, and how she had to adjust her helmet before laughing evilly again. It's actually pretty funny when you think about it.
And yeah! Take that, Terrible Colt! That is what you get for being a bad pony!
7288784 One explanation: unicorn-spell autocorrect is abysmal, just like in our world.
I think it's Luna facading being Nightmare Moon for espionage, but there is chance that she find being villain more satisfying than being princess, because of Bad Dude loving her, possibility for doing almost all you want (great advantage of villainy). And because when you stay with somebody, you slowly became like him and same with acting (mask becoming a true face).
Also, Author, you need to update story picture, it would be shameful not include first MLP villain on it.
OH HELL YEAH! BEST VILLAIN IS BACK!!!
I wonder if Bad Dude is going to hook Nightmare Moon up like he did with Sombra and Chrysalis? Though probably the only one worthy of her is Bad Dude himself. I do kind of feel bad for Crooked Clock, he clearly needs help but it doesn't look like he's going to get it.(No reformation for him.
) I got that gut feeling he's going to be a problem the next time he shows up. Also is Sunset now staying in Equestria or is she going to have to sneak into Twicorn's castle to use her portal machine?
7288602 So do I, and his backstory and the Ticking made me think of Sylar from Heroes
Yay, Gilda got to strike back.
... For a moment is was really worried when the flames reached the changeling, thank Cadance that she got there in time.
... Crooked Clock is completely insane, isn't he?
Nightmare Luna!
So Nightmare Moon has returned? Hmm. I smell a plot, deception or scheme. Poor Terrible Colt, doomed to be married. Look out Bad Dude, I fear that you have created your own nemesis.
The Hero Nightmare Moon Maybe???
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We can only hope...
DAMN SON! You did NOT disappoint with this chapter! I was not expecting that ending, though.
Nightmare Moon!
would hug several times~
Nice chapter!
Goodbye Crooked Clock, may you marry Diamond Tiara.
Made my day.
A few questions to the author:
What definition of needy?
We will see Crooked Clock again, will we?
(Say Yes! Say Yes! Say Yes! (Please?))
Is there a deeper meaning in this one?
Great chapter!
Can't wait to see what will happen next!
I come to like Crooked Clock, he is the only proper villian in this story but the way he come to embrace villiany was very edgy.
I come to like his determination and 'never forget, never forgive' philosophy too.
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*Narrows eyes* Alrighty NBD. I'll play along for now but I've got your number matey. Luna coming in sure will be interesting for them one way or another. And it's great that Discord is just voicing even more so what we already know. Just wanna watch Equestria burn a bit. Not completely ya know, just a little bit.
Oh boy. Crooked Clock, certainly expecting to see more of him. You made yourself a good twisted individual there. They always start so young.
How long before Nightmare Luna realizes Bad Dude isn't a villain, just an idealist?
7290380 Terrible Colt was supposed to be just a throw away gag, but eventually became another one of my original twisted villains. I love 'em, I tell ya!
7290000 And he can only get worse from here.
7289996 Crooked Clock should play a large part in the third (possibly final) arc. Right now we're halfway through the second arc. And, no, there wasn't more to Nightmare Moon using Sunset and Starlight as hoof stools. Just sounded funny.
7289391 Glad you liked it.
7289101 I think if I killed off Tic, Tac, or Toe for good, I'd lose most of my readers. Close calls? I can still get away with those.
7290678 You should kill one of your main characters in one of your stories. You haven't done that in any of your stories, event in 'Bookworm's Delight' where someone had to die.
7289058 I don't even know who Bad Dude could set Luna up with. Discord? Although he sort of promised him Flutter-bat.
7288985 Artwork is on the way.
7288835 Luna's still a bit rusty on the whole villainous thing.
7288604 I'd like to see that fight.
7288602 I based him on you, couldn't you tell?
7288546 I become oddly pleased with myself whenever you say "what" and nothing more.
7288445 What gave you that impression?
7290694 In "Strings" I killed off Sombra, Discord, Celestia, Spitfire, Twilight and a bunch of extras. In "Unmotivated" I killed off Luna and Steve... don't know if that counts, though.
But, yeah, I've definitely become a little too family friendly as of late.
But I do still have dark urges inside of me!
7290699 ah, I did see a bit of myself in him, specificly the fire in his eyes that he then used upon Canterlot. Truly best pony.
7290699
I'll try to keep it something rare and special between us, then.
7290678 I hope we get to see Cadance marrying Crooked Clock to someone someday.
7290678 Yeah, most likely. They are just too adorable.
CC sounds like a future monster. I wouldn't discard him so easily. Betrayal creates more super villains than anything.
And I think Luna and Celestias plan is obvious. Im glad Cute isnt stupid enough to fall for it.
Cantaloupe Castle
Very subtle.
7168116
Called it.
... *checks the story tags* ...
dm;hc
7292503 Forelegs = front legs, doesn't it? It's not that dirty.
7292458 I liked that "hasn't left the castle yet" part.
Crooked Clock...wise beyond his years.
OOOOOH, ominous!
Holy schmuzzles! The plot just twisted into a multi drama interaction among different characters sharing brownies and gathering up for no obvious reason! Isn't this the chaos that Discord wanted? Isn't it?! Muahahahahahaha...
You're good at engaging the audience.
You know all this time I'm waiting for TR8R to come in and beat the ever living snot out of not only Discord for betraying his friends AGAIN but also the other villains. He will definitely win because he absolutely HATES traitors.
Whatever anyone thinks about her motivations or depth, NMM had a stage presence that none of her successors have been able to match.
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I change my name rather frequently, spelling is immaterial at this point. . .
it's still funny.
Damn, I kind of feel bad for Crooked Clock. It's clear he needs help, and isn't going to get it any time soon. I hope he appears again, that'd be awesome!
Also, Nightmare Moon is definitely faking it
Hey! I was homeschooled, and I turned out completely normal! Now excuse me while I go read more My Little Pony fanfics.