Nightmare at the Gala(Con)?

Prologue: The Nightmare Continues

“Your darkness cannot survive in the light. Loosen your grip on generous Rarity's heart and let her speak.”

With those words from its former host, the Nightmare was compelled to let go of Rarity. One by one the other Element-Bearers intruded upon their shared mind, conjuring up the memories of good times with her friends of which the formless presence had no part of.

“There is no power that can stop me now! Your body is mine! You will be remembered, Rarity, but as the darkest and cruelest ruler ever known!”

It had been too long. The Nightmare couldn't afford to lose now. A thousand years trapped on the moon, defeated by these six mares upon its return. There was no way it would let Rarity go and it hung on with every ounce of its power.

Slowly but surely it began to regain control over their body, intruding upon the thoughts and memories, making them its own. Soon there would be no more Rarity, there would be no more Nightmare, there would only be Nightmare Rarity.

“You mean everything to me. Please come home.”

These were the words that the dark entity couldn't comprehend. It had felt friendship from Rarity, a sisterly bond from Luna. But this was altogether different. The words and thoughts of the young dragon Spike carried something else. Something not so easily defined and it would prove to be fatal.

While the Nightmare couldn't comprehend, Rarity reacted more strongly than she had to any of the other voices. It felt like her heart, so recently almost consumed by darkness, was quivering with feelings.

Damn this dragon, the Nightmare thought. Why was he so resilient to its powers? It had offered him to be a king, to be at Rarity's side forever. What was this undefinable quality between the two of them?

And for some reason Rarity seemed to respond to him. Though no words were spoken, there was a constant back and forth of feelings between the two of them, rising in an unstoppable crescendo.

The Nightmare fought back, filling her mind with doubts about her friends' love for her, dark promises of great power and fabulous wealth. But whatever dream or nightmare it conjured up in her mind, Rarity's heart remained locked onto the little dragon, until in the deepest parts of her conscience there was a singular, unspoken thought.

“Spike. I love you, too.”

With an inhuman shriek the dark power let go of Rarity. It was as if the feelings were burning it. Where it was able to combat the warm, fuzzy friendship before, this was intense and to a being of utter darkness, for the lack of a better word, utterly terrifying.

While the ponies were celebrating their victory, the Nightmare retreated in agony, rising into the sky as a black smoke. Even the absolute cold of space, as it passed the outer atmosphere, could not lessen the burning. What was this strange emotion called love?

But for now there was nothing else to do. It would return to the moon, rest and recover its power for maybe another thousand years. There was no way to destroy it. There could be no light without dark. It was eternal and it would return.

Suddenly the Nightmare stopped, feeling a strange pulling sensation from the last place it had expected. It was as if the moon was calling it from earth. This was interesting. It knew that Luna and the rebellious denizens of the moon would try to track it down soon, so it had planned to hide on the dark side of the moon.

But this presented a new possibility and a better chance to find a new host. But where did the sensation come from? It seemed strangely out of place. Only then did the realization come. The phases of the moon opened and closed pathways to other realities.

It was a gamble. The entity known as the Nightmare could be stuck in another world for who knew how long. But on the other hoof it would be the perfect hiding place from the alicorns and the Elements of Harmony.

Making a fateful decision, the Nightmare altered course and reentered the atmosphere, passing through realities as well as layers of air as it was guided by the familiar pull of the moon.

Time and space had little meaning for the Nightmare as it primarily existed in the minds of ponies, so it couldn't exactly tell how long the journey had taken. All it knew, was that it now resided in a strange room which was almost completely dark.

There was only one source of light. A glass case being lit by several lamps. Inside lay a rather ordinary looking gray rock. But the Nightmare knew that it was special. How did a piece of the moon make it to earth in this dimension?

Its attention fell on the plaque at the bottom. “Der Mondstein mit der Deutschlandflagge kam mit der letzten APOLLO-Mission zur Erde. Er wurde der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 1973 vom damaligen … “

The Nightmare stopped reading. What language was this? There was a document next to it. The script on this one looked more like Equestrian.

The Apollo lunar landing program conducted by the United States has been brought to a successful conclusion. Men from the planet Earth have reached the first milestone in space. But as we stretch for the stars, we know that we stand also upon the shoulders of many men of many nations here on our own planet. In the deepest sense our exploration of the moon was truly an international effort.

It is for this reason that, on behalf of the people of the United States I present this flag, which was carried to the moon, to the State, and its fragment of the moon obtained during the final lunar mission of the Apollo program.

If people of many nations can act together to achieve the dreams of humanity in space, then surely we can act together to accomplish humanity's dream of peace here on earth. It was in this spirit that the Untied States of America went to the moon, and it is in this spirit that we look forward to sharing what we have done and what we have learned with all mankind.

