01: The Waking Nightmare.
Chapter 1: The Waking Nightmare
“No! I don’t want to go, I want to stay with Twilight…”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you don’t have a choice…”
“No! Let me go! MOMMY!!!”
“You… remember it differently… Every time I see it, it changes. You’ve tried to forget, haven’t you? But you cannot forget this. You can bend it, you change even the slightest detail… But it will always remain the same.”
A pair of turquoise eyes with slitted pupils moved through the shadows, the voice emanated from it like a cruel, echoing hiss full of malice. It took a step into a light, revealing its black hoof, dark fumes dancing off of it like a fire off of wood, and finally stepped out, revealing its form. A shade, a remnant of evil locked away in the darkest place of the mind of a filly. The shade licked her lips and the sharpened teeth they concealed as she circled a black pulsating orb with a protective membrane around it like thick black spiderwebs of resin. Inside this orb, floating in a liquid in fetal position was a black filly, her eyes shut tightly and her body shivering.
The air had grown cold from the shade’s presence alone, and ice would form at her hooves. The shade stepped up to this orb and dragged her tongue along it, from the rounded underside to halfway up to the top. She smirked and placed her hoof against the solid protective resin, only to pull it back as a barrier had reacted.
“Of course you would, Luna… But just how well can your spells protect her? There are plenty of gaps In your defenses, this filly might as well be mine already. Her body belongs to me after all, if the weak minded see it differently, then I will crush them at the slightest beat of their hearts, but not before I bring hell to your door, Celestia. Once this body is mine.”
Nyx and the Shadow of Nightmare
“Rise and shine, Nyx!” Twilight’s exclamation gave Nyx a start, a jolt of fright which awoke her from her sleep with thanks given to Twilight's loud morning voice.
The alicorn spread open the curtains and pushed open the window, letting the room flood with Celestia’s early morning rays, much to the filly’s disgruntled frustration at being unable to sleep in such. Nyx buried herself further under the blankets with a whine, at which Twilight giggled and nuzzled her awake.
“Come on, sleepy hooves. It’s a school day today, I know you’ve been eager for today in particular,” Twilight spoke in a melodic, singing like tone, she fluttered her wings and stood on one hoof, grinning like an equalist pony with great enthusiasm.
Nyx poked her head out and shifted her slitted eyes which shrank back to just that, slits. “Field trip day?” she asked, muffled by the bedsheets.
“Yeah! You don’t want to miss that, do you? Spike is preparing breakfast right now, and I know you don’t want to miss out on pancakes, right?” Twilight winked.
Nyx’s eyes sparkled and she immediately darted for the door and down the stairs without so much as a morning hug. Twilight let out a short giggle which was almost loud enough to be a laugh before taking steps toward the door. The grinding of metal and the rattle of armor stopped Twilight, and she looked over at the armor on the black mannequin. Just one proper glance at it and she immediately noticed it had moved closer to the bed; there were even drag marks on the floor boards. This was concerning to Twilight. she looked at her reflection in the helmet for a brief moment before turning away and going downstairs. Unbeknownst to Twilight, something was watching her in the reflection, and it seemed to vanish upon the princess’ exit.
From the kitchen came the smell of fresh pancakes and poured syrup. Nyx waited patiently for her meal which Spike served up on Twilight's entrance. Nyx looked up to her and grinned, although Twilight returned the grin with a slight smile, she couldn’t help but wonder if Nyx’s horn had been playing up.
“Honey, have you been using your magic in your sleep? Has your horn been acting up?”
Nyx looked up at her horn and shook her head. “No, not since last winter.”
“I remember that winter like it was a month ago,” Spike reminisced as he served up Twilight breakfast with maple syrup and butter.
“It was a two years ago, actually,” Nyx remarked whilst eating up her pancakes, cutting them and putting small chunks on the edge of a fork into her mouth.
“That reminds me,” Twilight smirked.
“What?” Nyx gulped down her food and tilted her head slightly.
“Oh yeah, I think I remember now,” Spike slowly disappeared behind the counter, much to Nyx’s confusion.
