Author's Note

Thank you guys for the wonderful support and watches. I went back and cleaned up the first chapter a bit, and I fixed some surface issues. Hopefully, the tenses for the chapter are good now. Before writing this story, I had taken a long break from writing and this is the first story I have written in years. My skills are rusty, and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and find my voice again. Anyway here is the second chapter of My Beautiful Nightmare, and once again it is self-edited. If you spot anything wrong, feel free to leave a comment. You won't hurt my feelings. Also, the rating has been bumped up to mature because of swearing, but the story won't truly earn it's mature rating until later.

Previously on My Beautiful Nightmare: Nightmare Moon attacked Dodge Junction, Princess Celestia watches the city go to sleep for the night, and Spike doesn't want to be turned into a rabbit.

The Calm before the Nightmare

Chapter 2
The Calm before the Nightmare

The cabin was very dim, only lit by a few candelabras that were place around the room. The light weakly illuminated the glorious treasures that decorated the space. One of these treasures was a set of silver armor. Its surface was marred with scratches and dents from its many years of combat, but that did not mean it was neglected. It shone brightly in the low light because of a recent polishing. Hanging on the wall above it was a pair sabers, sharpened to a fine edge. Their owner was staring at them in deep thought. A strong breeze flew into the room from an open window and with it were the scents of the night. Her mane and tail writhed almost violently in the wind.

She was in a foul mood, a very foul mood. Her prey had slipped by her, and she was not pleased. All of her hard work and careful planning ruined in only a few minutes. Her anger made her magic flare and an orange suddenly exploded, making her visitors jump in alarm. No, she was not pleased one bit.

“How did this happen?” she asked in a deathly quiet voice. The other occupants knew better than to respond. It was a rhetorical question, after all, because she knew exactly how it happened. That son of bitch stallion distracted them long enough to make his escape. He most likely had a concealment potion that made him blend into the environment, and he slipped away in the commotion. He was the reason why Dodge Junction was attacked in the first place. The destruction, the chaos, the bloodshed, it was all for him, to capture him and to execute him. She has been hounding him for weeks, and the moment she finally had his location pinned down he disappeared. Another piece of fruit, this time a pear, suffered under her wrath and exploded as well. She desperately needed a drink. She glared at her tankard as she levitated and filled it to the brim with alcohol, and she took a large gulp of the drink. It slid warmly down her throat and into her belly. She could feel the warmth start to spread slowly throughout her body, but it did nothing to soothe the raging blizzard that viciously stormed inside. There was a silver lining to the situation though. The bastard may have escaped, but in his haste, he left a trail for her to follow.

“Does anypony have any information about where the fucker ran?” she asked. This time the others knew she demanded an answer.

“He escaped on the north side of Dodge,” said an earth pony. “He is either makin’ a run for it to Appleloosa or Ponyville.”

“Hmmm,” she muttered as she took another mouthful of rum. The wind picked up fiercely again as a whooshing sound could be heard. A pegasus flew through the open window and landed neatly without disturbing any of the papers and maps that are on the wide circular table which everypony surrounded. “Ah, there you are. Tell me, where did you run off to?”

The pegasus gave her a smug smile and said, “I followed our prey when he made a run for it.” She perked up at this. “He was good, but he wasn’t better than me. I followed him to Appleloosa where he boarded a train.” The smugness vanished as she visibly drooped. “You will not like where he is going.”

“Tell me,” she demanded.

“He went to Canterlot.”

A unicorn spoke out, “Canterlot? Are you sure? Maybe he knew you were following him and tricked you.”

The pegasus scowled, obviously offended by the lack of faith in the pegasus’ skills, and replied, “No, I stayed out of sight. He didn’t spot me once. He fled to Canterlot. I followed him into the city to an inn, and overheard him speaking to some pony. He told them that he was going to be lying low in the capital for a few days before he moves on and said that you wouldn’t dare follow him there.”

“That smug bastard!” she cried out, and her mane and tail writhed in rage. “He thinks he’s untouchable in Canterlot, does he?” A bitter and crazed laughter escaped her as she crushed the tankard with her magic, rum spilling on the floor. “He will see. Oh yes! He will see! Canterlot does not frighten me! We will follow him there and I will show him just how cruel I can be.”

“Are you sure?” asked the earth pony. “I mean, Princess Celestia-” Straightaway the earth pony knew that was the wrong thing to say, and other ponies in the room tensed. The tankard flew across the room, barely missed the earth pony, and slammed against the wall. The earth pony stood stalk still in fright.

