The Black Eyes of the Nightmare

It's been a few days since Fluttershy first 'befriended' the Moon Fox. She keeps visiting her, but it's not so easy. Moon Fox is incredibly fast, so she can't find her easily unless the beast finds her first. But when they meet, they're not sure what to do at first. The Everfree Forest is not a place of fear for them, even when forbidden. It belongs to them to do whatever they please.

Fluttershy assumes that the Moon Fox doesn't know much about the forest, so she shows her a few things, like introducing her to the many animals that live there. The Everfree Forest got a bit noisier since they first met, so there's plenty of them. Sometimes, the Moon Fox would put her unexpected cooking skills to good use. She gets ingredients from foraging, and hunting is incredibly easy for her. But she knows Fluttershy isn't a carnivore like her. Being a fox, she's an omnivore, so whenever Fluttershy visits, she makes out of a combination of fruits and herbs growing in the forest. To Fluttershy, it's a miracle how she didn't find anything poisonous yet.

The Moon Fox rarely smiles, or laughs. Fluttershy tries so hard to make her, but she doesn't care that much. They can still hold a decent conversation. Throughout the days, she is able to see the so-called deadly creature for what she truly is. Fluttershy finds her stunningly beautiful, yet unreachable and eluding. Her friendship with her is very unlikely and unusual, after the hostility of that infamous night.

It's noon in Equestria, with Celestia's sun perched at the peak of its arch. Fluttershy is in her house, taking a nap. She stayed up hanging out with the Moon Fox last night. She even got a chance to see her rise the moon. It was unforgettable to her. The Moon Fox was never so luminous to her before, and yet it was so brief, but she wouldn't forget the majesty and beauty that the Moon Fox gave off at that moment.

Knock, knock, knock!

Fluttershy bobs her head up. Her yellow ears shake to the knocking. She's startled, but for moment.

Knock, knock, knock!

She gets off the couch and moves her hooves toward the door. Yawning, she thinks, Who could it be? She places a hoof on the doorknob and turns it. Her teal eyes shrink by the sight of the Moon Fox, leaning on the doorway.

"Hey, Fluttershy," she greets.

"Oh, hi, Moon Fox," says Fluttershy in a resurgence of happiness. "What are you doing her? I never told you where I lived."

"Wasn't so hard, to be honest. You have butterflies on your butt and hang around with animals all the time. You're a perfect match for this cottage."

Fluttershy giggles. "So true. So, why are you here? I thought you liked being in the forest."

"Most of the time, but it gets boring in there, and I was thinking. I'd like a change of scenery."

"No! You'll scare everypony!" shouts Fluttershy, fearful.

"You're a bit far from any other house, Fluttershy," says Moon Fox in a tone that implies a disbelief toward Fluttershy acting unreasonable. "May I come in?"

"Um, no need to ask."

"Meh, I like a vampire's courtesy."

"Then come in," says Fluttershy. The Moon Fox treads past the yellow pony. Her mane slightly gets brushed by one of the blue foxtails. Fluttershy still finds it unreal seeing the bushel dragged behind her. It just screams excess to her. Moon Fox sits down on a char next to the couch and stares at Fluttershy. The white eyes are always more pleasant than the black ones.

"I came because I needed something," says the Moon Fox.

"What is it?"

"Isn't there pony magic?"

"Why, yes. There's a lot of it. Why would you even ask that? You already know magic."

The Moon Fox scowls at the last word. "'Magic' is not the right word for me. What I do is only a manifestation of my inner energy and I release to guide it how I need it to. So, do you know magic?"

Fluttershy thinks the question is stupid, but reminds herself that the Moon Fox is not experienced with this world. "I can't do magic," answers Fluttershy. "Only unicorns can do magic. I'm a pegasus. We control the weather."

"Unicorns," says the Moon Fox, slowly. "The purple one is a unicorn, right?"

Fluttershy's heart stops. "No! Don't tell me you're going to Ponyville!"

"Why not?"

"Everyone is gonna freak when they see you!"

"Sorry if I cause panic, Fluttershy, but I need to study pony magic to finish my work. You said her name was...Twilight Sparkle?" Fluttershy nods. "I don't really care how people react to me, but I have my objective. I'll just persuade Twilight to let me borrow some of those books." Moon Fox gets up and rubs the top of Fluttershy's head with one of her hands. It's like she has a feeling that Fluttershy is a pet. "I'll see ya later. Thanks for having me." Moon Fox opens the door and flies away. Fluttershy gets off the couch and runs out the door. She only sees her for a second before the trees could hide her. She examines the direction she's heading for. Definitely Ponyville. Fluttershy starts to panic, imagining a scene of everyone screaming and running. But what would the Moon Fox do? Fluttershy knows that it won't try to hurt the ponies, so will it be fine?

