Trust in the Night

Chapters

Prologue*
Chapter 1: Of Forests and Adjustments*
Chapter 2: Of Chariots and Accusations*
Chapter 3: Of Crystals and Questions

Prologue*

"There. Just give him one of these every day with his food and he should be good to go in a week. Be sure to bring him back for a follow-up once he's done with them. If he gets worse or if something else comes up, don't be afraid to bring him back here."

I probably sounded very bored. I hate situation practice. Everything is just rehearsed. I'm not sure how it's meant to prove what I know. Especially since we never get anything as simple as 'My dog is sneezing and puking, what do I do?' in the clinic. Pointless.

"Thank you very much," said my colleague, smiling at me. I smiled back. That's another thing I hate. False pleasantries. Why bother? I don't see many of these people on a regular basis, so what does it matter if I'm friendly or not? As much as I love this job and college course, I must admit that it has its fair share of negatives.

"Good job, Niamh," said the head vet.

"Thanks," I replied, forcing a smile.

"You're free now to do whatever you like for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we'll work on your diagnosis skills. Niamh, I'd like for you to be able to recognise at least three symptoms for every disease on this list," said the head vet, handing me a sheet of paper.

I scanned the list. Basic enough. Common cold, enfluenza, tumours, ulcers, liver issues, kidney issues. Nothing I couldn't handle.

"I'll have them memorised by tomorrow," I said, with enthusiasm that I really didn't feel.

I packed up my kit bag and headed out. In the crowded street, people wandered around despite the rain. Some were idly chatting, some were carrying bags, mothers were containing children. There was a group of teenagers trying to prove how cool they were by spray-painting a wall. It was quite possibly the saddest excuse for graffiti I have ever seen in my life. No artistic designs or anything. No creativity. Just a couple of swear words printed on the wall in the type of font you'd use when filling out a bank form.

"Stupid kids," I muttered under my breath as I walked past. I think one of the teenagers might have heard me, but if he did, he didn't do anything about it. We were near a police station, after all. Even these school dropouts weren't stupid enough to try anything here.

Unfortunately, I slipped in a puddle and landed flat on my back. In the puddle. Of course. Why would I land anywhere else? Some of the horrible puddle water splashed into my mouth. I spat it out while the group had a good laugh at my expense. I picked myself up and glared at them. They just laughed harder. Of course they did. Everyone needs a good laughing stock every now and then. Who better to use than me? I did my best to wring out my sleeve before giving up and continuing in my way.

When I reached my apartment, I sat down heavily on the couch. I was cold and wet. I stood up again and got changed. The sun was going down, dyeing the sky a shining array of purples and pinks. I reached for a book, opened it where I had folded the page, and began to read. I would look at my study list later.

I think I fell asleep at some point, because the next thing I knew, the book was on my face and the moon was out.

In typical nap fashion, my unscheduled sleep made me even more tired than I was before. I brushed a strand of brown hair out of my face as I stood up. I paused to look at the full moon. It was brilliant tonight, shining bright, with all lovely grey patterns on it clearly visible.

As I stared at the moon, I was wracked by a sudden bout of powerful vertigo. I nearly fell over, and had to grab the arm of the couch to steady myself. I felt nauseous, and I could have sworn I heard someone whisper my name.

As quickly as it had come, the vertigo vanished. I looked around to see if I could determine the location of the one who had called my name. But it made no sense. I was the only one here, right?

"Wow, Niamh," I said out loud to myself, "you're being a bit of a silly girl, aren't you? There's no one around."

Somehow comforted by my own voice, I quickly readied myself for bed.

That night, I dreamt that I was in an odd place. There was no ground to speak of, only a blue mist and a lot of little star-like points of light.

I couldn't see any signs of life around. When I looked down, I found I couldn't see myself either.

Suddenly, I heard something. I turned to where I thought it had come from, but there was no one there.

.....r.a

There it was again. "Who are you?" I called out. Or at least, I tried to call out. But, for some reason, no sound came from my mouth.

....o..n.
...d...n...

It was faint, and I couldn't understand it, but it was definitely there! What was it? It sounded like a load of voices whispering at the same time.

..f..l...i...
.y..u.
...d..s..i..

The lights burned out. The blue mist dissipated. The entire starry landscape turned pitch black.

And then I was falling. I couldn't see any indication of it, but somehow I knew I was falling. At least I'll get to wake up now, I thought. Weirdest dream ever.

Whatever I was sleeping on was not the comfortable bed I remembered sleeping on. Nor was it the soft carpet of my bedroom floor. It was more akin to stone. I didn't quite want to wake up yet, despite the discomfort, so I thought about what I could possibly be lying on.

I'd already established that it wasn't my bed or bedroom floor. So what could it be? Had I sleepwalked into the sitting room and not bothered going back to the bedroom? The floor in there was hardwood. But this wasn't wood. It was hard, cold and jagged. I cracked open an eyelid.

"What the—" I said upon seeing my surroundings. I wasn't anywhere I recognised. Large, ornate tapestries depicting odd, horse-like creatures with wings and horns decorated the walls. Pillars, some crumbling and knocked over, were strategically placed all along the room I was in. Large windows, many broken or without glass at all, gave me a view of trees and the night sky. A huge podium with five arms, each with a circular platform at the end, was the centerpiece of the room. To one side of my face, some kind of starry purple cloud was floating around.

I stood up. Or at least, I tried to. I gracelessly fell flat on my back. To my fascinated horror, two weights unfurled from either side of my back as I fell. When they hit the ground, I felt it. And it felt weird. Whatever these were, they were not something I was used to having. I rolled over onto my stomach and stayed there for a moment. The twin weights didn't move, but I could feel them. They were a part of me. I could feel whatever they were rubbing off the ground.