“Do not question me,” she hissed as she glared at the pony. The threat of a slow and agonizing death flittered through the still cabin as if the very air itself was afraid of her wrath. “And do not say that name in my presence. Celestia will not stop us from catching that son of a whore. We will find him and nothing will get in our way.” She pointed a hoof at the pegasus. “Do reconnaissance on Canterlot. Get as much information as you can. We will meet you at home base.”

The pegasus saluted her and said, “On it!” The pegasus zipped out of the window and vanished quickly from sight.

“Plot a course for Canterlot,” she said. Behind her, the early rays of dawn were spilling over the horizon. “He will learn soon enough that nopony can ever escape from Nightmare Moon!”

Twilight Sparkle let out a mighty yawn as she slowly peeled her eyelids apart. The sun was up in the sky and she groaned at its light. She had nightmares about that bloody pirate. She was running, but not matter how fast or how hard she ran, she was not moving. She could hear Nightmare Moon cackling right behind her and her shadow loomed over her, growing bigger as she neared the terrified pony. Twilight could hear Windseeker’s voice echoing.

“She will destroy you. Run as far and as fast as you can, and do not stop.”

She felt a rancid breath on her neck, but right before the pirate could bite down on her flesh, she awoke. She rose from her bed, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and looked blearily around the room. Her room was of modest size and a mess, an organized mess in her opinion. Scrolls and books were scattered about the floor and her desk where several quills, paper, and bottles of ink resided. Her bed was queen size, and its sheets and pillows were a simple white. Next to her bed was a smaller one for Spike whom was currently snoring softly. The far wall housed a small fireplace to keep her warm during the winter months, and in front of it was a carpet of large cushions where she could read comfortably in front of the fireplace.

She took in the state of her room and grimaced. She was normally so neat and organized, but the task that the princess had given her made her toss her study materials everywhere in frustration as she had searched book after book for the answer. She made a mental note to clean her room after she had breakfast. Twilight stepped out of bed and stretch, yawning again, and fixed her bed for the day. She quietly walked pass Spike and out of the room. The castle was very busy today, she noted as she weaved through crowds of workers and soldiers. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. She knew that Nightmare Moon –a shudder raced through her body when she remembered her nightmare from the previous night- had attacked one of their cities, but what where all of these ponies doing here at the castle? Should they not be at the train station or the barracks? She trotted to the kitchens and picked up some food for both her and Spike. The castle hummed with noise as she hurried back to her room.

“Spike,” she said softly as she nudged the sleeping dragon. “Time to wake up.” He grumbled in displeasure at her and rolled to his other side. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on, Spike. You need to get up.”

“Five more minutes,” he mumbled.

“Oh, I guess you don’t want all of this delicious food then. It’s a shame too. It looks so good. Maybe the birds will like it then.” Spike shot up, alert, and the unicorn could not help but chuckle. It worked every time.

“I’ll take it!” Spike exclaimed.

They ate together in companionable silence for a moment before Twilight said, “There are a lot of ponies at the castle today.”

“Really? Do you know why?”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t, but I know somepony who does. But first-” She launched into the list of goals she wanted to accomplish that day. She wanted to clean her room, return some books to the library, get more books, practice her new spell, and visit with the princess about her lessons. When she was done, Spike groaned at the busy schedule. “It’s not that bad.”

“Knowing you,” said Spike as he ate the last bit of food on his plate. “You are going to be outside practicing until midnight.”

“Oh, you’re just exaggerating.” He gave her a skeptical look. “Okay, maybe I have done it once or twice before, but it won’t happen this time.”

“I’m not going to hold my breath.” Twilight glared at him and gave in to the temptation of immaturely sticking her tongue out at him, a gesture that he returned and had both of them laughing. Throughout the rest of the morning, they worked on straightening out her room. Twilight was sitting on her cushions as she sorted through her literature, separating ones that she wanted to keep and ones that she no longer needed. Spike, meanwhile, was moving items around on her desk. Once that task was completed, they took the books to the library and passed them off to a librarian. They ate a quick lunch before the purple unicorn was tugging on Spike’s arm.

“We are taking a detour,” she said. She placed Spike on her back before trotting out of the castle. They entered a large plaza that was rich with greenery. The gardens were carefully tended all year around, and fruit trees were planted so that anypony could enjoy them. She heard the faint twittering of birds and the occasional butterfly flew past her as made her way across the grounds. She always loved the gardens. When she was younger, she would spend hours in them just to catalogue each species of flower and plant that she could find. The princess was impressed with her work when she finally completed the journal. However, now was not the time for her to stop and admire the early fall flowers that were in bloom. She was a pony on a mission. She passed through an archway and spotted her target.

