Shadows Within the Light

by Oddling

12 - Suspicion...

With a thundering crack, the world was consumed in a flash of white. It blinded the eyes and even managed to penetrate through the lids of those who had managed to shut their eyes. A wave of intense heat washed over the land and scorched everything as far as the eye could see. Mathew’s eyes bore witness to the carnage. The burned bodies of ponies lay motionless on the streets of what was once the town square of Ponyville.

The buildings were crushed, charred, and some still burned from the wave of flame that had lovingly engulfed the town in its raging embrace. Mathew looked around at the destruction, horror filling his veins, and deep sadness consuming his soul. His eyes shot wide and a spark of hope ignited in his chest when he spotted Twilight and her friends in the protective embrace of her barrier.

His hope quickly faded when he saw the pain in their faces. Something was very wrong. They all held their tear-filled gazes on something in the sky above. Mathew turned to look and his heart skipped. A pony of flame and rage hovered in the air, an aurora of magic flowing from its head and tail. The face of the fire emanating Alicorn was twisted in an expression of satisfaction.

“Why… Princess, WHY!?” Twilight cried out.

The words hammered into Mathew’s mind and the world cracked and shattered. The dark confines of his mind swirled back into view around him. Mathew stood there, shocked and at a loss for words.

“What was that?” came Nightmare’s astonished voice.

Mathew looked over and saw Nightmare, her face an exact replica of what he was feeling. Their eyes met and he could only shake his head. “I don’t know.”

They sat in utter silence for a long time, each trying to piece together what they had witnessed. That fire Alicorn was Celestia? She wiped Ponyville right off the map and was so… pleased about it? That’s impossible. Celestia would never do something like that. She loves her ponies too damn much to do that – especially if Twilight was there. Still… that was… everything felt so real. That flash hurt, the heat was intense and… and that smell…

Mathew thought as hard as he could, but he just could not make sense of the vision. To make things more confusing, he had no idea what had led him to seeing such a thing in the first place. Yet again, Mathew found himself with many questions, and no answers in sight. He sighed and turned to Nightmare. “Did any of that make sense to you?” he asked her.

Nightmare thought on it again, but ultimately she, too, came up at a loss. After a few moments more, she sighed. Mathew knew that sigh and he lifted an inquisitive brow. “Looks like we have unexpected company,” she said dourly.

Mathew looked around, almost expecting to see Luna, but when no one appeared he looked back to Nightmare. She sighed again and turned her head up. The window to outside drifted down to float between them and Mathew understood. He sighed heavily and looked past it to Nightmare. “So… I take it things have just gone south for us?” he asked flatly.

Nightmare, despite the situation, smirked at him. “We will have to see. For now, you should go back out and see if you can diffuse the situation. I honestly can’t say that I was expecting Twilight to show up so soon, or for Rainbow dash to be with her. Rest assured, though, that I still have enough magic saved up to escape – should the need arise,” she said calmly.

Mathew nodded and moved into the window. He lost his senses once more and regained them when he was in control of his body. He struggled at first, but eventually managed to pry open a weary eye. In front of him stood Applejack. Her posture was defensive and she was refusing to back down to her two friends. Twilight’s horn was glowing, most likely ready to use a spell to keep him from getting up, while rainbow was squaring off her wings to knock some sense into her friend and rival.

With a low groan, Mathew turned his head toward the commotion and stared at them blankly. “Do you mind? I was resting. It’s a little rude to have an argument and wake up those who are sleeping,” he said flatly, clearly not pleased with how things had gone south while he had been out.

Rainbow instantly bristled and bared her teeth in a snarl. “What did you do to AJ? What ever you did to her, you better undo it or I’ll pummel you until you do!” she threatened.

Applejack stomped her hoof and narrowed her eyes at Rainbow Dash. “He ain’t done nothin’ ta me! Ya’ll need ta calm down and listen already!”

Rainbow balked at Applejack and stomped her hoof as well. “Then why the hay are you protecting… that!? You can’t honestly be telling me that you’d willingly save that thing from us! We’re your friends!” she exclaimed.

Applejack went to respond, but she stopped when she felt Mathew’s weak grip on her hind leg. She looked back at him and he shook his head. “That’s enough,” he said tiredly and turned his gaze to Twilight. She held him in an angry glare, but something had stayed her magic. Mathew took that chance to address her, since she seemed to want answers. “Twilight, can we talk? Peacefully?”