I reached back to see if I could figure out what the weights were, and stopped. My arm did not feel right. Somehow, it seemed bendier and longer. I suddenly became aware of the sensation of metal rubbing on my feet, hands, head, and chest.

Something was seriously wrong. I tried to stand up again, but as soon as I stood up fully, I felt in danger of falling again. I lowered myself onto all fours.

I felt my ears swivel as an odd clopping kind of a sound echoed through the room. It probably came from my hooves hitting the ground.

Wait, what?

I looked down. My heart almost stopped.

In place of my hands, was a pair of ebony black, hoof-like things, covered by a pair of pale blue metal boots. I started to hyperventilate. I jerked my head up, and felt something attached to my head bang off of a piece of rubble. It was an odd feeling.

My vision blurred at the edges as I stood up, on all fours. I tripped over my, ugh, hooves, as I attempted to reach a puddle that could maybe act as a mirror. The starry purple cloud followed me, billowing in the wind I created by moving. I felt the two weights drag on the ground. It felt similar to scraping your knee on a road. That is to say, painful.

I stumbled over to the puddle and looked at it. My, normal, semi-attractive face was gone. In its place was an equine muzzle with two pointed ears, covered in smooth black fur. A single, spiral horn jutted from my reflection's forehead, through a hole in a pale blue metal helmet. My normally greyish-blue eyes had been replaced by the turquoise eyes of a cat. The starry purple cloud I had been seeing was, in fact, attached to my reflection's neck, coming through the helmet to flow around its new face.

Changing my angle, I looked at my reflection's back, and saw that the twin weights were a pair of broad wings, covered in glossy black feathers. A metal plate emblazoned with a turquoise crescent moon decorated its chest. The rest of my reflection's horse-like body was covered in the same black fur, with a matching purple cloud for a tail. On my reflection's flank was a purple splotch of colour, adorned with the same turquoise crescent moon shape.

I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that the horrible reflection would be gone when I opened them. It wasn't. I lifted an arm. The horse in the puddle followed me. I cocked my head. The reflection mimicked me perfectly. I smiled. My reflection copied me, revealing a set of gleaming white fangs.

I twisted my neck, which was far more flexible than it should have been. Broad wings. Starry cloud tail. Black fur. Crescent moon tattoo thing. Horse. It was all there.

I was this horse now. This horse was now me. I did the only reasonable thing I could think of.

I threw back my head and screamed.

Author's Note

This is an idea that I've been stirring around for a while. I don't know where I got it.

As per my style, there shall be delays aplenty. But this story is planned out a bit better than most, so maybe not as bad as the delays in other stories.

Chapter 1: Of Forests and Adjustments*

I screamed until I couldn't scream any more. Slightly dizzy from the loss of air, I struggled to comprehend this revelation. I was a horse. I was a horse.

I made an effort to move my new wings. It was a foreign sensation, that felt akin to wiggling my shoulder blades. I found that they folded neatly against my back without much difficulty. I poked my horn. It was a hard kind of a bony material. It wasn't keratin like a rhino's horn, but it also didn't seem like it was ivory. I don't think it was standard bone, either.

I examined the horn in my reflection. It spiralled like a narwhal's tusk. Thinking about the fact that I was prodding a horn, using my hoof, made me start to panic again. I could have sworn I saw a turquoise spark come from the horn, bit it might have been a visual trick.

Suddenly, I heard the clopping sound of a horse's hooves on stone. Then voices. Quiet at first, but steadily growing louder.

"Hurry, girls! It came from over here!" shouted a voice.

"Oh, I do hope that whoever it was is alright..." said a quieter voice.

Whoever was speaking must have heard me screaming. I couldn't let them see me like this! What would they do when they saw a black winged horse with a horn, and a purple cloud for a mane?

I scrambled towards the monument in the room, but fell before I reached it. Stupid different motor controls. I dragged myself as far under the monument as I could and crouched, hoping that my black coat would blend in with the shadows.

What ran into the room is quite possibly the weirdest thing I have ever seen.

Six small horses, two with wings, one with a horn, one with both and two with neither, came rushing into the room. Their coats and manes were all manner of impossible colours, and they had little butt tattoos, the same as me. Some were carrying sponges and buckets in their mouths. A few sweeping brushes and paintbrushes were floating in the air, sheathed in a pinkish-purple glow. I filed that under 'things to never be brought up again' in my mental filing cabinet. The horses were accompanied by a purple bipedal lizard with green spines, who carried a backpack.

"I don't see anypony," said a cyan winged one, with a crazy rainbow mane and tail.

They could talk, apparently. Into the filing cabinet it went. I had the feeling that that file was going to be seeing a lot of use soon.

A pink one, with neither a horn nor wings suddenly lifted her leg and examined her knee. "My knee is pinchy! That means something scary is about to happen," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, I don't like scary things," said the quiet one from before, who turned out to be yellow, with wings and a long pink mane.

"Hey y'all, what's that under the thing that used to have the Elements o' Harmony on it?" asked the most normal looking of the six, an orange horse with a blond mane who wore a cowboy hat.

"Hey, Applejack's right! There's something up there," said the rainbow one, pointing her hoof at me.

The group dropped their buckets and brushes, and approached the monument.

Oh lord above. I did my best to shimmy back, but the six horses were charging up to me.

"Are you alright?" asked the horse with both wings and a horn. Her coat was lavender and her mane was indigo with purple and pink stripes. She was taller than the other five, but not as tall as me. She peered down at me.

She froze. Her face contorted into a mix of fear and anger.

"Girls," she said, backing away, her voice low and serious. "We need to get to the Tree of Harmony, now. We need the Elements. Quick!"

A white, horned one with a curly purple mane gasped as she and the others backed away.