“Seeing as how it’s been three days after winter, and the snow in the Everfree forest hasn't cleared yet, we figured it was time to celebrate.” Twilight put on a smug look which only brightened when Nyx scrunched up her muzzle in excitement.
Spike came back up holding a cake with a number nine candle crowing it at the center. This reveal was accompanied by Pinkie Pie’s confetti and party horns, followed by Pinkie shooting out of the oven, rolling across the floor and finishing up by standing on her hind legs.
“Happy birthday, Nyx!” Spike, Pinkie and Twilight shouted in unison.
Nyx squealed for joy and thanked the three of them, although she would shrink back and slide down her chair when Pinkie got close.
“Aren’t you just excited, Nyx?! You’re turning nine years old! Which is odd considering you were born four years ago, so technically you’re four years old. Buuuut I wanted to celebrate your maturity as a nine year old. Confusing, right?!”
“Erm… yes?” Nyx replied uncertainly.
“YES!!!” Pinkie finished, sending Nyx under the table.
Twilight helped Nyx out and kissed her forehead, just beneath the horn. “We’ll have the cake when you get home. Go brush your teeth and get ready for school.”
Nyx nodded and took flight right up the stairs. Pinkie Pie in the meantime whined at Twilight's decision.
“But, Twilight—”
“She has to get ready, Pinkie.” Twilight rolled her eyes in amusement, which was slowly lost the moment Pinkie, in her whining fit, took a pie out of the fridge and buried her face in it.
“Hey! I was going to eat that, Pinkie!” Spike groaned.
“Teehee… sorry…”
~~~
Nyx’s time getting ready was spent with hair brushing, putting on her head band, and her new set of glasses, replacing the pair which had been smashed two years earlier. She blinked a few times to get the magical effect to work, only for it to be delayed and keep her eyes looking the same. Nyx groaned and shut her eyes as tight as she could, and with a twinkling sound she reopened her eyes to see the glasses had done their job and changed her eyes back into a regular pony’s. She leaned in close to her reflection and sighed out loud to herself.
“I miss having you around, Snowdrop. I miss talking to you, learning about you and what life was like back then. I even miss you popping up in any random place. Even so, I still talk with the girls about you, they miss you too. I think Luna’s gotten over it, but I haven’t seen her in a while. Maybe when I go to Canterlot, I’ll—”
“Hey Nyx, ya ready?” Apple Bloom called from downstairs.
“C’mon, don’t leave us hanging.” Scootaloo’s voice came after her.
“Coming!” Nyx called back and levitated her bags over to her. There was a jolt of pain which ran right through the healed break inside of Nyx’s horn which cut off her magic for a moment. She cringed and spared a moment to tap on the tip to check for any more pain, and was relieved when none came. She continued where she left off, Saddlebags equipped and joined up with her friends downstairs.
“I’m all ready!” Nyx jumped from the top most step and onto the horse bust on the center table in the library’s foyer.
Ms. Cheerilee and the C.M.C were waiting by the door with a few other students close by. Nyx turned to Twilight standing near and gave her a hug and said goodbye before they headed off. Though happy as she appeared, once Nyx had gotten further away Twilight started to show her concerns.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” Spike put a claw on Twilight's shoulder and she sighed.
“I just have a really bad feeling, Spike…” Twilight closed the Library door, and set about occupying herself until Nyx’s return.
The fillies on the way to the trainstation talked about their various misadventures and endeavours in their pursuit for their cutie marks, Nyx had been absent from the group starting seven months prior and frequently missed club meetings and other C.M.C related business. The constant absences had started to form a barrier between Nyx and the girls, one quite similar to the one Twilight had in Canterlot when it came to Minuette and the others. But Nyx hoped that this trip would save their friendship, she had originally declined to go along, on the grounds that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were going and possibly planning to make the trip a mess. The train pulled up at the station, and one by one the fillies boarded the locomotive while Cheerilee handled the tickets.
Apple Bloom looked around at all the spots to sit in the car. She paused in the middle of the aisle, tapped her hoof on her chin in thought, and looked over at the right side back corner seat. She grinned and ran over to it. She called the others over once she made herself comfortable.
