Nightmare: An Equestrian Tragedy

by Meep the Changeling

Nightmare Moon

The Castle of the Two sisters, Everfree - 4th of Harvestide (Nightmear night) 4142 RH

1,017 Years Ago - The End of Renneighsaunce

I agreed on very few of Celestia’s bans when it came to fields of study. Knowledge is power, and no power is in-and-of-itself evil. Only those who apply power can be evil. One does not blame a toolbox for the mistakes the carpenter made.

But the magic of dreams is different. I had always been told my Talent merely enabling me to see the Dream Realm was terrifying for what I could truly do with it had I been taught. I had also been told by several mages, each great minds of their time, that had I been a unicorn and able to actively use the Dream Realm’s magics, I would be too dangerous to remain amongst the living.

That caution had faded from everypony else over the millennia. But I remembered, and I had ensured that the field remained unlearned by any mind. Which made it difficult to find the knowledge for myself, now that I wished to know it. Difficult, but not impossible.

When a pony learned I could use Dream Magic, they would correctly assume this allowed me to peer into the dreams of others. But they would never understand that was a parlor trick, much less what the word dream meant in the context of the Dream Realm.

Almost all ponies must sleep, even those of extreme arcane power. To cast a spell, a mage focuses and meditates, shaping the magic with their mind. Whether or not the mage is awake while focusing and meditating is not something that magic cares about. Awake or asleep, if a mage’s mind forms the spell, the magic happens.

And yet, despite the fact that mages dream about their work quite frequently, the nights remain quiet. No fireballs erupt inside of sanctums. No apprentice having a nightmare about their upcoming exam animates their bed and flings themselves out the window. Nopony alive has ever seen a mage cast a spell while asleep, and few ever wonder why.

Long ago, in what even my sister and I considered to be ancient history, the mages of the First Kingdom solved this dire problem. They forged an entire plane of existence, and linked it to the minds of all living things, but only when they sleep. As sleep overtakes you, your mind is attuned in such a way so as for any spell it casts to occur in this strange realm, the Dream Realm.

The Dream Realm is not like the normal world or any place you could be familiar with. It is not a place of sight and sound, but rather of the mind. Every last dream leaves its mark upon it, shaping some small chunk of the infinite expanse of dream logic and raw lingering power from spells which have decayed back into energy over eons.

Creatures live within it. Foul beasts formed of magic and nightmares, but also wondrous creatures also of magic, but of fantasy rather than terror. These creatures are the first of many things the Dream Realm’s builders did not intend. There are many, but the one I had discovered after twenty years study was the one which would bring me victory.

Those mages who forged the realm left a flaw in its design. A critical flaw, a flaw which if corrected would prevent the Realm from working as intended. Magic could enter the Dream Realm, which meant Magic could also exit it.

With that knowledge, I had constructed a spell. I had spent years laboring over it. I would have one chance to cast it, and it needed to bring more power to bear than the sun could provide. There had been no room for flaws in its design. But it was at last complete.

With this spell, I would alter my very self in such a way as to amplify my connection to the Dream Realm, allowing me to link with it while wide awake, cast my magic within it, and then drag that magic back into the waking world, with all of the alterations and effects that would provide.

As soon as I cast the spell which lay upon the final pages of the journal I had developed it in, I could make dreams come true. Literally. But not completely.

There were limits, power, range, scale… And there were potential drawbacks. Such as I did not know how long the altered spells durations would be, nor if I might accidently pull creatures from the Dream Realm into the waking world. But at the moment, none of that mattered.

I was ready. The moon was full tonight. It was time.

I reached for the white messenger gem on my desk. A handy little charm I was delighted to provide my warriors with. They would be receiving more such tools and gifts shortly. As soon as I had the power to properly arm them.

Tapping the gem I requested, “Captain Flint Bassalt,” then waited a moment for the magic to link our gems together.

The gem flashed once, signaling it had connected us.

“Captain Bassalt,” I ordered in my best command voice. “A pack of werewolves has been sighted in the merchant’s quarter. You and your men are to evacuate the city as quickly and quietly as possible.”

“Aye, ma’am,” the Captain replied.

I ended the spell with a tap of my hoof, and waited.