"Scary indeed," she said quietly.

Scary? I was scary? Not a description I was fond of, to be honest.

As the horses prepared to bolt, I decided there was no point in hiding any more. I drew myself up to my full height, which was a good deal taller than that of the other horses.

The yellow one gave a quiet squeak. The orange one narrowed her eyes.

The pink one was less worried. "Ooh, hiya, Black Snooty! I remember you!"

"Pinkie, come on!" urged the lavender one, who seemed to be the leader. She and the rest of her little band of horses were getting closer to the door. They seemed anxious, like they were waiting for something to happen.

"Ooh, I have to go! Bye!" said the pink horse, running after her friends. The group was gone before I could say anything.

I stumbled over to the arch they had left through, where the tools lay strewn around the place. I looked at the things, and wondered how the horses were meant to use them. Seriously. With their mouths? That said, some of them were floating, so anything was possible.

I walked through the arch, which led into a corridor. It had more tapestries hung up, and a lot of ivy and other vegetation growing on the walls. Buckets of soapy water and soaked sponges were laying around the place. I stepped on one of the sponges. The metal boot I was wearing kept me from getting wet, but it didn't stop me from tripping. I smacked my new horn off the wall as I fell. It stung. A lot. It was as if someone had taken a hammer and stabbed me with the claw thing on the back of it.

There were tears in my eyes when I picked myself up. I drunkenly staggered forward, careful to avoid any more sponges that might be waiting to sabotage my strange expedition. After a few more minutes, I was starting to get this walking thing down. But I was going painfully slowly. Could I speed it up?

Apparently so. I broke into a little trot of sorts, and only banged my hooves into each other once. Pretty good progress. At the end of the corridor was a huge set of doors. It's a good thing they were open already, because I had no idea how I was meant to open them with no hands.

Outside, there was a huge chasm with an extremely unsafe looking bridge stretching across it. I gingerly stretched my front right leg out and stepped onto the bridge. It made an unsettling creaking sound, but it held. I slowly crossed the bridge, knocking a few planks out of place as I went.

At the other side of the bridge, I stopped to allow my nerves to settle. I looked up at what lay before me, and groaned out loud. A huge tangle of dark vegetation, most of it with thorns, lay before me. I looked from side to side. There was no way around it. I really didn't want to go into it. I also didn't want to just sit there.

Sitting there is what I ended up doing for a while. I wondered where those little horse things went. They probably knew where we were and how to leave. Eventually, I stood up, took a deep breath, and marched forward into the forest.

I regretted it almost instantly. Even though it had been daylight when I was crossing the bridge, it was pitch black in the trees. I surprised myself, however, with how quickly my eyes adjusted. I could see quite well, given the total lack of light within the tangled mass of plant life, which reminded me of my hair in the morning.

After a while, things brightened up. I came to a slow moving river. I couldn't see any way of crossing it easily. I opened my wings and looked at them. Nope. I wasn't going to try that. I folded them up again with a sigh. I was going to have to swim. I crouched, and then kicked with my hind legs, jumping fairly high into the air. My landing in the water wasn't nearly so elegant. I belly flopped into the river and began to doggy-paddle across.

When I reached the other side, I shook myself like a dog. Despite how efficient it was, I was still quite wet. I shuddered. The feeling of wet fur clinging to me was a foreign and uncomfortable one. My starry cloud mane stayed floating around the place, billowing in non-existent wind.

I came to another dark area. I kept crashing into trees and snagging my horn on branches. It got really annoying really fast. Eventually, I broke into another place with light filtering through the forest canopy. I saw a gigantic footprint, like the footprint of a cat, in the soft mud. It was huge. I could fit two or three hooves into one of the toes. I certainly didn't want to run into whatever had made that.

Passing the trail of super-cat pawprints, I saw a pile of scree that looked as though it had been there for a while, at the base of a cliff. How was I supposed to get up that? Once more, I opened my wings. No. I was not going to kill myself trying to fly up a cliff after being turned into a black horse thing with wings and a horn. I wasn't even sure that I could fly, to be honest. My wings were entirely too small to lift me.

I glanced around, seeking another path up the cliff. There was a place a bit to my left where the slope was slightly less vertical. I approached the base of the precipice. A few rocks rolled down, coming to a stop next to me. I gulped. Stretching out my wings for balance, I began to climb the slope. Loose stones, soil, and gravel tumbled down with each step I took. I stopped multiple times, terrified that I would cause a landslide. After what seemed like hours of climbing a precipice which seemed to be a mile high, I reached the top.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea where I was going. I had just been going in a straight line, but what if civilisation had been in the opposite direction from the building I had woken up in? I realised just how out of my element I was. I was cold, wet, confused, and had somehow transformed into a black, winged, horned horse. I was alone in a dark forest with cliffs, landslides, rivers and super cats. My college course hadn't covered this. I decided to keep walking in a straight line. It wasn't like I had a better plan, and I really didn't want to go back and try and find those other horses again.

Fortunately, the rest of the path was fairly uneventful. No more rivers or cliffs, and I saw no sign of the super cat; though I did hear a roar in the distance.

Finally, I saw a break in the trees. I broke into as quick a gait as I could muster. I almost tripped over my own hooves again, but that didn't deter me. I kept running towards the sunlight, which was in that instant the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I emerged from the darkness of the forest into the light of the sun. I stopped for a moment to bask in it, relishing in its warmth.

My sunlight induced high ended when I realised I still didn't know where I was. But it returned in full force when I realised what I could see, not too far away form me.

It was a building. Not a crumbling stone piece of history like the place that I had woken up in, but a cute little thatched cottage, surrounded by more like it.

