The Return of Nightmare Moon

The Return of Nightmare Moon Part 4

     The alarm woke her up buzzing at eight. She groaned and rolled over but she knew she had to get up. She turned the alarm off, wiped the sleep out of her eyes, pushed the sheets aside, and got out of bed. The room was much more colorful than she had thought. The walls were bright purple, almost neon. Beside the bed on an oak nightstand was a sapphire lamp with golden stars on the body and shade. Flowers of many colors on shelves in the room and on the adjacent balcony helped to bring life to the room.

     After taking a moment to enjoy her new home and brush her long, violet mane, Chrysalis started to walk downstairs when she caught sight of Spike cocooned in his bed. She gazed at the long strands of green silk that entombed the tiny dragon as she thought. She liked him the way he was, silent. However, she knew that she would have to let him out or Twilight’s friends would ask questions and eventually discover the truth. She leaned over him and with a flash of her horn; she melted the silk off of him. He sprang to life.

     “GAH! Oh, Twilight. I had the strangest dream.” he said frightfully.

     “I’m sure you did.” she said coldly.

     “Don’t you wanna know what it was about?” he asked curiously.

     “Not really.” she said irritably walking down the stairs.

     “You okay Twilight?” he asked with worry detectable in his voice.

     “Yeah, why?” she said quickly. She continued to walk down the stairs with Spike running behind her.

     “You seem a little …grumpy today.” he said cautiously. They were now in the kitchen and she was walking towards the door.

     “Don’t be ridiculous.” she said in a mean voice. “Eat your breakfast then clean all of the shelves.” she ordered.

     “But we just cleaned YESTERDAY.” he said raising his eyebrow. He was confused yesterday was cleaning day; Twilight NEVER scheduled cleaning day on Monday. It was always Wednesday and Sunday NEVER any other day.

     “I think it still looks DIRTY.” she said plainly looking down upon him. She thought him so inferior to her.

     “Will the schedule allow it?” he said curiously.

     “Sure it will! Now I’m off.” she said cheerfully; she was happy to get away from him.

     “Wait, aren’t YOU going to eat breakfast?” he asked.

     “Already did.” she said sharply as she headed for the door.

     She opened and slammed the door behind her leaving Spike to do all of the cleaning. She looked out at the town. The buildings were large and colorful. Ponies of every size and color walked through the dirt streets of the village. The sky was a brilliant blue; not a cloud in sight.

     “You’re up early!” squeaked a bouncy voice.

     Chrysalis turned to see a pink mare with poofy hair, blue eyes, and three balloons as a cutie mark. She bounced in place looking cheerfully at “Twilight”.

     “Hi um…Pinkie Pie. Um, how are you today?”  Chrysalis said awkwardly, trying to sound friendly. Pinkie took no notice of this and continued to bounce in place.

     “I’m GREAT!” she chirped still bouncing. “And I’ve got some great ideas for the party! What do you think about animal shaped balloons?”

     “I think that sounds…lovely.” she felt like she was going to puke.

     “YAY! I can’t wait! See you at nine!” Pinkie practically yelled and darted off. Chrysalis let out a sigh of relief.

     She walked slowly toward the town center. In the middle of the intersection there was a giant clock that resembled Ben Big. It read eight fifty. Chrysalis suddenly realized that she would be late if she didn’t hurry. Not wanting to loose character by being late, she dashed towards Carousel Boutique, knocking over anyone that got in her path.

     “MOVE IT!” she shouted.

     She arrived just on time. The building did resemble a carousel in shape; it was two stories tall and was pink and blue, just like cotton candy. Chrysalis caught her breath and brushed her mane so that she looked presentable. She gently opened the wooden doors and stepped inside.

     The inside was very colorful. The walls were each a different color, blue, purple, pink. It was filled with mannequins, some were bare, and others wore Rarity’s latest designs.  Rarity was working furiously on a wedding dress in the middle of the room. She didn’t even notice “Twilight”; she was completely absorbed in what she was doing. She worked like a machine, stitching, snipping, and musing over this project. The dress was solid white, with a long train. A spotlight above it made it practically glow. It glittered and sparkled as Rarity hustled and bustled about it humming to herself and saying things like, “That’s not right” and “Perfect!”

     Chrysalis was starting to get annoyed. She wanted to get this meeting over with and get away from Pinkie Pie. Luckily Pinkie was not there yet.

     “Ahem!” Chrysalis coughed as she stood near the door.

     “Be with you in a minute Twi, these threads are soooo tricky to work with!” said Rarity not looking up. This annoyed Chrysalis, who was used to getting everything her way. She sat and sulked where she was.

     Pinkie Pie suddenly burst through the door carrying a large cardboard box.  It was filled to the brim with balloons and party hats of every color and style.

     “Hi girls! I’m HERE!” she chimed as she sat down the box and began to bounce about the room.

     “Finished!” declared Rarity as she put down her sowing kit and stepped back to admire her work. “Now, let’s get to that party planning shall we?”

     Pinkie dug in the box and laid out animal shaped balloons, among other things.

     “I was thinking that we could surprise Fluttershy at her house tomorrow.” chirped Pinkie excitedly.

     “Oh dear, are you sure that’s such a good idea Pinkie Pie?” asked Rarity with a voice of concern.

     “What do you mean?” asked Pinkie. She stopped bouncing after hearing Rarity’s question.

     “Well I mean she is so shy dear. Do you think it is a good idea to stress her by scaring her?”

     “We won’t scare her.” said Pinkie plainly.