Signed,

President Richard Nixon

March 21, 1973

Now this was an interesting surprise. Those two-legged creatures had gone to the moon, and without the help of any magic it seemed. Then again it was the very reason the Nightmare had been able to come here, the single piece of moonstone acting like a beacon. Though all this talk of cooperation and peace made them sound almost exactly like those friendship-loving ponies.

As it took in the images of all those so-called humans all around it, it decided that a disguise would be important, if it were to explore this world. As luck would have it, trying to hang on to Rarity's memories and emotions did accomplish one thing. The Nightmare had enough strength left to produce a magic copy of her body. It would do for now.

As the Nightmare reconstituted itself in a swirl of dark energy, it made a point of including all of Rarity's being, even the emotions it didn't understand. For the briefest of moments Nightmare Rarity stood reborn, before her body changed once again from her pony form to something more human.

Walking up to display case again, she looked at her reflection in the glass. It was strange, standing on two legs, but since Rarity had been an attractive mare in her own right, her human form reflected that fact.

The hair was still that sparkling violet with the white streak and her blue eyes shone like stars in the night. Her skin, just like Rarity's coat, was spotless. “What are those for?” Nightmare Rarity asked, seeing the two large protrusions on her chest and taking them in both her hands. She didn't know what relevance they held to humans, but she did like the way they bounced. “I think I'm rather gonna enjoy this body.”

“Halt! Keine Bewegung!”

Nightmare Rarity turned around at the sudden voice and saw a man in what seemed to be a uniform, pointing some kind of object at her. As far as she could make out from his demeanor, it was probably a weapon. She took a step towards him.

“Stehen bleiben oder ich schieße. Sie … Sie sind verhaftet ...”

She smiled disarmingly at him and approached him even more. It was clear from his stuttering that her beauty had an effect on him. From what little she had observed so far, humans generally didn't run around naked, yet her spell had failed to produce any clothes for her due to a lack of reference. “Well, what do we have here?”

The man tried without much luck to keep his eyes from wandering all over her body. Love was beyond her, but lust was something she could understand. To her surprise he began to speak in the language she knew as Equestrian, although with a horrible accent. “You are not supposed to be in here, Miss. The museum is closed.”

“Oh, I'm so sorry,” she replied innocently. “I'm just really fascinated by the moon.”

“I can see that,” the guard replied and finally put away his weapon. Ah, men were a lot like stallions it seemed. They didn't really perceive an unarmed mare as a threat. Then he reached out his hand. “Come on, we'll find you some clothes, and then we're gonna get you some help.”

Nightmare Rarity took the hand and pulled him closer to her, planting a kiss on his surprised face. Then she gave him a glance that would make any man melt. “How about we stay right here and you get out of your clothes? They do look uncomfortable,” she whispered as she began to unbutton his shirt.

* * *

You awaken to the sound of your alarm clock and blink a few times to shake off the last bits of sleep as you unceremoniously slap the snooze button.

What a weird dream, you think to yourself, while looking at the My Little Pony comic book issues lying next to your bed. It feels like you've been having it every night for the past week.

It certainly hasn't lost its effect on you, as is clearly evident by the tent you've pitched. “Well, Nightmare Rarity is damn hot,” you chuckle to yourself. “Can't blame a guy for imagining what she would look like as a human.”

You still decide that maybe it's better to take a break from rereading this particular issue over and over again for the time being. Your eyes drift back at the clock that announces the time as 9:30 in the morning and then to your calendar. August 1st. The date is circled in red.

Suddenly you're wide awake and a goofy grin spreads across your face. “It's finally here,” you say to no one in particular as you jump out of bed and rush to the bathroom. The grin persists even as you brush your teeth and apply the hair gel to tame your brown hair.

“Looking good, Phillip,” you tell the reflection in your mirror. “No girl can resist those sparkling, green eyes.” Yes, it is a bit silly and there have been plenty girls who could and did resist your passionate gaze. But it's part of your morning ritual and you wouldn't change it for the world.

By the time you come out of the bathroom and put the toothbrush and toothpaste into the sponge bag atop your suitcase, the alarm clock goes off again, indicating that you've spent less than five minutes getting ready. Looks like the excitement made you rush.

You throw on a jeans and t-shirt, check the luggage one last time and are already halfway out the door, when your hand feels your empty pocket. “Ticket,” you mumble to yourself and return to the bed in your tiny one room apartment.

Of course it's right there on the nightstand. Two tickets for GalaCon, the big European brony convention in Germany. Somehow the carefully laid out plan, you had for this morning, has gone out the window due to excitement. Your eyes linger for a moment on the second ticket, still lying there. When you bought them three months ago with your hard-earned cash, this was supposed to be a trip for two.

Finally you shake your head, putting both tickets away. There's no point in dwelling on it. You are gonna have a great weekend and who knows, maybe you'd even meet someone new to fill that void in your life. But either way, you are determined to make this …

“The BEST NIGHT EVER!” you declare with your fist raised high and marching out the door, preparing for the 10-hour train ride from your hometown Cottbus to Ludwigsburg.