Civilisation! I had found it! I gave a whoop of joy as I galloped over to the little town, but stopped as I considered what would happen when I was seen. Based on the reaction that the other horses I saw in the forest had to me, who knew how the people in the town would react to me?

Screw it, I thought. I can get a phone off them, and then scientist or someone like that, and everything will be fixed.

I rushed into the town. There was a square ahead of me, where market stalls had been set up. But I was still too far away to see the people who were hanging around there. As I approached, I noticed that everyone seemed to be kind of small. Maybe a school was having a day out in the market. Drawing nearer, I noticed that they all seemed to be crawling on their hands and knees...

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

Horses. An entire town of brightly coloured horses, chatting, selling fruits and vegetables, super small and actually quite cute little foals running around playing tag. Everything you would expect to see in a normal town, except they were horses. Some were flying around, and stuff was floating all over the place, sheathed in glows of different colours.

Well, at least I fitted in.

I continued on into the town. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but the reaction I got was not one I had hoped for. Every single horse turned its head to look at me. None of them said anything.

"Uh...hi?" I said.

All hell broke loose. The horses began screaming and running around panicking. They knocked over barrels and market stands, sending food and wood splinters flying everywhere.

"Wait! What did I do?" I called out.

The horses were too busy freaking out to answer me. Their screams were mostly incomprehensible, but I clearly heard one say "Don't take away the sun!".

What did that even mean? How would I take away the sun? Was it because I was black while they were all colourful? Racists.

After a few minutes, the square was quiet, all the horses having run away. I was incredibly confused. I had started a mass panic attack by walking into town. These horses were the most skittish things I had ever encountered.

I chose a street leading out of the deserted square at random and walked down it. Up ahead was a huge tree, which as I drew nearer to it, I saw had windows and a door.

'Ponyville Library' proclaimed a sign out front. Wait Ponyville? These things were ponies? I guess that would explain the small size. Wait! This was a library. Maybe there was a book I could use to figure out what was going on? Surely someone so well-learned as a librarian wouldn't freak out over seeing me.

I pushed on the door, but it didn't open. I looked at the knob; a cruel thing to be on a door in a town inhabited by horses—sorry, ponies. I grabbed the knob in my teeth, which was incredibly awkward to do because of my horn, and twisted my head, pulling as I did so. The door didn't budge. I tried the other way, with similar results. It seemed the library wasn't open.

"There she is!" cried a familiar-sounding voice.

I turned around to see the six ponies I had seen in the castle, as well as the lizard, who was hiding behind them. Five of them were wearing necklaces with gems of various shapes and colours embedded in them, but the lavender one was wearing a crown.

"Luna! Why are you doing this?" asked the lavender one, her voice pleading.

"Huh?" I said.

"There's no need for this!" said the white one.

"We don't want ta have ta send ya back ta the moon. Will ya stand down?" said the orange one.

"What are you talking about? Who is Luna?" I asked.

"What do you mean, 'Who is Luna?'?" asked the lavender one.

"I mean, who is this Luna? And who are you, for that matter?" I asked. I was quickly getting confused. These ponies were acting like they knew me.

"Aw. You don't remember us?" asked the pink one.

"I've never seen you before in my life. I would probably remember talking pastel-coloured ponies," I said.

The group paused. "Really?" asked the lavender one, slowly and deliberately.

"Really," I answered.

The rainbow one descended from the air and leaned into the lavender one. I heard her say quietly, "I wouldn't trust her. She's probably tricking us, Twilight."

The lavender one, whose name was presumably Twilight, gasped, before narrowing her eyes again. She seemed to choose her words carefully when she spoke next. "You're coming to Canterlot with us. Princess Celestia might be able to talk some sense into you."

She waited. It almost seemed like she was trying to provoke a reaction from me.

"Um, alright?" I said. I didn't know what else to say.

This seemed to confuse Twilight. She quickly returned to 'serious' mode. "Don't struggle. If you do, we won't hesitate to use the Elements of Harmony on you."

As she said the words 'Elements of Harmony' I felt myself give an involuntary shudder. My still damp wings fluttered without my consent.

Twilight's horn began to glow, in the same pinkish-purple sheath that had surrounded the floating sweeping brushes back at the old stone building. I felt a constriction around my midsection, pressing on my wings, and my horn felt odd. Well, odd-er. Twilight's horn stopped glowing. I crossed my eyes and looked up. There was a circular ring, the same colour as her horn's glow, around my horn. I turned to look at my back and saw a rope made of similar, glowing material tied around my wings.

"Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you two make sure that she doesn't try to run. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, you girls keep her from lashing out. And Fluttershy, be prepared to give her 'The Stare' if necessary," said Twilight, pointing to each of her companions in turn.

As they moved into positions around me, Twilight turned around to face the bipedal lizard.

"Spike, take a letter."

Author's Note

Here, have a promotion.

If you like my writing style, consider looking at this story, which is a collab that I had a part in writing. Everything concerning Luna was written by me, and if you like my style, it would most certainly be a good read for you.

Chapter 2: Of Chariots and Accusations*

It wasn't long after the lizard had set his letter on fire, which seemed counterproductive to me, that a pair of strangely identical white ponies wearing golden armour descended from above. Their faces were like stone; cold and unattractive. They were towing an ornately decorated golden chariot behind them. They stalled a bit at the sight of me, like the racist white ponies they were, but didn't start screaming or threatening me, which was a nice change.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle," said one of the ponies. "We have brought the transport you have requested. Are you ready for your audience with Princess Celestia?"

I put a hoof to my mouth and stifled a laugh. His voice was far too gruff to be real. It reminded me of that one character who's in every cartoon; the hulking, idiotic bodyguard who hangs around with the villain.

