No longer a powerless blank-flank, Twilight, together with her friends, faces the return of Nightmare Moon... with Twilight having no idea what her magic might do next!
Sequel to Twilight Runs Away.
Also serves as Luna's entry in the "Nightmare" series of independent stories about the redemption of each of the alicorn Princesses (see Friendmaker and Daybreaker). Note: you do not need to read these before Nightwaker. But if you choose to circle back to them at some point, I won't mind!
Chapters (3)
You can set this as a sequel to 'Twilight Runs Away' by copying and pasting the story url into the box that asks for it on this story.
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Thanks for the advice! I haven't done that (yet) because it puts the sequel link in an inconvenient place in the description box. (I like to micromanage my text/link layout.)
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Oh! Alrighty then. I know some people aren't sure how to do it, so it's always best to help.
Huh. Okay, you have my attention. I am very curious to see where this goes.
This is a interesting twist for sure. .... Honestly I really want to see where this will go from here. I really didn't like how they all and I mean all besides Twi treated Spike. I mean Celestia talked to him like he was really nothing but showed SO much care and attention to Twi, which I get but still kinda sucked she dismissed him so much. The BIGGEST ones to do it were the other girls. I mean I went back and looked at that part where they all showed up. They have a whole talk with Twi but don't even give Spike a Hello. Derpy at least talked to him. When Twi went missing, they treated Spike like a child and they went looking for her. Long story short while Twi seem to be closer to Spike in this series, everyone else seem to be treating him the same and I find that to be pretty sad. Seeing how in the last one he was the same age as Twi which mean he should be near the same age as the girls as well. The shouldn't be talking down to him like I feel they did. What I am hoping if we get keep seeing Spike and Twi being super close in this. He is the one that wen WITH her, even with all of this when all her friends have left her HE stayed. He isn't her assistant first, no he is her friend her best friend and not some child.
I do wonder how things will be different with Luna. I can't wait to see how she will train Twi. I get the feeling she will be far less sweet with her but will for sure give her all the attention she needs. But I feel the two will related to one another even more than Twi could with Celestia to be honest. I mean both have felt like outcast for most of their lives. So I can see them bonding from that angle. That is something Celestia can't relate to with both Twi and Spike. Which back to Spike I think she might also stop him from JUST being a assistant. He is a dragon, a strong and powerful species. He can do more than just run books around. He want to be with Twi, he want to protect her, than he need to work to do that and not hide behind her. Luna will make sure he get started being able to do that.
I think this is a super interesting change and I really want to see where this will go. I know as a super Spike fanboy it seems like I want him all over the story. But just after the first one when he was so close to Twi and felt like he had a large part in events I would hate for that to go away. There was a connection there and with the events that just happen I feel the two of them would be even closer than ever before.
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Thanks for the feedback, and I'm with you, I agree that Spike isn't just Twilight's flunky -- they're a team. Not to give anything away, but rest assured that Spike has some good moments ahead, and a pretty crucial role in the outcome of this story (unlike in the original pilot, where he basically disappeared in the second half).
And bear in mind what the other characters are dealing with at the time: Celestia's racing the clock coming up with a backup plan to deal with Nightmare Moon, while making sure everyone is where they need to be. And Applejack thinks she's just seen her new best friend go up in smoke, so she's in big-sister mode, making sure everyone's looked after while she charges in to sort things out. They all care about each other, the story just can't always show it.
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Lol k well I am happy to hear all of that. Lol it is still sad I can't help as I am reading this think how cute this Spike and Twi would be as a couple. I know I am connecting dots that aren't there but I can't help but think how they just seem to fit each other so well and I have a hard time seeing anypony besides Starlight, Fizzle, or Sunset being good matches for Twi. And even with them being good matches I can't see them just connecting with her the same way THIS Spike did lol.
Excellent work on the start to your sequel story. The exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-ups are all well done. I particularly liked Shiny's introduction to the story, the little subtle nod to the tie-in novels, Celestia's brief scene with Luna/Nightmare and Nightmare Moon's introduction to Ponyville.
I am very certainly going to be looking forward to seeing where you go with this.
Very interesting, and I LOVE the description of SPACE returning with Nightmare Moon. Definitely curious what happens next.
