A Nightmare Returns

Silver looked to her sister as they walked behind Moon towards the dining hall. The smell of cooked food filled the corridor as they grew closer, the alicorn guiding them through the maze of halls and doors with ease. “You think Gold will be alright?” She asked Heart.

Heart looked back and, while she couldn't see the cell door, she still knew it was behind them. "I think so... But, if she doesn't tell Moon that she loves her... I don't know."

Silver sighed. “What I don’t understand is why… Gold is being so bipolar today… One second its hate, now its love…” She shook her head. “And I thought I was traumatized."

"Well..." Heart started, choosing her words carefully. "I have an idea... If it works, Gold's sanity will be preserved."

“What kind of plan?"

"Well... You're probably not going to like it."

Back in the cell.

‘Why is it so hard for me to just tell her that I love her? Why should I have a reason to love her other than knowing that she needs to be loved just as everypony should, she needs a special somepony in her life, I just… don’t know how to tell her… What am I going to do?’ Gold thought to herself as she sat with her back to the wall, her knees hugged to her chest.’What can I do? I insulted her earlier thinking it would get me somewhere, get us somewhere and now look at me, I’m an emotional train wreck.’ The only thing that filled the room was the sound of Gold’s sobbing.

Back in the Dining hall.

Heart looked straight at Silver's eyes. "We have to join Gold in her love of Nightmare Moon."

“B-b-b-b-but… I-I don’t even know if I love her yet.” Silver stammered.

"Neither do I... But, if we love Moon as well, chances are that Gold will come out and say it. Maybe." Heart sighed. "This whole plan rides on that 'maybe'." Heart then looked at Silver very seriously. "Are you going to go through with this? For Gold's sake?"

The zebra looked away. “I… I don’t know… That’s a pretty big maybe…”

"I know... But I don't see any other alternatives..."

Silver sighed. “I’ll… think about it… This just doesn’t ride on how Gold feels, but also if Moon is worthy of my love. Until she proves to me that she is, that’s when I’ll open up. I have trust issues, remember?”

"I know... There's too many things that could go wrong with this plan... But it's our only shot."

“Guhhh… Whelp… I guess I can finally have a real special somepony if this works.” Silver replied with a shrug.

Heart was about to say something, but was interrupted by Nightmare Moon’s voice. “I made it all just for you. I kinda had it planned because of how much you three seemed to enjoy last night. I just… I don’t know… Thought maybe I could attempt to get you to understand why it is that I did what I did.” She said as she led the sisters into the dining hall. She turned back to look at the two mares, whose mouths were watering at the display of food, but one was missing. “Where’s Gold?”

“Umm… Back in the cell.” Silver pointed behind her with her thumb. “She said something about needing to think some things over.”

Moon looked worried. “She didn’t follow?”

“Well… no. She told us to go ahead.” Heart said.

“She’ll get lost again!” Moon cried, pushing past the two mares and running back down the corridor, but not before looking back at the two sisters and calling out. “Stay there! I don’t want you getting lost too!” And with that she sprinted through the castle.

Heart looked at Silver. “Well… I guess we can say for sure that Nightmare has some feelings for Gold.”

Somewhere in the castle.

Tears still streaming from her eyes, Gold had been lost for an hour by now but continued walking, wandering aimlessly. She was already exhausted from walking for so long that she collapsed in the middle of the hall and just lied there curled up on the floor letting her tears flood freely. ‘I’ll never make it out of here.’ Gold thought to herself, giving up on continuing to search for the way to the dining hall. That same thought ran through her mind the entire time, she continued to cry until she felt unconsciousness begin to take over her, she was too exhausted to fight the feeling and closed her eyes, succumbing to the darkness of sleep.

"Gold!? Golden Eye!?" Moon's voice called through the castle as she searched for one of the the mares she had fallen for. 'Please be OK...' Was the only thought that ran through her mind.

It wasn't until the alicorn rounded the corner that led to the organ room, that she found the unconscious mare. "Gold!" She cried and ran to her side, dropping on her knees next to the miserable form. She reached out and gently touched Gold's shoulder.

