What Followed The Dawn

by Anemptyshell

Starlight to Starfall

There, atop a presiding balcony, stood the worst of my fears. At least fears that could and would immediately affect my personage. Starlight Glimmer, one hoof dangling idly over the lip of the balcony's marble railing, smiled down at my group. A smile that sent a wave of nausea through my everything.

"I must admit, I'd thought you'd be here ages ago. You disappoint, Tempest. You're usually much less predictable. A pity that changing loyalties came at the cost of your talents."

Tempest stomped closer, her eyes never leaving Starlight's smug stare. "You want talent? Those expectations of yours existed before I had a repaired horn. Now that I do, what makes you think you can look down on me, witch?"

"Uh, Tempest," I waved in her direction. She chose to ignore me. That or she was so blinded and deafened by hate she couldn't. It was the former. The latter was a world I could live without.

"Yes, yes, your horn. I won't deny that it was a surprise. A welcomed one, I'm sure, right, Fizzle?" Starlight asked.

Magic crackled and spat in all directions as Tempest charged her aforementioned remarkably intact horn. The bolts and arcs of magical current had both Babble and I backpedal lest we be disintegrated.

"I swear I will reduce you to ash."

"By all means. Let's see what that mended horn of yours can really do." Starlight's horn began to glow.

I lean towards Babble. "You ever feel like you should be anywhere else at all. Like this has nothing to do with you?" I asked.

Babble rolled his eyes. "Every time I recount joining this quest, yes."

"Have you not noticed?" Nightmare asked.

"Noticed what?"

My neck turned to a darkened corner near Starlight's perch. The sudden movement under Nightmare's control had me shudder. I was not a fan. It took a moment to parse Nightmare's point. In the dark, shadows cast from the three-story building stirred something, something very much alive.

"Ambush?" I asked.

Nightmare through her hooves wide. "The whelp can be taught, after all."

"Oh, haha, so, suggestions then. Miss knows everything? Should we go after them?" I asked.

Nightmare tapped a hoof to her chin, gazing up into the endless void of my mind. That came out sounding far more deprecating than I'd meant.

"No, leave them be for now."

"Might I ask why?" I pointed toward the hidden assailant from my mental palace. Nightmare grinned.

"I wish to see where this goes. This Starlight intrigues me, and Tempest already has my favor. Let them settle their score in peace."

I look back to the brewing storm of violence that churned and gathered before us. The sum of the city’s sound seemed to have muted itself of all but this moment, this confrontation. It reminded me of the night we'd stopped Nightmare Moon. The same night, she and I had become one.

What followed was all but instantaneous. The world was erased in a blinding flash. The sound of the colliding powers. The stream of magic Starlight and Tempest commanded left my head ringing. My hoof held in a failed attempt to shield my eyes from the flash. Then, a second and third flashes.

The ground cracked beneath my hooves. When the light finally faded, I could once again see. I was left aghast at the dueling unicorns. The already dismally kept plaza was rendered even more so by the new scorch marks and cracked ground. Starlight was no longer atop her balcony. She'd at some point found herself on the ground with the rest of us. Tempest had also moved. But instead of seeking a superior angle of attack, she'd placed herself between Babble, Myself, and the smirking Starlight.

Starlight rubbed a hoof against her cheek. "My my, you've tamed this wild mutt well, Stargazer. I won't lie, I'm impressed. Not even The Storm King had Fizzle so domesticated. Such a loyal little dog, aren't you, Fizzle?"

"Shut your mouth. Before I force it closed," Tempest responded with a very non-herbivore growl. It didn't help Starlight's comparison, that was for sure.

"Tempest, calm down. She's goading you," I said, sneering over Tempest's shoulder at the all to pleased Starlight.

"Stay out of this. The witch is mine."

"Star is right. We don't even know how she beat us here. Or, for that matter, how long she's been waiting," Babble said. He stepped forward and grabbed Tempest's shoulder, only to have her wrench his hoof away.

"We know which of you little rebels has the lion's share of the brains. A Hippogriff to boot, very thematically appropriate."

"I'll take that as an insult," Babble said as he nursed his hoof.

"As will I," I agreed. "Do you really think you can beat us all alone?" I asked. Starlight hummed as she seemed to mull over the question. I could see whomever she had hiding nearby.

"It is more than one, isn't it?" I asked Nightmare from her place, watching fangs glistening in her prison devoid of light.

"You've caught up, good. I've counted four waiting in the dark. It would be clever if I wasn't here. To use my domain as a blanket, has this smug brat forgotten our first meeting?"

I shook my head. "No, I doubt it. She's a bit too smart for that. If I were to guess, maybe it's a bluff or a test. I don't like it, either way."

"Oh, that, young Stargazer, we agree."

I was pulled back to the standoff as Tempest reignited her horn. She really needed a therapist when this was all over. Starlight laughed into a hoof. "All by myself, you say. In a fortress full of my soldiers, I'm alone? What an interesting point of view.”