Twilight, whose full name was also quite ridiculous, gave me an odd look before addressing the armoured pony. "Yes, we are." She turned to her friends. "Hop in, girls, but be careful with Nightmare Moon. She could have more tricks up her sleeve."

Who was 'Nightmare Moon'? Were they talking about me? I admit, I did look a bit nightmarish, and had a crescent moon motif going on, but really, 'Nightmare Moon'? That sounded so evil.

"Come on! Move!" said the cyan pony, from somewhere behind me.

I realised that while I had been thinking about the name bestowed upon me, the ponies had been urging me into the chariot. And now the cyan one had her face shoved into my flank and was pushing me forward. I knew I was right about her. All those colours, the voice, the attitude and now this.

I started to walk forward into the chariot, where the other five ponies and the lizard were waiting. To my right, I saw a cyan and rainbow blur go flying past me. Once I was onboard the chariot, I expected them to close up the back or something. But nope, they literally just took off. And since I was near the back, I ended up on the ground, with my horn digging a hole in the dirt.

The cyan pony fell over laughing as the chariot slowed to a hover in mid-air. I was really starting to dislike her. The yellow one looked a little bit sympathetic, but everyone else was either laughing quietly or making an effort not to laugh. The pilots lowered the chariot back onto the ground. I climbed aboard again. This time, I stomped straight up to the front, my head low.

"Hey!" said the lizard, snatching his tail off the ground, tears forming in his eyes.

I didn't care. I was not going to fall out of this flying safety hazard again, and I didn't care whose tail I stepped on.

Once I was on the chariot again, I sat down heavily on my haunches, and the chariot took off once more.

"This seems unsafe," I said out loud.

"What does?" asked Twilight, an eyebrow raised and a suspicious tone in her voice.

"The chariot thing. There's no back at all. I already fell out, and was fine, but that was at ground level. What if the pilots accelerated too fast at a high altitude?" I asked.

Twilight slapped a hoof to her face. "The lack of a back makes it more lightweight, and therefore easier for the pilots to carry and steer. The pilots are trained in rescue maneuvers. We're not as thoughtless as you. We actually stop to think about consequences," she said.

It almost sounded like she was accusing me of something. But I didn't know her. At all. I shut up after that. We were high up in the sky, and I had no idea where we were going. I asked Twilight how long it would take and she said about an hour.

Now that I wasn't falling out of chariots, wandering through forests and causing mass panic attacks in towns full of racist ponies, I had a chance to think. Where was I? How did I get here? Why did I get here?

The obvious answer was that this was all a dream. But I quickly ruled that out. It felt too real, I had already hurt myself multiple times since arriving here, and I got here by falling. Weren't both of those occurrences meant to make you instantly wake up from a dream?

Next choice was a coma. But that made no sense. I wasn't doing anything before I woke up here that would send me into a coma, and again, this was way too lucid to be a dream in any way. What else could this be, though...?

"I've got it!" I shouted suddenly.

The ponies and lizard turned to look at me, with the oddest of expressions on their faces. "Got what?" asked the orange one.

I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Ah well.

"The cause of all this insanity," I said smugly.

"The only insane thing around here is you," said the cyan one.

"Hear, hear," muttered the white one.

"The puddle," I said. "When I fell in the puddle, some of it splashed up into my mouth. The delinquents hanging around near it must have dropped some of their 'stash' into it. Which I am now experiencing the effects of. Soon, this crazy high will end, and I'll be back in my room wondering whether or not I should call the police."

Satisfied with my explanation, I leaned back. There wasn't anything they could say to me now that could harm me.

"You really are crazy," said the cyan one.

"I'm not listening to you. You're probably just my lampshade or something."

The ponies exchanged glances. They clearly thought I was insane. But I didn't care, because they were just figments of my imagination.

"We're here," announced one of the pilots. I felt my ears pop as we descended into a city built into the side of a mountain. This was a very pretty drug high. I might actually be sad to see it wear off.

Nah.

Once we landed, the six ponies led me forward towards an impressive structure. Huge spires that looked straight out of a fairy tale spiked into the air. A large garden was off to the side, decorated with neatly cut trees in the shapes of ponies.

I didn't have much time to admire the view. I was herded into the castle quite forcefully, both by the six ponies I was growing to hate, and by guards wielding spears, who were creepily identical to the pilots of our chariot. We entered through a set of giant wooden doors into a wonderfully furnished hallway. Servant ponies were running back and forth carrying letters, cleaning supplies, and trays of food.

Most of those items were dropped when the servants saw me. Food spilled all over the ground and mingled with detergent. Some of the servants kept their cool, but still looked jittery.

"Nothing to see here," said Twilight awkwardly as we passed a couple of servants tending to one who had fainted.

Leaving the hallway behind, we came to another set of doors. Not quite as big as the main entrance but still big. But we didn't enter them. Instead, we veered off to the left, into another door. Another corridor, with even more servants, greeted us. We walked along the corridor, entering doors, climbing stairs and rounding corners for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, we came to two sets of distinguished looking doors, one decorated with emblems of suns, and the other with crescent moons that resembled my butt tattoo.

We entered the door decorated with the suns. The room it led to was spacious, but not huge. A desk sat at one end of the room, and a fireplace at the other. There was a large red cushion near the fireplace. An open door to my right led to a dark room with a massive plush bed. I wanted nothing more than to go and sleep on that bed. Maybe when I woke up the high would be gone.

From another door, to the left, I heard the sound of running water and humming. The guards who had been escorting us bowed and backed out of the room, closing the doors behind them.

"What now?" I asked.

"Wait. We can't interrupt Princess Celestia, but she'll be able to talk some sense into you. said Twilight. "Maybe," she added under her breath.

"Why? Is Snooty broken or something?" asked the hyperactive pink pony.

"No, Pinkie, I don't think so,” said the posh white pony.

