Nightmare Moon on Oak Street

Chapter 1: Consign to Dream

Luna tossed and turned on her new four-poster bed. Mumbling curses to herself, she used her magic to shut the window. The frigid wind had blown it open for the second time that night. Tightening the silk duvet around her body, she shivered and closed her eyes. She should have gone to sleep shortly after midnight, but the weather conspired to keep her awake. The dark chocolate she’d snuck into her room for dessert probably didn’t help. She only meant to eat a half-dozen, but the empty box in her wastebasket said otherwise.

Her royal bedchamber grew dark as she pulled the curtains closed. The royal guard knew not to bother her while she slept, as sleep didn’t always entail rest for Luna. She sighed again and whispered to herself, “It’s alright, the prison cell is strong. Just relax, Luna.” She wanted to fall asleep naturally, but she’d use magic if she had to. With one more deep sigh, her body stopped fidgeting, and her eyes remained closed…

~~~~~

“Why do you do this, dear Luna? Why fight me? Don’t you remember how good it felt when we were together?” The voice felt even colder than the vacuum of space. Like a glacier grinding across a plain of permafrost, it ground against Luna’s patience. “Just put down your burdens for one night, and allow me to take care of you. I promise—”

“SILENCE!” Luna’s voice boomed impossibly loud in this place. She touched down after circling only once— an almost perfect landing. The amorphous shadow sitting in the middle of the vast crater shrank and solidified, but didn’t vanish. “I shall not give in to thy temptations. If trapping you here every night is the price I pay for harmony, then I pay it gladly.” This conversation had played out more or less the same way every night since Luna received harmony’s blessing.

Shadows fell off of Nightmare Moon like hot tar, yet she stood like a broken mare, with her head bowed. Heavy chains bound her to a huge moon rock. She glanced forlornly at the deep gouge left in the black sand by her futile attempts to leave. “Couldn’t you at least give me something to do, other than drag this pitiful rock around? At least leave me in Mare Fecunditatis,” she said with a wry smile. “That would be fun.”

Luna scowled. With a casual spell, she lifted the massive stone and smashed it into the center of the crater. Nightmare Moon wheezed when she bounced across the rock’s surface as it landed, making the crater just a bit deeper. “Nay, We maintain your redemption will come only through friendship. Do you wish for my friendship?” Luna asked. She strolled toward Nightmare Moon, her hooves brushing pale moon dust over the gouge in the crater. It had taken an entire day for Nightmare Moon to drag the boulder across the airless surface of the moon to make that path.

Nightmare Moon’s eye burned emerald; the cat-like slits narrowed to razor-sharp focus on Luna. “Is it hard for you? Always trying to redeem me? You slipped again and used the royal ‘We.’ Just admit it, you enjoyed our time together. Look at you, so worn around the edges. Are you having a rough night? Relax, set down your burdens, let me—”

Luna snarled, and magic slammed Nightmare Moon flat against the ground, like a giant invisible hoof had stomped on her. “This is MY world, MY dreamscape, and MY mind. You will behave yourself, or you’ll stay here in Mare Tranquillitatis.” Luna sighed and turned away from Nightmare Moon. She looked out over the desolate moonscape and let her eyes rise to greet the stars. She spread her wings as she prepared to take flight.

This tired sequence of events played out the same way night after night. Every day, Nightmare Moon would drag the pale boulder as far as she could. Every night, Luna would easily toss it back, like a meteor, into a slowly growing crater. None of this was as it appeared, because everything in dreams is just an illusion, a metaphor created by the dreamer. Locking away thoughts just made them grow stronger over time, so Luna devised a far more clever solution. Instead of locking Nightmare Moon in some kind of prison, she sublimated her in the Sea of Tranquility. As metaphors go, it effectively kept Nightmare Moon in check, so long as Luna visited at least once per month to keep her from leaking into other parts of her psyche.

Luna visited daily. Although today, she looked frazzled. She couldn’t even keep up a perfect appearance, a simple feat in the dreamscape. Unless her physical body rested poorly, which meant...

Nightmare Moon grinned, and shot a smoky tendril at Luna. Success! She could hardly believe it! With a lurch, she melted through the chains that bound her, and vanished into Luna’s nebulous tail. Normally, Luna would notice this sort of thing, but tonight she seemed tired. Nightmare Moon shrunk her form inside the constellation of Scorpio. Should I attack now? Not yet… I’m too weak, I’ve spent far too long in Mare Tranquillitatis. I need to gain strength from a nightmare. If Luna were to have a bad dream… Nightmare Moon thought with a wicked grin.

Luna spread her wings and stepped into the ether. In a flash, the dreamscape changed. Nightmare Moon looked out in awe. She could only see backwards, the opposite direction Luna faced, but this place energized her like an oasis in the desert. A fearsome, black nightmare flowed around her, giving her a taste of her old strength. “HA-HA-HA, give your magic to Tirek. I promise it will be quick!” A deep voice spoke out of sight. Nightmare Moon didn’t know who Tirek was, but she liked the fear he generated in… wait, this isn’t Luna’s fear. The delicious taste had a heady flavor, but felt like fear from helplessness. Luna almost never felt helpless, so whose fear did this belong to?

“Calm yourself, Rare Find. You know Tirek is banished, yes?” Luna’s voice asked.

A sniffling male voice responded, “I’m sorry, Princess. He just… came out of nowhere.” There came a crack of lightning, followed by a cry. The fear vanished like smoke, causing Nightmare Moon to scowl. They stood in a dark, empty alley. Now, she could only hear Luna, this sniveling foal, and crickets.

“You understand it’s your merely fear that you see? Tirek isn’t really here, it’s all in your head—”

“But it feels so real! I know I’m dreaming, but that doesn’t make it any better.” The male voice sniffled again.

“It’s the first step to lucid dreaming. Once you take control, you’ll be able to defeat Tirek easily. After you do it once, the next time will be far easier. Trust me, fear only has the power you give it.” Luna’s voice sounded calming, but Nightmare Moon smiled a vile grin. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have other nightmares to defeat.”

“Thank you again, Princess!” the male voice said. Another flash, and the dreamscape melted again…