Gold’s eyes slowly cracked open. She looked around to see who had touched her shoulder to find that it was Nightmare sitting on the floor next to her. “Wh- where am I?” she asked in a groggy tone.

“I’d say you’re somewhere between angry and sad.” Moon replied with a somewhat calmer voice. “Is there a reason you decided to go off on your own? Even knowing how easily you would get lost?”

Gold pushed herself into a sitting position and waited a few seconds to ensure her balance, then threw her arms around Moon, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry... I-I was just having so much trouble thinking of how to tell you... how much I love you and trying to... get my sisters to understand that... I told them to go on without me, after a while... I decided to try to make my way to rejoin you and my sisters, but... I wound up here.” she said as tears began to fall past her cheeks.

This shocked the mare of the night. “You… love me?” She asked in a weak voice, sounding close to tears herself.

“Y-yes… I-I just didn’t know how to tell you.” Gold said past near sobs.

Moon hugged the pegasus tighter, tears of her own having spilled out of her eyes. “Even… e-even after yesterday? H-how can you forgive so quickly and yet your youngest sister still shuns me?”

“Yes… even after yesterday… I realized that you did what you did because you were in need, you still have that need for love and that need is not being satisfied, I want to help satisfy that need.” Gold replied, tears still flowing from her eyes.

Nightmare Moon pulled away from the mare and gazed into her teary eye, searching for anything that would give this away as a lie, but Gold’s golden eyes told everything. She had meant every word. “I… I-I… I…” Moon attempted to speak, but before she could form what she wanted to say, she broke into sobs and buried her face into Gold’s bare chest. “I-I’m so sorry!” The alicorn cried in desperation. “I-I’m such a *hick* t-terrible pony!”

Gold placed a finger beneath the mares chin and lifted Moon’s eyes to her own tear filled eyes. “No… you’re not.”

Just looking into the golden eyes of the mare that found love in her was making her heart break at how much she had hurt her and her sisters, especially Heart. “Y-*hick* yes I am… I even b-broke Heart of her *hick* free spirited nature… And I stole Silver’s virginity… All while leaving you all mares.”

“Listen to me…” Gold said in the calmest tone she could. “even though they may not forgive you yet… doesn’t mean I shouldn’t either. Heart’s free spirited nature can be restored… with time. Silver… she doesn’t really trust you that well yet, but her trust can be gained.”

Moon’s body trembled as emotions criss-crossed through her. Her mind was in total anarchy, something that had not happened to her in over a thousand years. “But… How can a seemingly perfect pony like you… love a monster like me? I took over your aunt’s body, remember? I nearly destroyed everything with her own power! I’m the real freak here!”

“You are not a monster and I am not perfect, we all have our flaws.” Gold stated. “ Your actions in the past were nothing more than mistakes. We all make mistakes, and it’s time for you to put the past in the past, so don’t call yourself a freak just because of something that’s in the past, because you are not a freak, you were just misunderstood, even I can be misunderstood at times. My sisters can even tell you that.”

The emotions boiled past everything Moon had that kept her from showing her true self, that there was nearly nothing left of her made up persona. She placed her hand on the back of Gold’s neck and thrust her lips against the mare’s.

Gold’s eyes widened in surprise from the sudden kiss but immediately returned the kiss with all of the love and passion she could possibly give.

The kiss was short, but it displayed the intense feelings of need from the lonely alicorn, the love she held, the love she wanted. “Gold… I’ve loved you and your now sisters since I first laid eyes on you three.”

“And just so you know… I kinda like being a mare… It’s even better than I had ever dreamed of.” Gold replied. “The pleasures that I had only heard of as a stallion, they are more than I had ever dreamed of being able to experience.”

Moon giggled. “You are a naughty mare.”

“Can’t blame a pony for something they like, can you now?” Gold argued playfully.

Giggling again, Moon stood and helped Gold to her hooves. “I hope you’re hungry.”

Back in the dining hall.

“By mother, this is delicious!” Silver exclaimed. She and Heart had sat down to eat while Moon had gone in search of Golden Eye. “Why couldn’t the royal chef cook this good?”

