S2 Ch 20: Night court
Twilight stared, her mouth open. No. No no no. How could ANYPONY be so stupid. How could ANYPONY think this was a good idea? Were they TRYING to send Nightmare Moon on a bloody rampage, to see just how much they could cause, destruction wise? She stared at the minotaur who was glaring at the ruler of Equestria. “Rule number one of Ironwill’s assertiveness training! Don’t be shy, look them in the eye!” the minotaur yelled. “Rule number seven of Ironwill’s fixing Equestria plan. If your ruler won’t abdicate, show them the gate!” he said, pointing towards the door.
Fortunately, Nightmare Moon looked more amused than angry. “Oh, we see. And you, Ironwill, have been spreading this message across Equestria, I take it?” she asked, giving the softest of chuckles under her breath.
“Ironwill is one hundred percent certain that he will teach these ponies that a tyrant can be deposed by a simple--” He never got a chance to finish the sentence, because a gag formed on his mouth.
The alicorn rolled her eyes. “Throw him in the dungeons.” She glanced towards the captain of the lunar guard, while a few of the other guards struggled to drag the minotaur out. “How well was the response to these… seminars?”
“As far as we can tell, your highness, they weren’t very effective. Once ponies realized what he was saying, most left. Those who remained seemed more intimidated by him and his goats, than they were interested in his message.”
“We see. Very well, then we see no need to worry. We may begin the night court,” she said, gesturing with her hoof.
Twilight glanced to Moondancer and the two shared a relieved look. The minotaur was an idiot, but at least he seemed to be an ineffective idiot. She couldn’t imagine WHAT inspired such thinking in his mind. A seminar to help them throw off Nightmare Moon? He was even trying to profit off it! How could anypony be so simple?
Still, their leader had handled it with grace and poise. She couldn’t believe it. She’d barely even gotten mad at the foolhardy minotaur.
The court slowly went by without incident. It had been well over a year, now. Ponies had warmed to the mare. The kingdom was stabilizing. Animals were adapting to a more nocturnal cycle, the trees and plant life were surviving just fine. Equestria was doing well. And so ponies weren’t as frightened as they had been.
Unfortunately, such things often meant that there were idiots who would come forth. She let out a sigh of frustration when two ponies stepped forward. “Hello, your highness. I am Jet Set and this is my wife Upper Crust. We represent the organization, Equestria for a Brighter Tomorrow,” he said, before clearing his voice. He pulled out a large scroll. “Now. I have here a signed petition for the sun to be--”
“No,” Nightmare Moon said with a sigh.
“But… but we have a petition! Now, we know that you are against the sun, but we have formed a committee that--”
“No,” the ruler said again, shaking her head. “The sun will not rise for an hour, a minute or even a second.”
“But… but we have signatures!” he said, holding the scroll up.
Nightmare Moon sighed and yanked the scroll away with her magic, eyeing it. Finally, she tore it to pieces. “The sun. Shall not. Rise. Have these two escorted from the castle. Do not return,” she warned them.
“But, hey! Let us go!” Jet yelled, struggling while the lunar guard hauled him off.
The ruler let out a soft sigh of exasperation. “A committee. Truly? Well, bard, what do you have to say to that?” she asked, glancing towards Twilight.
“I’d call those two foals, but foals at least have common sense,” she said bluntly. “They’re idiots. You handled it wonderfully though, your highness. You’ve improved a lot, err, if I may say so.”
“You may. And you, student?”
“You seem to be in a good mood, your highness.”
“Do I? Well, I suppose I have been feeling quite… well.” She motioned for the next pony to enter, another unicorn.
Twilight couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Their ruler had been doing better, seemed happier. Ever since the Nightmare Night incident. Ponies had been frightened of her, yes. But it had all been in fun. They had enjoyed themselves. The foals had warmed up to the princess, likely faster than any of the adults ever would. Then again, she supposed they’d had less time to grow used to Celestia’s warmth. For some of them, they could barely remember the glow of their once sunny ruler.