“Over here girls, Ah got us a seat!”
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were quick to answer Apple Bloom's call, meanwhile Nyx was thinking deeply to herself, pondering the pain in her horn earlier and wondering if it had cracked again. She was less then calm about the thought and gulped; the first time it cracked she passed out and had to be rushed to the emergency room for immediate surgery, following that the princesses had to mend the horn from within. Nyx only snapped out of her train of thought at Scootaloo’s interruption.
“Hey, Nyx. You alright? You were zoning out there.”
Nyx blinked a few times and shook her head. “W-what?”
“Come on, Apple Bloom found us a seat.” Scootaloo took Nyx’s hoof and hurried over to the chair.
They took their seats together, Nyx faced Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo faced Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom, while eager to discuss crusader stuff, stared down the aisle at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, both of whom sat in the adjacent chair, likely to keep a close eye on them and to spite them at the slightest provocation. So much as lifting a hoof was basis for some kind of cruel comment, especially now that everypony was calling Nyx ‘princess.’ It got under her skin and annoyed her, the recent lack of sleep she’d been suffering didn’t help and only added to the stress. But as the train started moving, Nyx drifted off to sleep. Her friends found that to be odd considering her bedtimes were always never late, and she always got up at light’s first dawn.
Apple Bloom tried to think up why, perhaps Nyx was becoming Twilight and was starting to devote her life to study, perhaps Nyx had joined a bat pony gang and she had become fully nocturnal.
“Or maybe she’s just having trouble sleeping?” Sweetie Belle cut Apple Bloom off mid-sentence.
“But that’s so unlike her. Nyx has always bin upstandin’ in her schedules like Twilight. Maybe she’s ‘avin nightmares.”
Scootaloo cringed at that thought. “That’s a really bad pun, you know.”
“Oh… Oops…” Apple Bloom grinned sheepishly.
Nyx’s slumber went undisturbed for quite a while, even as Button Mash leaned over to talk to the girls. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon kept mostly to themselves and the train car was practically bustling with sound, fillies and colts talking louder than the wheels turning on the train, or the whistle of the machine. Nyx’s sleep wasn’t quite as peaceful as it appeared. She quivered slightly and subtly, her eyes shut tight and she mumbled in her sleep. These did not go unnoticed by Apple Bloom and she reached over to wake Nyx, but then she calmed down, like nothing happened. She assumed Luna had come to help Nyx, but with it being the early morning, this was unlikely. Apple Bloom wouldn’t know anything until long after the day was over.
A ball flew clear over the fillies’ heads, narrowly missing Button’s hat and bouncing off the wall and back to its owner. Tootzy Roll grabbed onto the ball with her magical glow and held it close to her, even as Cheerilee came to confiscate it.
“Tootzy Roll… give me the ball.” Cheerilee put on a stern face and held out her hoof.
“Aww c’mon teach, do I have to?” Tootzy asked disheartened.
“You gotta do it, otherwise you’ll be banned from the next trip,” Stardust Comet said, sitting beside Tootzy Roll.
Hinata Sunglow sat along on the opposite side of them and sighed, she knew playing with a ball on the train was a bad idea, but again her advice went unheeded. “I tried to warn you Tootzy…”
“You coulda spoke up louder, you know?” Tootzy sighed in defeat and handed her ball over to Cheerilee.
“Hey Tootzy! You never know, you might get it back later!” Scootaloo called out, waking Nyx in the process.
Nyx yawned loudly and Scootaloo immediately recoiled, expecting Nyx to be mad that she was woken, only she wasn’t and gave Scootaloo a confused look. “Umm... what?”
“You’re not mad?” Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow.
“No..? Why? Should I be?”
“Nyx is too nice to be ticked, ya knew that, Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom giggled.
The train passed under an arch and into a dark tunnel. The lights within the car kept it from going pitch black. The fillies were reflected into the window against the black backdrop; a pair of eyes opened and fixed themselves upon Nyx. They burned with hatred, and they went unnoticed, even as Nyx’s ability to feel dark presences and hearts of bad ponies kicked into gear. Nyx looked around, a massive scent of fear grabbed her and squeezed her until she felt as if the air would be forced from her lungs, she frantically looked around, the noise of her classmates and the roar of the train didn’t help. The train left the tunnel and so did the fear and the presence. Nyx however, remained terrified.