“No clue.” replied Heart, wondering at the taste of the food.

“This right here,” Silver shoved another bite into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it. “almost makes me love Moon already. I mean, who doesn’t like a partner that can cook?”

“I know right?! Mmmmm… How do you suppose she does it? How does she make it this good?!”

“Beats the hell out of me! She’s freakin’ Nightmare Moon! She can do this kind of thing!” Silver exclaimed, taking a few more bites and sipping on the wine that had been provided.

“Still… Why is she doing all this? Why cook this much for just the four of us?” Heart wondered.

She shrugged. “I dunno… Maybe her appetite is like mother’s. You know how much she eats to maintain her energy while having a constant magic feed to the sun.”

“Yeah… But isn’t Luna the one who controls the moon? What does Nightmare control?”

Silver placed a finger on her chin as she pondered this for a moment. “Well… it might be something like vengeance or something, meaning she likes equality.”

“That’s exactly correct, Silver Soul.” Moon’s voice called, startling the zebracorn. The alicorn strode into the dining hall with a wide, giddy smile on her face, Gold following close behind. “You’re smarter than your sisters give you credit for.”

“Hey, I gave her credit when she came up with a good point back in Canterlot.” replied Heart. “So… you found Gold?”

“She did… and I was relieved that she did. I’ll let her tell you what happened when she found me.” Gold said smiling widely.

Moon and Gold sat down at the table. Moon sat next to Heart, while Gold was next to Silver. Taking a bite of her own food, the alicorn began to explain how far through the castle she searched for Gold. Then she got to the part when she found the pegasus and the state she was in. “It broke my heart to see her like that. It made me end up sinking that low myself.” Moon shook her head. “It had been at least five hundred years since I had last cried… Really cried like I had done not more than a few minutes ago.”

“Whoa…” Silver looked over at her sister, who was fidgeting in her seat. “She… broke down that badly?”

“She did, she even fell as far as to calling herself a freak, which I corrected her on, and I was finally able to say what I meant to say.” Gold replied.

“We’re in love!” Moon yelled into the air with glee.

Heart’s eyes widened. She lent over and whispered into Silver’s ear. “I guess we don’t need to rely on my plan after all…”

“Why not just still keep going with it? It might turn into something fun.” whispered Silver, whose eyes were just as wide.

“You mean… You actually want to?” questioned Heart.

The zebra sighed. “I don’t see much of an alternative, besides… she’s really great in bed.” Silver said with a blush.

"What are you two talking about over there?" Gold asked.

“N-nothing!” Silver said quickly.

Nightmare stared at Silver and Heart for a moment. “Anyway… So what do you think about my cooking?”

“I’m amazing. H-How do you make it so good? I mean… what do you put in it?” asked Heart.

Moon choked on her wine in surprise at the question and reeled over coughing. She quickly recovered, looking at the three mares. “Well… ahem… You see… I kinda used our… umm… sexual fluids as a type of flavoring…” The alicorn said with a sheepish laugh.

Silver’s jaw dropped as well as the fork she had been holding.

Heart choked. “W-What?! You… what?!”

Gold savored the taste of the food in her mouth before swallowing, “I rather like the taste of it, it’s… how do you say it… magnificent. I know, I’m a very naughty mare, aren’t I?”

“I’m… I’m eating my own cum? A-as well as all of yours?” Silver asked in a weak voice.

Heart just stared at the food she had so thoroughly enjoyed a few seconds before, her eyes blank and unseeing.

“Well you all seemed to like it.” Moon stated in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone. She took a bite of her own. “Besides, I’ve cooked like this for years. I mean, seriously. Its not like you haven’t tasted mine already.

Gold just looked at Moon and smiled. “Looks like I’m not the only one being naughty right now.”

Nightmare giggled. “Can you blame me?”

Gold just giggled. “You two can’t sit there and tell us that its not good. You just said it was delicious!”

Silver blushed. “I’m not gonna lie there… It tastes better than most everything I’ve ever eaten, besides mother’s cooking.”