"Whatever plot you've thought up is moot. Once you're gone, I can't imagine there is a yeti in this citadel that will challenge me. They know me. They've seen what I can do. They know better, and whether you admit it or not, so do you," Tempest said, steely cold venom dripping from her all the sudden very even and civil tone. A shiver played up my spine.

Starlight didn't react. She sighed and shook her head. Her horn glowed again, and her gaze fell past Tempest to me. I borrowed my own gaze and took a step forward. "Yes?" I asked.

"Is it not common to meet the eyes of your opponent? Your dog is all bark, and the hippogriff is no threat. That leaves just you, Stargazer, just you."

"I resent that assertion."

Tempest brought a hoof down and shattered the cobble beneath it. "As do I. Leave him out of this."

Starlight let forth a withering sigh. "Leave him out of this, you say? It was he who started all of this in the first place. He stopped Nightmare Moon, and he fixed your horn. He pushed me and the yeti king to act in haste. All of this, every last second wasted in this pointless game of royalty and egos, was his doing." Starlight's mask of polite condescension fell away. Replaced by a horrid contempt that could curdle milk.

"I also resent that statement."

"As do I," Nightmare huffed, to no one's knowledge.

"Resent it all you like. This is and will always be your fault. This whole charade is a waste of time, and it is a waste of my time. That cannot go unpunished."

I leaned towards Babble. "I think maybe, just maybe, Starlight isn't a very loyal lackey. I almost feel bad for the Storm King. It is so hard to get good help these days."

"Oh please, the ape could care less. That's how it always works. The only one you can rely on is yourself. Everyone is out for themself. Tempest wanted a horn, the Storm King wanted control, and you wanted the princesses. It's take, take, take. So, what is wrong with me taking what I want?"

"What do you want?" Babble asked. He spoke slow and low, stepping past Tempest, who herself looked ready to leave Mt. Aris nothing more than rubble in her rage. That really would be a pyrrhic victory at best.

"Oh, little hippogriff. I want what any pony wants."

"A therapist because you're sounding kinda crazy, to be honest," I said.

I offered the most enormous, fakest smile I could manage. The dismissive tut I received in return was duly earned. "I want my life back! I want my family back! I want Sunburst back! She took it all. She took everything. I want Vengeance!"

"I have a feeling she is talking to you," I told Nightmare. To which Nightmare looked rather bored. Even as her hooves shook beneath her.

"Such wasted potential. She went and wasted it on such trite, overused tropes. The vengeful loved one. I have lost all interest in this Starlight. Let us retrieve my sisters and be gone."

I blinked in both reality and my mindscape. My fangs glistened as I grinned madly at Nightmare. It took only a few seconds for her to realize what she'd done. A pattern was forming. She pointed a hoof at me and snarled.

"Not one word."

I shrugged. "Whatever you say."

On the matter of Starlight, Nightmare had a point. Meanwhile, Nightmare definitely took a lot from so many. Starlight seemed especially unhinged. I couldn’t blame her for it, not really. I offered an apologetic smile. Starlight didn’t seem to be appreciative if the grimace I received back was any indication.

"Nightmare took them away, I assume?" I asked.

Starlight blinked as my sudden smile fell away into a bored frown in all but a second. I needed to work on not projecting while talking with my literal inner demon. That'd have to wait.

"If by took, you mean had killed. My entire town was razed. Early into her conquest, Nightmare Moon decimated anyone or anything that so much as complained of her ascension. One of which was Sire's Hollow. Only a few of us survived. So many dead over simple words. So many ponies I loved, gone, reduced to ash and bone."

"Is that true?" I asked Nightmare. I actively tried to restrain my body from copying the look in my mind. It was not thematically fitting. The hint of rage was buried in my look. The way Nightmare pondered such evils like one might consider what they want for dinner, had me grinding my teeth.

"The name does ring some bells. In the first few months of my rule, I did make several examples of the growing dissension. I only burned three, maybe four villages before most fell in line. Those were dark nights, indeed. However, it was necessary to ensure peace and devotion." Nightmare’s words rang hollow. Even as she spoke them, there was a dull mechanical feel. It was as if not even she believed her words.

"And you wonder why so many hate you?" I asked. Nightmare didn't respond. She wasn't meant to. What she did do was sigh. Her flowing mane wavered for a moment. Her look was downcast as she thought through my words. My fury stalled as I watched. A single metaphysical tear fell from Nightmare's foggy eye. I was left as dumbstruck as she was at that moment.

"Nightmare Moon is gone. You said it yourself: Stargazer and his friends bested her and freed Equestria. So, why take the princesses? Why play these games at all?" Babble asked.

“If you were right, I would have to concede. I might have relinquished the princesses if those claims were made in good faith. If you were honest, I might have even surrounded Mt. Aris. But those are all ifs. None of which are true. Nightmare Moon is not gone. She never was. In fact, it's clear that she is here, right now, right there!" Starlight screamed, pointing a hoof at me. I didn't bother to put up a facade of innocence. She was smart enough. It'd be pointless.

