Lucid Nightmares

Lucid Nightmare

Chapter 1

Denial was only ever a temporary solution. Nopony in Equestria could argue against this, not Twilight, not the princesses, and certainly not the fashion designer known as Rarity.

Regardless, Rarity had quite the talent in denial. It was useful for all sorts of things. Denying gossip or otherwise personal inquiries from overeager Canterlot snobs and Manehattan mares. Denying that she really needed those four-five-six hours of sleep over, say, finishing her latest, fantastic design that she could oh most definitely leave for another, dare say, healthier time. Denying that, perhaps, she had the tendency to extremely overwork herself, that she really just might collapse at any given moment, that she was pushing her dearest friends, her new personal assistant, and even cute little sister away by continuing such a self-destructive workload.

Denying that there was anything wrong with her, at all. That the sneering, sultry voice mimicking her in her head was even there. That the dark thoughts steadily pushing into the forefront of her consciousness were starting to get to her. That all of this was in no way tied to the aches she had been feeling all over her body for the entirety of the day.

There was, absolutely, without argument, nothing wrong with her.

Even as she grunted in a voice that sounded so familiar, yet at the same time so not. Even as she lifted herself out of her fluffy, expensive bed. Even as she pulled her sleep mask away from her eyes and saw, despite the heavy darkness of her room, a dark coat covering her slender, elegant hoof. Even as her pajamas felt tight over her large body. Even as she stepped in front of the mirror and saw herself. Unfamiliar, and familiar all at once.

Oh, yes, it all came back to her. Her moment of weakness. Her fall to the darkness. Her unspeakable treatment of her loved ones and friends. Her self doubt, her anxiety, her rage. The seductive call of the nightmares.

It all stared at her. She stared at herself, with those blue, slitted, almost gem like eyes. And yet, even as she opened her mouth and saw the distinctly sharpened teeth inside, all that came out was an almost bored “Oh, dear.”, in Rarity’s usual graceful accent, although with a distinctly darker, sultrier tone than she was used to.

Even as the mare in the mirror’s mouth moved along with Rarity’s, even as she turned around and examined herself, from the beautiful, sparkling mass of purple and white that her mane had become, to the matching tail and her corrupted cutie marks, taking it all in...

She felt fantastic.

More refreshed than ever, actually.

The unicorn chuckled coolly to herself, whipping her mane back. “My, this is certainly new.” She cleared her throat. “I do not quite recall my dreams being so vivid.”

Moments passed as she modelled. Oh, denial, such a silly thing. Really, something in the back of Rarity’s head told her that this was so wrong. That being this mare should be far more traumatizing, that she should be smashing her head against the mirror to wake herself up.

But no, this wasn’t a dream.

Denial is temporary.

Rarity knew.

The power flowing through her was too real, too fantastic. She giggled to herself, stretching her hooves out, admiring her slender frame. “My, my, my. I look quite...” she breathed in the cool night air. She had opened the window with barely a thought, only partially noticing the unfamiliar, dark glow of her horn. She let out the breath, humming lightly. “Marvelous.” She grinned, trotting around the room.

Her body felt heavier. Really, it felt all sorts of alien to her.

But she didn’t care. She felt so wonderful. Absolutely great in every sense of the word. She felt so free. As if, why...

As if she could take down a princess or two.

...

Rarity giggled at that thought. Of course she wouldn’t do THAT. No, no, she was passed that. Really, she was never a fan of jokes with such poor taste.

Call it a power rush. She brushed her coat down with a hoof, and glanced at the time. “Goodness, is it only midnight? Why, I feel wide awake!” she started, bringing a hoof to her muzzle and gasping. “Perhaps I should go have a bit of tea.” She smiled dreamily, trotting to the door, the handle glowing darkly as she simply willed it open. Oh, of course, Rarity had long since mastered even the most complicated aspects of levitation. It was what allowed her to multi-task so effortlessly. But right now, right now...

She felt fantastic. Everything felt so simple. As if her magic was being held back all her life. Sweet Celestia, it was amazing. She never bothered to do much with her magic up until now, even though Twilight had innocently suggested she offer Rarity a few lessons. Oh, she told the cute lavender unicorn that she would consider it.

And then never brought it up again.

And yet, now? Now? Now she was honestly considering taking her friend up on the offer. Rarity giggled. Perhaps she could show the Element of Magic a thing or two. Rarity giggled again, cackled even, right in the middle of her hall!

“Rarity...?” A squeaky, familiar voice asked tiredly behind her.

“Oh, goodness, Sweetie, darling! Did I wake you?” The white unicorn turned, putting on an apologetic expression. She darted over to her sister’s door as the filly’s eyes adjusted to the dark. Sweetie Belle rubbed her eyes and stared up at her sister. Something seemed off,wrong... She yawned again and nuzzled into the familiar white coat of her big sister, who only giggled quietly and brushed her mussy mane.

“Mnn... what’s so funny?” Sweetie mumbled, hugging Rarity, for a moment envisioning Equestria’s softest teddy bear.

“Oh, nothing, dear. I just simply could NOT get to sleep, and decided to fetch myself a little drink before going back to bed.” Rarity smiled down at her sister.

“...And you put on makeup and did your hair for that?” Sweetie Belle poked at her sister’s chest.

Her sister only giggled. “Never NOT a time to look one’s best, darling!~ Really, you should know that by now!”

