Recall Memories of Midnight

by Tangerine Blast

Pinkamena Diane Pie

“Keep moving!” Limestone yelled at her troops as Nightmare Moon’s army descended upon them. She bucked a few Night Guards out of the way and sped off towards the castle. The Earth Pony almost seemed to fly as she weaved in between Thestrals diving at them like missiles and fighting the few she could not avoid.

Pinkamena followed her from a distance, staying closer to the other ponies they had brought with them. There were too few in number, she could already tell. They would never be able to hold off Nightmare’s army for long.

And yet, despite the overwhelming odds, she found herself shouting words of encouragement as she fought. She lifted a few ponies up when they fell and battled the Night Guards with a fury, keeping her sisters in sight at all times.

They weren’t doing terribly, all things considered. They had caught Nightmare Moon’s forces off guard and were fighting with a fire none of the Thestrals could hope to match.

Just as the rebels were gaining confidence, there was a flash of light and more of Nightmare’s minions flooded the scene. Pinkamena had no time to move as about a dozen unicorns trained their horns in her direction. She was going to be obliterated in a magic hail storm.

Right before the magic hit her and her fellow allies, a pink shield blinked into existence and absorbed the blasts, flickering only briefly from the impacts.

“Head for the castle!” Shining Armor shouted, his horn glowing fiercely and a look of utmost concentration on his face, “We can hold them!”

A cheer went up as the stallion pushed forward, his shield flinging every enemy aside. Pinkamena once again found herself surrounded by her siblings as the rebel group moved past the castle gates, their enemies slowly falling back.

But just as they all entered the castle ground proper, a large beam of blue magic slammed into Shining Armor’s shield, shattering the spell and downing the stallion with a cry of pain.

Nightmare Moon herself appeared a moment later in a blinding flash of light. And just like that, it seemed the fight was over. Her magic flowed over the castle grounds, freezing everypony in place. It was like a cold grip had grabbed every single rebel. Some started to cry from despair as they struggled against the magic. Nightmare Moon looked on with cool disinterest, not even breaking a sweat as she single-handedly stopped the attack.

“Who is the leader here?” She asked, the sound being heard clearly by everypony even though she barely raised her voice.

Pinkamena glared at Nightmare Moon. This was the moment they knew had been inevitable. She shared a look between her sisters as they all braced themselves for what would happen next.

Limestone’s voice rang out across the quiet courtyard, “We are, you demon, and we’re here to make you pay.”

Nightmare Moon didn’t say anything in response. She simply looked down on her and her sisters for a moment, eyeing them with distaste. Then, her magic blinked out from around the rebels and she teleported herself and the Pie sisters back inside the castle proper.

Pinkamena didn’t even realize she had been teleported until she found herself face down in Nightmare Moon’s throne room. She and her sisters looked around in confusion. There were only a few guards stationed here, half a dozen at most. The only other figure in the room was Nightmare Moon herself, standing next to the throne and gazing down at the four Earth Ponies with a slightly amused expression.

“So you are the great generals that are going to overthrow me, are you? To be honest I was expecting something much more…” She waved her hoof vaguely. “Well, something more impressive at least.”

“Even if you kill us, our fighters will still rage on!” Limestone snapped, rising to her hooves, “They have the spirit of freedom and peace within them! They shall never stop until they have succeeded. You’re going to lose, Nightmare.”

“No, I don’t think I am,” The goddess said plainly, unmoved by Limestone’s speech, “And don’t jump to conclusions. I’m not going to kill you either.”

That caused the four of them to freeze.

“You aren’t?” Maud asked, staring emotionally up at her, as she usually did.

“Oh no, of course not,” Nightmare replied, shaking her head sympathetically. She couldn’t keep the act up for long, however, and soon a devilish smirk crawled onto her face. “I’m going to do something far worse.”

She descended from her throne with purposefully strides. The Pie sisters tensed as the guards also closed in, blocking off any hope of escape.

“Now listen very carefully as I tell you little ponies what is going to happen next,” Nightmare Moon said once she was leering over them, “You are going to go out there and call your little rebels off. You will tell them to go home, that they were all idiots in coming, and that they should never even think about rebelling again. Then you are going to go back to whatever rock you crawled out of and do exactly as you're told for the rest of your pathetic lives. Telling everyone you meet that I am the true ruler of Equestria and anyone denying that is a fool. Do you understand?”

“Ha!” Limestone barked, literally spitting at the Alicorn’s hooves, “You’re a fool. The spirit of the people will fight on and so will we. You think you can just order us around like sheep? You’ll have to kill everypony here to get them to give up the fight! So tell me, oh great ruler, why would we ever listen to you?”

Nightmare Moon shrugged, the predatory grin not even twitching at the refusal. “You will do this because I will continue to hurt her if you do not.”

As they tried to process what Nightmare meant, Pinkamena suddenly found herself being lifted into the air by a cloud of dark magic.

“Hey! Let her go!” Limestone shouted, guards holding her back as Pinkamena squirmed uselessly within the magic.

Nightmare regarded her captive, turning her over in her magic like one would a strange piece of art they couldn’t understand. “Are you going to do as I’ve instructed?” Nightmare asked, turning back to the three sisters on the ground.