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The Moon Fox lands near the library and starts heading for it. Fluttershy already told her that it's a house within a tree in one of her visits. She looks around, noticing that all the ponies are staring at her. There's no panic yet, but she expects. The Moon Fox closes her eyes and gives them a friendly wave, then heads for the library with the same, familiar expression. She disregards the consequences of being in public completely. There's so my many pony eyes aimed at her, and they ask questions about what she's doing, what she's going to do, and why she's here. The ponies themselves aren't asking that. The Moon Fox can read their eyes, because she's used to having eyes at her with that expression. She knocks at the door of the library, surprisingly eager to meet Twilight Sparkle, yet worried how she's going to react to being in front of her enemy.

Twilight and Spike are having a lunch of hay sandwiches. Spike has his mouth full with a ruby he stored as a treat, so Twilight gets off her chair and opens the front door. And here we go, thinks the Moon Fox as she sees Twilight's face go from joyful to terrified. She slowly steps back trembling.

"Twilight Sparkle?" says the Moon Fox, wondering if she got the name right.

"You! Wait. Moon Fox! Stay away!" yells Twilight, moving in a way to destroy the hallucination in front of her.

"Okay, let's calm down first," says Moon Fox in an caring tone.

Spike enters the room confused, saying "Twilight, what's with all the ye- AAAH!" He notices the Moon Fox. "Please, don't hurt me! Take Twilight instead!"

"No! Take him!" Twilight crouches behind Spike, attempting to use him as a meat shield. They were both too scared

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone," says Moon Fox. "I just need your help."

"Help?" Twilight's panic shrinks. Last time they saw each other, she's the one who desperately needed help.

"Look. I know I scared you ponies, but I'm not going to destroy Ponyville. I know you can do magic because you're a unicorn."

"How do you know?" asks Twilight, still slightly scared.

"It's okay, Twilight." The Moon Fox turns around. She didn't say that. Fluttershy is right behind her, sporting a small smirk. She doesn't look devious with that smirk, but forgiving instead. A hurricane of confusion spins rapidly in both Twilight's and Spike's minds. "I told her."

"Fluttershy, why did you tell her that? She said she was gonna destroy Ponyville if we bothered her."

"I couldn't stay away. I had to do something."

"She's a monster!" says Spike, more angry than confused.

"No. She's misunderstood. Just because she looks scary and has all that power doesn't mean she's bad."

"Fluttershy, you didn't have to follow me," interrupts Moon Fox. "They would've calmed down eventually."

"I won't be calm unless we sit down and you pour out everything you know about yourself," says Twilight in a hostile tone.

The Moon Fox sighs and closes her eyes. She goes inside the library and sits down on the floor, crossing her legs. Her seven tails spread acros the floor, some touching the base of the bookcases. "If I do, can I borrow some spells?" she asks.

"Fine." Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy sit down, forming the corners of a perfect square on the floor. Twilight and Spike are amazed at only the fact that they're sitting peacefully in front of an supernatural being that can destroy mountains. The Moon Fox is silent at first, but they give her the privilege to. They assume that she's trying to collect the thoughts and where to start. Twilight knows that she's desperate for her spells.

"My real name is a mystery to all, even to myself," begins Moon Fox. "What you all know me as is only a name that explained my newfound duty: rising the Moon. I couldn't believe I had enough power to move something so big and heavy. I recall looking different before, but I can't recognize it after it being gone for so many years. What am I? I can only describe myself as an anthropomorphic being resembling a fox. I've seen humans, and they've seen me. We interacted before, but I prefer to be alone most of the time. Why? The presence of being next to another living being feels a little painful. I don't know what your world is called, but I know mine. I came from Vremena, and that's where I do my job of rising the Moon. I didn't know I was in your world for a while, nor of the pony Luna who had the same job as I did. My hostility towards you ponies came from confusion. I thought I was going mad, but I was wrong. I was busy working in the forest that any form of interruption would infuriate me. Happy, Twilight?" The Moon Fox's last words make Twilight realize that she's annoyed by her. "So I'm sorry for hurting that rainbow pony, I'm sorry for threatening you all, and I'm sorry for causing mass hysteria in your world." Strangely, she doesn't sound like she feels guilty. It's just that same, normal tone.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike look at each other, then back to the Moon Fox. "You're in Equestria," says Twilight. "Ponies of all kinds rule here under the sun of Princess Celestia and the moon of Princess Luna."