"Maybe we should throw a party for Snooty to make her feel better?" suggested Pinkie, whose name suited her.

"I don't need a party. And stop calling me 'Snooty'. That's not my name," I said.

"Do you want me to call you Moony instead? I can do that! It sound nice!" said Pinkie, leaning forward.

"That isn't my name either."

"Do you want me to call you by your full name, 'Nightmare Moon'? Please say no, because that's really boring and scary-sounding," said Pinkie.

"None of your suggestions are my name," I said.

The ponies swapped puzzled glances. "Then what is?" asked the white one.

"It's Niamh," I said.

"We knew that already. Why are you saying it like we've been calling you something different this entire time?" asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, because you have?" I said.

"No we haven't, silly Moony! You just told us your name was Nightmare Moon! Oh, but we knew that. I like the way you say it, all grand and booming, so that's a plus, but really, we already knew!" rambled Pinkie.

"But that's not what I said," I protested. "I said my name was Niamh."

This time I heard myself say it. For some unfathomable reason, when I said my name, my voice was warped. To say 'Nightmare Moon' instead.

"Uh, that's what ya said th' first time. And what we've been callin' ya the whole time," said the orange pony.

"But it makes no sense!" I yelled.

The six ponies were blown back as paper and other loose objects were whipped up by the wind my voice created. They rubbed their ears, and I heard the quiet one say 'Oh, my...'

"Oh! Uh, sorry?" I said.

Twilight just glared at me.

The running water stopped. I heard something hit tiles, and a bolt unlocking. The door, which probably led to a bathroom, swung open, to reveal a tall, dripping wet white pony. Her mane and tail were like mine, flowing in wind that didn't exist, except hers were striped in pastel shades of green, blue, and pink. Like me, she had both wings and a horn. Her butt tattoo was of a sun, like the one on the door. A lopsided crown was on her head, having clearly been put on in a hurry.

When she saw me, she somehow went even whiter.

"Luna?" she whispered.

"Uh..."

Her face screwed up, and made her look like a little kid who just dropped their ice cream and is about to start crying. Which, incidentally, is what she did. Tears spilled over her eyes and ran down her face. Was I really so unpleasant as to make her cry?

"Little sister, you are appreciated. There are astronomers, ponies who dedicate themselves to studying your night. You are loved by many. Won't you come back to me?" she pleaded.

The other ponies just looked between the pair of us sadly.

"What the heck are you talking about?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" said the tearful white pony, who I guessed was Princess Celestia. She was too grandiose, even dripping wet and crying in my face, to be anything else.

"I mean I'm confused. If this is what all drug highs are like, then I'm glad I've never done anything like this before, and probably won't again," I said.

There was a blue flash and a popping sound behind Princess Celestia. Everyone turned to look at it.

A sleepy looking dark blue pony, wearing a nightcap straight out of a cartoon and four fuzzy little bunny slippers, appeared out of absolutely nowhere. She looked a lot like me, except she was blue, and her mane was different.

"Sister," grumbled the blue pony. "What is all this shouting? I've asked you before to keep it down while I am sleeping."

"What the buck?" said the cyan pony. I really needed to learn their names.

"Luna?" said the princess, looking between me and the dark blue pony. I was really confused now. Was that Luna, or was I Luna? No, I was Nightmare Moon, apparently. But I'd also been called 'Luna' a few times now.

Luna(?) suddenly became alert when she saw me. "She-demon!" she yelled, charging at me. I gave a small screech as she pounced on me. "Who hast thou claimed now? Release thy host, or thou shalt have to answer to Us!" she roared in my face, blowing my mane everywhere and whipping up a wind, like I had done earlier.

"Ok, drug high or not, this whole thing is just getting ridiculous. What the *beep* is going on?" I asked out loud.

Everyone, including my blue assailant, turned their heads and swivelled their ears, looking for the source of the mysterious beep.

It turned out to be Pinkie, who was holding a red button in her hoof, with the words 'PROFANITY BUZZER' written in all caps.

"Silly Moony! This is an 'Everyone' rated story, remember?" she said, a huge grin on her face.

The other ponies decided to ignore her, and refocus themselves on me.

"We do not know what thou art playing at, demon, but thou will release thy host at once," screamed Luna.

"Will someone please explain what is going on?" I shouted, blowing Luna's starry mane back.

"Thy Royal Canterlot Voice is admirable, but we are the true Princess of the Night, and thou shalt adhere to our demands!" responded Luna, increasing her volume.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" shouted a voice that made mine and Luna's voices sound like whispers.

It turned out to be Princess Celestia. "Now, Nightmare Moon, or whatever you're calling yourself now, come with me. Luna, you come with us. Twilight, you and your friends wait here, but stand by in case we need the Elements."

Celestia's horn glowed gold for a minute, and in a literal flash, I found myself alone with Luna and Celestia. We were in a darker room, with little star-like glowing dots on the wall.

"Now, care to explain what is going on here?"

Author's Note

There's a reference hidden in this chapter! I will give anyone who finds it an Internet hug. It might be hard to find, so keep a look out for it.

Chapter 3: Of Crystals and Questions

This was really not my day. Or drug high. Whatever. First I'm turned into a horse, or pony. Then I injure myself multiple times, cause a mass panic attack, fall out of a chariot, and get dragged to some fairy tale castle. Now a big white pony and a smaller blue pony who kind of looks like me are glaring at me like prison wardens about to interrogate someone. Which, coincidentally, I think is what they're about to do to me. Fun.

"Explain thyself, Nightmare Moon," growled Luna.

"Are you sure you want that? I don't think you do. It's a very long and strange story," I said.

"We are not going anywhere," she said in return, leaning back slightly as if to prove her point.