    “If you surprise her you will.” said Rarity. “She doesn’t handle them well, you know that.”

     “You’re right.” sighed Pinkie, lowering her head. “BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BALLOONS?” she shouted, jumping back to life.

     “Lovely. When do we set up?” said Rarity sweetly as she analyzed all of the balloons and streamers.

     “Well since it’s not going to be a surprise we need to ask Fluttershy that.” said Pinkie cheerfully.

     “What do you think Twilight?” asked Rarity. Chrysalis had actually fallen to sleep. Upon hearing Rarity she snapped out of it.

      “Oh, lovely.” she said irritably.

     “Are you okay Twilight?’ asked Pinkie in her usual bouncy manner.

     “Yeah, why?” she growled.

     “Well, you seem a little….irritable this morning.” Pinkie said cautiously.

     “You do dear…is something the matter.” questioned Rarity.

     “Nothing at all.” said Chrysalis with a fake smile and fake happy tone of voice.

     “Oh, okay!” chirped Pinkie.

     “You’re SURE?” inquired Rarity.

     “Yes…what time is it?” said Chrysalis changing the subject. She really wasn’t fine. She was irritated with Pinkie Pie.

     “Eleven fifteen.” said Rarity.

      “I’M GOING TO BE LATE! BY GIRLS!” exclaimed Chrysalis as she bolted out the door leaving Rarity and Pinkie Pie standing awkwardly in the boutique.

     She barreled down the dirt path to Sweet Apple Acres. She felt more powerful than she had   since the Shining Armor incident. The plan was working; she had been successful in feeding off of the love of two of Twilight’s friends.  The wind in her mane felt good; she felt alive. She was so caught up in her own little world that she nearly passed up Sweet Apple Acres.

     She turned into the white, wooden gate that was the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres. Chrysalis stood in awe. She had never seen so many apple trees. They covered the land with a dense green with bits of red and yellow scattered about it. In the middle of this dense orchard was the farm house and what must have been the place the new barn was to be built. The house was a simple, two story, farm house with white shutters.

     “Howdy Twilight!” came Applejack’s voice from the concrete slab that was to be the barns foundation.

     “Hi, Applejack!” said Chrysalis with a fake smile, trying to look and sound as friendly as possible. She trotted up the hill toward Applejack.

     “You’re five minutes late. Where ya been?” asked Applejack as she laid out hammers and other construction equipment like drills, screws, and nails out on a mat in front of her.

     “With Pinkie Pie.”

     “Say no more.” said Applejack irritably.

     “Where’s Rainbow Dash?” asked Chrysalis eagerly. She couldn’t wait to start feeding off of their love.

     “Supposed to be tellin’ Big Macintosh to bring the boards over here.” she said, glancing around for Rainbow.

     To Applejack’s horror, Rainbow Dash appeared out of a storage shed carrying a very weighty load of two by fours. She grunted and struggled with the load. She was different from how Chrysalis remembered her; she looked weak, her wings and most of her chest and front legs were wrapped in bandages.

     “RAINBOW!” shouted Applejack. She darted over and took the heavy load from Rainbow. “You KNOW what the doctor told you!” she scolded. “NO heavy lifting!”

     “But I’m BORED! What am I supposed to do, sit there?” complained Rainbow Dash.

     “Ya can use the hammer an’ drill but NO heavy lifting!”

     “Augh! FINE!” said Rainbow pouting.

     “Atta girl.” said Applejack cheerfully. “Now let’s build this barn!” she declared.

     “Yeah! Sounds like, uh, fun!” shouted Chrysalis with a nervous laugh.

     Hours past and their hard work was finally done. The large, red barn stood proudly before them.

     “If you would excuse me.” said Chrysalis panting. “I need to go and get ready for dinner.”

     “Alright. See ya later!” called Applejack as Chrysalis turned to walk off without saying goodbye. Rainbow Dash thought this strange but chose not to say anything.

     At six she strolled into Sugar Cube Corner. Everyone was already there waiting for her.

     “Hi Twilight.” came Fluttershy’s quiet voice.

     “Hello!” said Chrysalis happily. She was in a terrific mood. She felt stronger than she had when she fed off of Shining Armor.

     “You look better!” proclaimed Pinkie Pie happily.

     “I FEEL better!” said Chrysalis, she was very, very happy with her power.

     “That’s good dear.” said Rarity cheerfully. “I was a little worried about you.” she added. Chrysalis didn’t react.

     “What’s for dinner?” she asked.

     “Dandelion sandwiches!” cheered Pinkie Pie as she pulled out a huge plate of them from nowhere.

     “Oh, great!” lied Chrysalis. She suddenly regretted coming. Her expression changed from happy to fear. She couldn’t eat normal food!

     “You okay Sugercube?” asked Applejack. She was worried; “Twilight” had turned a ghastly shade of green.

     “I’m fine!” she suddenly snapped. Fluttershy sunk deep in her chair in fear.

     “You don’t look so good.” pointed out Rainbow Dash.

     “Maybe you should go home and rest dear. There’s always next week.” said Rarity.

     “Rest, yes. I guess I need rest!” she said as she strolled out the door. “Goodnight.”

     “Goodnight.” her friends all said simultaneously.

     On the way out she heard them saying that something was wrong with her. They said she wasn’t acting like herself. Applejack said that it was probably due to over studying, they all agreed to this and they would each tell her something about it the next day.

     Chrysalis got worried, they were getting suspicious. She dashed to the library to get some sleep; and hopefully, see Dark Flame and tell him about her friends’ suspicions.