Nightmare Tiara

by MyHobby

Rating: everyone
Tags: Nightmare Moon, Comedy, Diamond Tiara, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5613

Diamond Tiara's a perfect little tyrant. Nightmare Moon is in the habit of making tyrants. It's a match made in heaven. Kind of.

Diamond Tiara is the perfect little girl. Pretty, sweet, kind, caring...

At least, that's what the adults think about her.

In reality, Diamond Tiara is none of those things. She is conniving, abusive, temperamental... and that's on a good day.

When a magical being of evil promises Diamond that her wildest dream will come true, all of Ponyville is in danger.

Kind of.

Published 2013-06-09 01:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-06-09 01:30:01 UTC

A Princess in Her Own Mind

Diamond Tiara smiled politely as Cheerilee continued her lecture. Her eyeballs glazed over as the teacher explained the difference between unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony magic. Her mind buzzed with the possibilities of the day and what kind of fun she and Silver Spoon could be having.

As Cheerilee segued from rock farming to snowflake production, Diamond Tiara felt her cheek slipping off of her hoof. She caught herself and propped her head on her hoof once again, hoping that nopony had noticed. Despite her efforts to pretend to pay attention, she could feel her eyelids drooping.

Cheerilee asked a question about the difference between teleportation and transmogrification, and Sweetie Belle raised a hoof. Diamond Tiara snorted at her egg-headedness. She took out a piece of paper and began to scribble, projecting the illusion that she was taking notes.

Diamond’s notebook contained pictures of Cheerilee, Silver Spoon, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Dinky, Pipsqueak, her father… basically, all the ponies she was better than. She drew them all kneeling before a large, golden throne. Atop the throne sat the most beautiful, gorgeous, and downright pretty being in the whole universe.

It was her sitting on the throne, naturally.

Diamond Tiara grinned as she added a horn and wings to her royal frame. Rays of radiant magic power poured out from the throne, fueled by her magnanimous virtue. Whatever that meant.

As she was adding the finer detail on her eyes, her pencil slipped. Her face’s coloring slipped from pinkish to purple as her blood boiled at the blemish. Her beautiful eye now had a slitted pupil, like that stupid dragon that worked at the library or the weirdo alligator that Pinkie Pie kept around. She crumpled the page up in fury and tossed it into the nearest waste basket.

The basket was, unfortunately, on the other side of the room. Though her aim was true and her throw sure, the rolled up ball of ruined art bounced off of the edge of the basket. It rolled to a stop beneath the hooves of Cheerilee, and the teacher bent down to pick it up.

Diamond Tiara froze as her teacher’s eyes widened. Cheerilee’s face became lopsided with uncertainty as she took in the portrait of Diamond’s imagination. Her expression of mortification, tinged with a hint of bemusement, fell upon the pink filly. “Diamond, would you see me after class, please?”

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” she answered. Irony echoed through her mind as she realized that it was the only question she had answered that day. She sat back as she felt the eyes of her classmates on her. Normally, she would have reveled in being the center of attention, but not for this reason.

The day dragged on minute by minute until the bell finally rang. Most of the students were out the door before Cheerilee could assign homework. The instructor sighed, resigning herself to the lack of homework corrections she would be making the next day.

Diamond sat quietly, head lowered. Cheerilee walked up to her desk with the page in hoof. “Diamond,” she said. “Do we need to have a talk about paying attention in class?”

Diamond Tiara shook her head. Cheerilee gave her the picture and smiled. “It’s important for everypony to understand how special all the other types of ponies really are.”

“I know,” Tiara mumbled. She fought the urge to yawn in Cheerilee’s face. Her mind went to Sugarcube Corner and the cupcakes she would be consuming before supper. “I’m sorry.”

Cheerilee gave her a pat on the back. “I understand that it can be hard to sit in a hot classroom all day, but I do hope that some of this is getting through to you.”

“Oh, yes, Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara giggled. Cheerilee could be such a witch.