Twilight stayed motionless for a few long moments before the glow from her horn faded. She continued to glare at him, though. “I’m listening, Mathew… or are you Nightmare Moon?” she asked curtly.

Mathew sighed and did his best to keep his calm. “I had hoped I could explain things in a more pleasant manner, but there’s nothing that can be done about it now. I’ll get strait to the point, I suppose, so ask your questions, Twilight Sparkle,” he said pointedly.

Twilight did not appreciate the way Mathew had said her name, but she yielded to a more civil thought process. “My first question would be; to whom am I speaking?” she said.

“The same human you met from the castle in Canterlot,” he answered.

“How long has Nightmare Moon been a part of you?” she asked.

“Since the moment I was brought to this world. The crystal that Celestia and Luna tried to banish was a core fragment of Nightmare Moon. It fused to my heart when I was teleported here,” he replied.

“What does Nightmare Moon plan to do with you?” she asked firmly.

“Nothing,” he said matter-of-factly.

Rainbow Dash snorted and ground her front hooves into the ground. “Yeah right! She brought you here for a reason. I highly doubt that she did it for ‘nothing’,” she said with clear disdain.

Mathew shrugged. “With what you know about her, yeah, you’d easily convince yourself to think that way. There in lies the problem; the only one who knows the most about Nightmare, aside from myself, is the only friend here you can trust,” he said and glanced at Applejack.

Twilight’s glare softened slightly at that and she looked at her friend and fellow element bearer. “Applejack… what does he mean?” she asked.

Applejack returned Twilight’s gaze, steadying her resolve. “It’s just like he says. Nightmare Moon, well, the one that we fought, ain’t the same one that’s inside of Mathew. She’s not plannin’ on takin’ over Equestria, or banishing Celestia, or anythin’ like that. Ah don’t know exactly what she’s doing, but ah do know that Mathew is the one in control of things. Nightmare Moon’s relying on him ta help her make up fer something,” she explained firmly.

Rainbow took a step closer and flared her wings out. “And how do you know she’s not the one using him? How can you know if that’s true?”

Applejack stomped her hoof again and glared at the cyan Pegasus. “’Cuz she told me herself! Ah talked to her and heard it right from her mouth!” she replied angrily.

Silence filled the air. The three ponies were tense and unsure of how to proceed. They had disagreed in the past, but to have one of them defending the embodiment of an old enemy had brought forth a new conflict. Mathew decided he would see if he could send the conversation into calmer waters. “In any case…” he said as he strained to sit up from the ground, “I’m surprised that you arrived so soon. Surely Applebloom or Sweetie Belle couldn’t have been that quick in finding you.”

The sun was still in the same spot as when he last saw it, so there must not have been more than a half hour that had passed. It would have been impossible for Applebloom to run that quickly, not while carrying Scootaloo, and Sweetie would not have left her friends until they had gotten Scoots to the house. Twilight’s eyes glanced at Rainbow before she responded to him. “Rainbow had been nearby earlier. She said she saw you use some strange magic. Then you rescued Scootaloo and you changed. She came to get me as soon as she got a look at what your appearance was. I teleported us here and I could feel Nightmare’s magic from the other side of the farm. I will admit that it feels slightly different than the last time I encountered her, though,” she said.

Mathew nodded. “I see. That explains your speedy arrival. Did you get a chance to check on the little Pegasus – Scootaloo was her name?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not yet. Why?”

“She had been injured badly. The cavern collapsed under her and she was cut by some of the sharper emeralds,” he explained.

Rainbow’s eyes widened when she heard that, and her anger was replaced by worry. “Is she alright?”

Mathew offered her a weak smile and nodded. “Yeah, she’ll need to rest for a while, though, and it would be a good idea to get a professional doctor to check her out – I’m not sure I had enough magic to heal her properly,” he said.

Twilight walked closer to Mathew, a strange look of concern on her face. Applejack moved to get in front of her, but Mathew gently pulled her tail to stop her. Twilight stopped a few feet away from him and eyed him closely. “What happened to all your magic? It’s almost all gone…” she asked him quietly.

Mathew sighed and closed his eyes. “I used it up saving Scootaloo. I had to use a spell to run faster, which I used to get from the other orchard to this one. Then I jumped in after her when she fell, and I tried to increase the density of my skin… it wasn’t enough to stop all of the gems from puncturing my legs, though. After that, I used my magic to get Scootaloo out and jump out of the cavern. The rest of my magic was spent healing myself and her…” he paused for a moment before opening his eyes and looking sadly at Twilight.