Captain Flint Bassalt was the only pony who knew my plans. The only one I had trusted. The only pony I had ever known who loved Equestria as much as I did.

He knew that Celestia’s path was damning the Kingdom to Tartarus. When he learned I also felt that way, we had decided to collaborate. Which was fortunate, because with the unknowns behind my spell I had wanted to evacuate the city to minimize potential collateral damage, but before Flint came onboard, I had no means of trusting an officer to not simply warn Celestia. Much less any plausible reason for the evacuation.

Four hours later, as the moon centered itself in my chamber’s skylight, the gem on my desk flashed again.

“Princess Luna, the evacuation is complete and the outer wall gates are shut. I have the special task force sweeping the quarters and locking them down as we speak,” the Captain reported.

“Excellent. I will continue attempting to locate them myself. Be sure to keep me updated, I will engage the enemy myself once it is found,” I replied.

Of course, there was no special task force. But if there had been werewolves, there would be. You need specialized armor to fight them. One small bite and the full moon’s light adds another wolf to the pack. Assuming they don't eat you first.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, focused my magic and teleported, arriving in the castle’s throne room. I took a position on the throne’s dais, overlooking the large hall in its entirety. It was empty. Everything was silent.

Good.

I readied a second spell, one which Celestia and I had made together. A distress call. A means of letting the other know we needed them immediately.

She appeared immediately, the blinding flash of golden light whiting my vision out as Celestia appeared before me, her eyes wide with panic. For the last time, I had called her this way was when Tirek appeared.

She looked around herself frantically, then sighed in relief as she realized the hall was empty, save for me.

“What is it? How much time do we have?” Celestia asked.

I felt nervous tension bubble up in my guts. I had never directly stood up to Celestia before. Disagreed, yes. Argued with, yes. But moved to obstruct her? Never.

“Our kingdom is on a path that ends with it in ruins, and her people feeding maggots,” I said in as even a voice as I could manage.

Celestia frowned, eyes looking at me oddly.

“Don’t be dramatic, Luna. Why did you signal?” She asked.

“Our people are soft, weak, and do not understand the simple truth behind peace. So much so that they despise me, and all of those few brave enough to venture out into the night to protect them from the darkness!” I shouted, rage pushing aside my feelings of nervousness. “And your rule is to blame. For they follow your morals and example to their own ruin!”

Celestia groaned, rubbing a hoof along her face in exacerbation. “Luna… Did you summon me just to shout? Have you been drinking?” She asked in irritation.

I grit my teeth angrily, readying the spell I had been working on, but not casting it.

“I offer you one chance,” I warned. “Abdicate immediately, or die for the good of the kingdom.”

Celestia's eyes opened wide with a look of betrayal that I knew then I would never forget.

“Sun’s light… You’re serious!” She gasped in horror.

“I am,” I warned, the range wavering slightly.

How could I hurt her? She’s my sister. I couldn’t-

“I knew your bloodlust would turn you to evil one day…” Celestia whispered to herself sadly.

How dare she! How dare she call me evil when her actions had our people seeing the very thing keeping evil at bay as an evil unfit for the likes of them?

No. No, I could forgive that.

“I will not step down! Not when you would bring war to my kingdom. How could you even come to this!? You monster!” Celestia shouted, wings flaring as her horn began to glow as she readied a spell of her own.

The rage came rolling back in full force.

"Then battle shall be had this day!" I exclaimed, then, I released my spell.

I felt the magic sink into me immediately, Celestia’s readied spell fizzling out as she lept backward from the rippling waves of darkness which roared into existence around my body, unsure as to what I had just cast.

Then I felt it. The power. The impossible power. I could do this! I could prevent the land from dying under the care of an inept fool.

But then came the rage. The hot, burning, focused rage. I had made a mistake. A horrible mistake. It came to me in the last flash of clear thought I had. The magic responded to emotional extremes.

The magic was a two-way street. Things could come, and things could go. I had asked for power, and supplied the Dream Realm with rage. It sent me power, but the power was appropriate for that hatred. I had become a nightmare.

---

Night Court, Canterlot - 8th of Solardusk 17 EoH

Present Day

“So… It’s a berserk button?” Lyra asked. “You attuned yourself to the dream Realm and now when you are enraged, you receive power tainted by rage. Right?”

