MLP: Equestria

by Draconis187

Part 4: The Return of a Nightmare

MLP: Equestria Part 4: The Return of a Nightmare
Author: Draconis187

The day for the party was upon us, well more me than the others. I had to prove to Celestia that she could trust me, in hindsight that may be a tad difficult with harbouring information about Nightmare Moon. Rarity made me two outfits for the occasion: one was for my Alicorn side, the suit was silver in colour for the most part but Rarity also lined the sides with small sapphires, the overall design resembled a tuxedo but without the tie. I would also be wearing my armoured boots as well, but I was leaving the helmet on my bedside table. The other one was for my human side: the suit was the same shade of blue that Nightmare Moon’s armour had and had a purple trim. I would be wearing black shoes and a black bowtie.

I was standing outside as Starlancer with Rainbow Dash, waiting for the guests to arrive. Pinkie was inside with Surprise making sure everything was perfect, or wacky can’t tell which is which with them. We didn’t have to wait long as the first few guests arrived: Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike, Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon, amongst others from Ponyville. Dash and I struck up a conversation while we were waiting for the rest.

“You nervous Starlancer?” I just nodded, “Sweet Celestia. You're an Alicorn; you should start acting like one.” I glared at her.

“Oh really? Let’s take a look at the Alicorns I’ve thus far: one seems to hate me, one tried to possess me and plunge Equestria into eternal night but that didn’t work (she didn’t know that Nightmare still lives yet), one seemed to get too friendly too fast and had been banished for 1000 years, oh another one albeit more of a bug than an Alicorn tried to steal another Alicorn’s husband and tried to take over Equestria with a Changeling army. I haven’t made up my mind about Cadance since I haven’t really spoken to her since the wedding.” Dash rolled her eyes.

“Jeez, lighten up. Celestia isn’t that bad, she just doesn’t know you like the rest of us do. I’m sure Luna sees what we see in you more than her sister does so that must count for something. Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis were jerks and let’s just leave it there. Cadance though seems nice, but I've never spoken to her either. Besides, you have friends don’t you? And you have the greatest pony to ever live as a friend too… me!” I smiled a bit at her attempt to cheer me up.

“I appreciate your help Dash, thanks.” As Dash smiled back, Pinkie came bounding out the front door, all cheerful (what else is new?). “How many ponies did you invite Pinkie?”

“Oh, just about everypony in Ponyville, Canterlot and Cloudsdale silly.” So that why the rest of the guests were taking so long, Cloudsdale and Canterlot are much further away than Ponyville.

“Thanks Pinkie, oh how are you getting along with Surprise?” She stopped jumping instantly, her hair deflated, even her coat became a little pale and she started speaking in a low, slow tone. Uh oh, what now?!

“Never mention that pony to me again, got it?” Dash and myself were shocked seeing her like this. I nodded slowly, then all of a sudden her hair returned to its ‘normal’ cotton candy style and her coat brightened up. “Got you didn’t I? I love her! She’s like the sister I never had!” With that she bounded back into the castle and back to the party. Dash and I just looked at each other; I laughed nervously and waited a little longer.

Soon more ponies started coming, well I tell you it felt like there was a small army coming in but given what Pinkie said that was probably a very accurate statement. Luna and Celestia eventually came as well. Luna smiled at me and greeted us as she walked in, I stopped Celestia going in though.

“Princess I need to speak to you please, (I looked towards her guards) privately. Dash would you mind looking after my halberd please?” She nodded and I gave Dash my halberd. Celestia and I went to a small clearing in the Everfree Forest, her Solar Guard were following us until we got there. Celestia dismissed them with a wave her hoof and we were alone to talk to each other without any interruption.

“So Celestia, what is it about me you seem to hate so much?” She looked a little shocked at me, but I carried on regardless. “I mean, you were so quick to exile me when I first got here, you seemed to have some form of vendetta against me before we even met. I also noticed from the tone of your voice that you did not sincerely mean what you said.” Celestia looked up to the stars but I could see she was a little sad, she then responded.

“You must understand, I did all of this for Luna. Her return as Nightmare Moon made most of our subjects fear her, which made it hard for her to make any friends. Despite Twilight and the others being helping her on Nightmare Night they have their own duties to perform as do I so we can not always be there when she needs us. I feared she would grow distant again and become Nightmare Moon once more. I then began to look beyond our world, beyond our universe.” Wait, she’s not saying…?!

“Yes, your arrival here was not accidental. I am capable of partially seeing into other universes during the day of the Summer Sun Celebration as on that day my magic is at its strongest. After I raised the sun I eventually saw your universe, but the vision was hazy at best. What I was able to see was what was in your heart, you felt alone, sad yet you tried to help others regardless. You told us it was that First Fleet from that Bleach Protocol that forced you to use this ‘Cataclysm Cannon’, right?” I nodded. “Well, getting you here was no small feat; it requires an immense amount of energy from both ends to make the connection; that is why the gateway closed after you entered. But it is possible for one end to make the connection but it will take more energy than both sides combined to achieve. Now I must ask you: do you regret coming to Equestria?” I shook my head.

“No, I don’t. Sure there are some things I miss, but I've already lost them while I was on the run. So I guess in a way you saved me Celestia. I am truly grateful for it but it still does not explain your attitude towards me when we met.” She chuckled a bit and faced me.