“Nightmare was forced to lend me some of her personal magic to keep my body from failing. She and I are bound… so if I die, she does, too. I may not be an expert, but I don’t think the Nightmare Moon you know would risk death to save a filly,” he finished weakly, still struggling to stay up.

Twilight inhaled to respond, but Mathew lifted his hand up to stop her. His body was trembling, screaming at him to stop and fall over, but he had one more thing to say to the young Alicorn. “I know that Nightmare Moon was a great threat to this world, but I want you to think about this very carefully. If my words and actions aren’t enough, and you can’t even believe the words of one of your closest friends, who is the bearer of the Element of Honesty, then where does that leave us? I’m… gunna pass out… it would be nice… if you all could… keep the noise-“ Before he could finish, his body gave out and darkness enveloped his mind once more.

~~***~~

Mathew awoke some time later. As he regained his senses he came to realize two things; he was no longer in the orchard and it was dark outside. His muscles complained while he forced his body to sit upright. He was in one of the guest rooms in the Apple family household – one he had seen when he had been led to the bathroom before. The bed, he noted, was not quite as comfortable as the one in his room in Twilight’s castle.

He stood up with a low groan and was reminded that his pants were in tatters. “Great… now I’ll need to bug Rarity for new work pants,” he mumbled quietly.

His attention wandered to the rest of the room around him. It was a small space, decorated with a few nick-knacks, family pictures, and some rustic furnishings. The small mirror on top of the dresser drew his attention further and he slowly approached it. He was mildly relieved to see his appearance had gone back to normal… well, as normal as he had expected. His hair had gone back to the dark silver, but there were more streaks that glowed with his magic. His eyes were pale blue again, but a faint ring of gold lined the inner ring of his iris.

He looked at the flow of magic in his body next. His reserves were still very low, but he had regained enough to be able to do small-scale spells. Unfortunately, he saw a more prominent flow of darker magic mixed with his own. Nightmare’s magic had combined with his, and it looked to be permanent.

“I’m sorry, Mathew,” came a whisper quiet voice in his mind.

Mathew sighed gently and let a small smile play across his lips. Don’t worry about it. We would have died if you hadn’t shared your magic with me. All this means is that Luna will see that I’ve been marked by your magic… it’s going to be hard to explain things to her, he thought calmly.

“Even so, I still did it without asking you first. I broke our agreement. Now everything has been put in jeopardy,” she lamented.

Mathew smirked and shook his head. Do I need to come in there and bop your nose, too? Relax, Nightmare, we can still make things work out. Luna had to know about your existence eventually. The only thing that’s changed is how we engage her once she sees us.

Nightmare sighed, still apprehensive about the whole predicament. Mathew could not blame her, but he hoped that she would stay calm enough to not let it eat at her. With his appearance confirmed, his next course of action was to venture out of the room and see what, and who, awaited him. He slowly walked out of the room and got his bearings before searching for the ponies that lived there.

He was surprised and uneasy when he found nopony upstairs. There were a few magic signatures nearby, but he was still too weak to determine whom they belonged to. Having no luck with the upstairs, he carefully made his way down the stairs to the ground floor. He heard a few hushed voices from the living room and headed there first.

He rounded the corner and stopped in the doorway. Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were there, as well as Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinky Pie. Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were absent, as well as Granny Smith. Big McIntosh stood near the front entrance. All eyes turned toward Mathew when he arrived and an eerie quiet took over the room.

Applejack quickly stood up and walked over to him. She looked tired, but she was concerned about Mathew’s condition. “How are ya feelin’ Mathew?” she asked him.

He gave her a weak smile. “Still exhausted, but I’m feeling a little better. Did I interrupt something? What happened to Scootaloo – were her injuries looked at yet?”

Applejack smiled and moved closer to him, rubbing her side against him to guide him into the room, proper. “Scootaloo is just fine. Twilight had Spike send a message to the princess and Rainbow took the lil filly to the hospital. The doc said her injuries had been healed very well – he even commended that your skills were better than anything he had seen before. If you hadn’t healed her like ya did, she would have lost her ability to walk normally. As fer interrupting… we were just talking about a few things,” she said softly and nudged Mathew to get him to join them.

Rainbow’s ears drooped back and she rubbed her front leg with a hoof. “Thanks for what you did for Scoots… and sorry for… ya know, what happened earlier,” she said meekly.

Mathew chuckled softly and shook his head. “No worries, Rainbow. I’m glad she’ll be alright,” he said and turned his gaze to Twilight. “So… I take it they all know?” he asked her.