~~~~~

“This is going to be the best sleepover ever!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, as she unrolled her slate-gray sleeping bag. “I’ve even got my favorite sleeping bag with me!” She pronked around the circle of mares preparing for sleep.

“I hope there’s enough room in here. Carousel Boutique usually has little spare space for such frivolity, but with that huge delivery to Hoity having shipped yesterday, there’s plenty of open ground at the moment,” Rarity said, flipping her hair with a haughty smile.

“Yeah-yeah, you’re real generous for letting us use your work space, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said, with a roll of her eyes. “Pinkie, stop bouncing everywhere. I need to sleep, I’ve got work early tomorrow.” She sat up and brushed crumbs off of her sleeping bag when Rarity wasn’t looking.

Twilight fluffed her pillow and sighed. “Seems like we have less and less time to spend with each other these days. That’s why I wanted a slumber p— sleepover,” she corrected herself. Saying ‘party’ would make Pinkie burst into a two-minute song, at a minimum. While everypony enjoyed that sort of thing, they needed to get some rest, and a song wouldn’t do right now.

“Alright, s’time ta hit the hay,” Applejack said, as she pulled the covers over herself. “Yer right, we should do this more off’n. It was fun.” She yawned and closed her eyes.

Fluttershy settled into her pillow and ran a hoof over Opalescence, who had curled onto the sleeping bag over Fluttershy’s belly. “Sweet dreams, everypony,” she said, before blowing the lantern out and closing her eyes.

~~~~~

Nightmare Moon felt ecstatic. Luna spent her night jumping from nightmare to nightmare. Each time she shattered them and freed their captives from the grip of fear, Nightmare Moon absorbed a few of the remaining shards from the host. Each one fed Nightmare Moon with a life-giving gulp, like a thirsty pony in a desert. I have enough strength to escape, but which pony should I strike? I don’t want to inhabit a weakling’s body, she thought to herself.

Then the dreamscape melted into something familiar.

Nightmare Moon saw a destroyed Ponyville. It looked like magic had been used to simply tear the buildings apart. She snorted silently; such use of magic felt... too crass, too raw, too unrefined. Magic should be used like a scalpel, not a hammer, she thought.

A deafening roar shook the air. “Give up! Or I shall destroy your friends!” boomed Tirek’s voice.

Nightmare Moon wished she could see what was happening. She could hear that sniveling filly, Twilight Sparkle, giving in to Tirek’s demands. Twilight wailed, and sank to the ground with a thump, overflowing with pitiful helplessness. Nightmare Moon drank the sweet nectar, tasting the fear of her most hated enemy.

“Aren’t you going to defeat Tirek?” Luna asked. Nightmare Moon tensed at Luna’s voice.

“I-I can’t!” Twilight cried. “I don’t have the trinket! Discord has it!”

Nightmare Moon had never met Discord, but in her madness, Luna had ranted about the spirit of chaos. Nightmare Moon wondered how Discord had escaped his prison, and what part he had to play in this memory gone wrong. There is too much I do not know. I have been away for too long, but that changes now! she thought.

A black mist crept along the ground. “See what your fear has wrought? Darkness will consume you if you give into fear,” Luna said calmly. “This is all a dream, an illusion. It represents what you truly think and feel. Are you so scared without your friends? Would you like me to banish the darkness for you? It’s the least I can do.”

Why possess Luna when I can overpower that mewling unicorn, Twilight Sparkle? I may not return to full strength in such a weak body, but I will force her friends or Luna to kill her! Even if I enter the void, it’ll be worth it to take Twilight Sparkle with me! Nightmare Moon decided. She slipped out of Luna’s tail and into the black mist. A sweet aura of fear flowed through it, feeding her further. She swirled around a nearby tree, hiding herself in its shadow.

Twilight’s voice sniffled from out of Nightmare Moon’s sight. “N-no, I can do it. I think…” Nightmare Moon watched Luna’s silhouette tense for a long moment before it nodded and stepped back. The mist slowly evaporated.