~~~
Nyx’s worries didn’t end, even as the class was visiting the Royal Canterlot Library. Being surrounded by books of all sorts and sizes quelled some of the stress. She occupied herself with reading various poetry by Quill and Ink, and even some old books by Rainbow’s ancestor, Firefly. Apple Bloom found herself engrossed in a copy of the Midnight Castle book she borrowed two years earlier, as well as its sequel The Curse of Catrina. Over yonder, across the room there was a presentation going on about various writers, this caused conflict with what Nyx wanted to do, reading and watching the presentation. She struggled hard and ended up checking it out, if only for a moment.
Scootaloo whispered what it was about to the just arriving filly, who responded with silence and fixed her attention to the canvas displaying moving images. Various artists were displayed on screen and Nyx easily named them in her head. Diamond Tiara stood close by and was whispering something to Silver Spoon. Putting her excellent hearing to use, Nyx overheard the spoiled pig princess talk about how boring it supposedly was, and that Ms. Cheerilee went out of her way to waste their time. Unhappy with Diamond’s train of thought, her eyes became slitted once more, despite wearing the glasses. Nyx’s horn lit up and quietly yanked Diamond’s back legs, causing her to fall on her face.
The resulting fall prompted the class to look at Diamond Tiara, who got back and picked up her tiara. Nyx’s eyes returned to their pony-like innocence as the glasses spell took effect once more. The C.M.C looked on in confusion, rivaled only by Diamond and Silver Spoon’s.
“Are you alright, Diamond Tiara?” Silver Spoon awaited Diamonds reply, only to recoil when it came.
“Of course I’m not, somepony tripped me!!” Diamond’s voice was raised so loud the librarian’s ice cold glare shot through multiple books to lock onto her.
Nyx acted innocent without effort. Usually, she would own up to it, in fact she would never had done it at all, but something had snapped and her inner demon took that golden opportunity to inflict some kind of harm, even if it was to trip a fiendish filly face first on the floor. Cheerilee was quick to reprimand Diamond Tiara, who in turn was quick to blame Nyx for it, making the excuse that Nyx had better developed magic than the other unicorns in the class. Nyx countered with the argument that Luna took away enough of her power to render lifting a suitcase difficult to a degree, even after four years.
This did nothing to cease Diamond’s fuming anger and she huffed, pointing her nose into the air and holding her head up like the aristocrat she was. The class left soon after and made their way to the Canterlot Art Gallery, here the fillies and colts were briefed on the history of the building, and on each art. Cheerilee and the tour guide’s job was quickly taken over by the enthusiastic and ecstatic, Nyx. Her knowledge and information quickly bored her classmates almost to sleep before Cheerilee took over from Nyx.
“Okay class, we’re going to be moving on now to the Canterlot gardens to view the statues. Apparently, there was a new sculpture installed there recently. Won’t that be fun to see?”
Cheerilee got plenty of replies, some enthusiastic while others were not. The group moved out, and while her classmates were high in spirits, Nyx was not.
“You okay, little blossom?” Apple Bloom inquired.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry,” Nyx smiled assuringly and picked up the pace as she and the girls were being left behind.
Nearby, behind a tree, the draconequus known as Discord watched on, having felt the shift in Nyx’s personality at the library which sent tingles up his spine. He wasn’t just here for fun, he was here to make certain of something. The class arrived at the garden and spread out in groups to observe the various sculptures dotting the area. One of these sculptures oddly resembled Discord, whom Nyx knew was pretending to be a statue for some nefarious purpose. She and the C.M.C, passed by the false statue during the small look around, only for Nyx to be touched and poofed away along with Discord himself to a more private place, that being a large room with blank walls and empty spaces.
Nyx looked around this room, confused and startled. She fixed her gaze to Discord, looking down at her with arms crossed and a thoughtful expression.
“Um… hello, Discord.” Nyx smiled up at the god, her confusion growing further.