“I suppose not. I was shocked when I saw that huge metal monster fall through the sky and I saw it was you after the crash since there was no shards of metal around the location you landed. I went to the crash site and found you unconscious on the ground and I healed your more serious injuries. But I made sure to seal away your capabilities until I knew what I was dealing with, I was doing it for the safety of my subjects. I then left for you to wake up on your own.” I could see from the expression on her face she seemed to be telling the truth. ”Luna knew that it was I who brought you to our world the moment she saw you. Like I said: I have been searching for a friend for Luna and she was so happy when we got back to the castle, so much so she couldn’t sleep for next two weeks. She eventually fell asleep on Cadance’s wedding day, the day you came back as Nightmare Moon and saved us.” She looked away, lost in thought. As I was about to ask her what was wrong, she continued. “I think it’s time I gave you your abilities back, I only ask you that you use them with caution.”

“Don’t worry Celestia; I’ll first have to practise using them again since it has been a while since I last used any of them. Something has been bothering me a bit though: what about this ‘brother’ thing Luna spoke of after I became Starlancer? Last time I checked I was not related to either of you.”

“What she means is that since the both of you were connected by Nightmare Moon, you may have some of her DNA in you, and thus making you our sibling. I would need to check this with my magic though to make sure. Do you wish for me to find out?” I nodded. Celestia came up close to me, placed her horn on mine and it started to glow. She stopped after a few seconds, stepped back and smiled at me.

“It appears that Luna was right, you are related to myself and Luna thanks to Nightmare Moon. You are now essentially a prince.” I fell on to my rump. “I will need to formerly introduce your title to the party. I will ask Shining Armour to come and help you learn how to command other ponies under you, once he is back from his honeymoon with Cadance. The reason is that you will be given your own guards. Who they will be is up to you, but there is a special ritual for it. It gives your guards some of your abilities and traits. That is why the Lunar Guard Pegasi have bat wings instead of normal ones. You will also perform the ritual on your own guards, don’t worry I was told it does not hurt anypony, it just feels weird. But now we probably should head back to the party? Just before we do though…” she placed her horn on mine again and they both glowed. My HUD lit up like a Christmas tree and I saw a lot of binary data flash in front of my eyes, no doubt the missing codes for my abilities. A message saying: ‘FULL SYSTEM FUNTIONALITY RESTORED’ appeared before me, acknowledging what Celestia did. She just nodded at me and we went back to the party. While we were walking I checked my roster and to my disappointment I only saw two things listed: my slightly updated version of REX and my dragon form. I then checked my knowledgebase to see if any of my magic capabilities were restored and there were two as well: my flash freeze capability (fire lightning and it freezes whatever it hits instantly) and a blizzard spell (alters the weather into a strong snowstorm, what else). It was better than nothing.

As I got back Dash told me that everypony that Pinkie Pie and Surprise invited had arrived so we didn’t have to wait outside anymore. Dash gave back my halberd, Celestia went inside with her Solar Guard in tow and then Dash and I followed. Pinkie Pie and Surprise did a marvellous job, Celestia went back to her sister on one of the balconies and the Solar Guard joined the Lunar Guard. The number of total guards was 12, 6 from each respective sister. Seeing the two different types of guards together truly bought out their differences: the Solar Guard consisted of 2 white unicorns and the other 4 were grey Pegasi; other than their gold armour that matched Celestia’s own they looked like any normal pony. But the Lunar Guard looked very different: they had cat-slit irises like myself and Nightmare Moon; they had bat wings instead of normal feathered ones; their coats were grey; their armour was mainly purple, other than that they looked normal and acted the same way as their Solar counterparts with those cold, serious looks on their faces.

I met with my friends and also talked with some other ponies. Pinkie Pie and Surprise were having a contest to see who could drink the most hot sauce, they were at 15 1lt bottles each until they BOTH bolted to get water. Those two were made for each other. Luna pulled me to the side at one point in the party with Celestia joining in.

“How do you think your party is going?” Luna asked with genuine concern on her face. I now knew why Luna cared so much about me: I was Celestia’s promise to her, a friend for her that could be there for her when she could not. I smiled at her.

“I think it’s going well honestly. I’ve met a number of ponies from Cloudsdale, Canterlot and Ponyville. Twilight and her friends told me that they don’t think I am evil so I think I might have made some friends tonight.” They both smiled at me and Celestia spoke.

“I’m glad, but I believe it is now time to tell everypony about what you and I discussed earlier on.” I knew what Celestia was talking about and agreed. Luna just looked to Celestia and myself, she seemed lost (Celestia must not have told her). The three of us went into the centre of the room and got everypony’s attention. I gathered that I should probably tell them about Nightmare Moon as well, since we are getting everything out.

“Everypony it is so nice to see all of you come here. I know Starlancer appreciates your care and support. But now I should tell you all something important. As you all know my sister Luna used to be Nightmare Moon, and we all know that Starlancer was possessed by Nightmare Moon’s spirit and was subsequently turned into her for that time. Because she was connected to both of them, Michael gained the ability to turn into the Alicorn we all know as Starlancer. The real reason I am bringing this up is that Starlancer has some of Luna’s DNA in him, and therefore makes him family. Mares and gentlecolts, I give you Prince Starlancer, a brother to both Luna and myself.” At this everypony didn’t seem to argue, they just bowed at us – or more specifically I guess, me – Twilight and her friends smiled at me. Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to faint, and if Surprise’s mouth was any more open, her jaw would be trailing on the floor. It was now or never, they would either understand or I will lose their faith and confidence forever. I had to take that risk, they needed to know about her.

