Nightmane

by The Atlantean

Who Is She, And Why Did She Come? Also, We Need A Break

Twilight Nightmane stood transfixed with fear. Across the chamber, Nightbreaker’s image paced back and forth, mumbling about a disappearing presence. She furrowed her eyebrows and lit her horn. “Imagini thine presidencia.” The thestral recognized the language as ancient. It was an ancient language, one last used millennia ago. One the mythical ponies of the Frozen North used.

The spell caused an mirage to materialize. It was of a violet alicorn the height of an average pony. She had a dark purple mane and tail with a double stripe down the middle. Her violet eyes looked young and innocent. With her sharp horn and wings, it was obvious how her presence was there.

“Imagini thine mentanicion.” Transparent light blue text materialized next to the image.

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked.

“What does it look like, Nightmane?” Nightbreaker looked at the wall of transparent text. “Name, dates, history, location. With this spell, I can learn anything I want about a pony by looking at their thoughts.” She stopped searching. “Twilight Sparkle, born 981 the Year of Our Sun. Occupation: Princess of Friendship. History: former student of Celestia, wields the Element of Magic, lives in Ponyville. Killed by magic explosion and revived during the Second Battle of the Crystal Empire several months later. Last known location: Manehattan. I don't recognize either of those towns.” Her talking ceased abruptly. “Wait… 981?! This is year zero according to that stupid new calendar!” Nightbreaker’s eyes shot wider than a canyon when reality hit. “By Harmony! This Twilight Sparkle is from the future!”

Twilight Nightmane began to back down the hall behind her. “I'll just be going now, if you don't mind.” Then she turned tail and ran to the surface.

Nightbreaker watched her go. When the thestral was out of sight, she signaled a crystal, from which a spirit promptly emerged. He had the eyes of an eagle, ears of an owl, and the tail of a hawk, all blacker than midnight. “General Graveyard, I want you to follow her. Report back to me in the morning, for afterwards I have another assignment for you.”

“Yes, Queen of Nightmares,” he gruffly said. He absorbed himself into the rock wall and disappeared completely.

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Constellation Nightmane’s ears pricked. She heard hoofsteps on the front porch and a tired voice.

“Thank you for helping me across town, Captain Sparkle. I’ve had enough of evil spirits for one day.”

“Not a problem, Mrs. Nightmane. It's my pleasure to help the family of a distinguished Night Guard member like Lieutenant Nightwatch.” After a slight pause, he continued: “Which spirit was it you saw again?”

“Her name is Nightbreaker. Princess Luna and the Night Guard fought her three thousand years ago in the dreamworld.”

“Right. And I was hoping - since I won't really be able to come except on official business, maybe you could pass this trinket to Miss Silver Sparklelight?”

“Of course, sir.” Twilight Nightmane replied. A moment later, Captain Sparkle was heard walking down the porch stairs and across the yard. The thestral pushed the door open and walked in. “Hello, Constellation. How are you?”

“I'm fine, Mother. But did you really run into Nightbreaker down there?”

“Not Nightbreaker herself, no, but a piece of her essence. She went on about conquering the waking world once she found the rest of her and then tried to find some nonexistent alicorn. She also apparently tried to mind-control me, but the crystal herbs protected me. So,” she said as she gave a bag of the mysterious plant to her daughter, “I want you to keep these in your saddlebag at all times. Understood?”

“Yes, Mother.” As she accepted the bag, her mother went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

An awkward silence reign between the two for a while. “Did you know we'll have a new alicorn princess in a thousand years?” Twilight finally asked.

“No. The only ones are Celestia and Luna.”

"Huh. That apparition said otherwise."

Half an hour later, Twilight sighed. “Dinner’s ready. I’ll be in bed.”

“Yes, Mother.” After her mother disappeared up the creaky oak stairs, Constellation walked into the kitchen. A single muffin was steaming on the counter. She picked it up. Munching on it, she opened the door to the city-edge balcony. It was a peaceful evening, with the moon coming up as the sun went down. The only difference was the set of dark splotches on the right side of the moon in the shape of a mare’s head.