Luna nodded grimly. “Yes… Though in theory, other emotional extremes will also give me power, each colored by that emotion. But I’ve never had the chance to see if that’s true.”

Lyra frowned, ears falling back as she realized what her friend had just admitted. “Y-you mean you haven't been happy since you came back? At all? Like, not even hanging out with me and the girls?” She asked.

“Oh, no. I’ve been happy. But not elated. I haven’t felt true joy. Or love,” Luna elaborated, slumping in her throne. “It’s only extreme emotions. Not regular emotions. Also not depression. I assumed that would bring the Nightmare on again… But it doesn't. It’s empty. It’s not sadness it’s a lack of… Everything.”

Lyra nodded then walked over to Luna’s thrown, wrapping her arms around the alicorn in a tight hug. “I’m sorry.”

“As am I,” Luna agreed, hugging the unicorn back.

Lyra broke the hug after a moment, returning to her place at Luna’s side, a question suddenly striking her. “Hey, so um… I know you lost because Princess Celestia got to the Elements of Harmony, but, like, did you really become more powerful than she is?”

Luna nodded, then sighed regretfully. “Oh yes. I did. Had she not gotten the Elements from their pedestals, I would have won.”

“Could I get an example? I mean, not that I don’t believe you but, well… She can bench press the sun!” Lyra exclaimed.

“I created the Everfree forest,” Luna said darkly.

Lyra blinked, taking a step back. “What?”

“When I realized I was being banished, as a last desperate action, I ripped a chunk of the Dream Realm’s raw magics from it and attempted to animate the trees within the city and the surrounding forest to crush her into paste and thus stop the Element’s spell,” Luna said bitterly.

“Like… But… It’s still alive!” Lyra sputtered.

Luna nodded. “Yes. It is. I’ve already tried to put it back. Maybe as the Nightmare I could, but it does not respond to my commands now. It is a living nightmare. Make no mistake, that forest is one creature. It has a mind which, while not always hostile to everything, can decide to destroy you at any moment. Thankfully it seems limited to its original borders… The forest hasn’t expanded even a centimeter since that day a thousand years ago.”

Lyra blinked twice, then shook her head to clear it. “Buck… Makes me wonder what you could do with other emotions,” she said to herself.

“I’d love to know that myself. It would be nice to unbuck that slice of the kingdom. Before I… Before I brought ruin to it, it was a paradise of fruit trees and lovely glades,” Luna lamented, staring off into the darkness of her courtroom.

Lyra looked over at her friend, shaking her head quickly. “No, this isn’t okay. Come on, we’re going to go get the girls and have a nice evening. Play some O&O, maybe prank somepony. You need that.”

Luna gently pushed Lyra aside with her left hoof. “Not yet,” she insisted. “It… It feels good to talk about this to someone not connected to it. Do you understand?”

Lyra nodded. “Yeah, I think I do… But I really don’t want to make you talk about your banishment itself.”

“You’re not making me do anything, Lyra,” Luna said firmly. “I’m choosing to tell you about the moon… Well frankly, I kinda like the moon. It grew on me towards the end there. But… Despite that, it was still hell.

Comments

[Doctorfoxwolf]

“So… It’s a berserk button?”

Best button.

[Derpy Chocobo]

It is not a place of sight and sound, but rather of the mind.

So, this First Kingdom made another plane, and it's the Twilight Zone? I guess that's one way to solve a problem.

[Zurvan]

[HiddenMaster]

Yikes. Although, what is most shocking to me is Celestia's declaration of her own sister as a monster-probably a result of her deepening views that violence and bloodshed is the act of a monster, and anyone who committs it even in the name of good is, therefore, a monster.

Here's a lovely little formula for it
Vwillingness to kill + pony = loss of morality + monster

[F3lix]

Knowledge is power, and no power is in-and-of-itself evil. Only those who apply power can be evil. One does not blame a toolbox for the mistakes the carpenter made.

I agree with this so much I can't even put it into words. Nice to hear some sense for a change.

[Perpetually Confused]

7992929
Yes, but a tool can be flawed, broken, misapplied, or useless. One does not use a drill made of wafers after all.

This is a decidedly simplistic viewpoint on Luna's part