“Thanks everypony, but please don’t go around calling me ‘Prince’, just Michael or Starlancer will be fine. I need to tell you all something regarding Nightmare Moon.” I got quite a few gasps from the room, including Luna and yet Celestia was just listening, she did not say a word or sound. I wondered if Luna had already told her? “Well, you all know she tried to take my body right? She failed but it warped my body into hers. After the fight at the wedding with Chrysalis, she left my body and I became Starlancer. A short while after that day I found out something a bit disturbing: Nightmare Moon… still lives.” Some ponies fainted, I heard one say “Traitor!”, there was another one I heard say: “How is that possible?” “She currently inhabits the mirror in my room but she can't leave it unless she comes into contact with an Alicorn and takes their body.” Luna looked away and Celestia came forward. She silenced the room just by raising her hoof.

“I knew of this turn of events from Luna. She has been talking to Nightmare Moon to try and understand her motives. Despite their history, Luna believes that Nightmare Moon has changed just as Starlancer told us after the fight in Canterlot. I trust Luna’s judgement, there should be no need to worry. I applaud Starlancer’s dedication to being honest with us, but I need to change the subject: his personal guard. How many of you wish to and are prepared to protect this castle, him and this part of Equestria? There is no need to feel forced, this is not mandatory for anypony.” There was a huge buzz of talk amongst everyone, discussing this turn of events.

Lyra was the first to step forward. “I understand what our princess is saying and I will trust and protect you Starlancer, if you would have me.” The next was Bon Bon, “Wherever you go Lyra, I will be there with you. Friends help one another and that includes you Pri- I mean - Starlancer.” They both bowed at my feet, and soon more ponies were coming forward and declaring themselves to me. Two of Celestia’s guard were among them and one of Luna’s as well! Luna and Celestia smiled at me.

“I do believe you have your own guard whether you want it or not. We need to think of a name for your guards don’t you th-” Lyra then interrupted Celestia. Wait, you are allowed to do that?!

“Pardon my interruption. I believe since your guards are called the Solar and Lunar Guard, Star Guard may be an appropriate title.” Yeah, that name does seem to work.

“Do you any objections Starlancer?” I shook my head at Celestia. “Very well then, you shall be known throughout Equestria as the Star Guard, protectors of Nightmare Castle, and under the orders of Starlancer.” They all cheered. After that we all returned to the party but something seemed off.

I noticed Prince Blueblood looking around, and I also saw Rarity actively trying to avoid him. I guessed they had a history, a bad one. I didn’t think much of it at the time and carried on. Lyra and Bon Bon were walking with me the entire time; I guessed they are really taking this new job of theirs seriously. I heard the shattering of glass and saw Pinkie Pie around some glass shards by the banquet table (turned out to be the punch bowl) she must have still been feeling the effects of all that hot sauce. Twilight and Rarity were picking up the pieces with their magic. When I turned around to where I saw Blueblood, he was gone. Luna called me and the ponies that wished to be my guard outside. I had a suspicion to what the reason was. Luna took us to the large clearing in the grounds where I was going to have my training area.

“I understand my sister told you about the initiation ritual that all our guards take part in. I believe it is better to get do it now rather than later, but I can only tell you of what the ritual is, what it does to a pony’s body depends on the magic the one performing it has. Now then, what the ritual does is give your guards a very minute amount of your own power and personality. That is one of the reasons as to why my guards have bat wings and the same eyes as you and Nightmare Moon the reason why was because bats mostly nocturnal animals have allow them to see better at night. Their coats may also change colour.” One of the Solar Guards came forward and nodded, saying that it was true and he used to be a light green colour before turning white. “Now then, whenever you are ready, who will go first?”

Again Lyra stepped forward (she is really brave to trust somepony she barely knows). I put my head down until my horn touched her head, not her horn and I concentrated. My HUD lit up with the message: ‘TRANSFER IN PROGRESS…’, I saw a bit of her change with each minute: she looked up at me and I saw her eyes had cat-like irises but kept their original colour and I also noticed the same lines that make up my HUD in them as well, she most likely now sees the world as I do. ‘TRANSFER COMPLETE’, as I stepped back I also noticed she grew normal Pegasi wings except they seemed larger than normal, it was probably because my own were also larger even by Alicorn standards. She looked around slightly scared, I could see lines of binary data flash in front of her eyes and that was probably why.

“What is this? What exactly happened?” I just walked up to her and calmed her down.

“All those lines and words you are seeing are part of what is called a Heads Up Display or HUD for short. I see the world the same way, but it is possible to make it go away. Just think about turning the HUD off and it will.” She closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened them again the HUD was gone. She then turned her attention to her new additions. She gave her wings a few experimental flaps, and she then tried to fly. She must have shot up 10 feet with just a single flap of her wings. She just hovered in the air looking at us first with shock but that soon turned into a huge smile. Bon Bon stepped forward, ready for her turn.