“Good,” Cheerilee said. “Then you will have no trouble writing a thousand-word essay on what we’ve been speaking about today.”

A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.

“Of co- What!?” Diamond Tiara about leapt out of her seat. “Bu-but I can’t, I have plans!”

“Diamond, this is important.” Cheerilee tilted her head slightly forward, lowered her eyebrows, and set her mouth in a level line. The perfect “teacher” stare. “If you won’t learn the material on my time, you’re going to have to learn it on yours.”

Diamond’s first instinct was to lash out, to throw an epic tantrum the likes of which Cheerilee had never seen, and would not see again. She held back, however, when she realized that a tantrum would not be the optimal weapon in this situation. A true blowup, she decided, would only heap more homework on her head. Instead, she would utilize her most subtle and cunning tactic: cuteness.

“But… But Miss Cheerilee,” she pouted. “H-how can I explain to Silver Spoon that I can’t accompany her to our ice cream social?” Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears and her lower lip trembled. She withheld the changing of "R" sounds to "W" sounds; Cheerilee would not have been overly endeared by her students not pronouncing their words properly.

Cheerilee sighed again, now a recurring verbal tic. “Diamond…”

“Please!” Diamond cried out. “Just forgive me this once, and I will never do it again!”

“You have your assignment,” Cheerilee said as she turned away. “You are free to go.”

Diamond stewed as she packed her saddlebags. “Free to go,” Cheerilee had said, as if she was some kind of prisoner. Diamond Tiara wouldn’t stand for it.

She exited the building with a fire brewing in her heart, the picture stuffed in the bottom of her bag. “Hey you, Truffle Shuffle!”

The rotund colt turned at the sound of her voice. “Yeah?”

Diamond Tiara grinned mischievously. “Oh, Truffles, I had an ice cream social with Silver Spoon planned for later today, but Miss Cheerilee just assigned me so much homework.” She leaned heavily against him, sighing dramatically. “I just… don’t know how I’m going to get everything done in time.”

“W-w-w-wow,” the colt stuttered. He began blushing, sweating, and hyperventilating in quick succession. “Th-that’s t-t-t-terrible!”

“I know,” she sniffled. She took a deep breath, allowing a tear to drip down her cheek. “If only there was a big, smart, strong colt to help me.”

She cantered off a moment later, her thousand-word assignment in the capable hooves of one poor, unfortunate colt.

“Come on, Silver Spoon,” she called out to her friend. “We’re going to Sugarcube Corner!”

“Oh,” Silver said. “I kinda thought, like, we could play in the park tod-”

“Ut, ut, ut!” Diamond interrupted. “We’re gonna have a little ice cream social! Maybe some cupcakes, too.”

“Okay.” Silver Spoon smiled softly. “Let’s go!”

Diamond returned home a few hours later, just in time for supper. Her belly ached with the weight of a dozen cupcakes and a metric ton of ice cream. She complained about the stomach pain to her dad, who sent her to bed with a plate of crackers.

They were having brussel sprouts for supper, it was a decent trade.

She tossed her saddlebags to the side and climbed into bed. She began to read one of her favorite books as her tummy digested the sweets. It was awfully nice of Silver Spoon to cover the bill with her allowance.

Time passed, and Diamond Tiara felt herself slipping off to sleep. Before she could close her eyes, a bright flash shone in her room as moonlight fell upon her saddlebags. A deep rustling ensued from the bags, and Diamond shivered along with them. A blue plume of smoke rose from the bags, sparkling like starlight. The smoke reconfigured itself into the shape of a tall alicorn with long fangs and sharp eyes.

Diamond opened her mouth to scream, but it was cut off by a strip of starlight magic. “Silence, foal, do you wish to wake the entire neighborhood?”

At Diamond Tiara’s frantic nodding, the apparition sighed. “I won’t hurt you, my darling. I want to help you!”

Diamond Tiara tilted her head to the side, eyes wide and questioning. “I know that you are special, Diamond Tiara.” The magic blob’s eyes twinkled with starlight. “Much more special than the other foals you go about your day with.”

