Even Nightmares Have Urges

Solitude

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Not quite like last time, with the absolute cold, and the everlasting, impenetrable silence, but her current prison was very much the same. The walls of broken stone seemed to curve in on her, making Nightmare Moon feel very claustrophobic in the ruined castle.

Her previous imprisonment on the moon had brought a sense of security in open spaces. There were no places to hide, no shelters on the cratered surface of the celestial body, but Nightmare had grown to prefer it that way. Now, every minute of being in the derelict castle was a fight to stay calm and collected in the suffocating hallways and chambers.

“The Great Hall.” she thought, entering the massive chamber once more. Her eyes quickly found the place where Twilight and her friends had defeated her upon her return. The remains of her barding, the pieces of her that survived the rainbow from the Elements, were gone, having been destroyed when she regenerated from them. In their place was nothing save a small pile of ash; The remnants of her past life.

She continued forward, looking to the window her sister had appeared through as the sun rose all those years ago. The glimmering, midnight blue shimmer that kept her locked inside could be seen just outside. Nightmare approached the portal, opening the dusty and cracked frame with her teeth. Dusk had just passed, and the full moon, once again at its rightful time, shown a ways above the horizon.

The alicorn’s ebony horn moved forward, making contact with the field, testing its capabilities for the upteenth time. Complete numbness descended from her horn, spreading like wildfire across her forehead, down her neck and chest, seeping through her legs and flank until her entire body was without feeling. Her vision blurred, and her muscles were sapped of strength as she collapsed onto the cold stone floor.

The normally jarring impact went ignored, as the nerve endings under Nightmare’s coat were still covered in Luna’s magic. The imprisoned pony stayed slumped upon the floor for the next few minutes, waiting as her limbs fought to regain their usefulness.

“Just what I need. MORE time to think.” The past months had allowed for ample time to reflect upon her actions. Not a second of spending time aimlessly wandering bleak passages went by where the alicorn wasn’t thinking of her sister or Luna.

Time dragged on agonizingly slowly as her mind assaulted her with images of the Princesses, of her own regretted actions, and while Nightmare waited for the ability to stand up once more, a small speck made itself present in the center of the large moon. The speck grew exponentially larger as it came closer and closer to the castle, but it remained formless as it was still miles away from Nightmare.

Standing up, the black pony shook her head as if that would quicken the pace at which feeling in her snout returned. Puffing smoke through her nose in agitation, the tingly feelings finally subsided as the ever-growing spot caught Nightmare’s attention. Her eyes widened slightly in response to the shock of seeing such a thing. The alicorn knew what the speck was, even if it still hadn’t formed a recognizable shape. The energy radiating from the approaching pony caused the field surrounding the castle to brighten, strengthening in response to its caster being near.

“Luna,” she breathed, rearing up on her hind legs and placing her front hooves on the window sill. Nightmare’s pupils dilated, and her breathing quickened in anticipation. To see Luna again, after this amount of time had passed...

“How long has passed, anyway?” She thought to herself. Time has a funny way of stopping in a cell. “Weeks? Months? Not a year yet, surely...” Nightmare had her doubts, but she didn’t trust herself completely. “Luna will tell me.”

Nightmare could have been seen as a statue for the amount of movement she made while watching the form on the horizon take shape. Two wings could just be made out after a moment, and then four galloping hooves underneath a torso materialized. A small smile, the first one since she awoke in the castle, split Nightmare’s stone features as the unmistakable shape of the Lunar Princess became silhouetted by the moon, only to disappeared just as quickly.

“What if she’s here to berate me? Ruin me?... Kill me?”

As Nightmare skittered away from the window, Luna flew through a gap in the field, alighting without a sound in the exact spot as her sister did years ago. While shorter by far, Luna still cast an intimidating aura on the ebony alicorn. The blue wings, flared to either side, retracted gently as the lighter pony turned her head, and their eyes met.

Nightmare Moon started forward, a hesitant step being the sum of her progress forward. The alicorn knew not what Luna’s purpose was, and was not going to take any further action that could be perceived as hostile until she knew why Luna was here.

“Not that I could do any damage even if I wanted to,” Nightmare thought bitterly. “I can’t cast magic and I barely have the strength to walk right now.”

Luna tensed as Nightmare took her step, clearly anticipating a fight. The muscles in her legs could be seen tightening ever so slightly, and her right hind leg slid a fraction of an inch out while her head dropped the same distance. The faintest of blue shimmers could be seen around Luna’s horn, but the other alicorn knew of the power contained even in that tiny glow. Nightmare backed off, in no position to duel and not wanting a fight. The ebony pony’s head dropped submissively, and her eyes were cast towards the floor, displaying no threat whatsoever.