"And neither are you, until you explain yourself," said Celestia.

Her horn shone gold for a moment, and suddenly my front legs were tied together with that glowing rope stuff that Twilight had put on my horn and wings, only this time it was golden. I nearly fell over, but managed to right myself. Then I processed what had actually just occurred.

"What just happened? Your horn lit up, and suddenly I'm tied up. How did that happen?" I asked.

They looked at me like I was asking them 'Why is water wet?'.

"Art thou mocking us, or art thou just stupid?" asked Luna, a slight edge to her voice.

"You tell me," I said.

"We won't listen to you or your mind games, Nightmare Moon. Now, how about you explain yourself peacefully, and I won't get Twilight and her friends to blast you," said Celestia with all the class of a criminal mastermind.

"You want an explanation? Fine, I'll give you an explanation. But don't say I didn't warn you."

"It takes more than a few carefully selected false words to sway us, demon," said Luna.

So, I did as they asked and told them everything. I told them about being perfectly fine earlier today, falling in a puddle and probably getting high off it, waking up in a strange place in a stranger body, and being shunned and disrespected until I arrived here and became very confused.

"That," began Luna, "was the most ridiculous thing we have ever heard."

"Two-legged creatures called 'humans'?" said Celestia. "Please. Such creatures exist in an entirely different world, and can only enter Equestria through use of a portal. A portal which is not open right now. Nor would such a portal give you the form of Nightmare Moon, unless you were that world's equivalent of Nightmare Moon. Your fairy tale holds no water."

"And as for us being mere figments of thine imagination, we have not heard such a nonsensical claim since thou first tried to convince us that we were unloved a millennia ago," said Luna.

"You're calling me a fairy tale, yet you're a pair of unicorn princesses," I said.

They looked at me, then at each other. They didn't need to say anything. The look said plain as day 'She's crazy'.

"Right," said Celestia, lighting her horn. A white crystal appeared in a flash, suspended in a golden aura that matched the one around her horn. "Let's try that again, shall we? Explain yourself. Truthfully, this time."

Her strange horn tricks were interesting. Could I do that? Nah, it seemed like something that'd be hard to master.

"What's that?" I asked.

"A crystal with a truth enchantment placed upon it," said Luna. "Shouldst thou attempt to lie, the crystal will crack. We are prepared to sit here all day until the crystal is broken, in which case we shall acquire a new one, or until thou tells us the truth. Whichever comes sooner."

Lie detectors. Yeah, my crap senses are tingling.

So I told them my story again. I told it exactly the same as before, and sure enough, the crystal didn't crack, not even once. The look on their faces was priceless.

"The enchantment must be faulty," muttered Celestia, examining the crystal and hitting it with her hoof.

"Summon another one," suggested Luna.

Celestia did just that, and I explained myself again. It was getting annoying to repeat it. According to the crystal, I was still telling the truth. The two ponies stared at the crystal, utterly dumbfounded. I must have had the most disgusting smirk on my horsey face.

Celestia took a deep breath. "Ok, let's try a different approach. We'll ask you questions, and you'll answer them truthfully. If you're lying, we'll know," she said.

"Can I also ask you questions?" I asked. I seriously needed to know about the stuff my mind was conjuring up. I probably needed to see a therapist or something. Also in the very, very, very unlikely event that this was in fact not a drug high, I needed to know as much about this crazy place as possible.

Luna glanced at Celestia, then spoke, "We suppose, but we reserve the right to not answer thy questions if we do not wish to."

"Deal," I said.

"How did you get here?" asked Celestia.

"No idea!" I replied cheerfully. The crystal remained intact.

"How didst thou create a corporeal form for thyself without the use of our body?" asked Luna.

"Uh...pass?" I said. "I'm not sure how to even begin to answer that question. It might help if I knew what it meant."

"In laypony's terms," said Luna, a frown creasing her face, "how art thou standing before us in the solid form of a pony without having possessed us." She paused. "Unless thou hast taken over one of our beloved subjects?"

"No possession over here. Still don't really know how to answer that question. Presumably, I am solid because I am real, and I exist. Can we not philosophise? I have a question for you now," I said. The crystal didn't crack at any point.

"Go on," said Celestia cautiously.

"Who am I?" I asked.

The two ponies blinked and stared at me.

"Just sum me up in a few sentences, and tell me: Who am I? Everybody around here seems to know me, but I don't know me, and that's problematic. So do me a favour and explain."

"Thou art Nightmare Moon," began Luna. Her eyes had the look of somebody who knows they're walking into a trap, but can't do anything to stop themselves from continuing.

"Partially, thou were born from the hatred and jealousy in our heart a millennia ago, however thou art mostly a dark spirit that preys on weakness and negativity. Thou possessed us, and took control of us. Under thine influence, we attempted to snuff out the light of the sun permanently and create eternal night, but our sister banished us, and thou along with us, to the moon for a millennia. We escaped, and Twilight Sparkle and her friends used the Elements of Harmony against us, and cleansed us of thy foul presence," she said. "Does that answer thy ridiculous question?"

"Uh, kinda?" I replied. Weird. So apparently, I'm some evil spirit thing that nearly destroyed the world for some unfathomable reason. The persona I'd found myself thrust into wasn't very intelligent. How would anything or anyone benefit from eternal night? Everything would just die after a few months.

Unfortunately for me, the crystal didn't crack, not even a little. So apparently it was true.

"Why have you returned and allowed yourself to be so easily captured?" asked Celestia.

A little bit of a stupid question. Why would I tell her that, even if I did know the answer myself?

"When a purple unicorn is telling you to get in a chariot to go to 'Canterlot', you get in the freaking chariot and go to Canterlot," I said.

The crystal remained intact. "Not good enough. Strange vagueness will not satisfy us," said Luna. "Answer the question. Now."