“I learned from Celestia.” Moon added. “Its funny how little you all know about how kinky your mother really is.”

Gold paused, taken completely by surprise. “She.. .You… Well, that’s… new.”

“She never cooked like that for you. I learned it when I was hiding inside of Luna. There are so many things Luna and Celestia did that it made my head spin. Its ridiculous! Your mother and Luna are incestrial lovers!” Moon exclaimed.

“Okay, let’s just keep this little secret to ourselves, Silver, Heart, I don’t want mother knowing that we found out about any of this. Gold said, her eyes wide with surprise.

“What? You’re scared she’d,” Moon snickered. “Punish you three?”

Silver stiffened. “W-would she do that!?”

Nightmare leaned over towards Silver. “Silver… As crazy as this may sound, I’m not the only alicorn around that would do what I did to you and your sisters. I’m surprised Luna had kept her distance, especially from you, Silver.” A smile settled on the alicorn’s lips. “Now be a sweetheart and finish the food I cooked for you.”

After calming down from what she had just heard, Gold continued eating, savoring every single bite, followed closely by Silver.

Nightmare then noticed that Heart still wasn’t eating. She leaned up against the mare and wrapped an arm around her. “What is wrong, my dear unicorn? Hath I foiled thy hunger? Tis nothing, Heart. What it is doth not change its flavor. Thy had just enjoyed thyself not more than a moment ago, yet here thy are…”

Heart didn’t answer, her mind completely in a mess from what she just heard. She just stared down at her food, still with a blank stare on her face.

Moon sighed as she placed her hand under Heart’s chin and made her look Moon in the eyes. “Heart… I understand how you might feel, about your mother and aunt, even me and my actions, but everything I’ve done was for you three. I know the way I went about doing them was wrong, but… No, there’s no excuse for the things I’ve done. I was rash and blinded by pride.”

Gold looked up away from her food and at Moon “I have no need for a reason to forgive you, as I have said earlier, I have already forgiven you.”

“And I thank you, but I still feel empty without your sisters to forgive me, but they won’t… Not anytime soon.” Moon said with a deep sigh. “I messed up really bad.”

“Honestly… they don’t know how they feel about you yet, hence making them reluctant to forgive you, but with my help and your effort to prove that you can be a better pony as you have already proven to me. I also want to apologize for the way I treated you earlier.”

“You were justified. I’m a bad pony…” Tears sprung to Moon’s eyes. “But… Let this be the first step to changing that.” She lent forward towards Heart and gently kissed her, her lips soft and gentle towards the mare, her actions full of care and compassion.

Heart’s eyes widened as she was about to push Nightmare away, but then she realised she was actually enjoying the touch. She wrapped her arms around Moon and pulled her closer, deepening their kiss.

Giving an excited pur, Moon gently caressed Heart’s shoulders as they kissed, but like with Gold, it didn’t last long, before she pulled away. “I want to win you over, nothing more, nothing less. I love all three of you and I wish to prove it, though first… I want you three to send a letter to Celestia for me.”

Silver, shaking off the shock from what she had just witnessed, looked curiously at Nightmare. “What for?”

“Well, Soul, I don’t want your mother to send her entire army in here and try to kill me. I need her to know you’re alright and that you’ll be willingly staying with me a while.”

Gold looked at Moon once more. “Moon, I’d stay for as long as I live if I could, just to be with you.”

“Well the fact is that you can’t, unless Celestia permits it. I must follow her rules if I’m to claim her acceptance, but thank you.” Moon replied with a nod towards the mare she had found love in.

Heart spoke up, the first time she has said anything in a while. “Why send a letter? If you two truly love one another… then you should both stand in front of our mother and confess it. She might actually accept it if you do that.”

She sighed. “Well… I want to get to know all of you. I need her to know you’re staying with me. I can’t go anywhere close to Canterlot anyway. She needs to know in advance. She won’t let me in.”

“As long as you can show me around the castle so I don’t get lost, I’m down with that. Oh! And our magic, clothes, my scythe. All of that needs to be given back. I want free will in order for me to even consider being with you.” Silver stated, crossing her arms.