"I met Luna. I offered a friendly competition."

"You can't fight a goddess," disagrees Fluttershy.

"Ponies, and little dragon boy, I'm a natural fighter. Back in my world, it's a constant war. You can't depend on others to protect you. You have to grow into a force to be reckoned with, and fight for the right and freedom to live."

"So, how did you and Fluttershy meet?" asks Twilight.

Moon Fox and Fluttershy's eyes widen. They remember that time so vividly. "Uh, she found me," answers Moon Fox nervously.

"Yeah. Found her," agrees Fluttershy.

"Okay...so why do you need my spellbooks?" asks Twilight.

"I'm working on a way back home."

"Sorry, but I don't have any books about multiverse travel," says Twilight disappointedly.

"Maybe not, but with the knowledge I have from my world, I could figure something out. Vremena is pretty similar to your Equestria. Lots of species, wizards, knights, and civilization. Except, we see magic in a different way. We see it as an exertion one's own energy, manipulated to fit their needs. Doing that, I could probably invent a multiverse travel spell.

"Fox, you already proven yourself to be too much for us to handle," says Spike. "I wouldn't be surprised if you invented a spell."

"it could work." Moon Fox notices a large book dangling like it's about to fall. It does, but one of the Fox's tails catches it nimbly. "Why is this book sticking out?" she asks Twilight.

"Well..." stammers Twilight. She grows worried as the Moon Fox grabs the book with her hand and opens it. She only sees hollowed out pages that make space to contain the Elements of Harmony. Twilight feels like she's dead. Those were the tools used to attempt the defeat of the deadly Moon Fox.

"I remember these," says Moon Fox, curious. This relieves Twilight. "You guys were wearing these when we encountered."

"They're the Elements of Harmony," says Fluttershy.

"Harmony..."

"We each hold one of the Elements, and together, we would use them to stop any evil force that would try to disrupt that harmony."

"At least you got harmony..." says Moon Fox, disappointed. Fluttershy understands exactly what she meant. She heard her mention something about her world being in constant warfare. "So, Twilight, a deal's a deal. May I use your books?"

"Absolutely," answers Twilight cheerfully. "Spellbooks are on that case over there." Twilight points her hoof to one of the bookcases, and Moon Fox gets up and heads toward it. Her tails flutter around gracefully, picking extra books as she skims past the titles. "Would you mind if we told Princess Celestia about you?"

The Moon Fox stops skimming, and turns to Twilight, slightly agitated. "Why would you do that?" she asks.

"Well, she has to know that you're not dangerous, so she can announce it to all of the people of Equestria." Twilight sheds a tear, and her purples eyes widen, sparkling. "I don't want you to feel outcasted, Fox."

Moon Fox is touched by Twilight. Instead of crying, she leaves her move slightly open and not moving a single book. "Then yes. You can do that." Twilight turns to Spike, and Spike can tell what she wants just by the look on her face. Spike looks around for a quill and paper and starts writing a letter.

"Spike, I haven't said anything," says Twilight.

"You don't have to. I wanna write this one myself," answers Spike, excited.

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Meanwhile, in the royal palace, Princess Celestia, looking majestic and clean, gazes at Ponyville. She's still worried, but tries to hide that emotion with a straight face. She scans the Everfree Forest for a sign of the Moon Fox, her supposed equal. Princess Luna enters the balcony, worried about her sister.

"Sister, what hast happened to thee?" she asks. "Thou hast been looking at Ponyville for two hours now."

Princess Celestia doesn't answer at first. She's too focused to listen to Luna. Her ear seems like it has a delayed reaction to carry the audio, convert to electrical impulses, and send them to her brain. She turns to her sister. "You met her, didn't you?" she asks in a hostile tone.

This slightly worries Luna. "Yes, but she only said that she shall not destroy Ponyville and that she desires combat."

Celestia goes back to staring at Ponyville. Her anger grows, but contained to not cause any destruction. "I don't care anymore. I don't care how strong she is! She's below me, just like everyone else!" A flickering fire grows in the goddess' eyes. "If this fox demon causes trouble, then I'll give her trouble..."