Nightmare waited like this in silence, hoping Luna would reveal her reason for coming. And if Lunar Princess was here to kill her, Nightmare hoped there would be some warning beforehand.

A minute past in maddening silence.

“Before you attack, Nightmare Moon, we would ask a question of you.”

Luna had adopted the old-fashioned way of speaking, even further indication that the Princess wasn’t here for fun and games. Though she had not shouted, Nightmare still felt as though she was being physically shaken by the words.

The taller of the two ponies waited for Luna to continue, but no elaboration came.

“Is she waiting for me to acknowledge her or something?” “Y-yes?” Nightmare’s head rose a little bit, and her eyes gazed instead on the beautiful alicorn 5 feet from her. A much better sight than an old stone floor.

The Princess’s aggressive stance did not change, nor did her facial features, but the ebony alicorn could feel a shift in the Lunar pony’s emotions.

“Twilight Sparkle freed us from your spell. You also stated that you were no longer actively trying to possess us. Is this correct?”

A slight nod accompanied Nightmare’s words. “You are correct.” Not sure where Luna was going, but fairly certain that she was not here to inflict any injuries, Nightmare’s head rose completely.

Luna’s eyes darted between Nightmare’s turquoise, draconic orbs. “You have no magic. We’ve swept our sister’s mind for traces of your magic, and she has done the same for Twilight and ourself multiple times. Nothing remains.”

Nightmare noted the ever so slight rise in pitch in Luna’s voice, as well as the minute twitching in her wings. “She’s nervous. Almost...scared, even. She thinks I’m still doing something.”

“That’s right, I’m not. I can’t.” Luna’s eyes flickered up to the ebony horn that was once full of enough power to blot out the sun and bring down Equestria. “Not since you stripped me of my magic.”

Luna bore a hole through Nightmare’s head with her stare. Nightmare was being searched, her words being mulled over and picked through to find falsehoods.

“Liar!” Luna snapped. Her head shook furiously, once, twice to the side, then her eyes locked onto the ebony pony’s once more. “You’re doing something to me, I know it! Otherwise...” The Princess’s head lowered, her eyes averted as the last words were choked back.

The taller alicorn leaned forward, shaking her head gently while talking. “Luna, It’s not possible for me to cast magic anymore. You made sure of it yourself.” This evoked no response from the Princess, whose eyes were locked onto the floor with determination. “Come see for yourself.” This snapped Luna’s head straight up, and the soft-colored eyes once again pierced the draconic ones a distance in front of her, combing the words through for traps.

Apparently finding no tricks, Luna drew in a deep breath and started towards the other pony. It took but a moment to cross the gap, even though both alicorns felt as though they had aged ten years waiting for Luna to reach Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare could smell half a dozen different emotions on the Princess the second she stood within three feet of her. Anxiety, fear, anger, doubt...and something else...

Excruciatingly slowly, the shorter horn made it’s way up to the empty ebony appendage. Luna’s eyes remained locked onto the horns, avoiding Nightmare’s as though her life depended on it.

The horns touched at such a slow speed, it shouldn’t have been possible for the collision to make a sound, yet there was so much tension in the air that the small *click* echoed around the chamber for a few seconds.

Nightmare felt the familiar buzz of magic across her skull as Luna’s probe delved a short way into her mind. It took a mere second of contact before Luna whipped away from the ebony alicorn, a look of shock on her flawless features as she stared up at Nightmare.

“You were right, it’s not your spell...” The Princess’s eyes slowly floated towards the ground as she grappled with this revelation.

Something buzzed in the back of Nightmare’s skull, needling her, telling her why Luna was acting this way. The millisecond the realization struck Nightmare like a bowling ball across her head, Luna voiced it out loud.

“It’s me. I still love you.”

There was no hesitation in Nightmare’s step now. Every hoof-fall was filled with purpose and clear intent. As soon as the ebony alicorn reached Luna, they both reached for the other. Luna’s right foreleg wrapped around the black neck above her and she hoisted herself up while Nightmare’s leg draped around the blue withers. Their lips locked, and both sets of eyes closed as the ponies embraced each other, lucid and uninhabited for the first time.

The kiss broke quickly as Nightmare shifted, pulling her head away and sitting back on her haunches. She didn’t tower over Luna any longer, but still the Princess reared up and took control of the engagement, using her position to topple the ebony alicorn and send her sprawling onto the floor. Luna’s hooves stomped down on either side of the black pony, and the Lunar Princess wasted zero time as she pressed her snout to Nightmare’s once more.