It took about an hour but I had finished the ritual with all of my new Star Guards. They were all Alicorns but kept their original size, eye colour, their manes and tails also stayed the same and colour of their coats. Luna and I went inside, leaving the Star Guard to get used to their new additions and their HUD. We also took the armour the old guards had since they changed. I did not see Prince Blueblood again for the most of the evening, he probably left when he heard Rarity was here but it was of no consequence or importance to me in the end. Celestia was surprised with what Luna and I told her when I performed the ritual, but she did say that she will get the royal armourer to make some armour for them but I asked for all of us to come. I thought it may be a good idea for me to learn how to smith while I am there as well.

The new guards came back in and got a few mixed reactions to an entire force of Alicorns, but they showed that they stayed the same, personality wise. They also stood alongside the Solar and Lunar Guards, I overheard a few of them saying that maybe they should join and become Alicorns as well. The night stared to wind down, ponies were leaving one by one, Luna and Celestia decided to stick around for the night, the castle had more than enough rooms for them and their guards. I saw Blueblood again but he seemed to be in some form of a hurry, he noticed I saw him and bolted out the front door. He was seemed to be carrying a very large mirror… NO NO NO it was Nightmare’s mirror! I chased him into the woods calling out his name several times over to no avail. I caught up with him in one of Everfree Forest’s many clearings. He just stopped, put the mirror down next to him, turned towards me and stated to laugh manically. Oh great, I knew then I had just got suckered into a trap.

I then heard the sound of wings, but they didn’t sound like Pegasi wings, they sounded like an insect’s wings. I looked up to see several changelings all wearing armour with several holes in them, some were coming out from behind the trees as well. Before my eyes I saw Blueblood turn into Chrysalis, she looked the same since I last met her.

“Greetings, Starlancer. I have heard so much about you. I heard you were that pony that stopped me at the wedding. You are going to pay for my humiliation, changelings ATTACK!!” As her force came for me I took out my halberd and charged. I stabbed one in the throat and swung the halberd around, bashing another on the side of its head with the shaft, knocking it unconscious. I fired off a few flash freeze spells, stabbed one through its eye so hard the halberd went through its head and stabbed the one behind it. I decapitated a few others; I kicked one with my rear hooves with enough force and felt its skull fracture; I stabbed another through one of the holes in its armour (in hindsight, that armour was not very practical); some had given up and fled. After a few minutes the remaining changelings were either out cold or dead. She just looked left and right in utter shock. I saw Nightmare nod her head at me so I grabbed the mirror using my magic and threw it on top of Chrysalis’ head... hard.

“STO-“The mirror shattered once it made contact and Chrysalis fell onto her side. She just lay there on the ground, covered in cuts all over her body and bled green blood. The mirror was in thousands of pieces. I slowly walked towards her.

“Now is as good a time as any Nightmare.” The shards of the broken mirror started to rise up off the ground and attached themselves to Chrysalis’s body. Once the shards had covered her legs she started to stand up as more and more pieces covered her entire body, including her eyes. The started to melt, forming a type of reflective shell around her. Before my eyes Chrysalis started to change: her horn started to straighten; Her wings moved to her sides and looked more like Pegasi wings; her ‘crown’ melted into her head; her mane and tail were becoming longer and started to move on its own volition; the holes in her legs were filling. I knew then that Nightmare Moon was taking over her body. The liquid mirror then started to come off her, pooling around her feet and then it moved back to the frame it came from. The liquid solidified and reformed the mirror, as if it never shattered at all, I looked back at Chrysalis, only to see Nightmare Moon standing in her place (minus the armour), staring back at me.

“Miss me? Hahaha.” She walked past me, towards the castle. “I guess I should reintroduce myself, don’t you think?” She bumped her flank against mine and giggled. I was about to say something but I was interrupted by the sound of Chrysalis’s voice.

“What have you done to me!!” It was funny to see the Queen of the Changelings banging against her new prison in rage. Nightmare and I just laughed at her.

“It is quite futile Chrysalis. That mirror will never break, the only way to get out is to come into contact with an Alicorn. But I don’t think you will have much chance to find a host.” Nightmare said with a big grin on her face. Chrysalis looked at us silently for a second but then she started to laugh maniacally. “What are you laughing about!?”

“It’s simple, a queen always has a backup plan. I had my minions steal a little something from Canterlot. A certain statue to be precise.” Oh no, she can't mean… “Yes, Discord of course. He will free me once my minions free him. So no matter how hard you try, I will always be one step ahead of you. HAHAHA!!”

“Sorry to disappoint you Chrysalis, but you will not be enjoying your little victory for long. We shall stop you and Discord.” I said.

“Now that is something I would love to see. NOW MY MINIONS!! Take me back to my home!” The changelings that fled the battle appeared and grabbed the mirror, Nightmare started to run to stop them but I stopped her. She gave me a very stern look.

“We should stop them!” I shook my head. As I was doing so, the changelings left with their now imprisoned monarch.

“Nightmare, you have what you wanted. You have your own body and can properly make amends like you said, I doubt Discord will co-operate with Chrysalis for long. I’ve seen their kind of relationship before, it never lasts because one always stabs the other in the back. And on the other hoof I don’t see how Chrysalis will free Discord if she is trapped or vice versa, after all Discord is a statue and in no position to free Chrysalis.” She nodded her head in agreement.

“Ok, I understand your reasoning. But giving your enemies time to recover is never a good idea.” I nodded.