The guard’s keep stood in front of her. It was a wide building made of strong stone. At the top of the keep was a single wrap around balcony that was being patrolled by a group of guards whom were watching the skies and ground. Sitting on the flat roof was a series of battlements with ballista’s and cannons lying in wait. She heard the sound of grunts and metal clashing against metal from the training grounds nearby as she approached. Once she entered the courtyard proper, she saw dummies set up and a group of guardsmen practicing their martial skill. Next to the dummies where targets for the unicorns in the ranks, and a series of aerial obstacles of the pegasi. Next to the training ground were several fenced in areas that were used for sparring and each one had a wooden rack of practice weapons that ranged from the standard to the more exotic. Twilight saw two ponies in a nearby arena, an earth pony and a unicorn, that were currently locked in combat. The unicorn clearly had the earth pony in a corner. No matter what he did, he could not get close enough to the unicorn. Then she heard it.

A familiar voice shouted right after the unicorn struck the earth pony with a beam of magic, “If this was real combat, you would’ve been dead now Lightstep! You must think on your hooves in combat. Try again!” A white unicorn was overseeing the mock fight. His mane and tail were a rich blue color and he wore the red uniform of the Guard Captain. On his flank was a cutie mark in the shape of a blue shield with a star in the center.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight called out to him. She saw his ears twitch at her voice and he met her eyes. A large grin broke across his face at the sight of her, obviously ecstatic to see her. Spike slid off her back as she sat down next to the unicorn.

“Hey, Twily,” he said as he affectionately nuzzled the top of head. “How’s my little sis doing?” His eyes returned to the arena to watch the fight.

“I’m okay,” she responded as she watched the fight with her brother. The gold brown earth pony weaved through the barrage of spells that the unicorn unleased on him. Just when he was close enough to strike his opponent with the sword clenched tightly in his teeth, the unicorn teleported and delivered a swift kick with his hind legs. Spike was resting against one of the fence rungs, and he cringed at the blow. “Got some new recruits?”

“Yes,” he said with a look of frustration on his face. “But they are an unskilled bunch. I hope that with training they will get better. However, they lack discipline.” Twilight could understand her brother’s frustration as she gave the group of recruits a quick glance. The group was snickering and talking to each other in hushed voices that could not be heard over the grunts of the other ponies in training. Some pointed and laughed when Lightstep would make a mistake. They truly looked like an unruly bunch.

“Sounds tough,” she said as Lightstep barely dodged a binding spell and he was forced to retreat. “Don’t you have training officers for this kind of thing?”

“I do, but they sometimes send the trouble makers my way.” He had a frown on his face as the earth pony attempted to get close to the unicorn to strike a blow only to be thrown back by another beam of magic. The group of onlookers snickered at Lightstep’s failure. “One minute,” Shining murmured to her before he called out, “Stop!” The fight immediately halted. “Is there something funny, recruits? If you think you can do better than Lightstep then please, by all means, step forward and take his place.” The snickering died quickly as the group shifted nervously from one hoof to the other. “Fall into formation now.” They scrambled into position as fast as they could. Shining Armor strode forward and stood at attention in front of the group. He glared at them before saying, “Being a member of the Royal Guard is not a game. If you think you can breeze through training then I’m sorry to disappoint you, cupcakes, because none of you will. We don’t simply hand out uniforms to anypony and say, ‘Welcome to the club!’ You have to earn the privilege to wear the uniform. Our job is to protect the capital and its citizens, but most importantly, we must be willing to sacrifice ourselves to save Princess Celestia. If you think this is all fun and games, then turn in your gear and get out of my sight right now. I will not waste my time on steers.” Nopony responded or even moved after his speech. “Now, will you take your training seriously?”

“Yes, sir!” came the resounding response.

“All of you report to lieutenant Wildfire for punishment. Dismissed!” The group quickly trotted off, and Lightstep made a move to follow when Shining said, “You stay and continue with your training. I will return later to check on your progress.” Lightstep saluted and returned to his task. The white stallion jerked his head as an indicator for Twilight to follow him.

“‘You have to earn the privilege to wear the uniform,’” said Twilight in a poor imitation of her brother’s voice. “I think that’s my favorite line of your little speech.” Shining chuckled at her.