The doors burst open and a pegasus barged in, cutting off the prior speaker. Were they not in a tattered lunar guard uniform, they might have been stopped. However, they were panting and looked exhausted. “Y-your highness. Y-you must come, there’s, it, it’s--”
“I-I say!” the unicorn requestor said. “I was in the midst of my req--”
“Silence!” Nightmare Moon yelled. “Guard, what is the meaning of this?”
“T-the dragons. They’ve amassed for an attack. We don’t know how long until they will strike, I may already be too late. W-we require you to the east.”
The ruler’s eyes widened and she gave a nod. “This court is adjourned. Leave your request in writing and we will attend to it the moment we return,” she told the requester, who was quickly escorted out. She then got to her hooves. “Student, come. We make way to the east immediately.”
“Of… of course, your highness,” Moondancer said, giving a worried look to Twilight. “Stay safe,” she said, before galloping after the alicorn.
Twilight nodded. “You too,” she whispered.
She couldn’t believe it. War was finally coming to Equestria. What would they, what could they, do now? Only hope that their ruler would keep them all safe. Why now of all times, when everything was going so well?
------
Twilight paced through the castle, a look of frustration and annoyance on her face. She’d been receiving plenty of letters about the situation to the east. While dragons seemed to be amassing, the force seemed far too small.
Well, the amount was large. But the DRAGONS were small. There weren’t any dragons even the size of Nightmare Moon. The entire gathered force seemed to be nothing more than the children. It was a very, very strange display and unlike anything any of them had ever seen before. When dragons engaged in combat, it was often with their biggest and strongest leading the charge, and usually only a hoofful. This was entirely unlike them and it was beginning to seem that there wouldn’t be an attack at all.
Then again, it had been centuries since the last dragon attack on any kingdom, it was possible that their tactics had changed. Unlikely, but possible. Still, as it was, the ruler was reinforcing the enchantments on their eastern border as well as monitoring the situation, but was likely to return within a few days unless something else happened. All the fear and tension about an impending assault had begun to leak away.
And yet, Twilight felt there was something off. Even Spike seemed confused by such an act. The closest he could conceive such an act as being was a display of power amongst the children of his lands. Possibly light attacks, or tests of bravery and might. But even he felt it was odd and reckless, even for his kind, to do it so near pony lands. Despite the fact his kind looked down on the ponies of Equestria, they usually knew better than to wage an attack on their own. The magic of Equestria made the ponies incredibly dangerous.
So why? It gnawed at Twilight. All this had managed to do was make the ponies more wary of the dragons, and draw the ruler of the night down on their heads. In terms of war planning, it was, frankly, stupid. If the dragons weren’t dragons, she’d have considered it a method of testing their responses, but that was against everything the dragons did. Especially with Dragon Lord Torch, who was still the confirmed ruler, in charge. He was slow, but fierce. He’d launch a powerful assault when the time came. Not poke and prod at their defenses to test them. It didn’t make any sense and it was ENDLESSLY frustrating.
“Twilight!” a voice called out, making her jump. She turned back and saw her brother.
She let out a gasp, then frowned. Why would he be here? “Shining? What are you doing here? It’s--”
She was cut off by a hoof to her mouth. “There’s not much time,” he whispered. “I’ve come here in secret, nopony can know I was here,” his voice was soft and low. “Nightmare Moon isn’t here, is she?” He pulled his hoof back.
“No, she’s not. But why are you--”
“Twilight, shhhh. Is there somewhere you and I won’t be disturbed? Somewhere where nopony would notice us?”
The mare frowned, tapping her chin. “Somewhere we’d be undisturbed. Well… I know of one place. But...”
“What? Where is it?”
“The north wing. Nopony goes there anymore. I haven’t been there in a while. There’s a study and...”
He nodded. “Lead the way. I’ll follow you, carefully. Remember. Don’t tell anypony I’m here,” he said firmly.
“I don’t think the guards will mind if--”
“Just trust me. It’s of grave importance that nopony sees me...”
The serious look in his eyes gave her pause. Slowly, she nodded. “Nopony will know. Come on, lets go...” she whispered. Whatever it was, it had to be important. She’d never seen her brother act like this. In fact, he was even walking odd, it felt wird.