Twilight nodded and gestured with a hoof for him to take a seat. He sat down on the only remaining chair and waited. The room was quiet for what seemed like an eternity before Big Mac’s ears flicked toward the front door. He walked down the hall to open it. As they all waited quietly, Mathew felt his heart begin to beat faster. Something inside him was beginning to panic.

Mathew’s heart nearly lodged itself in his throat when Big Mac returned. Luna entered the room right behind him and the look of shock that filled her face nearly broke Mathew. Their eyes locked onto one another and the world around them seemed to simply vanish. Luna gazed at her friend, seeing all to clearly the unmistakable dark magic that stained his body and soul.

Inside Mathew, he fought to remain calm and to will his eyes to show Luna that everything was fine, while Nightmare seemed to fill with panic and fear of meeting her daughter so soon. Neither of them had prepared and they both knew that the importance of that exact moment would determine everything for them. Suddenly, the sound of a throat being cleared made the three of them aware of the rest of the room.

“Ahem… Princess Luna,” Twilight started, “this… is what I needed your help with,” she said delicately.

Luna’s eyes jumped to the young princess of magic and back to Mathew. “I see… there is much that we need to discuss. Start from the beginning, Twilight,” she said before she slipped into a regal and composed stance – her eyes focused firmly upon Mathew.

Mathew cringed inside. He knew that look, well enough. Luna was going to be difficult to get to. Once she put on that mask, she became as dense as a brick wall and she would not let her guard down – much less listen to reason. It was a default reaction she used when dealing with things, so that she would stand firm in her opinion.

Twilight noticed the silent standoff between Luna and Mathew, wondering if it was the right choice to call her to help with the situation. Whatever the case, it was too late to undo what had been done, so she proceeded to explain the events from the day Mathew first arrived until the current day. After Twilight finished, without even taking her eyes off of Mathew, Luna requested a report from each of the others present in the room.

The overall conclusion from each element bearer was that Mathew seemed to be perfectly fine and that he was a pretty nice guy. They all were shocked to hear of the latest development and were almost skeptical to believe it at first. The only ones who had a different story to tell were Applejack and Big Mac, who had described Mathew as a very helpful person that had done a heck of a lot for them and their farm. Applejack also went into details about their little talks, which softened Luna’s gaze.

Mathew had simply stayed quiet throughout the meeting. He had nothing to say about the past few days. All he wanted was a chance to get Luna to listen to what he had to say about why he had made a deal with Nightmare. But once he saw her reaction to Applejack’s side of the story, he had a feeling things were about to get hectic. Luna had feelings for him, and the way Applejack had described their moments had made the moon princess’ focus shift. The soft flicker of jealousy had peeked out of her turquoise eyes more than once.

Applejack’s and Mac’s sides done, Luna took a few moments to formulate her thoughts. Then, she broke her gaze from Mathew to look at Applejack. “It would seem that you have become quite close to Mathew. Might I ask how much time the two of you have spent together? I almost wonder if you were possibly affected by Nightmare Moon…” she said, her words faintly laced with a cold tone.

Mathew instantly stood up and looked at her firmly, his expression teetering on the brink of turning angry. Luna looked back at him and her horn flared. Mathew’s hand shot up and he caught her spell – a feat that surprised him just as much as it did everyone else in the room. He enforced his gaze on her and calmly addressed her. “Luna, you’re letting this discussion wander. We can talk about ‘that’ later, but right now you and I need to focus on what’s important,” he said.

Luna’s eyes narrowed and her lips curled into a frown. “How was that not important? I would believe that knowing how close you’ve gotten to one of these young mares would hold some relevance to this discussion,” she retorted.

Mathew’s eyes narrowed in turn, then he took in a slow breath and calmed his nerves. “Luna… you went down a similar road in the past. Don’t let your judgment be clouded by your feelings again,” he warned her, his tone mellow.

Luna’s anger flared for a moment, until she saw the pleading look in Mathew’s eyes. There was a deep sadness in him that seemed to pull at her heart in a way that she thought was familiar, yet foreign. She calmed her mind and let her emotional walls drop. With a heavy sigh, she looked around the room and gathered her thoughts. “You are right. I was not thinking clearly just now,” she said quietly.

Mathew nodded and turned his attention to the others. “I think it’s about time I told you all what really happened after I was brought to this world,” he said and turned his head back to Luna. “And you should probably take a seat… I doubt this is going to be easy on you.”