Heart was thinking deeply, her mind constructing a plan. She looked at Moon. “Even if we send a letter ahead, ponies will still panic when they see you.” She looked straight into Moon’s eyes. “Do you trust me?”

“I understand what you are thinking, but I am the captain of the guard as well as a prince, well princess now.” Gold said, giggling at the last phrase.

“I’m not wearing a dress, no matter how much of a princess I am.” Silver stated. “You can hang that shit up right now.”

“We should at least let mother know that we are safe and will be staying a while.” Gold said.

“Yeah. It is a good idea.” Silver nodded. “I just hope mother hasn’t already had a heart attack about us being gone so long.”

“We should also send Aunt Twilight a letter, letting her know what’s happened thus far.”

“No!” Both Silver and Moon cried.

“Or at least let her know how we are doing.”

“That wouldn’t be wise…” said Heart.

“Princess Twilight is not only an element of harmony, but she’s my equal now. I can’t end up fighting her, Celestia, and the other elements. If this is going to work for all of us, this must take time.” Nightmare explained.

“Which brings me back to my plan… which can wait for the time being…” spoke up Heart.

“You’re actually right about that… I don’t want to end up causing any problems before any of us really get to love you for the mare you really are, instead of that monster you knew yourself as.” Gold said. “Let’s just get that letter sent.”

“We can do it when I’m done eating.” Silver interjected. “I’m hungry for seconds.”

Moon smiled. “Well look who else is being naughty, you adorable zebra.”

After having eaten, the three sisters went back to the cell, not being locked inside, but just relaxing on the comfortable furniture that had been placed inside. Heart was writing down a letter while Gold told her what to write. Silver was laying across a bed, polishing her scythe that had been recently returned. “What do you think mother will send back?” Silver asked from across the room.

“Not a clue, but that doesn’t matter now.” said Heart, continuing to write. “I suppose I should let you in on my plan now, since it’s quite important.”

Silver perked her ears up, ready to listen. “Let’s hear it.”

Heart put down the quill she was writing with, rolled up the scroll and placed it back down. “As I’ve said before, our mother probably won’t believe us through just written words alone. So, we need to get Moon into Canterlot… However, how are we going to do that? Enchantments surround the castle, ponies will get scared if they see Nightmare Moon, there are just too many obstacles in our path.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “This plan requires a few things. Our trust of Moon, Moon’s trust, and mother’s trust of us. And magic… that’s one thing we need above everything else.”

“Yeah… I’ve already guessed that a sob story wouldn’t work. Moon has quite a few issues, but those won’t help us. There needs to be something real to latch onto and the only way to do that is for Moon to win both me and Heart over.”

“We could try to get some cloaks or something.”

Silver and Heart both glared at Gold with bemused expressions. “You’re kidding… Right?”

Gold raised a brow. “At least it’s worth a try.”

The young mare shook her head. “You don’t know anything about magic, do you?”

Heart interrupted before a fight could break out. “Once we’ve gained her trust, and she’s gained ours, and me and Silver have our magic back, I’ve figured out a way of getting her into the castle without setting off any enhancements or alarming any ponies. In fact, everything should go smoothly.”

“Key word there is ‘should’ meaning that something ‘could’ screw up. We’re playing something pretty risky here.” Silver added.

“Then let me rephrase what I said. Everything ‘will’ go smoothly.” Heart said, staring straight at her sister.

“I sometimes curse you for your confidence… Fine, but if shit hits the fan… It was your idea.”

“I don’t know Heart… there’s a lot of risk in what you are planning… are you sure you want to take that much of a risk?” Gold said, unsure of Heart’s current plan.

Heart laughed. “You’ve known me for how long? And yet you guys don’t know that I always have some sort of evidence to back up my claims and my plans? I’ll say it again, nothing will go wrong.” She cleared her throat. “Remember a few years back. For old times sake, we once played ‘Hide and Go seek’ in the castle?”

“I think so, why?” Gold asked.

“None of you could find me. Not even with a spell, as I know Silver, you did try.”