The starry magic fell away from her mouth, and Diamond squinted at the alicorn-shaped smoke. “Well, you’re not stupid, at least.”

The starry ghast’s eye twitched.

“But what do you want to help me, for?” Diamond asked. “Who are you?”

“Oh, deary,” it answered. “It’s what I live for! To help poor, misunderstood fillies achieve the greatness that they so richly deserve…”

The magic drew itself up on its hind legs, stretching its forelegs to the sky.

“Some call me desire, a passion deep within
Some refer to me as simple lust
Still others think I’m a putrid sin
And their rejection is a must”

Diamond Tiara looked askance at the singing apparition. “When did this become a musical?”

The spooky shade grinned. “Don’t knock it ‘till you tried it.

“There once was a day when in simple mirth
I deemed to come down to this earth-”

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” Diamond Tiara stuffed a hoof in the ghostly thing’s mouth. “Tell it to me straight.”

“I am a creature that was once known as a Living Dream,” it replied. “I can inhabit the body of a pony and, well, enhance their actions.”

“Whuh?” Diamond’s mouth hung open in adolescent ignorance.

“I can take away your fear of failure, your fear of hurt…” The shade smiled. “And give you the power to do whatever you want.”

“How come I’ve never heard of you?”

“Oh, but you have!” the Living Dream said. “Every Nightmare Night you see the truth of what I have to offer.”

“You…” Diamond gasped. “You’re Nightmare Moon!”

“Just Nightmare, please,” Nightmare answered. “The ‘moon’ was all Luna.” It sighed, its starry eyes distant. “She was lowly, and I offered her power.

“If she wanted the sun eternally black, can I really be blamed for that?”

Nightmare pulled Diamond Tiara to the window. “I can grant you power,” it said. “I can give you the power to do anything you want. To take anything you want…”

Diamond looked out at the stars as the ghostly alicorn went on. “I can give you ponies to serve you, to do you bidding…”

Diamond Tiara’s picture from earlier passed before her eyes. “I can give you everything you ever wanted.”

The pink filly looked from her picture, to the stars, and finally to the alicorn. Her smile spread across her face, a devious display of avarice. “Well, what are you waiting for!?”

The room filled with villainous laughter as the nightmare did her work. The smoke flowed around Tiara’s legs, spread up to her body, and finally reached her face. Diamond’s pink coat darkened to purple, her purple and white mane faded to blue and white, and her pupils shifted into slits. Diamond Tiara rose into the air, lifted aloft by the arcane magicks of the stars.

The door slammed open as Diamond’s father, Filthy Rich, tumbled into the room. “Diamond, what’s all that racket!?” He looked up to see his daughter held aloft by blue magic, and gasped. “D-D-Diamond, what happened to you?”

“Hello, Daddy,” she grinned. She sent two tendrils of magic out to grasp her dad’s legs. She held him aloft and giggled at him. “Guess what, daddy, I’m gonna be a princess.”

He gulped in her grip. “Ah, that’s great, sweetheart. Princess of where?”

“The princess!” she proclaimed. “Princess of darkness! Princess of all of Equestria!”

She dropped him to the floor and shouted out, “All shall love me and despair! For I am Nightmare Tiara!”

“Gg-g-g-good for you, honey.” Filthy picked himself off of the floor. “But don’t you think you’re a bit young for the throne?”

Nightmare Tiara’s eyes narrowed. Her father was a tricky one. While a tantrum was quite effective most of the time, the technique wore out its welcome after too many uses in a row. She also had to be careful not to use it when she was in public, she didn’t want to hurt her “little miss perfect” image.

It had been a couple days since she had a blowup, he’d melt to her will like butter.

Nightmare Tiara gasped in shock. “Wha-? Me, too young!?” She sniffled. “But… but Daddy...” Her eyes began to water as she laid on the pout. “But I really want to be the princess, why won’t you let me be the princess? You always said that I was a princess, why won’t you let me be a real one!?”