I wonder whether Twilight is actually responsible, or if this is just Nightmare messing with her? If she is, interesting. I've never seen Twilight as a harbinger of eternal night before. Or as an apocalyptic being in general really, beyond out of personal issues.
You know, if this Twilight has to take up the Alicorn Magic of Equestria to protect it from Tirek, she'll be better at it. She's already had to deal with a sudden incredible increase in magic power, complete with accidental teleports and everything.
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Thanks much! And the description of Luna's night is pretty much a direct personal experience of one evening when I was staying somewhere with a totally clear night sky and almost no skyglow, and thus was able to see pretty much all the visible stars at once. ...Wow... It was nice being able to pull that in as an indication of the change of Princesses.
Huh... I suddenly find myself far more amenable to the prospect of Night Eternal. Nightmare Moon for president 2020.
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🌛✨ Have a care what thou wishes for...
But I'm with you, Nightmare Moon is speaking from the heart here.
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Thinkst thou that I know not the implications of mine own desires? Forsooth, our fair country has done worse.
This was interesting for sure. I couldn't stop screaming, ' HOW DID AJ GET THERE!!!!' for the whole chapter after that point I kept thinking she was really Nightmare pretending to get close to her and find out if she knows anything about the elements.
Spike kept bugging me tho, it is just he always refer to himself as her assistant more than a friend. THAT should be how he addresses himself to her first. Man Celestia really brainwashed him and made him into alittle slave. I figured after the first story that might have been broken a bit but it is clear that isn't the case.
Hell Twilight seem to care or at least address the girls as more friends than him and he is the one that stayed with her and all of this. I wonder what Twi's plan will be, I mean she will best chance look for the elements in the castle, but she doesn't know what they look like or where they could be
. One thing that seems to be a huge thing to me is that Nightmare SCREAMS moody teenager to me. Just the way she acts and seem to think scream a emo 16 year old. Like whenever Celestia comes up or just really her whole hang up. I think THAT might be the thing that they will have to play to get what they want. Praise her, make her feel wanted and admired. To keep that feeling she will open up to them. Even more so when she see all the people aren't 'loving' her as she wants them to.
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Sadly, some forms of Eternal Night fall everywhere... particularly if you're the one who's supposed to be holding the lamp...
I'm kind of assuming the geometry of the world is an open question, and the flat-earthers and spherists are the Little-Endians and Big-Endians of the day -- neither side knows they're right, they just know the other side is wrong...
Thanks very much for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. You did a great job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I especially liked Nightmare Moon's basically taking none of Neighsay's garbage , Nightmare Moon's introduction to Pony Joe's , Spike, Shiny AND AJ's attempts to help Twilight overcome her guilt over her accidental role in Nightmare Moon's return (particularly Twi figuring Shiny and Cadance out MUCH sooner than in canon) and Twilight's attempt to play along with Nightmare Moon while also trying to buy her friends as much time as she can (even if her friends understandably DON'T understand it all at first) .
So, yeah, I will very certainly be looking forward to seeing where this goes in future chapters.
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Thanks right back! It's fair to say this sequel exists because of feedback like yours on Twilight Runs Away, and it's encouraging to know I've been able to provide a worthy follow-up!
And about Neighsay... well, all I can say is, if I could pick any pony for Nightmare Moon to chuck out of the room with his robes on fire, it would have to be him. I was pretty certain nobody would mind
This was really nice. I liked the way you wrapped it up and still tied it all together to the canon and all. It was a great story with a nice closing. I still had to laugh that Spike got so shafted in this. I mean Twi couldn't even give him a real decent comment at the end there. I had to role my eyes so hard I almost went blind lol. But I kinda gave up on Spike having any REAL big or change part in this story a while ago it was still funny how this time he had to BE there for his complete overlooking and placing as a B-C list character in the world lol.
Excellent job on the action, characterizations, exchanges and general wrap-up in all the right places. I particularly liked Twilight's checking up on Shining and Fluttershy , the logical alterations to how each pony earned their element and Spike's simple, but still significant contribution concerning Twilight's realizations .
All in all, a very good conclusion to this story.
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Thanks much for the helpful feedback! This was by way of an experiment, to see whether publishing a longer story by parts would work well -- and it's reassuring seeing regulars coming back for the next installment!
