My Friend, Nightmare Moon

by evanim26

Dreams and Nightmares

During dinner, Amber and her parents didn't talk about much except for how she was doing in school. it was a very uneventful dinner so afterward Amber simply went to bed and slept, but while sleeping Nightmare moon noticed that she was tossing and turning a bit.

“Hm, perhaps she is having a bad dream.” Nightmare said ”It is not my problem, she will be fine.” she said but she couldn't ignore Amber's tossing and turning nor could she simply turn away

“Perhaps I shall take a small peek, just to see what plagues her dreams.” Nightmare said then she stood up and stepped through a small portal and when she looked around she saw what looked like a school classroom and Amber in the middle surrounded by ponies who seemed to made of smoke

“I’m glad I never became friends with you.”

“To think you were gonna take advantage of our friendship.”

Amber shook her head “No, it’s not true, none of it is true.” she said

“Don’t try to lie, we heard everything.”

“Yeah, we can’t trust you.”

“Come on, let's get out of here, we shouldn’t hang around her.” With that, all of them disappeared. except for one

Amber looked up at the shadow pony “Please, you have to believe me, it's not true.” she said

“I thought I could but now, I see it was all lies, goodbye.” They said then they disappeared as well

“No, please don't leave me, PLEASE!” Amber yelled then she laid her head on the ground and cried “I don’t want to be alone.”

Nightmare watched the whole thing and couldn't help but feel, if only a little, bad for the filly. but she was still debating whether or not she should do something about but then two more shadows appeared.

Amber looked up at them and glared “I know it was you two! Spreading those rumors about me!” she said

One of them scoffed “And what if it was? What are you going to do about it?” they said but Amber stayed silent making both of them laugh

“What’s wrong? Aren't you gonna do anything? Or are you just gonna sit there and cry like a foal?” The other shadow said

"I...I'll tell everypony that you made it up." Amber said

The first shadow laughed again "As if anypony will ever believe you. there isn't a single one left who will stand up for you now." They said then both of them seemed to have grown in size

Amber shook her head "No, there has to be somepony left." she said

"There isn't."

"But there has to be." Amber said

The second shadow laughed "Face it, you're all alone now, and you'll always be alone." It said and Amber was going to say something but both of them stomped their hooves "No matter what you say, you can't run from the truth. you'll never have friends, ever again." It said

Both of them began walking to Amber, and she was too scared to move so once they reached her they easily towered over her.

"You're all alone." Both of them said and they repeated it multiple times as Amber covered her ears

"Stop it!" Amber yelled but they kept going until a small light appeared off to the side

"ENOUGH!" Nightmare shouted as she blasted the shadows away then she stepped to Amber who looked up at her and noticed that she almost looked like Luna but without any armor nor accessories "Are you alright?" she asked

Amber cocked her head "Moony? is that you?" she asked

"Of course it is." Nightmare said then Amber immediately latched onto her left foreleg in a tight hug

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." Amber said then she looked up at her "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked

Nightmare removed Amber from her leg "I am also able to enter the dreams of those I possess and manipulate them." she said

Amber looked around "This is a dream?" she said then she looked back at Nightmare "And those pones were just my imagination?" she asked

Nightmare nodded "Yes, none of it was real." she said

"But it felt so real, and it was so scary." Amber said then she gasped "Wait, did you come here to help me get rid of them?" she asked

Nightmare turned away "Of course not! you were moving so much in the real world that it was becoming annoying, so I simply came here to get rid of what was causing it. nothing more." she said

"Oh." Amber said then she turned away herself "Well since the nightmares are gone now. I guess you'll leave." she said

"Yes, I will." Nightmare said as she turned away

"But, I hope you stay." Amber said making Nightmare look back at her only to see her pleading eyes

Nightmare sighed "Very well, I will stay a little longer." she said as she turned back to Amber who was smiling widely "But first, let's change this scenery."

Amber watched as Nightmare used her magic to change the whole area from a classroom to a soft meadow. there weren't any trees in sight, nor any buildings, or ponies. above them was a clear sky with the moon and stars, and Amber couldn't help but be amazed.