They think we made the Princess turn against Equestria, don’t they? she asked herself. That’s why I can’t leave the district. That’s why Captain Sparkle can only come on official Royal Guard business.

Her ears perked. She turned her head to the direction of the sound she’d just barely heard. There was nothing. Another noise. She saw nothing. “I know you’re there, whoever you are!” she yelled into the darkness. No reply came. Frowning, she walked back inside and pulled her dinner out of the oven. She ate it in silence.

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Twilight Sparkle stared at Grandpa Starling. The old thestral was grim. He raised his right eyebrow as he glanced at his granddaughter. Constell was sitting down in a chair, the snoopie cap in her hooves.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa. I thought it would work,” she said through the cap. “I don’t know what happened…”

“Constell, do you know what you could have done? What you’ve already caused?” His stern expression pierced the mare’s reddened eyes when she pulled the cap from her face. She shook her head in response.

“You may have broken the space-time continuum by letting Nightbreaker know Twilight is an alicorn. I told you special identification spells have existed since before Equestria was founded. Spells that can pass through the temporal threshold if the caster knows what to look for.”

“I’m so sorry, Grandpa. Just help me fix this mess,” she sobbed.

“I will, Constell.” He reached between them and patted her on the shoulder. “But there’s only one way to do it, and it involves using the cap again.”

“Twilight won’t use the cap, I swear.”

“I know that. What I mean is this: you will.”

The young thestral gulped. “Me?”

“Yes, Constell.” He stood up and walked to a side closet, opened it, and pulled out a second cap. “I might be too old to use this, but Twilight, with your consent, you can go back with her and navigate Canterlot. You know the area better. Besides, if you two get pulled into the past, and I’ll know if you do, you can help each other come home.”

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Constellation Nightmane sat down at the table across from her mother. “Did you ever have that feeling that you’re being watched, Mother?”

Twilight Nightmane frowned in thought. “No. Why?”

“It’s just… I felt somepony last night after you went upstairs. Like he or she was watching me.”

The older thestral sighed deeply. “As I already told you, I encountered a piece of Nightbreaker’s essence in the mines yesterday. But she felt an alicorn from the future, as I’ve also said. I don’t know what to do about this. Should I tell Princess Celestia? Captain Sparkle has told her about Nightbreaker by now; that much I know for sure. Should this be a family secret? It’s just… an entirely new alicorn, probably a princess, traveled back in time a thousand years to watch. That isn’t something one can easily wrap her head around.”

“Mother, I think you worry too much,” Constellation said through a corn muffin. “If it was an issue, you’d be called to the palace. Maybe me as well.”

Somepony knocked on the door. Constellation opened it to answer. On the other side was a thestra whose coat had a silvery sheen. Her metallic mane and tail reflected the moonlight quite well, and her blue-gray eyes darted back and forth constantly. “Hi, Constellation. I heard Captain Sparkle had come by earlier?”

“Silver Sparklelight. Please, come in,” the starry-night thestral replied. “Mother might have something from him for you.”

Twilight Nightmane looked up from her newspaper. “Oh, yes. I’ll go get it.” She stood up and walked up the stairs. When she returned, she held a small package. “For you, Silver.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Nightmane.” Silver opened the package, which had a box of chocolates and a note that read:

To the love of my life-

Meet me in the Midnight District gardens after sunset on Tuesday.

~the Captain

“He wants me to go to the gardens tonight?” she asked herself aloud. “What do I say? What do I do?”

“Don’t worry, SIlver,” Constellation said. “I’ll be there tonight, reflecting on the sky..”

The silver thestral nodded. She wasn’t sure what was about to happen, but her friend obviously did and she trusted Constellation Nightmane.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the time gap. As I said, I am moving; however, I've been in my new house for just over a week and I haven't done too much writing stuff. My biggest thing for a while was a large ship I was building in Space Engineers I literally just finished over this past weekend. I've also been building a "model" of Canterlot Palace out of extra cardboard, so that's a thing.

I get to now share my room with not only my twin, but my annoying little brother as well, so that's slowed me down as well. I hope to get another chapter of The Atlantean-Dominion War out soon.

As always, Feedback Appreciated!