I held up my forehooves in submission. "Not completely wrong. May I ask how you came to such conclusions, though?"

"The airship. Though I believe you know that already. Nightmare's magic saved your friend. That inky black mess reeked of her power. The same magic that burned my home to the ground."

I nodded along. "I don't know much about magic and how such things can reek. However, the inky tendrils did scream the queen of the night. I don't suppose you're interested in understanding why and how Nightmare is what she is now?"

"Would it change your mind?" Starlight asked.

I pursed my lips and blew out through clenched teeth. "No, probably not. Though I'd like to say one thing all the same, if I may."

Starlight waved a dismissive hoof. "Go on."

"The Nightmare you hate, the one who performed so many atrocities, the monster that ruled through fear and death. That Nightmare did, in fact, die the night I and my friends faced her. That nightmare is over."

That caught Starlight's attention. She dropped her hoof and stepped closer. Her eyes sparkled with a thirst for secrets. I restrained a smirk. One that would have died on my lips nonetheless. The yetis hiding in wait were on the move. The shadows stirred. My skin crawled. Nightmare had shrunk back into her prison, in a corner of a room with no walls. It left my skin numb and my stomach twisted. I felt a welling anger, one with no target to enact its fury upon.

Starlight tapped a hoof on the cobblestone, returning my attention to what was directly before me."Then tell me, what Nightmare is left?"

Something clicked in my head. A cog that fell into place. Starlight's question was one of many similar questions I'd been asking myself for a year. Nightmare, what Nightmare, who was Nightmare, why was Nightmare still here? They were all the wrong questions and the right questions at the same time.

The yetis were drawing in from all directions. We were surrounded, even if Tempest and Babble hadn't noticed. I had a feeling they'd know from the get-go. Starlight really picked the biggest batch of alert ponies she could. It'd have been funny if I hadn't been left pondering Starlight's question.

"Those are the questions, aren’t they? Who, what, and why, Nightmare Moon was evil. A monster. A creature born from jealousy and spite. Of which, at least at first, had been justified by Luna. However, Luna is not Nightmare Moon."

Nightmare shrunk further in her imaginary corner. She'd begun nursing her head. Fangs clenched, she hissed incomprehensible thoughts under her breath. My veins ran cold. My tongue was dry, and I felt like I might vomit.

"The things she did were unforgivable. You aren't the only one, nor are you wrong in wanting her punished. On that, you and I agree."

My vision swam, and the shadows danced. The encircling yetis were no longer hiding whatsoever. Nightmare had gone from mumbling under her breath to gasping for air. A familiar dark crept along my skin. My left eye was consumed in darkness. It was dark but comforting like being swaddled in a mother's embrace. It was safe, protective, and sincere.

Starlight was staring at me. I blinked. I could feel the gentle darkness that had wrapped itself around my left side. I could only imagine what it looked like. Like Nightmare Moon, no, not Nightmare Moon. That was the issue here. The thing it all boiled down to.

I shook my head. I ignored everything but the mare cowering in my mindscape and the bewildered but still righteously angered mare in front of me. Everything else faded away.

"That doesn't answer your question. It's the same one I'd been asking for a while. A question that could not be answered because the question is incomplete. It isn't what Nightmare is left. Because there is no Nightmare to be left of. When Discord stitched us together, no one knew what'd happen. But it wasn't just tossing two souls into a body and praying for the best. Those two souls became one," I took a deep breath. The world was deathly quiet.

"The two ponies that had once been were no longer wholly who they were before. Stargazer was, and is, the dominant personality. The one in control, most of the time. It was his body, so his soul got top billing. That said, one must then ask, what of the other? The other weakened, Element of Harmony blasted, Chaos magically fused soul? That soul became something new, it looked familiar, and pretended to be that deception. So well, in fact, they duped themselves."

The soul that sat in the corner shook and flailed like a mare possessed. All I could do was watch. The pain, the confusion, plain as day. She was wrapped in the dark as it tried to calm her. The same dark that covered me.

"The answer is Starlight. There is no Nightmare. There hasn't been since the night in the Everfree. You point your hoof and make your claims. You may lay them at our hooves. We will take responsibility. But your anger is pointless. Your vengeance, unrequited."

"Liar," Starlight whispered.

The spell was broken. The world returned. The yetis surrounded us. Tempest looked ready to burst. Babble stood disenchanted as her look traveled between everyone and everything around us. Starlight, however, stood stock still. Her eyes were pinpricks. Her words were almost lost in the night's breeze.

"Liar, liar, liar, liar."

"Starlight."

"LIAR!" Starlight screamed to the heavens. She growled and snarled and spat. The maddening rage that had consumed her met with her horn glowing brightly. Her magic formed a twister around the plaza, trapping everyone in. "The dead will have their revenge."

I shook my head silently. Words can only get one so far. If only Starlight could see what I saw. If only it were that simple.