“Well, if it gets them to take this job seriously,” he said. “Then I’ll say it.” When they walked into the keep, Twilight was assaulted with the smell of food, sweat, and armor oil. The ground floor was filled with long tables and benches. In a corner of the room was the kitchen and a line of guardsmen were waiting for their food. Groups of ponies were loitering about, some were playing cards, and others were tending to their weapons or armor. She saw one group of ponies betting on the outcome of a leg-wrestling match. Staircases led to places out of sight, but Twilight figured that they were most likely the sleeping quarters and armory.

“Have you two eaten already?” asked the Captain. She nodded in conformation, and he said, “Why don’t the two you find some place to sit while I get lunch for myself. I haven’t eaten since last night.” They parted ways, and Twilight managed to find a spot away from the rowdy section of guardsmen. She was making small talk with Spike when somepony approached them.

“Hello young lady,” said a white pegasus with a blond mane and tail. “I’m Twister. What’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she replied with a bright smile, ignorant of the other pony’s intention. Spike snorted at the stallion. The dragon did not like him one bit. He was ready to set fire to the invader’s tail if he tried anything.

“Twilight,” said Twister as he sat across from her which caused Spike to glare. “That’s a lovely name for a lovely mare. If I may ask, what brings an enchanting creature such as you to the keep?”

“I’m visiting some pony, my brother actually.” The unicorn brushed a part of her mane out of her face as Twister gave her a charming smile.

“Is it some pony that I know?”

“Well-” Twilight did not get to finish for she was then interrupted by a stern voice.

“As a matter of fact, you do, Guardsman Twister,” said Shining Armor. He was levitating a tray of food and his drink as he scowled at the pegasus. Twister leapt out of his seat as if it was set ablaze. He stood at attention and saluted his captain.

“Captain Armor,” said Twister nervously. “I apologize. I didn’t know she was your sister.”

“Now you know. I’ll forget about this if you never talk to her again. Dismissed.”

“Yes, sir!” Twister trotted out of the building. The tray clattered softy as Shining placed it on the table, and he sat down with a huff.

“What was that about?” asked Twilight, a little miffed about what had transpired. “He was only being nice.”

“Twily,” sighed her brother. “He was only being nice because he wanted to add another notch to his bed post.” Twilight’s face flushed with embarrassment.

“Oh,” she muttered as she wrapped her tail around her body tighter and her ears drooped. She felt stupid, an irony for her since she was supposed to be a prodigy. “Thank you, I guess.” Conversation flowed smoothly after her embarrassment died, and soon all three of them were laughing about a story that Shining had told.

They had come so far the three of them. Spike and Shining Armor were there with her when she first came to the castle. While she and Spike worked on her studies, her brother started to follow the guardsmen. He would watch with eager eyes as they preformed their drills and sparred, and she caught him several times practicing everything he watched. She remembered the times when it would be late at night and Shining was still awake, practicing until he got every movement perfect. He then started to take books from the library that dealt with combat magic and trained with Twilight as a dueling partner. When the young colt finally grew into a stallion, he joined the Royal Guard where he quickly rose through the ranks and received many commendations. It was not long before he became the youngest Captain in the history of the Royal Guard. With his duties and her studying of advance spells, finding time for each other became harder, but they always tried.

“Oh,” said Twilight. “I just remembered that I wanted to ask you something.”

“Fire away,” said Shining as he ate his last cherry tomato.

“Well it’s just that, today I saw that the castle had a lot more ponies than usual,” she said as she nervously rubbed a hoof against a foreleg. “Most of them were part of the guard.” Shining suddenly stopped drinking his water at this. His eyes met hers with a concerned look. “Is there something wrong? Is the castle in danger?” Her brother sighed and floated his glass back to his tray. She could see the worried look on his face as he debated whether he should tell her something.

“No, at least the princess hopes,” said the white unicorn as he pushed his empty tray away from him. “What I am about to tell you, you must keep to yourself because Princess Celestia and myself both agree that it would not be wise to start a panic. Do you the both of you promise?” Twilight and Spike both nodded and Shining continued. “I’m sure that you have heard by now that Nightmare Moon has attacked Dodge Junction yesterday.”

“Yeah,” replied Spike. “We were both having dinner with the princess when we heard about it.”

“Well, I don’t know how much of Dodge Junction is left now,” said Shining as he shifted on the bench to a more comfortable position. The keep grew a bit quieter as some the ponies filtered back outside to continue their training.

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight. Shining leaned in closer and dropped his voice.