"Wow, it's like we're really outside. it's hard to believe this is all just a dream." Amber said

Nightmare laid down on the grass "This may be a dream, but I created the sky to be an exact copy of the real one." she said

Amber turned to her "What about this meadow?" she asked

"The meadow is fake. I made it up, but it does make for a relaxing spot to watch the night sky." Nightmare said as she looked up at the sky

Amber trotted over to Nightmare and laid down beside her "Yeah, I've never seen the sky so clearly, it's beautiful." she said

"That it is." Nightmare said

Amber stared up at the sky until she looked over at Nightmare and frowned "You're probably wondering about that nightmare I had, aren't you?" she asked

Nightmare glanced down at her then back to the sky "I was, but I chose not to ask about it, for it was none of my concern. You do not have to tell me anything." she said

Amber stayed silent for a few moments then took a deep breath "I was scared. not just of the nightmares, but about coming back to ponyville." she said and Nightmare remained quiet "I'm...not on good terms with the other colts and fillies, and I was scared of what they'd say when I came back. I guess my fear was a lot bigger than I thought." she said and added a small chuckle

"I told you you didn't have to tell me, and that it was none of my concern." Nightmare said

"Oh right, sorry. just forget about it." she said and after only a few seconds of silence, Amber felt something on her back and looked behind her to see Nightmare had put her wing on her back "Um, your wing is on my back."

"I know." Nightmare said so Amber smiled and made herself comfortable underneath her wing as she looked up at the night sky

"Thanks, moony." AMber said

Nightmare huffed "Enjoy it while it lasts, and don't expect me to do this again." she said and Amber simply nodded

(Elsewhere)

Princess Luna was traversing the dream realm and expelling any nightmares that were plaguing other ponies dreams until she had come across a dream that was surrounded by a purple fog

"This is strange, I have not seen this before." Luna said as she trotted closer to the fog "Perhaps I should investigate this one's dream." she said

When Luna tried to enter the ponies' dream, she was immediately pushed back out, so she tried again only to get the same result.

"This is unexpected, why can I not enter this ponies dream?" Luna questioned so she focused her magic "Perhaps if I remove the fog first, then I will be able to see whose dream it is." she said then she began blasting the fog

(Inside the dream)

Amber and Nightmare were silently enjoying the open meadow and the night sky. until Nightmare's eyes widened then she stood up making Amber look up at her confused.

"Moony? what's wrong?" Amber asked

"Somepony is trying to enter your dream." Nightmare said

Amber cocked her head "But who has the power to...enter..." she trailed off as she realized who was trying to enter "It's Princess Luna!" she yelled

Nightmare nodded "I should have known she would find this dream at some point, but I didn't think it would be this soon. I was careless." she said

Amber stood up "But why is she struggling to enter my dream? she's the Princess of the night." she asked

"I have been trying to hide your dream from her spying eyes. it would seem my power wasn't enough to fully hide it." Nightmare said

Amber frantically looked around "This is bad. if she finds out about you and me then she'll tell others, and I'll lose you." she said

Nightmare glanced at Amber with a raised eyebrow then turned away "I can keep her out, but it will take a lot of power." she said and Amber nodded then Nightmare focused her magic and blasted the sky causing a ripple across it

(Luna)

Luna kept her magic on the fog and was successfully weakening it until it, unexpectedly, grew stronger. surprising Luna.

"This fog is no normal fog, somepony is keeping me out." Luna said so she made her own magic stronger "I shall break through this spell, and see what secrets you are trying to keep from me." she said

(Dream)

Nightmare was struggling to keep up her own magic "It would seem Luna is a lot stronger than I thought, or perhaps I have gotten weaker." she said

Amber had an idea "Moony!" she yelled making Nightmare look back at her "Take control of my body and wake me up. that will cause the dream to disappear, and it will keep Luna from finding out." she said

"You don't order me, but I will comply." Nightmare said then she stopped her magic and stepped out of the dream where she began to take over Amber's body

(Luna)

Luna stopped her magic "The spell is disappearing? this will be my only chance. I must take it." she said

Luna quickly stepped into the dream to find an open meadow with a night sky, and that it was disappearing quickly so she looked around and found a small filly in the middle of the meadow

"Little filly, what is your name?" Luna asked as she trotted closer to the filly, but once Luna was close enough, she saw that the filly's body was slowly transforming into something else "What is happening to you?"

Amber looked up at Luna with Nightmare's eyes making her gasp "You're too late."

"It can not be." Luna said then the dream disappeared leaving Luna to simply stare ahead of her "Nightmare moon...is alive?"