“True, but it also gives them a sense of hope, and when you crush it, the victory tastes all the sweeter.” Nightmare laughed. We walked back to the castle as Nightmare wanted to get used to having a physical form of her own. I took a hair from her coat – with her permission of course – and analysed it (I put it in my mouth, disgusting!). Turned out Chrysalis’s body had its DNA completely rewritten. There was not a single trace of Chrysalis’s own DNA anywhere within any part of the strand.

When we entered the only ponies left were: Luna, Celestia, the Mane 6, Surprise was still partying with Pinkie Pie, the Star Guard and some other ponies that were invited. We got a lot of stares from everypony, Celestia and Luna came up to us. Luna was understandably shocked and Celestia looked angry.

“How is this possible? I know Starlancer told us you yet live. We were led to believe you were contained within a mirror.” Celestia said with quite the stern look on her face.

I stepped forward and told her and everypony what had occurred: from seeing Blueblood; him stealing the mirror; Blueblood turning out to be Chrysalis; sending her changelings after me; me tearing them apart; me smashing the mirror on top of her and Nightmare stealing her body in the process. We got a few gasps and looks. Then I told Celestia about Chrysalis saying she had stolen Discord’s statue. Well let’s say she did not take it lightly. She bolted off with her guard saying she needed to find out for herself. Before Luna left she said to me: “I hope you know what you are doing.” To be honest I hoped so too.

Despite several ponies making some rather nasty comments, Twilight; her friends as well as the Star Guard came up beside Nightmare and myself. Seeing my shocked expression, Twilight smiled at me and spoke.

“You already have our trust, if you believe Nightmare has changed then so do we.” Everypony else reassured me by basically saying the same thing even Lyra and Bon Bon. Nightmare went over to the table to get something to eat and drink since the last time she did was before I arrived (for the year before I arrived she was a spirit which is incapable of eating and then she was inside a mirror, best slimming plan EVER, not).

“Thank you all, that means more to me than you know. Though we need to consider what Chrysalis’ next move may be. We will need a lookout point: somewhere high; easily concealed; anypony have an idea?” Fluttershy then reminded the others of Mount Dragonshy, saying it was a very tall mountain where a very scary dragon – as she put it – had taken up residence inside a cave there sometime back. She also said you could see for miles from the cave’s entrance. It seemed perfect.

“Thanks Fluttershy, I believe it will fulfil the role perfectly. I will construct it myself… uh does anypony have a telescope I can borrow?” Twilight said she had one, she quickly teleported to the library and was back in a minute, with the telescope standing next to her. Dash said she would show me where the cave was so, picking up the telescope, we flew off. I had the odd feeling that I heard Nightmare call me but I brushed it off and carried on following Dash. We got there after a few hours of flying. Dash went off saying she needs to check the weather schedule for Ponyville and hoped Fluttershy did not mess up the weather too badly. I still wonder how they became friends. Once Dash was out of sight I opened my wings and took flight once more, leaving the telescope behind. What they don’t know is that despite I seem calm on the inside, I tend to take what others say hard. I just needed some time alone so I could clear my head.

(Nightmare’s Point of View)

Those comments hit him harder than these ponies think. I couldn’t follow him since all that time without food and water played catch-up with me and a whole year’s worth of malnutrition takes its toll, even to an Alicorn. It’s the real reason I wanted to walk back to the castle: I didn’t have enough strength to fly. I turned my attention back to the food. He wants to leave, let him.

Twilight saw me eating an entire three layer chocolate sponge cake with vanilla frosting; I finished one of the punch bowls and ate five sandwiches. She came up to me looking worried.

“Slow down, you shouldn’t eat so fast. You will give yourself a major stomach ache.” I stopped for a second, swallowed what I had in my mouth and responded.

“Two things little miss Sparkles. One: I haven’t eaten in over a year, so I am extremely hungry; Two: Michael is not going to come back, he said he was going to make a lookout post but he lied. He will have probably left that mountain once that Rainbow Dash was out of sight.”

Twilight and her friends ran out of the castle and these smaller Alicorns followed behind them. Once they left I felt this strange feeling. It wasn’t until I saw the tear fall onto the marble floor that I realised: it was sadness. My thoughts were constantly fixated on not wanting to be alone. WHY?! Why was I caring? Why did I feel like I wanted HIM to be near me? Why do I feel so… sad being alone, I was never sad during my 1000 year banishment so why now? I shook my head and decided to concern myself with another matter.

Who was this ‘Discord’? Could Chrysalis really have stolen it while she was stealing the mirror I was in? There was no point dwelling on such a trivial matter any further, I needed my rest. I walked through the new castle and then I found the room. The room I saw him in many times, calling my name over and over. He never gave up on finding me, I was still my evil self so at the time I thought he might had proven useful to me and become my host so I could try and destroy Celestia.

I could have never predicted what occurred after I possessed him: I never would have seen that I was partially wrong about these ponies and he became an Alicorn after I left his body. There was a possibility that I will find him in the Dream World, I had to try at least, I could not let him leave so easily. I decided to sleep under the statue they made of me, I gathered it was at Michael’s request, the sentimental moron. After an hour I entered the Dream World.