Luna looked at him with a raised brow and her ears perked up. She then lit up her horn and summoned a dark blue cushion and took her seat. Mathew sighed and looked around at everyone again. He took a deep breath and began. “It all started after I was summoned from my world…”

~~***~~

It took quite a bit of time, but Mathew retold his experiences from the day he arrived to the present time. He had chosen to withhold specific details, such as the fact that Nightmare Moon was Luna’s mother, simply stating that he wanted to discuss the finer points in private with Luna and Twilight at a later time. In the end, he managed to convince everypony that the Nightmare Moon that dwelled within him was not the same one that had taken over Luna. That his Nightmare was one of the ones who had helped to shape Equus and that had given Luna the gift that led to her becoming the evil Nightmare.

He explained how he had exposed Applejack to Nightmare Moon and that she had used her Element of Honesty to confirm that everything that he had said was truth. Just as he had expected, his tale had left the ponies with quite a lot to chew on. Still, it was not enough to stop Twilight from asking the question he had not wanted to deal with just yet. “So what was it that Nightmare Moon wanted to achieve?”

Mathew sighed and gave her an unamused look. “Twilight, I said I’d only tell you and Luna, and that it’d be later,” he said with slight annoyance.

Twilight huffed and gave Mathew an equally annoyed look. “What could possibly be so important that everypony here can’t know about it? You told us everything else already,” she argued.

Luna nodded in agreement. “Indeed. Tell us now. I doubt it could be anything worth hiding from the others,” she said.

Everyone else voiced their agreements as well, except for Applejack and Big Mac, the former picking up on the fact that the idea pained Mathew on an unusual level and the latter simply because he had no real opinion on the matter. Mathew sighed and rubbed his face with his palm. He thought on how he would even begin to explain that part. Then the beginnings of an idea sparked and his hand slid down his face. His eyes fixed on Luna’s face and he straitened his posture in his chair. “Luna… how much do you remember about your first meeting with Nightmare Moon?” he asked her.

Luna lifted her brow at him curiously. “Haven’t you asked me that question before?”

Mathew nodded. “I did.”

Luna was not sure what he was getting at, but decided she would humor him. She thought about her first experience with the dark being.
“I don’t remember much… I remember feeling alone. Then there was this feeling of anger and jealousy toward my sister, but after that I can only remember giving in to the darkness and then watching as my other self tried to take over Equestria and gain my rightful place in the eyes of our subjects. Much of that time in my life is… hazy and fragmented. I can’t recall more than that,” she said.

“So you don’t remember when Nightmare came to you? Or when she offered you her help?” Mathew asked her calmly.

Luna shook her head. “No… but I think I remember meeting someone one night. They held… a glittering gem – one that looked like it was a star, picked right out of the sky. It was beautiful…” she replied, seemingly lost in thought.

Mathew fed on that memory and started to spin the tale to fill in the blanks of her memory. “Nightmare Moon had been watching you, Luna. She had watched over you since when you and Celestia were just little foals,” he began. “She watched as you grew up, gained your cutie marks, met Starswirl the Bearded, were lifted up by the ponies of the lands, unified everypony under your rule and created Equestria. She saw Celestia’s day become more loved as your heart slowly broke until you felt that nopony cared about you or your rejuvenating night,” he said.

As Mathew explained further, he saw the signs of recognition in Luna’s eyes. With each thing he revealed, another part of her memory seemed to float back to the surface, yet she still could not see what happened next until she heard him speak it. Mathew knew things were becoming delicate. His words would eventually lead to him telling the full truth, but he shared Nightmare’s fear of how well the young mind within Luna would handle everything.

He continued. “Then, when you had wandered into the night, alone and full of heartache, Nightmare came to you. She spoke with you, gave you small comforts by revealing just how many truly appreciated your nights and everything you did for them. Then, when you told her that you wished there was some way to do more for the ponies of your kingdom, she offered you a gift. The gift was a fragment of her. Nightmare placed in your hooves, the crystallized essence of her soul, to share with you her power.”

Mathew paused before the next part. It was hard for him to remember it, since it was more painful having Nightmare’s feelings to accompany it, as well as watch Luna’s own eyes begin to tear up as she remembered everything again for the first time in over a thousand years. “You took her gift. It let you do incredible things with your night… but nopony seemed to notice. You tried harder to please the ponies of your kingdom, but they seemed to give you more of a cold shoulder because of it. Then came the announcement of the Summer Sun Celebration… and your anger finally fell onto one thing; your sister, Celestia. Your anger, jealousy, and scorn were given direction, and your emotions overwhelmed the gift you were given. It absorbed your negative emotions and became an outlet. Nightmare’s gift became your curse, and you let it control you when you stopped fighting against yourself. The rest… you know,” he said, and took some time to let everything sink in for everypony present.