“Now darling, I didn’t say…”

“You don’t love me!” she cried. “You don’t love me or want me to be princess or rule the world or anything!” She sobbed as her magic whipped back and forth across the room, tearing it apart. “Why are you so mean!?”

“I didn’t mean that!” he said quickly, dodging a thrown bookcase. “You can be princess if you want, sweetie. Go ahead.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” she answered sweetly. The magic subsided and she trotted happily out of the room. “I’m gonna get a midnight snack, okay?”

“Sure thing, hun,” Filthy Rich sighed.

She considered her new power as she munched on a cucumber sandwich. Her tantrums were now super-powered a hundred-fold. Her fangs gleamed in the candlelight as she planned, plotted, and devised her future takeover of Equestria.

“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” Nightmare Tiara said.

“Good morning, dear,” Cheerilee answered. “Who might you b- Diamond Tiara?”

Cheerilee found herself looking down on a familiar little girl with an unfamiliar color scheme. Of special note were the reptilian pupils sitting in the middle of her eyes.

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee,” Nightmare replied. “I thought I’d try something new today.”

Cheerilee sat bemused as the filly took her seat. “Kids are wearing makeup younger and younger these days…”

Truffle Shuffle took his seat, pulled off his saddlebags, and came face-to-face with a frighteningly familiar visage. “So, twerp, where’s my homework?”

The colt’s eyes widened at the appearance of Nightmare Tiara’s alien eyes. “I-It-It’s in the b-b-b-b-b-b-backpack… saddlebag… thingy.”

She withdrew the product of several hours of the colt’s life. “Thank you, dweebish,” she sneered. “I’ll be sure to remember this… someday.”

Cheerilee stepped to the front of the classroom, smiling brightly. “Alright, students, today we’ll be talking about-”

“Miss Cheerilee!” Nightmare Tiara raised a hoof. “I’d like to make an announcement!”

Cheerilee eyed her student warily. “If you make it quick, I guess.”

“I am here to announce…” Nightmare Tiara stood. “My candidacy for Princess of Equestria.”

The entire room broke out in giggles. “I’m sorry, Diamond,” Cheerilee smiled. “Equestria is an absolute diarchy; there are no elections of any sort for you to run for princess.”

The teacher tilted her head to the side. “Of course, you can run for mayor, which is exactly what we are going to talk about today!”

Nightmare Tiara grinned. “So I can’t run for princess, right?”

Cheerilee nodded. “Exactly.”

Nightmare Tiara rose into the air on a current of starry magic. “Then I’ll just have to take Equestria by force!”

Each of the students found themselves tied to their seats, while Cheerilee was stuck fast to the blackboard. Currents of magic flowed and swelled as Nightmare Tiara lifted the schoolhouse into the air. Evil laughter reached the ears of the town as they saw the small building rising into the sky on a mound of rock and soil.

“School’s out for summer,” Nightmare Tiara chuckled. “School’s out forever!”

“It’s true, princesses,” the captain of the guard announced. “The Ponyville Schoolhouse is being held prisoner by a small filly.”

“It’s not the weirdest thing to happen this week,” Celestia sighed. “That title still belongs to Discord’s one-pony hoofball game.”

“You said we’d never speak of that again!” Luna accused. She nursed several welts on her bum, products of Discord’s enthusiasm.

The captain looked from one princess to the other. “Your orders, Princess?”

“There’s only one course of action,” Celestia nodded. “Send in the Elements.”

Twilight Sparkle stood before the schoolhouse with a sour look on her face. “Alright, Nightmare Moon, come out right this instant!”

The filly stuck her head out the window and pouted. “I told you, I’m Nightmare Tiara! The ‘moon’ was Luna’s idea!”

Twilight turned to her five friends. “Any ideas, girls?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Nuke ‘em with friendship, just to be sure.”

“Wait,” Fluttershy whispered forcefully. “What if we hit nice, innocent ponies with the Elements?”

