The Return of Night Mare

It was not often that the solitary confinement cells were used in the detention center. But in the case of Night Mare, who had a history of manipulation, it made sense to Prowler to make an exception. As he walked down the long empty hall, Prowler tried to brace himself. He thought of all the things Night Mare had said to him to try to get him to join Nightmare Moon. He thought of how he lied to every pony to make them think he had betrayed them, a moment he was not proud of. As he rounded the corner towards her cell, he was ready to face the smooth talking seductress he faced so long ago. But that was not who was waiting for him in the cell.
Instead of the proud domineering unicorn he remembered, he saw the black unicorn hunched over in a corner. Her head was ducked down, actively averting his gaze. She wasn't wearing any armor this time, which made her look a lot smaller than he remembered.

"It's been awhile." Prowler tried to get her attention.

"Yes it has." Night Mare said calmly, not even looking up.

Prowler was immediately thrown off. Her voice was not nearly as tempting as he remembered it. The voice itself was the same. But for some reason, it sounded almost weak.
"The last time we met, you never introduce
d yourself. Apparently your name is Night Mare."
"Yes that is what most ponies call me." Again hardly a reaction.

Prowler tried to brainstorm ways to get her to talk. He had set up his entire strategy assuming she was going to go
after him. And yet now he was the one who was going to have to pull teeth.

Night Mare finally looked up. Her eyes glimmered. And then she smiled, an oddly resigned smile.
"We're both really a lot alike."

Prowler's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"We both can see things no other pony can see."

Prowler wasn't sure if this was a ruse, or if Night Mare was trying to throw him off by referencing their past conversation. Prowler was getting ready to try to change the subject, but Night Mare cut him off.

"You can see through darkness." she said. "You want to know what I can see?"

Prowler stayed quiet. This would be a very useful piece of information. Assuming she wasn't lying.

"I can see the things ponies fear most."

Prowler looked at her quizzically. "What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Night Mare replied. "All I have to do is cast a small spell on my eyes, and I can see the very things that haunt the ponies I look at. I looked at some of the guards here. There was one guard who was afraid of mice. And then there was another guard who was deathly afraid of you firing him."

"What?" This comment was so strange that Prowler had to take a minute to process it. He quickly realized that this was an interrogation. And no matter how ridiculous the notion was, he would have to address it later.

Night Mare spoke up before he could say anything, yet again. "I can tell you what you're afraid of right now."

Prowler looked her straight in her yellow eyes. He was almost certain he could call her bluff.

Night Mare's resigned smile returned to her face. "In this moment, the number one thing you're afraid of is me."

Prowler froze. The idea never even occurred to him. He knew that he was very anxious about the interrogation. And he knew that their history wasn't making it any easier. But he never thought of that as fear.

"So why are you telling me all of this?"

Night Mare looked wistfully at the ceiling. "Now that I think about it, I don't know....I guess I never had the opportunity to tell anyone before."

Prowler raised an eyebrow. He had a very hard time believing that Night Mare had never told anyone about an ability like that.
"How long have you had this ability." Prowler decided to humor her.

"For a long time." Night Mare closed her eyes and began remembering a very specific incident.