------
Twilight sighed when she stepped into the north wing. It was worse than she’d expected. The hall was even more covered with dust than before. Had ponies really been avoiding this place so much? Once her brother was inside, she closed the door behind her and, to her surprise, his horn glowed and locked it. “Are you certain nopony will come here? Will hear us? Will spy on us?” he asked carefully.
“Nopony comes here, ever,” Twilight whispered, glancing around the hall. “There’s a door on the opposite end, but it--” She heard a click when he locked that one as well. She doubted anypony had come here since she last had. She made a mental note to speak with Rarity about cleaning the area up. Even if the ruler of the sun wasn’t here, it felt… terrible to just abandon her old wing. She reached up and stroked a hoof along her mane, her mind brought back to the key she’d found so long ago. What was that key for? Why had it been important? What if it wasn’t important? It didn’t seem to match any lock she’d ever seen. She felt the frustration begin to grow. Why was it all she ever seemed to find were more questions?
“Come on. We can use her study.” She trotted to the rooms, stepping into the long abandoned study. She eyed where the drawer once had held the key. What if the key wasn’t important? What if it was just a… something. What if it opened some long abandoned piece of the castle? Or maybe something from the old castle? What if it was just kept around for sentimental reasons? What if it--
She shook her head before turning to her brother. “Right. What’s this about? Is it about Nightmare Moon? The dragons?”
He was silent for a moment, glancing towards the large, glass window. His horn glowed and the curtain fell across it, blocking them out from the outside world. She couldn’t believe how paranoid he was being. Then again, she supposed there could be spies anywhere. His horn glimmered and the candles in the room dimmed, revealing them to be alone, not even a shade in the room. Satisfied, he gave a nod. “It’s about you.”
“Me?” she asked. “What about me?”
“Your book, to be precise. You know more about Nightmare Moon than anypony. You’re closer than anypony else to her. To be honest, with the dragons to the east, I was a little worried she’d bring you with her. But you are her bard, so I guess she wanted to keep you safe.”
Twilight nodded. “I suppose so. What does that have to do with anything? What about me? My book?”
“You know, it’s almost impossible to spy on this place now. There are so many enchantments. So many protections. Anypony who tried to peer inside the castle walls now would likely be snagged and trapped.”
“Ugh, I know. I think that’s Discord’s fault. Nightmare Moon has been incredibly protective about making sure he can’t come near her. To be honest, I’m not sure how much good it’s doing, though. At least when she’s not here. Why?”
The unicorn nodded, before smiling to her. It wasn’t a smile she recognized. “She loves you more than anypony else, you know.”
“I… what?”
“The ruler. Her love for you, it is strong. Stronger than she feels even for her little ponies. Powerful. Distilled. A weakness.”
“I’m… sorry? I don’t… w-what? Brother? You’re… why are you looking at me like that? You’re s-scaring me...” Twilight whispered, backing away.
The stallion chuckled, his horn glowing. “Oh, little, little pony. How much we trust the ones we love,” he said, moments before green fire enveloped him. A moment later a massive, black pony appeared. Though her form was unlike any pony Twilight had ever seen. With holes throughout her body, a black crown on her head, insect like wings and a mane that seemed to almost be made of green-blue ichor, rather than hair.
The earth pony froze, her mouth falling open. “H-how… you can’t… how are you… w-what are you?”
“My name is Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the changelings,” she said with a laugh, advancing on her. “And you, my little… pony. Are just the ticket I need to destroy Nightmare Moon.”
“D-destroy… I-I won’t help you!” Twilight said quickly, backing up and hitting the wall. She yelped and looked back, before turning back to the imposing figure blocking her way.
“Oh, but you will,” the creature said, moments before she was enveloped in a green light again. A moment later Chrysalis was no more. Instead, the earth pony might as well have been staring at a mirror. “You are my connection, dear little pony. And through you, I will suck your ruler dry of all her power and take over your little kingdom. My subjects will feed forever,” she said with a laugh. “Your books have told me much, and now it’s only a matter of time before my plan is ready.”
The earth pony nodded, gulping. She then darted, dashing past the mare. The fake Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to run after her.