“I suspect, dear,” Rarity explained, “that it will be similar to when we hit the entire town of Ponyville with the Elements.”

At Fluttershy’s confused stare, Applejack intervened. “The town went right back tah normal?”

“It was even betterer than normal!” Pinkie exclaimed. “There was a party and Discord was trapped and we got knighted and-”

“The point is,” Twilight interrupted, “we really should just blast everything and be done with it.”

Fluttershy shrugged, her worries sated.

Nightmare Tiara stood over the trapped schoolfoals with triumph etched on her features. “Now you will all be my loyal subjects, or I will make you my slaves!”

“I don’t understand, Diamond!” Cheerilee shouted. “You were always such a sweet filly!”

“Really?” the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouted in concert. “Really!?”

“Well, of course I am,” Nightmare snickered. “Haven’t you noticed how cute and cuddly I’ve been acting as I bend you all to my will?”

Cheerilee frowned. “Actually, I’m pretty sure I haven’t let you manipulate me.”

“Shucks,” Apple Bloom said. “I still remember the day I learned you was just full a’ hooey.”

Nightmare felt her blood boil, how dare these idiots defy her? She knew that the only way to keep them in line was by frightening them with the terrible fate she could bring upon them. So she decided to go for broke.

“Silence!” Nightmare Tiara crowed. “Now bow before me, or I will destroy this schoolhouse!”

“How can we bow before her if we’re strapped to these chairs?” Silver Spoon whispered to Archer.

“Bow your heads, at the very least!” Nightmare Tiara sighed. “Seriously, what do I have to do to get any respect around here?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “Do something with your life besides tearing others down?”

“Shut up!” Nightmare Tiara commanded. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

Her eyes widened, she was losing control. If she let herself get too angry she was liable to go into a tantrum. Cheerilee wouldn’t stand for that.

It occurred to Nightmare, so what if Cheerilee wasn’t swayed by tantrums? If she wouldn’t be affected by yelling, screaming, and breath-holding, then she could be cowed by the phenomenal cosmic powers at Nightmare Tiara’s disposal.

“Now wait,” Apple Bloom mused. “Do yah want us tah pay yah respect, or do you want us tah shut up?”

“You’re not supposed to use the ‘S’ word, Apple Bloom…” Sweetie Belle blanched.

Scootaloo shot her a look. “The ‘S’ word? You mean ‘shut up?’”

Sweetie nodded. Scootaloo rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. “‘Shut up’ isn’t a bad word!”

“Rarity says that any word that’s meant to hurt other’s feelings is a bad word.” Sweetie held her nose high, certain that her argument was well-grounded.

“But ‘shut up’ isn’t meant to hurt feelin’s,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s just to tell somepony to shut their yap.”

“But it can be hurtful, Apple Bloom,” Cheerilee supplied. “Even if you don’t mean it to be mean.”

“You’re all slaves!” Nightmare Tiara shouted above the heart-to-heart that was taking place within the schoolhouse. “You’re all dead meat when I take over Equestria!”

“Alright girls, on three!” Everypony’s head turned to look out the window, where a large, glowing light had begun to seep through.

Nightmare Tiara’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, sugar snaps, not this again.”

A rainbow of harmony, friendship, and love poured through the opening. It washed over everypony present, releasing them from their chains. Nightmare Tiara screamed a long, drawn out “Nooo!” that reverberated throughout the town. Her darkened body came in contact with the stream of color and began to glow with an equally brilliant light.

Dark strands of Living Dream flowed off of her, carried away on the winds of happy, happy joy. Her eyes reverted to their original blue, and her mane was once again striped purple and white. She felt the unbelievable power seep away, and knew that her attempted coup was done for.

Diamond Tiara looked out over the classroom at the colts and fillies now glaring at her with an understandable anger. Cheerilee fell from the blackboard with an audible “Gronk!” and hastily rose to her feet. “Well, I’m glad that’s over with.”