Things in the Dream World work very differently to reality. Dream Castle is at the centre and is capable of moving anywhere within the world (it is an exact replica of Nightmare Castle). Each individual pony’s dream is represented by a floating island in a sea of opaque deep purple mist. As a pony awakes from their dream, their island fades out of existence and vice versa. It is possible to see all the islands of a particular area (Ponyville and its surrounding area for instance) from the top of Dream Castle, and entering a dream is as simple as flying towards it and landing on it. As far as I know I am the only pony truly conscious of this world, and the only one capable of travelling between the islands, it may be possible for Luna or Celestia to be aware as well. The islands are arranged by each pony’s proximity to one another and they are all labelled with each pony’s name hanging over it. The islands will only ever touch and connect if they share the same dream, which is a very rare occurrence.

As I started my search I could see Scootaloo’s (a small orange filly with a short cerise coloured mane and tail) dream: racing Rainbow Dash around a racecourse situated on the ground, Scootaloo was racing that arrogant mare on her scooter, using her wings to propel her even faster. Rainbow Dash seemed to be having trouble keeping up, but since that it was Scootaloo’s dream this outcome was bound to happen.

I turned my attention to another island and saw Twilight Sparkle’s dream. Or should I saw nightmare, she was kneeling before a very angry Celestia who was scolding her over teaching Michael magic. So that mare was teaching him magic huh? Celestia’s mane was on fire, and her eyes were deep red as well as her coat. Twilight seemed to be having a terrible nightmare so I decided to help out. I flew out to the island, once I got there the evil Celestia tried to attack me. I just fired off a lightning bolt at her, she became her normal, annoying self and just like that Twilight’s nightmare was over. Twilight just looked at the two of us and I flew off before she could say anything.

I got back to the castle and continued to search for Michael but to no avail. He was nowhere in the Ponyville area so I moved the castle to another location. Michael would probably have gone to a remote area. The search went on for two days but I could not find him, I woke up only to eat and drink as my physical body still needed food and water. I went into Ponyville and found it deserted, I gathered it was because of me. I wandered around the town, hoping to find somepony I recognised. I eventually saw Lyra sitting on a bench in the park, playing on a lyre. She saw me and waved; I went over to her and sat next to her.

“Have you had any luck Lyra?” I said. She looked at me for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, I’m sorry. We went to Mount Dragonshy but all we found was Twilight’s telescope. I'm playing on my lyre it helps me think. How about you?” I shook my head.

“I've been searching the Dream World for two days and I still haven’t found him.” Lyra gasped and dropped her lyre.

“I just got an idea! We all have to work together on this in order for it to work.” I nodded and Lyra started to lay out her plan to get Michael to come back once we found him. The plan was a long shot but all of us were prepared take that chance, I want to get rid of these feelings quickly. The sooner, the better.

I resumed the search that night and I eventually found him where the desert would be in the real world, somewhere between Dodge Junction and Canterlot. He was encased in red platemail armour but had forgone the helmet. He was carrying a large sword that had a large ring between the blade and handle. The ring had four clear crystals at 45° angles, inside the ring there seemed to be a small sun in the exact centre (note: this is the Starblade). He seemed to be facing an army of opponents: they seemed to have human bodies; completely encased in armour and those who weren’t wearing a helmet were wearing a mask instead. They were attacking him with a variety of weapons: axes; short swords; long swords and warhammers. He sliced off several heads, stabbed one and kicked him in to a bunch of others. I noticed something odd about his blade, particularly that small sun. It started to change colour from a pale yellow to a medium purple, it also seemed to gain size, and it now filled the entire space of the ring it was in. He kicked away another opponent, swung the blade in a 360° arc which made several of them jump back and then slammed the blade into the ground, and then all of a sudden there was a huge explosion that covered the whole island, I had to cover my eyes with my wings because of the light that accompanied the explosion. Once the dust and smoke settled Michael was the only one still standing. All of his attackers were either dust or skeletons.

I flew over to the island. He saw me, left his sword in the ground and walked up to me as I was walking up to him. “Nightmare Moon…” I was glad he remembered me even in a dream. He seemed a little aloof though.

“Why come to me in a dream? There is nothing I need to say to you Nightmare. Please just leave me be, I need to be alone.” So he is conscious in his dreams? Interesting…

“I was a part of you remember? What I seem to not understand is how you can cause so much wanton destruction and yet you are worried about a few ponies’ opinions? I just don’t get it.”

“Well, I’ve usually either been alone or worked alone. A few people on a mission are easy, you give them orders, they follow and once the job is done we part ways and I hardly ever see them again. Not to mention I've been on the move for about two years or so fleeing from the First Fleet. I didn’t have much contact with society except to get info about things like which shipping routes were being targeted and any rumours of any pirate gangs or of a planet in need of supplies. I usually tried to avoid conflict either through diplomacy or I just simply ran away, I used violence as a last resort. That’s the main reason why it took so long for the First Fleet to catch me. It was only when they targeted the folks I was helping did I decide to confront them.” Alright then, this has gone on for long enough.

“Now you will listen here Michael! You honestly think that all the ponies at that party despise you that much because you helped me gain a body?” He nodded at me, TYPICAL! “ENOUGH OF THIS FOALISHNESS!! They only reacted that way because they are scared of ME. Not you, you saved them from Chrysalis and gave me a body again by smashing the mirror on her! So I suggest you get over this stupid ‘poor me’ act and come back to the castle, do I make myself clear? Otherwise I will terrorise your dreams for eternity. The Star Guard are headed for Canterlot to get turned back because ever since you left, they have been ridiculed, the ones who used to be Luna’s and Celestia’s guard have been refused to rejoin their old guard. All because YOU ran away.” He jumped back at my outburst; he most likely did not expect me to be so ruthless or to hear this news.