“More reports have come in today. It turns out that the preliminarily report had grossly under exaggerated the damage that was done. I’m surprised that town is still standing. Businesses, life-sustaining infrastructure, the roads, the railways, as well as all military instillations were destroyed, and the body count is still rising.” Twilight gasped at this. She gave a horrified expression to Spike and he gave her saddened look. “It was by some miracle that the civilian homes were left alone as well as the hospital and the prison. Can you imagine if the hospital was destroyed? There would have been no way for the injured to be treated, especially after that attack. If the prison was damaged, then we would have criminals running the streets, or even possibly fleeing into the wilds. There is something even more troubling.” Shining looked around the room to make sure that nopony was close enough to overhear him before he said, “The princess believes that Nightmare Moon might attack Canterlot.” Twilight paled at this. Cold fear laced its icy fingers through her spine, uncaring of the frosty trails it left in its wake. It slithered throughout her body, quickening her breath and heart, and making her body shake.

“W-w-what?” she sputtered out, barely able to keep her voice in check. “Nightmare Moon? Attack Canterlot? But how? I mean, she wouldn’t dare attack Canterlot with Princess Celestia here. Is the princess sure?”

“She isn’t, but she didn’t want to leave it chance. You know that that pirate had never before dared to attack any town or city so close to Canterlot. There is no way to know for sure if her boldness would make her attack us. Princess Celestia wants me to increase the patrol of the Royal Guard and to tighten up security around the capital. She also gave me command of a portion of the military to increase our ranks. The workers are here to make sure that our structural defenses are sound. She wants the castle to prepare for the worst. Do you see why the princess doesn’t what this information to spread?”

“Yes,” said Twilight quietly. “I do. If the citizens know, then there would be a mass panic over something that would not happen.”

“Exactly,” said Shining. “So we must keep quiet about this.” She only nodded as she thought about what she had been told. Judging from what her brother had said she was also surprised that Dodge Junction was not ruins by now. She was stunned at how one pony could cause such destruction. Her imagination ran wild as she started to think what it would be like for the pirate to attack Canterlot with the same ferocity. Horrible images danced around her head as she thought about it. Buildings in ruins, the corpses of ponies lying in the street, the whole capital burning…

Fear gripped her in its merciless hold, but then she felt a small hand pat her gently on the neck. She was pulled out of fear-induced coma and blinked rapidly. Twilight stared down at Spike. He had a small comforting smile on his face as he soothingly scratched her neck with his tiny claws. She felt her body relax under his ministrations, not realizing how much she was trembling.

“Twilight,” said Shining and her attention snapped back to him. “It will be okay. Just because the princess thinks there will be attack, doesn’t meant that there will be one. She only wants to be ready. Besides, Nightmare Moon would not dare come here because she knows that she is no match against Princess Celestia. She wouldn’t risk capture.” The young mare felt some of her worry slip away at her brother’s words, but the anxiety was still there in the back of her mind. Taunting her and reminding her that it was only lying in wait.

“Yeah,” she said with a weak smile that she hoped did not betray her emotions. “You’re probably right.”

“Probably?” snorted Shining Armor in mock indignation. “You of such little faith. I am wounded!” He dramatically placed his hoof over his heart. “My own sister, of all ponies, doesn’t believe me! The only pony that I could rely on in this cruel world doesn’t trust me. I feel betrayed!” He brought both of his hooves to his face and faked sobbed into them. Twilight giggled at his antics. He peeped at her through his hooves and wailed, “Now she laughs at my misery! Does your malice know no bounds?” Her giggling evolved into full-blown laughter, and he pulled his hooves from his face with a large grin gracing his lips. “See? It will be okay.” Twilight Sparkle could only nod in response for was too busy laughing. When she finally quieted down, the occasionally giggle still escaping her, she patted her brothers hoof with her own.

“Thank you both for making me feel better,” she said.

“Shy-Shy has everything covered,” said Spike as he hauled himself on the table. “There’s no point in worrying about something that will most likely to happen. Besides, I can protect you if she tries to take you away.”

She laughed at Spike and said, “I sure she will run away the moment she see such a fierce dragon like you.”

“Hey, I am fierce. Watch!” The hatchling took a deep breath and let out a small roar. A stream of green fire burst forth from his mouth. The flames curled into the air before being extinguished.

“You would have me running to another country,” said Shining as he rested his head on a propped up hoof.

With a smug smile he said, “Of course I would. Any pony would cower before me!” Twilight reached forward, wrapped her legs around him and pulled him to her chest. She nuzzled Spike on the head with her muzzle and he returned the gesture.

“With a bodyguard like you,” she said as she pulled away. “I feel much safer now.” Yes, she did feel safer now, but she did not know how much of a turn her life was going to take.