The door slammed open as six mares tumbled through. Pinkie Pie stood up first. “Hay, everypony! Where’s the bad guy?”

A multitude of hooves shot out, labeling Diamond Tiara as the culprit. She smiled as innocently as possible, but it was clear that nopony was buying it. She switched tactics on the fly.

“I’m so sorry!” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to try and take over Equestria! I didn’t!”

Blanks looks were her only answer. “It was… It was the Nightmare! She made me do it!”

“That isn’t how Living Dreams work, Diamond.” Twilight Sparkle’s lidded eyes cut deep swaths through the filly’s defense. “You were in complete control of your actions the entire time.”

“How do you know, nerd!?” Diamond Tiara’s face grew red as she shoved her own hooves into her mouth. Whoops.

“Because Princess Luna told me all about her time as Nightmare Moon,” Twilight replied. “Simple as that.”

“I think you should sit down and have a long talk with your father, young lady!” Rarity came alongside Twilight. “What do you think he will have to say about this?”

“I cannot believe that my little angel would do such a thing!”

Twilight Sparkle and Cheerilee lay their chins on the table as they listened to Filthy Rich extol the virtues of his daughter. Diamond sat idly by, a small smile of victory on her perfect little face.

Twilight Sparkle raised a hoof. “Mr. Filthy…”

“It’s ‘Rich,’ ma’am.”

She waved him off. “Yeah, yeah. Mr. Filthy, did your daughter act strangely at all last night?”

“Well,” he mused. “She did come home with a stomach ache…”

“Anything else odd happen?”

“She did throw a super-powered tantrum,” he admitted. “But she was just tired, I’m sure.”

“How super-powered?”

“I suppose…” he worried his lower lip. “I suppose she was showing signs of being a little more… nightmarish than usual.”

“You don’t say?” Twilight eyed Diamond pointedly.

Filthy glanced at his daughter. “I suppose it isn’t quite normal for an earth pony, no matter how special, to be using magic powered by the moon.”

“Stars, actually,” Twilight corrected. “Living Dreams are an alien species that traveled here to-”

“What Twilight is trying to say,” Cheerilee piped up, “is that your daughter could have seriously hurt a lot of ponies, and she knew exactly what she was doing.”

Filthy Rich’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying that my daughter is not the perfect little saint?”

“When her actions almost cause the destruction of the Ponyville Schoolhouse,” Twilight said, “then yes, yes I am.”

“Well…” Filthy Rich shrugged. “Perhaps some disciplinary action is merited…”

The mares both nodded sagely. Filthy Rich turned to Diamond Tiara. “Diamond, go to your room and think about what you’ve done.”

He turned back to a speechless Twilight and Cheerilee. “There, I’m glad that’s settled.”

Diamond Tiara lay on her bed, a devious smile on her face. She was thinking about what she had done, certainly, but she was specifically focusing on what she had done wrong. The full frontal assault approach didn’t yield the results she wanted, so she would have to use a more subtle approach next time.

Assuming Nightmare would return any time soon.

The moon rose into the sky, bathing the world in a silver glow. Diamond Tiara waited with bated breath for the return of the alicorn shade. She was rewarded for her vigil by a small glow of starlight descending to her bedroom window.

“It’s about time you showed up!” she shouted. “I’ve been waiting all night!”

Magic flashed and Nightmare appeared. Rather than the imposing form of an alicorn princess, however, she was now the size of Diamond Tiara. “Give me a break, it’s not easy to get around after all of your magic’s been drained by the Elements of Harmony!”

“What?” Diamond asked. “You couldn’t just trot over on your little Peggy Fleming legs?”

“‘Little legs?’” the Living Dream huffed. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

“Yeah,” Diamond Tiara sneered. “And what I see there is loads cuter than what’s standing in front of me now.”

“You take that back!” Nightmare growled.

“Nuh uh.” Diamond’s grin could have curdled cheese.

“I said…” Nightmare leaped at Diamond Tiara, tackling her and knocking her to the ground. “Take it back!”