"I don't know," I said. "I honestly don't know. Why am I suddenly a pony? Why am I suddenly in magical pony land, being interrogated by ponies with multicoloured clouds and stars for manes? Strangest drug high I've ever seen. Not that I have prior experience, but still."

The crystal stayed in one piece. "You...truly don't know?" asked Celestia.

"I haven't the faintest idea," I said proudly. I'm not sure why I was proud. Maybe because I had confused them, and they were really starting to irritate me. I'll take small victories, I suppose. The crystal stayed in one piece.

"My turn," I said. "What species am I?"

If Celestia's eyebrow went any higher it'd be breaking a hole in the roof.

"You're an alicorn," she said. "A pony with the attributes and magic of the three separate pony races."

The crystal was still unblemished, so apparently I really was an 'alicorn'. Sounded straight out of a little girl's tv show.

"Why art thou asking such foalish questions?" asked Luna.

"Because I genuinely don't know, and would like to," I said. The crystal didn't crack, so we were all being really truthful here.

Celestia and Luna swapped glances. "Art thou suggesting that thou hast amnesia?" asked Luna. Her 'ye olde English' speech pattern was getting really annoying.

"I suppose?" I said. "I don't know if 'amnesia' is a fitting term if I never was Nightmare Moon to begin with."

"Fascinating," said Luna, stroking her chin with a hoof.

"According to your story, you aren't from Equestria at all, and you think this is a, how did you phrase it, 'drug experience'. Just state that, out loud, and listen to yourself for a second. You're clearly delusional," said Celestia.

"Um, ok?" I said. I looked at the crystal and took a deep breath. "I am experiencing a crazy drug high."

The crystal cracked with an audible 'snap'. I swear I felt my blood freeze.

The two 'alicorn' ponies looked at me with smug expressions. I started hyperventilating again, all the panic from when I first woke up here quickly returning.

"O-ok, I think your crystal thing is broken, because there's no way in hell that this is r-real and..." I trailed off, because somehow, I just knew, deep down, that this was real, and denying it wasn't going to get me anywhere.

The two princesses simply stared gloatingly, as I stammered to myself and searched for something, anything to prove that this was not real. I couldn't.

My mind shut down, and I collapsed to the floor in a heap.

I opened my eyes slowly, to the sight of eight faces with varying levels of concern etched on them. I sat up suddenly, causing the gathered ponies to recoil. I looked down at myself and realised I was still a pony. Unfortunately, that hadn't changed, further solidifying the idea that this whole ordeal was real.

"Are you alright?" asked the white unicorn.

"I just woke from fainting after being told that this whole abhorrent experience is real," I said flatly. "Oh, I'm just fine"

"I was just asking," huffed the white unicorn.

Celestia cleared her throat. "During your, ahem, 'nap', Luna, the Elements, and I have been discussing what to do with you," she said, opening her wings. "On one hoof, you are Nightmare Moon, the evil creature that took over my sister and tried to take over Equestria and shroud it in eternal night. On the other hoof, you don't seem to be dangerous. Nor do you seem to be in complete control of your own facilities, mental or physical." She gestured for Luna to continue.

"So we have decided that seeing how the Elements managed to reform Discord while he was as sane as he could be, it is no stretch of logic to assume that thou can also be tamed. And so we are sending thee to Ponyville, to live amongst the ponies who symbolise the very essence of the Magic of Friendship and hopefully be reformed into a pony who can have a positive impact on society." She spoke the whole time devoid of any emotion.

I was silent for a moment. "Are you serious?" I asked. "Isn't there something better you could do with me, like say, I dunno, semding me home!?"

Luna narrowed her eyes. "A most adrimirable solution, save for the fact that thy 'home' seems to not exist. And even if it did exist, there is no guarantee that we would be able to send you there," she said.

So I was stuck here. Great. Just great. I felt a headache coming on as the ponies around me began to fuss about for my impending departure to Ponyville.

Shortly afterwards, I was bundled into another chariot, along with Twilight's band of merry men. Or mares. Whatever. They tried to make conversation with me, but I gave them one-word answers at best and ignored them at worst, and eventually they stopped. Eventually we arrived back at Ponyville. Twilight led me to a small empty house and gave me a key. She removed the ring and rope from my horn and wings and told me that this was my new home and I should get settled in. Then she disappeared in a flash of light.

I unlocked my new house and went inside. It was sparsely furnished, with basic kitchen fixings, a small dining table and two stools, a bathroom, a living room with a small empty bookshelf and some large cushions on the floor that I guess we're supposed to function as chairs. Trotting upstairs, I discovered another small bathroom and a bedroom, which had literally nothing in it except for a bed and a small lamp on a tiny bedside table.

With nothing better to do, I crawled into the bed and tried to make myself comfortable. My strange new body meant that was easier said than done, and once I was settled I tossed and turned for quite a bit. Eventually, I succumbed to sleep, somehow still clinging to the hope that when I woke up this would all be over...

Author's Note

This took entirely too long to write. I a, so sorry, and I will grovel before you to atone for this grievous mishandling of the story. I swear it won't take this long next time. Anyway, you may notice a number of changes to the story.

First thing you'll notice if you've been here since the start is that the Dark tag is gone. That's because I realised from looking at my chapter summaries, that the actual dark aspects of the story don't come into play until much later. I'll give you for warning if a chapter will be dark, but for now, this is purely a comedy. If you've been here from the start then you may have noticed I've gone back and given the chapters names. No editing has gone on in the chapters themselves, not yet anyway. If a chapter has asterisks after its name, then I'll be coming back to rewrite it later.

This chapter marks the end of the first plot arc, and from here on out the story is a lot more Slice of Life.