“Buck no!”

“Very well.”

A beam of pure magic shot out of Nightmare’s horn, hitting Pinkamena squarely in the chest.

Pain.

Pinkamena didn’t even realize she was screaming until the searing heat bleed away and her voice faded from lack of breath.

Her sisters were yelling and a few of the night guards had to almost pin them to the floor to hold them back as they tried to come to Pinkamena’s aid.

“That was a weak version of that spell by the way,” Nightmare Moon informed them, tapping a hoof to Pinkamena’s chest.

She gasped and flinched away as the tap caused the pain to flare up again. Her chest was burned badly and the skin was raw.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Limestone yelled, panic creeping into her voice, “Put her down now!”

Nightmare Moon gave the rebel leader one slow blink before firing another bolt from her horn.

Pinkamena saw spots as she once again felt fire flow through every inch of her body, right under her coat. Her limbs jerked unconsciously as her body tried to handle all the pain. Darkness started to creep into her vision and she had to fight the urge to black out. When the fire finally faded she coughed up blood and shuddered at how raw her throat felt from her screams.

Though they were still struggling with the Night Guards, the other Pie sisters were silent as they watched in horror.

Nightmare Moon seemed pleased by this.

“Now are you going to listen to me?” Her horn glowed threateningly, “Or shall I continue?”

That caused them to freeze in their struggle and let her guards force them to their knees.

“Now,” Nightmare Moon purred, “Listen closely. I’m honestly impressed by your valor and tenacity. You risked death to try and follow your conscious. Of course, you had no prayer of winning but… I think you already knew that.”

The dark queen started to pace and Pinkamena felt her stomach flip as she was magically dragged along behind her.

“But the pesky business with these rebellion type things is that it gives ponies hope,” Nightmare Moon continued, chuckling to herself, “Even if I killed you all it would only turn you into martyrs for the next group of fools. So, lucky for you I’m not going to do that.”

Nightmare Moon paused, as if expecting to be interrupted again. But the Pie sisters barely breathed as they watched her, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Nightmare continued, nonplussed, seeming to relish in their anxiety, “I won’t hurt any of you if you swear to go back to your meaningless little lives and show ponies that not only is fighting me pointless, but it is completely unsatisfying to try. Do this and you’ll never hear from me again. You’ll be as free as any other citizen. But, if I hear even a hint of another one of these rebellions forming,” She paused and swung Pinkamena above their heads like a treat to tempt a dog with. “You’ll just have to live with what I’ll do to your precious little sister.”

The three Pie sisters shared uncomfortable looks between each other. Pinkamena tried to call out to them, to plead with them to leave her and save themselves, to not give in to the Queen’s demands. But her throat was so raw the only sounds she could make were muffled whimpers of protest.

It only took a few seconds of contemplation before, with bowed heads, the sisters made up their minds.

“Fine,” Limestone snapped, but much of the fire was gone from her voice, “We... accept your offer.”

Nightmare’s cruel grin stretched even wider. “Wonderful. Guards, escort these three out of the castle so they and all their followers can return to their homes.”

The guards started to usher them out the door and Nightmare turned away, intent on heading further into the castle when a call stopped her in her tracks.

“Wait!” Marble cried as the guards surrounded them, “Give Pinkamena back! You promised you’d let her go.”

Nightmare Moon looked over her shoulder. “I said no such thing. I promised I would not harm any of you. Oh, I know how this will work. If I let you all go back you’ll run off to the wilds the moment you’re out of my sight.”

“We won’t,” Maud spoke up, “We give you our word.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. “You’re word? Well, isn’t that something.” She levitated their helpless sister, taunting them as she floated just out of reach. “We’ll just call this… insurance then, to see how much your word is actually worth.”

She watched as they were dragged out, ignoring the protests and insults they hurled at her. It wasn’t until they were gone from sight did she turn back to the lone sister floating in her grip.

“And you,” she purred, cupping the pink pony’s chin with her hooves, “you I’m going to turn into my perfect little servant.” Pinkamena shivered uncomfortably as Nightmare Moon stroked her mane. “By the time I’m done with you, you won’t even remember your name let alone your little family and any thought of defiance.”

“No,” Pinkie managed to choke out, squirming in the air. Though, if it was a cry of defiance or a plea for mercy she didn’t know.

Nightmare Moon just laughed and set her atop of one of the nearby Night Guards. “Take her to the dungeons for now. I will deal with her once I finish with the rest of the riff-raff.”

Pinkamena could only watch helplessly as she was carried away from her entire life, too weak and exhausted to do anything to stop it.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

In a way, it's a form of respect. Nightmare Moon considers the rebellion... well, not a threat, per se, but at least a nuisance worth avoiding. Thus, she is willin gto negotiate, if purely on her terms.

As for Pinkie... well, nopony's perfect.

[TwilightSparkleRocks]

Nightmare Moon chuckled darkly. “You’re word? Well, isn’t that something.” She levitated their helpless sister, taunting them as she floated just out of reach. “We’ll just call this… insurance then, to see how much your word is actually worth.”

Your word