“Never!” Diamond shouted. She reached up with a hoof and bonked Nightmare on the nose.

“Ouch! Stop it!” Nightmare yelled as she pulled Diamond’s mane.

“You stop it!” Diamond commanded as she twisted Nightmare’s leg.

“What’s all this racket!?” Filthy Rich yowled as he barged into Diamond Tiara’s room.

Nightmare and Tiara froze in place. The ceased their attempt at putting each other in a headlock and jumped away from each other. “She started it!” they said in unison.

Filthy’s eyes darted from one little girl to the next. “Wha-huh?”

Diamond Tiara glared at the Living Dream. “No I didn’t!”

“You did, too!” Nightmare accused.

“Enough!” The two fillies started as steam poured out of Filthy Rich’s ears. “You two quiet down and go to bed!”

“But Daddy-” they pleaded at once.

“No buts!” he commanded. “Good night.”

Diamond and Nightmare crawled into bed with sour looks on their faces. “Okay…”

They lay silent for a few moments, before Diamond rolled over and brought the quilt up to her neck.

“Hey!” Nightmare hissed. “You’re hogging all the blankets!”

“Well, they’re my blankets!” Diamond Tiara shot back.

“They’re our blankets now,” Nightmare said as she pulled at the quilt. “Unless you don’t want my help in conquering Equestria!”

“You’re made of magic!” Diamond groaned. “You don’t even need blankets!”

“How do you know!?”

“I can guess, Smokey!”

“Who’re you calling Smokey, Missy Prissy!?”

“I’ll ‘Prissy’ your face!”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“QUIET!” Filthy Rich’s voice rattled the window panes. “GO TO SLEEP!”

Nightmare and Diamond Tiara sulked as they faced away from each other. The night wore on as the two fillies contemplated ways to murder the other pony in the bed.

Diamond looked to her drawing from earlier. It was lying in a crumpled up ball in the middle of the room. A devious grin spread across her face. “Yeah, I’m a princess.”

“Princess of snot-nosedness, maybe,” Nightmare guffawed.

“You’re awfully snotty yourself, Black Snooty.”

Nightmare grinned. “Maybe we’re more alike than we thought.”

Diamond Tiara tilted her head and thought. “I guess you’re right… Partners?”

She held out her hoof, which Nightmare met with a bump.

“Partners!”

Author's Note

I'm... I'm not even sure what to label this. Is it a short adventure? Is it a bizarre slice of life? Is it even all that random? Is it the first E-rated dark comedy ever?

I don't even know. I just labeled it as "comedy" to stay on the safe side.

Okay, so when I started writing this, all I had in my head was the title. "Nightmare Tiara" came to me in my sleep and I knew I just had to write a story about it.

The first two-thousand words sat on my computer for weeks, unfinished and weird. After my muse abandoned me on my ongoing stories, I decided to finish this short story.

It ended up being much longer than I had planned. It just kept going and going. Five revisions later, it's ready to post.

And after all that I... I still don't even...

Bonus- Deleted Scenes/Author's Notes

Scene #1: Full Nightmare Poem

“Oh, deary,” it answered. “It’s what I live for! To help poor, misunderstood fillies achieve the greatness that they so richly deserve…”

The magic drew itself up on its hind legs, stretching its forelegs to the sky.

“Some call me desire, a passion deep within
Some refer to me as simple lust
Still others think I’m a putrid sin
And their rejection is a must”

Diamond Tiara looked askance at the singing apparition. “When did this become a musical?”

The spooky shade grinned. “Don’t knock it ‘till you tried it.

“There once was a day when in simple mirth
I deemed to come down to this earth
There were many a pony whose lives lacked
I sought to give their self worth back

“It worked for a little while
I brought many a smile
As I gave ponies a chance to see
How powerful they could really be”

“Okay,” Diamond said. “But what are you?”