“You knew I was there, and you know that everypony knows that Twilight knows that if I’m around, something happens. And I wasn't around when something happened earlier. So my little, black friend…”
Discord got down to Nyx’s height in the form of a Tapier. “Tell me, what exactly happened at the library, it was too out of place for myself not to notice you did something with your magic to somepony else. Now… spill it.”
Nyx replied with silence and sat back on her haunches. She looked down onto the blank floor of this strange pocket dimension and dug at the ground in idle thought. “I got mad…”
“Oh?” Discord smacked both his hands to his cheeks, his eyes lit up and went pink, his eyelashes grew large and as he pulled up Rarity’s fainting chair, a pair of reading glasses, a click pen, and a clipboard, they went away. “Do tell.”
“Discord, I don’t fully know what I did… I just got mad and I guess I blacked out…”
Discord chuckled. “Oh I highly doubt that, my little pony. But even so, it was delicious use of your dark magic. Even if it was for something so… trivial.”
“I really don’t know what you mean, and I’d appreciate it if you sent me back to my friends!” Nyx stomped her hoof which crack the very whiteness of the dimension they were in.
“Alright already, sheesh, keep your magic in your horn.” At the snap of his fingers, Discord teleported Nyx back to the Canterlot gardens, not before Discord muttered something which caused the crescent moon shape on Nyx’s cutie mark to go black.
When she poofed back in the gardens, her eyes fluctuated between slitted and rounded, her magical aura in turn switched between black and blue. But it ceased, and Nyx had no idea it even happened.
“Nyx? What’s the hold up, aren’t you coming with us?” Sweetie Belle called out from the Princess Celestia statue.
“I’m following! I’m sorry, girls!” Nyx took wing and flew over to the Crusaders in order to close the distance between them.
The rest of the day was much of the same, looking around at the various tourist spots for an upcoming history assignment the foals would be doing the following day. Not one pony made note of the difference on Nyx’s cutie mark, nor the random sparks that would wrap around her horn.
She came to a stop beside the group; Apple Bloom shot her some curious glances which Nyx couldn’t help but allow to indulge.
“What’s the matter, Apple Bloom? You’ve been giving me that look for some time now.”
“Are you sleepin’ alright? You got bags under ya eyes so dark ah’d need a light to see the rest of yer face.”
Nyx kicked at the ground.” Well… the thing is… I’ve been hearing voices when I sleep. I think it’s Snowdrop, but it doesn’t have that gentleness to it… I know it isn’t her because I feel afraid.”
“If a voice in your head makes you feel that way, then it isn’t friendly at all,” Scootaloo remarked.
“Girls, we’re going to see the Alicorn’s Triumph statue,” Cheerilee called out, and the girls summarily followed.
~~~
Home again.
Nyx stepped through the library doors and announced her return in the Royal Canterlot Voice which startled Twilight, whom called out in reply from the kitchen. The scent of freshly cooked curry wafted down into the library’s foyer and caught Nyx’s nostrils in a delightful trance to which she simply rode aloft up into the kitchen on her wings.
Twilight turned back around to see Nyx at the table, sitting in wait and giving her the big kitten eyes. Twilight giggled and finished up the curry before calling Spike down and serving it. Spike pulled out his chair and sniffed the air. He licked his lips and stared at the bowl of herbs and chillis laid down before him.
“This looks really good, Twilight,” Spike took a few whiffs at the salad and licked his lips. “It smells good too,” he complimented before digging into the meal, only for his face to light up red as his tongue was quickly burned by the chillis and peppers.
“Thank you, Spike. I had Fluttershy supply me with enough herbs, spices and chillis just to make it.” Twilight looked over at Spike’s chair to see he was no longer there, but over by the window.
“Spike?” Twilight cocked an eyebrow and noticed the green flames erupting from his maw. “I guess it was too hot… how about you Ny—”
Nyx’s face was scrunched up, tears in her eyes which had gone red from the heat. “It’s so hot…” she whined.
“Oh come on, it’s not that bad…” Twilight sighed and tried some for herself, only to have her words spat back in her face as the heat was staggering. “Oh Celestia that is… ugh! Waugh!! That’s hot!!!”