Luna’s cheeks had become streaked with her tears of regret. It had not been easy for her to recall those lost memories. The rest of the room’s occupants were either sharing in the crying or wore sad expressions. Twilight seemed to be the only one who was taking things better than the others, but her eyes had filled with pity for her lunar princess. Minutes passed until Luna finally gained enough composure to look back at Mathew. His gaze was sad, but it was evident that his tale had yet to reach its end. Luna’s small nod was all he needed before he resumed.

“So you remember everything about your meeting with her, right?” he asked Luna.

Luna sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. Mathew took in a breath of his own and leveled his gaze on her after glancing at the others.
“Here’s where everything ties together. Nightmare… had a reason for doing what she did. There’s a reason why she came to your side that night, a reason why she put her essence in that ruin in the Everfree Forest, a reason why she used her power (combined with yours and Celestia’s) to bring me to Equestria, a reason why she needed my help,” Mathew swallowed and nearly faltered in what he was about to reveal next. He swallowed again and steeled his resolve. His mouth opened… and the front door of the house crashed inward.

Every head spun around to look at the source of the commotion and jaws dropped when nearly a dozen royal guards rushed into the room. The guards fixed their eyes upon princess Luna and slammed the butts of their spears against the floor. “Your Highness, Princess Celestia has ordered us to bring you back to Canterlot immediately. Come with us, there’s a carriage waiting outside,” One of them spoke, surprisingly harshly.

Luna was baffled, Twilight even more so, but Mathew felt a sense of danger around them. They had their eyes on Luna, but he was positive that they would not hesitate to turn their spears on him if he made even one wrong move. He did not like the situation – not one bit. “Luna… you should go with them,” he said slowly.

Luna turned her head toward him to protest, but her voice halted in her throat when she saw the look of fear in his eyes. It was the first time she had seen such an expression from him, but it wasn’t a fear of the guards. He was afraid of what he was about to do.

Twilight stood up from her spot on a couch and eyed the guards quizzically. “I’m sorry, I know that Princess Celestia didn’t want Luna to be involved in this kind of thing, but could we have just a little more time?” she asked them.

Mathew was quick to cut off the guard’s response. “No, Twilight. This isn’t that kind of matter. These guys are here for a different reason. The importance of it is evident by the fact that these guards aren’t your average ones. Luna needs to get back to the castle… as soon as possible,” he said, emphasizing the last part carefully.

The guards all tightened their grips on their spears and openly narrowed their eyes on Mathew. The stare-down changed the tension in the room from peculiar to serious. Luna immediately knew that something was very wrong with the guard’s sudden appearance. She turned back to the guards and went to take a step forward when she heard a faint whisper in the air behind her ears. “Luna… there is one thing I need to know. Does your sister have any kind of foresight – like seeing into the future?” Mathew’s voice quietly asked.

Luna turned her head back partially and looked at Mathew questioningly.

“This is too well timed. And earlier I had a strange vision. I’m not sure why, but I felt the strongest urge to ask, don’t ask me why – it just popped in my head. If she does have that kind of ability, just nod once. Nod twice if she doesn’t,” he whispered again.

Luna looked back at the guards, then back toward Mathew and gave a single nod. She then turned back and followed the guards out of the house. Everyone stayed perfectly still until they heard the sounds of the carriages taking off. As soon as they were alone, Mathew crashed to his knees and clutched at his chest. His eyes took on the golden color again and his hair billowed like ethereal smoke.

Applejack rushed to his side and placed her hoof on his back. “Mathew, are ya alright? What happened?” she asked hastily.

Mathew struggled to breath for a few tense moments, he had no choice in the matter and he whispered his command hoarsely. “Nightmare, do it. I need more.”

His body pulsed and his hair grew at least eight inches longer and started to look more like Luna’s mane, only pitch black. His eyes changed to look like a snakes as well, and small fangs sprouted from his upper jaw. With Nightmare’s magic coursing through his body, he finally found it easy to breath again and he slumped back onto the floor.

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Then, Rainbow finally said what was on everypony’s mind. “What the buck is going on?”

Author's Note:

There you have it, the start of the last act of my story. From here, things start to progress toward my end result.

Hope you all liked the chapter! The next one will be out next week. Also, feel free to let me know what you think of it so far.