“Ok ok ok Nightmare, I will come back tomorrow. Is there anything else you want to shout at me about?” I shook my head and left. When I looked back at the island, it was gone.

I woke up the next day to see Princess Luna sitting in front of me staring straight at me. She seemed worried.

“Morning Nightmare Moon, sleep well?”

“What is wrong Princess?”

“You and Michael were correct, Discord’s statue has been stolen. A guard said that he saw a few changelings headed for the gardens last night. He called for backup but by the time they got there both the changelings and the statue were gone. Now we know who stole it and on whose orders. We’ll need help to prepare for war, can we count on your support Nightmare Moon?”

“I’m sure that can be arranged, hello Luna, Nightmare.” It was Michael! He was leaning against the door frame wearing that weird clothing with a hood over his head. He started to walk towards us. “If only we knew where Chrysalis was we could end this here and now, but we don’t. Therefore I suggest we wait it out. I don’t see any other option available to us unless you two can suggest something.”

“Tia may not approve of this tactic, Michael. We have faced him before and it was not an easy fight. He enjoys playing mind games.” Luna was shaking as she said this as it was bringing back horrible memories for her and I know a lot about bad memories.

“I agree with Michael. Unless we know where Chrysalis and Discord are hiding, all we would be doing is wasting time and effort. It won’t be possible to find them in the Dream World as Chrysalis is in another dimension because of that mirror and Discord’s statue has him permanently aware of his environment so he is basically awake and I can only find sleeping subjects.” I said.

Michael meanwhile had gone over to the window and while looking out of it he spoke: “In the meantime I suggest we arm up and prepare for war. I do not intend to lose this place. Nightmare, when do the Star Guard plan to go to Canterlot?”

The Star Guard were already in Canterlot, wanting Celestia to change them back. They were being ridiculed by the others, being called traitors and many other unsavoury names. Foals, taking the coward’s way out. Michael turned into Starlancer with the same styled clothes as his human side had and the three of us flew to Canterlot so we could straighten things out and get them back.

(Michael’s POV)

We all landed in Canterlot Central Plaza and walked the rest of the way to the castle as Luna thought that both Nightmare’s presence and my own would cause a commotion if we flew into the castle directly. The guards all bowed their heads; I gathered it was for Luna not us. I heard a few unkind whispers as we were walking; I was starting to feel very uncomfortable. Nightmare saw this and bumped me with her flank again, but gave me a very stern look. On the other hoof though, she looked quite beautiful without her armour.

Luna led us to the audience chamber once we got into the castle. It was a good thing she was leading the way as I would not know where to go at all, but getting lost would not be too big an issue as my HUD would generate a map as I went along so I would know where I've been, it’s the reason I have never gotten lost in Nightmare Castle after the reconstruction. Once we entered I saw a smaller, light blue Alicorn talking to Celestia, I gathered on behalf of the rest of the Star Guard who had all gathered there. Lyra and Bon Bon were at the back talking to each other.

“Bon Bon, I don’t think I can do this. It feels wrong somehow, I know the looks and comments ponies have been making but I just don’t think it warrants us to do something this drastic.” Lyra said. She looked very worried and scared.

“Honestly Lyra, I’m unsure myself but my landlord refused to let me sleep in my own home yesterday when he heard the news. I was lucky, Twilight let me stay at her place.” Nightmare looked at me and just nodded, as if she knew this already.

“I know what you mean, this morning there were eggs all over my home’s walls and some horribly done graffiti. There was a message saying: ‘How can you live with yourself?’ and another saying: ‘Lyra Heartless’. Honestly what I don’t understand is why it happened this morning when the news hit the day before. Everypony knows where I live anyway.” We went up to them and I spoke.

“Sorry about all this you two. I never wanted all this to happen. I’m sorry.”

They jumped a bit in shock, and the rest of the Star Guard smiled at me, except for the one that was talking to Celestia. I wondered what was up with him.

“I see you convinced Starlancer to come Luna.” Celestia said but Luna just shook her head.

“Sorry Tia but it was not I who convinced Starlancer to return. When I got to the castle only Nightmare Moon was there. After she woke up Starlancer appeared by the door behind us, indicating he was not in the room that night. And I never saw him while searching the other rooms so I would guess he was never in the castle.”

“Princess you do not need to use my full name, just Nightmare will be fine. It is true, Starlancer was nowhere near the castle this morning but he was not there for two days. He got upset over the ponies’ reaction to my return and their comments towards him. I guess even somepony who has seen so much war and devastation is still vulnerable to the attacks on one’s physique. I found him in the Dream World and convinced him to return on the premise I would haunt his dreams if he refused. What I want to know though is why would Chrysalis steal the mirror I was in when I was unable to be a threat.”

“I was thinking about that Nightmare. I believe she planned to get trapped in that mirror, the question is why. Celestia do you know what time the statue was taken roughly?” I said.

“I was informed that the sighting was at 9 o’clock. Why, is this relevant?”