Twilight bolted up from her chair and grabbed the milk, she poured half the carton into her mouth before pouring more into Nyx’s then Spike. The heat died down slowly after that and Twilight let out a sigh. Nyx panted and wheezed and glared up at Twilight almost vengefully, to which Twilight poked out her tongue.
“Don’t give me that look…” She took a deep breath and put a spell on the meal which lessened the bite of the chilli’s and allowed them to be eaten with ease. “That’s much better, Spike come back and finish this.”
“No way, even with your magic, I don’t trust it.”
Nyx took in a few spoonfuls of the dish and tried to encourage Spike as Twilight did, throwing in her cuteness while she was at it. Her eyes widened like a cat’s and it sucked him in. He rejoined the group and ate his dinner, though the peaceful moments were not to last. The steel pot cast a reflection of the group on the table, and it was in Nyx’s sights. Occasionally she glanced at it as something would move, and each time she dismissed it as Owlowiscious flying about. Only upon her seventh glance did a pair of eyes stare right back at her from the bowl. It sent a shiver along Nyx’s spine, she tensed up and excused herself from the table despite having almost finished her dinner.
Spike, Twilight and Owlowiscious looked at one another in confusion, and watched Nyx go. She went up into the bathroom to wash her face, putting aside her glasses she removed her headband and let the water run free from the tap. In her hooves she gathered the water and splashed herself with it, wetting her mane which she wiped dry with a towel. She stared down into the sink in wonder of why she was seeing things suddenly when before there was nothing to see.
She looked back up at the mirror, only to back away suddenly with a startled scream as she came face to face with her reflection of an armored adult mare in her likeness. She got back up on her hooves and looked in the mirror once more. The new reflection had gone back to looking like her again. She felt something in her throat, forcing its way up from the pit of her stomach. Black liquid dripped from her mouth and gagged, her head hovered above the sink and her mouth was forced open as she hacked up a large mess of vile black liquid into the bowel. Nyx, afraid, and unsure of what to do, flung the door open and bolted up to her room and hid.
~~~
A horrid taste in Nyx’s mouth kept her from cheering up and moving on from that brief moment of terror. She knew what this black bile was, having once before vomited it years before during the early days of her three month reign as queen Nightmare Moon. She shook and held her Twilight teddy close in a massive hug as she remembered what little she had of her days of Nightmare.
“Well, that was intriguing. You haven't tasted that since a long time ago.” A mature voice echoed around Nyx’s room.
Nyx’s ears fell back and she hunched herself into a ball, shaking.
“Why do we still cling to that thing?! It is unbecoming of us, you will do well to dispense with it, and embrace me!!”
There was a loud metallic thump which came over by the armor stand, shrouded in a black veil. Nyx’s eyes locked onto the steel relic, she started to hyperventilate and back away from it. The light of the lamp started to flicker and blink before shattering into the pieces. The mirror at Nyx’s drawer’s started to fog up and turn black. Nyx’s eyes adjust to the dark like a fish into water. She looked around frantically, unable to call out to Twilight as her vocal cords seemed to seize up and twist themselves into silence. She tried to call out, but only soft squeaks came out that made hoarse versions of the names she called out.
“How cute, you can’t even call their names. That’s so pathetic of you,” the voice laughed in amusement and appeared to be black blurs out of the corner of Nyx’s eyes. “I’ve found the way out, Luna… you cannot hope to protect this insignificant waste of life now!!”
Nyx’s blood ran cold, she could see her breath. In an attempt to escape, she tried to run for the door, only she could not move, she could not shudder. She was still, with her heart beating violently in her chest, true fear had taken its hold.
“Y-you’re not real…!”
“Aren’t I? Then why are you so afraid of your shadow!”
Nyx turned around slowly, shaking and cold. A presence of true, unadulterated rage brushed against her and brought her horn to ache, the malice and evil that came form it was beyond anything she had felt before, even when she was night herself. She faced this evil, and stared right into the eyes of the mare of the moon, right into the grinning, wild eyed visage of Nightmare Moon.
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