“They referred to me as a Living Dream
A creature of magic rarely seen
Without a pony to call home
I would feel so very much alone

“I sought to help the needy
Whose lives I’d improve completely
I soon gained a name of snappy depiction
‘Twas that of the greatest ambition!”

The living Dream knelt down before Diamond Tiara. “And you, my dear, are the next pony I want to help.”

“But…” Diamond Tiara hesitated. “What can you do?”

“What do you want?
What do you need?
I can give everything you plead

“Phenomenal power?
Personality shift?
I can heal an emotional rift

“’Cuz I’m here to be your courage
No need to get discouraged
I’ll guide your hooves through history
To set your truest wishes free!”

The shadow drooped down low. “Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games…

“It’s true what they say in history books
Princess Luna I overtook
I felt a needy soul that mourned
Because by subjects she was scorned

“I revealed the awesome power
That lay beneath her heated collar
And if she wanted the sun eternally black
Can I really be blamed for that?”

“You…” Diamond gasped. “You’re Nightmare Moon!”

“Just Nightmare, please,” Nightmare answered. “The ‘moon’ was all Luna.”

“What do you want?
What do you need?
I can give everything you plead

“Phenomenal power?
Personality shift?
I can heal an emotional rift

“’Cuz I’m here to be your courage
No need to get discouraged
I’ll guide your hooves through history
To set your truest wishes free!”

Nightmare pulled Diamond Tiara to the window. “I can grant you power,” it said. “I can give you the power to do anything you want. To take anything you want…”

Diamond looked out at the stars as the ghostly alicorn went on. “I can give you ponies to serve you, to do you bidding…”

Diamond Tiara’s picture from earlier passed before her eyes. “I can give you everything you ever wanted.”

Scene #2: Alternate Ending

“Enough!” The two fillies started as steam poured out of Filthy Rich’s ears. “You two quiet down and go to bed!”

“But daddy-” they pleaded at once.

“No buts!” he commanded. “Good night.”

Diamond and Nightmare crawled into bed with sour looks on their faces. “Okay…”

Filthy trotted away, feeling quite proud of himself. It was only as he sat down to read the newspaper that he did a double take.

“Wait, Diamond Tiara’s an only child.”

He pushed open the door just as Diamond Tiara and Nightmare fused once more. His eyes widened as the apparition transformed his daughter into a wicked princess of the night.

“Hello, daddy,” Nightmare Tiara said. “You forgot to tuck us in goodnight.”

She turned to the window to look upon the world that would soon be her's. Outside of the window stood six mares of varying colors and talents, all wearing jewelry powered by the magic of friendship.

“Aw, grape nuts.”

For the second time that day, Nightmare Tiara was blasted by the Elements of Harmony. She dropped to the floor kicking and screaming as a small tendril of dark magic scrambled across the floor. A jar flew through the air and covered the strand, sealing it inside an unbreakable barrier.

“That should keep the Living Dream from coercing any more ponies.” Twilight lifted the jar and screwed the cap on tightly. “This is one night that’s not gonna last forever.”

“I told you!” Nightmare screeched as she twisted into the shape of a miniscule filly. “That darkness stuff was LUNA’S IDEA!”

“Amazing!” Filthy Rich shouted through the window. “How did you know that Nightmare Moon would return?”

“I said my name’s ‘Nightmare!’” the tiny pony screamed.

“We didn’t,” Twilight shrugged. “We were just passing by when we saw the evil magic glowing from your daughter’s bedroom.”

“That’s convenient.”

Filthy Rich brought his daughter to the window. “Diamond Tiara, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Author's Note

Scene #1 only lasted as long as it took me to realize that people don't like poetry in their prose. More's the pity for them.

Also to its detriment was the fact that I did not, do not, will not want to sing for Nightmare. I just don't have the gumption to actually write the music to go with the lyrics.

If you're curious, the song was heavily inspired by The Emperor's New Groove deleted song: Snuff Out The Light. So much fun.

Scene #2 really didn't go anywhere, and was so obviously contrived that my characters started commenting about it. Ergo, extermination.