The real earth pony slammed into the exit door of the wing, bouncing off it. “No no no no!” she shrieked, pounding on the door, though it barely made the lightest thump. A sound dampening spell. She turned around and saw her doppleganger standing in the frame of the study.
“Do you see now the total helplessness?” she asked. “There’s nowhere for you to run, nowhere for you to flee.”
Twilight whimpered, digging her hooves into the ground while the other pony advanced. There had to be a way to escape. Had to be somewhere she could go. Some way to get help. “D-discord?” she tried, but received no response.
The changeling merely laughed, moving closer until her face was inches from the earth pony’s. “Do not fret, little one. There is nothing I will do to your kingdom that will be worse than-- GAHHH! YOU LITTLE MOSS WEASEL!” the changeling yelled when Twilight slammed a hoof right into her face, the hoof covered in dust and rubbed in the mare’s eye. She then shoved past her and ran, galloping away from the mare and choosing a door at random, running into it and shoving it open.
To her horror, she was met with stairs. She shrieked and toppled down them, about five steps down before she managed to catch herself, dazed and confused, her body aching.
“When I get my hooves on you you’re going to WISH I killed you!” Chrysalis roared and she could hear the hoof steps coming closer. “Maybe I’ll start by tearing out that stupid TONGUE of yours! By the stars themselves you GOT IT IN MY EYE!”
Twilight gulped and got up quickly, dashing down the stairs and away from impending doom. She made it to the bottom of the stairs when she heard the door slam behind her. She had only a moment to look around the room before the enchanted candles around the storage room went out. She let out a mental curse, turning back. She could see the low, green glow from the changeling, slowly making its descent down the stairs.
“There’s nowhere to run now, little pony,” the creature said. “Nowhere to flee. Nowhere to hide. Give up, do not incur even more of my wrath.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. She’d incurred Nightmare Moon’s wrath a dozen times over by now, some overgrown bug’s wrath didn’t scare her. Wait. No. It terrified her. She looked around the darkness, but there wasn’t anything she could make out aside from…
The mirror. The great mirror that had held her attention for so long the last time she had been here. It had been so long she had actually forgotten about it. Slowly, she trotted forward. While it didn’t glow, it did seem more illuminated by the green light slowly coming closer. She stared at it, her eyes widened.
“Oh pony… I can hear your heart beating… I can hear the fear. Soon, it will all be… well. Over for you. But beginning for me...”
Twilight stared, before galloping forward. She didn’t know what was there. What resided on the opposite side.
But she had to take this chance. She had to hope, whatever it was, it was better than here. She leaped into the air and flowed, not slammed, into the mirror. Once again that warmth enveloped her and the world shifted melted away.
------
Chrysalis smirked, making her way to the bottom of the steps, once again in her full, regal form. The lights of the room came on again and she snorted. A bunch of trinkets and toys. All these crates. There was nowhere for the mare to hide, now. No other exits than the one she sealed off. She snickered and her horn glowed, tearing apart the nearest crate.
“Come out, come out where ever you are, my little pony...”
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Oh snap I did NOT expect the Mirror!
Lings are bad, lings plus Sunset Shimmer on a bad day? That's FAR worse. At least they don't have the Element of Magic...
Huh, quite a coincidence the portal was open today. Unless in this AU it's always open. Or is always on 'send' but has specific timing for 'receive'. Moondancer can probably figure out how to open it if she needs to though.
Wonder how Sunset is going to react to hearing about Nightmare Moon?
For that matter, I wonder how Twilight is going to react to seeing the sun again.
Or Chrissi telling her that NMM loves her, once she has time to think about it.
Iron Will as a hillariously failed revolutionary? Ha!
I doubt Chrissy would last a week as Moony's bard. She'll twig that there's something wrong right quick.