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Thanks very much right back. And, yeah, I would say that this particular experiment WAS a success. :-D
And Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
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blue balls is a pretty close second
Wow. Fantastic start to this story! I was really impressed in particular by everything to do with Nightmare Moon's return - that conversation between her and Celestia was especially well-done.
Poor Twilight. No idea if she actually has something to do with the stars' aligning or if Nightmare is just lying.
This was great work. I got a kick out of seeing Nightmare Moon's actions in Canterlot, especially her chucking Neighsay out of the court
(And there was much rejoicing...)
Also, thank goodness for Applejack! Dash may still be suspicious of Twilight, but it warmed my heart to see AJ understand that Twilight had no willing hand (well, hoof XD) in Nightmare's reign.
And now we seem to be bypassing the Everfree Forest altogether for the Mane Six braving Nightmare's court? Fascinating...
This was really well-done. I thoroughly enjoyed this re-envisioning of the Season One opener. Fantastic work all around!
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Thanks much, both for reading, and for your comments, which are helpful as always!
I knew I was revisiting well-worn territory for this story, so I tried to make it as original as possible while still being consistent with the original pilot's ending. As with "Twilight Runs Away", the point was to show what the AU implied by the show's opening titles looks like. (Right down to the scene at the end where Celestia receives the photograph by Spike-post... one reason this entire three-parter got written was to provide that grace note of closure to the preceding story.)
Of course there were other ways I could have taken this -- maybe at some point I'll write a "Nightmare Moon Has Won" story, or a "Twilight Goes Over To The Dark Side" story... just not sure if those haven't been done to death already.
Simple.
Nice continuation. I especially like the way the nightmare ponies are portrayed.
I have to say after reading this I do feel the challenges they overcame are for Applejack at least a better reflection of honesty than what was shown in the show. I put off reading Twilight runs away for quite awhile now because I wasn't sure where it'd go, glad I finally read it both it and this sequel are good stories.
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Thanks -- glad you liked them! I wrote Nightwaker in response to the reaction Twilight Runs Away got, but even so, I did try to make Nightwaker an original turn on Nightmare Moon's return, including giving the Element bearers a more "realistic" justification for receiving their respective Elements.
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Thanks for reading and commenting!
It's actually an in-joke reference to the series (see Sleepless in Ponyville), but then again, the show reference is itself based on traditional stories like the one you're thinking of. It's all meta...
Great read! HUZZAH!
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Thanks much! I really appreciate the feedback -- it helps knowing that you enjoyed it!
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Thanks for writing! It's a pleasure to stumble around for fimfics such as these. I love how you juggled both Canon and verse around with equal balance.
Plus it also explains why magic kindergarten was so bad! ;)
i like to imagine that, instead of a day-night cycle, it goes through all the phases of the moon every day.
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That's a cool idea, I didn't think of that. The Moon must have some kind of phases, since Moondancer's cutie mark is a crescent Moon. Though I wonder if Nightmare Moon would consider phases an affront, since they'd suggest the Moon's llight isn't its own.
Thanks much for reading and commenting on this!
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the pleasure was all mine.
And absolutely NOBODY gives a buck. Least of all Hasbro. Seriously, this is a waste of words every time someone does it.
If Hasbro actually cared, do you think the site would even exist?
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It's a courtesy, more than anything else -- if they happened to be looking, I'd want them to know we appreciate them letting us play in their sandbox.
I'm a little disappointed that the friendship with NMM wasn't more genuine, and instead was such a face heel turn at the end. I understand it had to go this way to be what you wanted tho.
Woulda been nice to see NMM eventually realize she had made a mistake and just set herself up to be defeated by the elements to undue the banishment and start a clean slate (how did she get the power to do that anyway? Celestia needed the elements to do the same)
Anyway, would love to see a darker side of this au too. Dark Twilight, mentor NMM, inquisitor shining armor. People don't write and finish good fictions like that, I'd love to see your version if you ever did.
(Edit* I seem to have found, but not yet read, the dark acolyte story you have. I wonder if it's what I was looking for)
Neat story. The part where Twilight finds Luna in the darkness reminds me of mmmandarinorange's PMV "The Stars Will Aid In Her Escape (Cosmic Love)" (the specific scene is at 2:00)