Nightmare really hated her helmet right now. It was getting in the way, interfering and making her head feel hot and sweaty. She couldn’t really do much about it right now, but she certainly wasn’t going to stop her lover. Instead she fumbled around with her hind legs, using them to kick her hoofguards off and inadvertently wrapping herself around Luna.

Obviously interpreting this in a totally different way, Luna moaned softly at the contact and lowered her body onto Nightmare’s, rubbing blue fur along a black leg and sending small sparks into the air. Nightmare got more and more into the activity, pressing Luna with equal force and sliding her hooves across the blue alicons withers and flanks. The little shivers of delight that came from Luna drove the ebony pony mad with desire.

Suddenly, the Princess broke the kiss. “Hold on,” a tiny glow from the short horn affecting Nightmare’s armor. “This is getting in the way.” Luna’s eyes flicked up to meet Nightmare’s, and a lusty smirk showed plainly on the regal alicorn. As Nightmare’s, as well as Luna’s, remaining armor was thrown haphazardly to the side, much to Nightmare’s relief, the smaller pony dove right back on top of the black alicorn before being stopped by a hoof on her chest.

“Wait.” Luna frowned and cocked her head slightly (“absolutely adorable”), not wanting anything to interrupt now. “You’re sure about this?” As much as the heat coursing through her body was screaming to let Luna pounce on her, Nightmare had to make sure the Princess truly meant what she had said.

Almost instantaneously, Luna gave a fierce nod, her eyes unwavering and speaking truth. Nightmare’s left foreleg reached forward, cupping a blue cheek and holding it as if it were as delecate as a snowflake.

“Say those words again.” Both alicorns looked straight at the other, lost in the other’s gaze and completely enthralled by each other. The smaller alicorn leaned closer, brushing their horns together and creating a small shower of sparks as Luna’s nose brushed a black ear, whispering into it softly...

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The sun broke over the low horizon, showering Equestria in warmth and light. Its burning light banished the morning mist and peeked through a ruined window of a derelict castle, settling on two sleeping forms inside the ruins.

The soft body intertwined with Luna made such a wonderful pillow. Her head was cradled by soothing, impossibly soft fur, and the underside of the Lunar Princess was steaming hot and impossibly cozy. A long, black leg was secured tightly against blue withers, doing a better job at providing security than any blanket under the moon.

As the small alicorn was pulled from sleep’s grasp time and time again by a constant tingling in her skull, Nightmare’s steady breathing would slowly rock Luna up and down, pulling her back into sleep’s waiting arms.

After the seventh or eighth time Luna awoke, she decided she could no longer stave off the buzzing of magic in her mind. The alicorn’s head felt like it was super-glued to the black pony’s neck as the combination of exhaustion and stale sweat created the world’s strongest magnet. Her limbs experienced the same sensations, and as the sluggish pony tugged her left-front fetlock from underneath Nightmare’s torso, the bee’s nest in her head shaped itself into fuzzy pictures and muffled words.

...images of Canterlot Castle, Celestia...

...a beautiful dress, the bearers of the Elements, a crowd of onlookers...

...a magnificent, towering cake, Twilight...

...”Come ON!”...

...”Will be late!”...

...”Celestia’s worried”...

As Luna processed these messages from the lavender unicorn, she suddenly remembered yesterday’s date; March 20th.

“Which makes today Twilight’s birthday...and her wedding day.”

Picking up her pace, the dark Princess untangled her hind legs and flipped herself onto her hooves. Both her sister and the bookish unicorn would flay her alive if she missed the wedding. Who else would preside over the ceremony?

As her wings flared, a foreign limb grabbing her flank almost made the alicorn jump out of her coat. She had totally forgotten Moony was still here.

“Luna...? What’s goin’ on?” Nightmare rubbed the sleep from her eyes as a foal would, stretching and yawning as her senses returned along with her awareness. The black alicorn gazed up at her lover, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun with a leg.

The more the Lunar Princess painfully explained the reason she had to depart, the further Nightmare’s features sunk.

“Moony...I’m so sorry...I should have told you about them...”

The other pony, a vacant expression adorning her profile, simply looked on as Luna spoke.

“I will return. Soon.”

Luna leaned forward, kissing her love’s cheek. “I promise.”

As the small alicorn departed through the blue field covering the window, Nightmare shivered slightly. She glanced at the ceiling of the musty castle, thinking how reminiscent the cold and the solitude was of the moon.

Yeah, this was rough, I know. Like I said, I gave this a cursory glance and this was the first true attempt I made at writing something outside of school. Hope it wasn’t too bad.