YAAAAASSS! I was kind of hoping the mirror would come up as soon as I realized Shining was Chrysalis (the "he was walking weird" part was the first clue) and now we get to see what's on the other side >:D It could be Equestria Girls, or perhaps it could be one of the many other alternate dimensions Starswirl and Celestia visited in the comics! This is EXCITIIIING
Aww, of course Nightmare Moon loves Twilight. Not romantically, it's obvious she cares deeply for Twilight and values her opinion above all others and probably Twilight is the only pony in all Equestria that Nightmare considers a friend. It's a terribly clever plan and would work beautifully if our Twily weren't so terribly clever herself. :D
Well, i foresee a changeling with more holes than usual very soon.
Please only be a temporal human cross over, nothing else... Getting kinda old...
I knew it was a changeling when ''Shining'' wanted to talk to Twilight alone and undisturbed but didn't expect it to be Queenie herself. Also, The mirror huh? This is gonna be one fun ride.
It makes sense that Chrysalis would infiltrate and replace Twilight. I was wondering when she would show up. The mirror, though, I wasn't expecting.
No but seriously, why does nobody ever just grab people with their telekinesis instead of chase? Seems awful lot like an idiot ball.
I was wondering when she would use the mirror, it was hinted before
9688069
Grabbing living objects in TK is usually considered harder than inanimate objects. There's a lot of head cannons about personal magic interfering.
Jet Set, you dockhead! That petition had no chance of surviving. Nightmare Moon's only got so many minutes to spend in court, and if you waste one more of them, I'll get up close with that 300 bit sweater of yours and make change out of it!
9688163 Sure but we've seen people move others with TK. We've seen Chrysalis pick up second-stage Tirek like a softball.
9688223
I'd say a mix of strength, focus, and personal spell resistance. Plus Chrissi just being outrageously overconfident, which is more or less her thing.
Wonder if Sunset is gonna try to claim Moondancer’s spot.
9687979
How did the mirror work? once every twenty moons? I guess if the moon doesn't change much the mirror won't either.
Also hOLY SHiT everything went wrong.
9688310
AH. That probably has something to do with it, good catch.
Well life just got more complicated in innumerable ways.
9687979
I wonder if Sunset might try to actually overthrow Nightmare Moon, projecting her hatred of Celestia onto Nightmare Moon, only to learn the hard way that Nightmare Moon is not nearly as kindly as her old mentor.
9688553
I think seeing Celestia in chains will shock some sense into her. Sunset was nasty but was never THAT awful, most of her crazy was magic psychosis. Of course by that point she'll have already joined NMM.
Meaning we can have a love triangle with Twilight Sunset and Moondancer :p No.
But whatever happens, Twilight will be getting Sunset's biography.
9688560
So would Sunset actually ADMIRE Nightmare Moon for being a ruthless tyrant, and thus happily join Nightmare Moon's tyranny?
I can see it now...
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/156225392200515584/591057418377494573/88130328-eat-insects-and-eating-bugs-as-exotic-cuisine-and-alternative-high-protein-nutrition-food-a.jpg
Oooooohhhhh mmmmyyyyyyyyy gooooossshh.
We got Chrysalis AND the magic mirror to the EQGirls dimension!! What could this possible mean?!
Lol can't wait to find out.
In honestly super happy to see NMM happy, or at least content.
Gesundheit.
Oh shit, this chapter had everything! From the dragons about to start a war, to Chrysalis trying to kidnap (or kill) Twilight in order to take her place, & finally as a last resort, she jumped into the magic mirror! Season 2 is definitely gonna end on a bang!
9687979
The timing could be off because it's currently all moon all the time. Forever.
9689163
Pretty sure the 'dragons' are lings, which is why they're not very big.
9689170
Yeah probably. Guess we'll see later today!
Ohboi, is that the EQG mirror? If so Sunset? Wonder how that would go down if Sunset came back
So your solution to the changelings is Equestria Girls?
Oh, wait -- Get Sunset Shimmer, the massively OP fire mage, err, unicorn, to come back and fight ?
No -- Principle Celestia, bring her back as a new Princess Celestia!
Or even better -- Have a different Luna come over and give our Luna a stern talking to.
EDIT: Typo: "wird".
That was the single best use of Iron Will I've ever seen. Kudos, JP.
Also good to see Chrysalis confirm that this is, in fact, a dark romance.
well one half of the globe is dead...
10176114
YES YES YES YES YES