“Very good, Twilight. Keep it up,” Luna encouraged. Nightmare Moon laughed to herself at Twilight’s pathetic attempt to regain control. It might have been good for a first try, but simply banishing the black mist of fear was only the first step. It didn’t prevent—

“HA HA HA!” The voice of Tirek boomed across the landscape. A monstrous, demonic form dominated the horizon. It blotted out the moon and stars, and grew more monstrous still. Crimson eyes looked at Twilight like a pair of red stars glittering on a black cloak. Nightmare Moon felt a joy she hadn’t felt since returning to Equestria with Luna in her thrall. Such a monstrous form meant the dreamer’s fear grew out of control.

“How do I win without my friends?” Twilight cried. Nightmare Moon peered from around the tree’s trunk, keeping her nebulous form hidden. They were on top of a small hillock overlooking a destroyed Ponyville. The landscape looked like a giant had taken an axe to it; massive gouges tore at the land, while the remaining grass looked wilted and gray. “This isn’t how it happened in real life! Tirek hasn’t betrayed Discord, I don’t have the amulet, and Discord’s grayed out my friends. I can’t unlock the Tree of Harmony, and I don’t have my magic. What do I do now? How can I be the Alicorn of Friendship if my friends won’t help me?”

If Nightmare Moon had a physical head to turn, she would have snapped her neck in her effort to see Twilight Sparkle. Luckily for her, Luna and Twilight focused on the huge, demonic Tirek, instead of looking behind them. Nightmare Moon could clearly see the drooping wings on Twilight's back. She stared, transfixed at the sight of a new alicorn. Yes… yes… oh YES! If Twilight is an alicorn, and I possess her... The thought made Nightmare Moon’s black heart race with anticipation.

“Hmmm…” Luna mumbled, while she sat pensively, rubbing her chin with a hoof. Twilight cowered behind her, trying to hide from the massive Tirek. “I hesitate to try this, but… these friends who have abandoned you? They are only figments of your imagination, created by your mind. Would you like to share a dream with your friends? Your real friends?”

Twilight sobbed, “W-what? C-can you do that?”

Nightmare Moon hid fully in the shadow of the old, dying oak. Oh, this is too perfect! If Luna links the dreams of Twilight’s friends, I will have the chance to strike at them as well! Once they are finished, Twilight’s sanity will crack, and then I will have her! And without the element bearers, I will never be exorcised! Celestia and Luna will have to kill me… if I don’t kill them first in my new, powerful alicorn body! Nightmare Moon’s thoughts whirled with dark designs for her hated enemies.

Luna rose to her hooves and nodded. “Alright, Twilight. Try to fight Tirek; I will go and bring your friends to you. I will leave you six to your dream, and I promise, by the end of it, you’ll have conquered your fear.” Luna spread her wings, and in two strides, vanished into a vertical plane of air, like diving into an invisible pond. A fading ripple marked her passing, leaving Nightmare Moon to absorb even more fear that fell off of Twilight in waves. She curled onto the ground, hugging her tail with the monstrous form of Tirek surrounding her.

Which one first? Nightmare Moon thought as she watched.

A rainbow streak burst out of the air and landed next to Twilight. “C’mon, Egghead. You know I’d never leave you hanging.” Rainbow Dash stood next to Twilight, her eyes tracking around the horizon. “Whoa! Tirek was never that big in real life!”

This one likes to play the heroine. I should give her the chance… Nightmare Moon eyed Rainbow Dash; she seemed unafraid of Tirek. In fact, she focused almost exclusively on Twilight.

An apple tree grew in between Twilight and her view of Tirek. A bright, shiny bunch of apples sprouted in time lapse. Applejack stepped out from behind the tree and smiled. “I think you could use a little help, Twilight.”

I recall that one relies on her strength. Perhaps something to turn that strength against her... Nightmare Moon mused, as she watched Applejack.