“I believe so, and I believe this is a far more elaborate plan than any of us can possibly realise. When I faced Chrysalis it was 10 o ‘clock. She must have already known she succeeded in stealing the statue. I do remember I did not see her while she was disguised as Blueblood at a point during the party so it stands to reason that time must have been when she was informed that the theft was successful since it takes over two hours to reach Canterlot by flight and standard teleport spells would not allow anypony to make that distance in one jump without killing themselves. I believe that somepony else is pulling the strings but the question is who.” Celestia nodded.

“I understand what you are saying. I have sent out a few patrols to find them and I told them to report immediately when they do.”

Lyra and the others were just standing there, looking at us. The Star Guard that was talking to Celestia cleared his throat.

“Your Majesty, before we were interrupted you were about to say something regarding how we can get changed back?”

“Ah yes I was wasn’t I? What I was going to say was that I am unable to remove the changes done to your body, only Starlancer can as he was the one who performed the ritual.” Celestia said. He then looked at me with disgust. Hell, what did I do to get such a horrible look? Other than abandon them when they were being ridiculed… Michael you idiot!

“I’ll do it if that is what you want. I don’t believe in forcing anypony to do something they don’t want to do or be. I'm sorry for abandoning you all, I didn’t mean for you all to get into so much trouble. I promise I will never run away like that again. But it’s too late I guess, so who wishes to go first?” All of a sudden the same pony starts to smile at me! Ok now, WTF!!??

“None of us actually wanted to change back. We got together yesterday with Nightmare and Lyra. We came up with a plan. Nightmare was to find and convince you to come back while we would make it look like we wanted to change back. If you truly didn’t care you would not have come. You needed to see that even if you don’t believe . (quickly pointing his hoof at Lyra) It was her idea.” Hmm, makes sense, Lyra is a lot smarter than ponies seem to think. Everypony was smiling at me.

“Thanks everypony, this means a lot to me.” We all laughed, I was happy that so many ponies cared about me as much as I would them. Celestia lead us to the armourer as Luna had to sleep (she is the Princess of the Night and only wakes up during the day when it is important).

The armourer forged everything from boots, chestplates all the way to weapons like swords, axes and other old school weapons. Turned out the armourer was actually a family of three unicorns. The father – Steel Bearing – was a pale yellow with shaggy light blue hair, the mother – Iron Heart – was grey and had her dull white mane tied back, the last one – Quick Fix – the youngest, most likely their daughter. She was maybe Twilight’s age and had a two tone hairstyle as well, a medium blue and light green stripes but her mane was not very long. You could not see their Cutie Marks as they wore brown coloured, full body, fire retardant clothing. Even their manes and tails were covered by a clear fireproof plastic. The only part not covered was their horns.

They were very nice and showed the guards some of their previous work to them so they could get an idea of what they wanted. Nightmare asked if they could make her old armour and they agreed. The guards argued over some of the designs as they all would wear the same armour. They managed to decide on the colour scheme: the main colour would be a dark silver with white outlines. As they tried to decide on the exact way the armour would look like, Celestia sat next to me.

“Is this not fun? They may not know it but they are learning to work together by deciding on what they all must wear. It is this that separates the leaders from the soldiers. On that subject, have you given any thought as to who your Captain of the Guard should be?” I nodded at her, there could only be one pony that fits the bill.

I called Lyra over to Tia and myself (What? I am basically her brother so I may as well use her nickname like Luna does). I asked her how everything was going.

“Well, we settled on the colour so it is a start, it’s just the design of the armour itself we need to figure out but the designs I like they don’t want.”

“Well then Lyra I suggest you pick it anyway. You won’t wear the same armour as them.” She just stared at me, confused. “The Captain of the Guard should be allowed to wear different armour to those she has under her wing, the reason I am telling you this is because I have chosen you to be my Captain of the Guard.” She squealed so loudly, everypony looked at her as if she had lost her mind. She ran off back to the others and told them the news. One of the ponies that was a part of the Solar Guard looked shocked, probably thought he’d get it as he had experience, Bon Bon hugged her and the two of them were jumping up and down with excitement.

As they were deciding on the armour I asked the family some questions about forging weapons and armour. It turned out to be the same process as my old universe, Celestia said that she would set up an entire private forge for me at Nightmare Castle and the family said they would be happy to teach me. Eventually the guards and Lyra decided on the armour’s design, and the family got started: Iron Heart was going to do Lyra’s armour, Steel Bearing had the rest of the guards armour to do, and Quick Fix was going to do Nightmare’s armour. Once the ladies finished their projects, they were going to help Steel Bearing. Afterwards Nightmare, Lyra, the rest of the Star Guard and me bid Celestia farewell and flew back to Nightmare Castle.

When we all arrived I noticed that there were some ponies both inside and outside. The ponies outside were trimming some hedges that got planted during the construction. The ponies inside were cleaning the place from top to bottom, an Earth pony wearing an apron came up to us and bowed.

“Welcome back, if you are hungry we have set up the banquet hall for everypony.” Wait, this place has a full staff? Since when did that happen? As we entered the banquet hall, Nightmare spoke.

“They all came yesterday; you probably did not see them earlier because they were still sleeping. This castle now has a full staff of cooks, gardeners, and maids. Oh and there is a librarian here as well, she apparently hails from the Crystal Empire and brought enough books to restock the entire library.” After the meal we all went to our individual rooms and hit the hay.