“What does this have to do with mother and trusting Moon?” Silver asked, looking curiously at her sister. “I’m still confused at how Moon is supposed to try and win me over, me with all my trust issues.”

Heart shook her head. “This has nothing to do with trust. Weren’t you listening? This is a plan to get Moon into the castle. Now, remember back to a few days ago. I pulled a sword from out of nowhere. Remember?”

“You mean that little slip space thingy you did?”

“The one you did that I thought you pulled your fucking rapier out of my heart?”

Heart giggled. “That was just for show. I can do it anywhere. Anyway, I know, without a doubt, that you can hide anything in there. Anything, of any size. Do you get my plan now?”

“You sneaky bitch! That’s brilliant!” Silver exclaimed.

“Why didn’t you just tell us you would do that in the first place?”

“I like being a little mysterious.” replied Heart. “And yes, that little slip in space is our way in… or more specifically, Moon’s way in.”

“But this whole plan will be meaningless if Moon can’t gain mine and your affection. There has to be a way for that to work.” She turned to Gold. “Gold, you think you could work a few emotions out of Moon? See if she can’t be compassionate towards us. Maybe like… a date for each of us. Her trying to really get us to love her for the mare she is under her pride.”

Gold froze as she felt her sisters’ gaze fall on her. “I-I… I don’t know, it depends on what exactly you want me to do.”

“You get her to want to make us happy. Tell her to make both mine and Heart’s day special. I’m more of an afternoon person, so mine can be in the P.M. Heart can have a breakfast date, and I’ll have a dinner date.” Silver explained. “You, already being Moon’s lover, are the best one to get Moon to do it.”

“I… I’ll try.” Gold said, afraid that she could possibly hurt Moon’s feelings and hurt their relationship if she doesn’t get it right.

Silver nodded. “Good. We’ll send the letter today. Gold can tell Moon about the dates after lunch. Moon can ask us out at dinner. And I’ll sleep as long as I normally do, while Heart and Moon are having their time.”

“I’m fine with that… Just one thing.” said Heart. “Sex is off the table… just to make that clear.”

“Well, duh! You think I’m going to fuck her right off the gate!? No!” Silver yelled to her sister.

“Hey! Stop taking things the wrong way… I don’t want her to fuck me! I just want a nice breakfast with her, nothing more!”

“But what if I do want nothing more than to just be ravaged by a lover tonight? You two gonna let me have her all to myself?”

“You’re a sex freak, Gold.” Silver stated.

“And why would you say that?” Gold asked.

“Umm… Lets see… You JUST figured out you love her AFTER she technically raped us. And you weren’t even fazed at all by eating our cum.” The zebra mare replied with a sarcastic tone.

“Who can blame me for liking the things that I like,” Gold retorted. “and loving the ones that I love?”

“Silver has a point, Gold… Just take it slowly at first. I don’t care what you do after that, but at least get to know her first.” said Heart.

“I understand what you are saying, but don’t you get my point as well?” Gold asked

“Look… Maybe you could be in on this whole date thing too. Like have her have lunch with you. Talk about love, not lust. Ask about each other. Make her feel just as welcome as you feel towards her. She’ll open up.” Silver cut in.

“Yeah. Gold, you can’t just go… Balls deep. You want to gain her trust just as much as she gain ours.” Heart added.

Gold looked away. “I guess you’re right…”

“Now let’s get that letter sent and go try and learn how to get through the castle without getting lost. I can already feel my magic coming back.” Silver said in a lighter tone as she disassembled her scythe and stowed it away in her bag that Moon had returned as well.

Heart picked up the letter and concentrated for a bit. It took a while, most of her magic hadn’t returned, but she finally managed to send the letter to Celestia.

“I’m going to get some rest before lunch so just wake me before then.” Gold said, heading for the bed in the cell. “You know what to do if something goes wrong.”

“You always made sure we did. Now I’m gonna go take a look around.” Silver said as she stood and walked out of the cell. “Send me a flash note if you need me.” And with that, the zebra made her way through the confusing halls.