Sweetie Belle grumbled and shook her head, letting out another yawn. “Mmn, y’okay, sis.”

 “Care to join me?” she politely offered in a sing song voice. Really, Sweetie would have known better if it wasn’t sleepy time.

Regardless, she shook her head no, giving an unladylike yawn right into Rarity’s face. The unicorn would have been annoyed, or maybe even just a bit angry at her sister, but for some reason, it just felt so... unimportant, now.

Rarity smiled, ruffling her absolutely precious sister’s hair and helping the filly back into bed, tucking her in. She even kissed the filly on the forehead!

A heavy pride filled her as she heard her sister mumbled a good night, and she stepped out of the room.

Her body had returned to normal. Wait, what was even normal anymore? She pondered that question, a bit upset when she couldn’t find the answer. Nevertheless, her black hooves carried her down the stairs, horn glowing and the kitchen bustling with life before she even entered.

Her tea was already being prepared.

A few moments later, it was done.

She certainly DID get stuff done quite effortlessly and efficiently now. Just imagine how good business will be, darling! A voice commented helpfully within her consciousness. She chuckled, finding no argument against that.

She sipped her tea, humming thoughtfully, flipping her mane back.

“Okay, no more joking about, Rarity.” she commented to herself. The sound of her distorted voice--that... commanding, powerful air to it... felt so right. “I suppose I SHOULD show some concern about this, no?” The voices in her head held no complaint.

“Mmm, how would Twilight go about this? A list, perhaps? Oh, how silly, but I suppose it will have to do.” Regardless, her horn went alight, and her magic went to work finding a parchment and quill for her. “Now then... where to start. Ah, I suppose the obvious.”

1. Turned into “Nightmare Rarity”

“Yes, there we go.” She hummed, then frowned. No, this started far earlier, did it not? A few weeks. No more denials. This was long coming, and she simply just made no effort to fix it. But did she want to fix it now, after it happened?

The unicorn shook her head, mane flowing beautifully in the night chill. “Later.” She affirmed.

She crossed out the first item on the list, and began her revision.

1. Vivid nightmares and hallucinations. Check.

2. Disturbing voices and thoughts in my head. Check.

3. Aches and pains. Check.

4. Turning into “Nightmare Rarity”. However, it seems I, “Normal Rarity”, am still in control. I seem to have acquired a far larger reserve of magic, as well. Check.

5. No more aches, pains, and the voices aren’t calling me anymore. Check.

6.

The dark mare frowned at the parchment. Six... six... what WAS she going to do now? She closed her eyes, letting herself get lost in her thoughts.

She could go to Twilight. Oh, but bothering her in the middle of the night for something so trivial, no need for that. Not now, anyway. She could simply busy herself with some work, or even try to fix herself.

Hm. She could try to fix herself.

Rarity frowned. She could. But... why should she? She was perfectly fine! She felt healthier than ever! She felt like she could move the moon and sun herself! She felt like she could topple kingdoms, fight heroes, destroy all of those slobs who would dare question her!

Rarity took a deep breath.

Seems just a bit of that less than pleasant voice stayed around. A shame.Perhaps I shouldget some help. At the very least get rid of any... less than pleasant thoughts. Super powered and swimming in the dark or not, Nightmare Rarity simply just did not feel like attempting to take over the world again. Oh well.

The unicorn sipped her tea, enjoying the nightly breeze running through her soft, wondrous coat. A small mirror travelled its way from somewhere else in the boutique to her hoof. Really, her mane looked quite fantastic with those mystical highlights. The dark colors really did compliment her. She never really experimented with the darker colors. Most ponies tended towards lighter pastels naturally, after all, but now... she felt like there was a certain charm to her figure, now.

Speaking of her figure, wow. She looked amazing! Tall, slender. It reminded her of her acquaintance in Canterlot, Fleur de Lis. Oh, but the dark colors. No, perhaps more like Luna.

Luna... the former Nightmare Moon. Something seemed to buzz inside Rarity at that thought. Perhaps she would know something?

Oh, but perhaps she would know something. Rarity shivered at the thought. The thought of being accused and attacked for her gift. The thought of no one ever understanding her new outlook. The thought of having to give up this body, this perfect, beautiful body, this fantastic dark power, to that her friends and that ignorant princess who gave up this power in the first place.

Rarity sighed deeply, looking down at her tea with those sparkling blue eyes. She looked at her list.

She softly bit her lip, and grimaced as she wrote the last few steps of her list.

6. No more denial.

7. Figure things out.

8. Fix this.

“Hah!” She blushed and covered her mouth. “Hah” she repeated in a whisper. “There, that seems like a fine enough start.” She giggled to herself in victory, moving the empty tea cup into the sink and washing it. She rolled the parchment up and hummed.

The night was still young.

She breathed a heavy, cold breath, closing her eyes. When she opened them, her surroundings had changed. She had very easily teleported to her room. She remembered when Twilight was out of breath after doing just one of those. And here she was, quite literally blinking her way to the other side of her business-slash-home. She smirked and held her head up high.

She smiled as she sat at her table, looking over the few designs she had carelessly left out in her stammering before bed. She deposited the list she had made in the work table, and readied her work pencil. Her work glasses gently slid onto her dark muzzle. She giggled. She did not really need them, sure, but for some reason she simply just could not bare the thought of working without them.

Rarity got to work. And whether she was sane or not, she had to admit.

This would be her most inspired line yet.