(Amber)

Nightmare quickly shot up in Amber's bed "Was I fast enough? did she see?" she said then she looked out the window and noticed the sun was slowly rising

"Amber! it's time to get up!" Lucy said

Nightmare quickly transformed back to Amber and used her magic to hide her extra features just as Lucy opened the door

"Oh? you're already up? that's surprising. you never wake up this early." Lucy said

Amber shrugged "I was tired and went to sleep early?" she said

Lucy nodded slowly "Right, breakfast is downstairs. come down when you're ready and don't take too long." she said then she left

Amber sighed "Moony? are you there?" she asked

"Of course I am." Nightmare said

"Thank Celestia. you don't think Luna found out, do you?" Amber asked

Nightmare hummed "That is hard to say, we will simply have to wait and see what happens next." she said and Amber nodded

Amber left her bed and headed downstairs where she saw her father already eating his own bowl of oats. she sat in her own chair as her mom gave her another bowl of oats then she sat beside her.

Lucy noticed that Amber wasn't eating "Amber? is everything alright?" she asked

"Um, do you think I can skip school today?" Amber asked

Onyx stopped eating "Why? did something happen?" he asked

Amber shook her head "No, I'm...still a little shaken up from the Everfree. so can I skip school?" she asked

Lucy and Onyx looked at each other, then back at Amber "Amber, you were missing for three days. you missed too much school to just simply skip." she said and Amber looked down so she put a hoof on her shoulder "How about this? if you ever feel something is wrong then you can tell Cheerilee. I'm sure she'll be able to take care of it, and if she can't then you can come right back home."

Amber reluctantly nodded "Okay." she said

Lucy removed her hoof and began eating her own food as Amber ate her's. after Amber was finished eating she retrieved her saddlebags, and left her home to head to school, even though she really didn't want to.

"Wait a moment, where did that castle come from?" Nightmare asked

Amber looked over at the ponyville castle "Oh that? it belongs to Princess Twilight." she said

"Princess Twilight?! when did that pony become a princess?! Nightmare asked

"I think it was after she and her friends defeated Tirek." Amber said

"She defeated Tirek? perhaps Twilight is much stronger than even I had assumed." Nightmare said "Tell me, since she is a princess now. does that mean she is also an alicorn?"

"Yeah, except she doesn't have a flowing mane like the other princesses. I wonder why." Amber said

"This certainly changes things. not only is Twilight a lot more powerful, but she is also an alicorn. it would seem I will have to hold off on my own plans for the time being. until I can find a way to get rid of Twilight sparkle, I can't risk being seen." Nightmare mumbled

"Did you say something, Moony?" Amber asked

"Nothing that concerns you." Nightmare said

Amber simply nodded and continued on her way to school

(Elsewhere)

Luna burst through Celestia's doors as she was standing on the balcony, and as soon as she did. Celestia quickly turned to her

"Luna? you almost gave me a heart attack." Celestia said

Luna stepped into the room "Now is not the time for jokes sister. I have urgent news." she said

Celestia trotted over to Luna "What's wrong? you look like you've seen a ghost." she said

"Sister, Nightmare moon is alive." Luna said

Celestia gasped "That cannot be. she should have been completely destroyed by the elements." she said, "How do you know this?"

"I saw her, she was in somepony's dream, a filly. I wasn't able to get a good look at her before she transformed into her." Luna said "We must find her before it is too late."

Celestia nodded "I will send a letter to Twilight immediately. I am sure she will know what to do." she said as she trotted out of the room and Luna followed

Luna shook her head "One can only imagine the horrors that poor filly is going through right now."

(Amber)

"Are you sure you should be wasting your time like this?" Nightmare asked

Amber had taken a small detour to sugarcube corner to buy a cupcake which she was eating now while sitting on a bench

"Come on Moony, there's nothing wrong with getting a small snack." Amber said as she took another bite and swallowed "Besides, I'm not in a rush to get to school anyway."

Nightmare shook her head "Unbelieveable." she said "Out of all the ponies in Equestria to possess, I had to end up with her." she mumbled

"Did you say something, Moony?" Amber asked

"No."

Comments

[WOofus]

Ah yes, the poor filly truly is suffering

I wonder if Luna knows exactly who the nightmare had inhabited, or whether she only knew that it was a filly.

EDIT:

I wasn't able to get a good look at her

Ah, so Luna doesn’t know that Amber was the one harbouring the Nightmare, will be interesting to see if Nightmare is able to hide Amber’s dream the next time she sleeps, as now Luna will spend considerable effort into finding her.

[Mythril_Miner]

This is awesome so far!

[Yubella]

I'm a willing host as long as Celestia dies and I get the everfree

[unknownreader]

Ah yes the thing called nightmare helps you get rid of your nightmares. :-)
Good story btw.