Twilight replied, “I know something is serious when you call me by my name instead of ‘sugarcube.’” She glanced at the canopy of leaves above her, hiding Tirek as he roared. She shivered and asked, “Am I that scared?”

Applejack snorted, and shook her head as if getting rid of cobwebs. “We got it, sugarcube. Don’tcha worry none! Ah’ll have this here nightmare hog-tied in two shakes of a lamb’s tail!” Applejack sounded confident, while Nightmare Moon secretly grinned. Her mind whirled with terrifying possibilities.

A bizarre, candy-striped flying machine descended from the heavens. Pinkie Pie piloted the vehicle, setting it down to the wide eyes of everypony, even Nightmare Moon. Once the whirling blades stopped, Pinkie bounced out of the pilot seat and exclaimed, “Nightmare-shmightmare, it’s party time!” She wore a stupid grin on her face as she hugged Twilight.

“Oh! Well, it’s good to see you too, Pinkie,” Twilight giggled, “even if it’s only been like, an hour.” They stayed that way for a moment.

Nightmare Moon eyed Pinkie hungrily around the bole of the tree. That one is dangerous. Not easily frightened… but I detect a hint of insanity within her! Perhaps, if I draw that out, she’ll become a useful tool for my purposes… Nightmare Moon leached the fear that fell away from Twilight as Pinkie squeezed it out of her.

Nightmare Moon shrunk into the shadow of the tree as a multicolored light show burst from the canopy of the apple tree. “This place is far too dreary. How about some pink highlights… wait! Orange! That’s the ticket!”

“Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed.

Nightmare Moon could almost hear the hug. I think I’m going to be sick. I’m going to enjoy breaking you, Rarity. Although, there’s something about her. Some secret fear, perhaps? I’ll have to look into that, Nightmare Moon thought.

“Oh, sorry, I got distracted for a moment, but you should add some color to your dreams, darling.” Rarity’s voice floated over the hilltop, and where her lightshow struck, color returned. The black and white world of the nightmare bled spots of color, and the light of the stars in the night sky pierced Tirek’s shadowy form.

A cloud of butterflies swirled along the ground from every direction. They swarmed over the grass, flowing around Nightmare Moon’s hiding spot. They raced to the top of the hill, spinning around the trunk of the apple tree into a multicolored tornado. Ah, this must be the Element of Kindness. So timid, so fearful, but not of animals. I’ll just have to frighten her with something more… familiar. She might be the key; her fear could give me the means to win. I’ll have to save her until the endgame...

The butterflies settled on the tree trunk, turning it into a fluttering mass of tiny, colorful wings. “Um… hello, Twilight.”

“There you are, Fluttershy. I didn’t even see you arrive! Umm… are you okay? Please look at me,” Twilight asked. Nightmare Moon risked peering through the boroughs of the old oak tree. Fluttershy sat at the base of the apple tree, her back snugly against it and her eyes squeezed shut.

“I’m here for you, Twilight. Um, Luna said you were having a scary nightmare, and it wasn’t until I got here that I realized I would be in a scary nightmare, too. So, I don’t think I’ll be looking at anything. I’ll just cheer you on, okay?” Fluttershy shook almost imperceptibly, but Nightmare Moon could sense it. Fluttershy gulped as Tirek’s form bent down and simply breathed through the canopy of the tree with a foul exhale of fetid breath. The leaves shuddered as Tirek’s breath washed over the ponies like sewage. “Eeep…” Fluttershy squeaked, her eyes still squeezed shut.

In a flash, the Elements of Harmony appeared around Twilight and her friends. Tirek backed away as light burst from every gem. Nightmare Moon hid in the deep shadow of the oak tree, careful to keep her form from touching the light. Once I gather the shards of this defeated nightmare, it will be time to strike! You will know endless suffering, Twilight Sparkle, before I break you! Nightmare Moon grinned as light shone so brightly on the hilltop that it looked like a tiny sun.

Tirek roared in pain and shattered like glass.

Nightmare Moon breathed in fear, and grinned.