Crown of Shadows

Nightmare woke an indeterminate time later, to the drip of water and a clock somewhere nearby. The click and drip combination went in a slightly off rhythm, that made her ears twitch ever so subtly as each made their presence known.

Click...Her left ear flicked to the front position.

Drip...Her right ear swiveled to her right.

Click...both perked to the front.

Her breathing was calm and collected, her body was relaxed and she could tell she was in some form of bedding. A cloth comforter was draped over her, up to her forelegs, which sat atop the fabric. She slowly took a couple sniffs of the air.

Pine wood, flowers, medicine, and...maple syrup? Nightmare slowly cracked an eye open and found herself in a small room that by its appearance felt like a hospital room. The only things that made her think otherwise were the walls and the window. She was in a hospital bed, with a half filled IV drip bag hanging on her right, and connected to her foreleg. A heart monitor machine sat by that, beeping slowly to her heart, but the rest of the room looked like it was part of a log cabin. The walls were made of large beams of pine wood that had been sanded and then polished. the window had shades that were drawn down to block the morning sunlight out, but instead of plastic strips, they too, were made of wood. Each corner of the room had a plant hanging in a basket, different species by the looks of the flowers. The wall also had a clock, which looked far more modern, and thus out of place, and a water dispenser was next to the door.

Nightmare blinked a couple times to erase the grogginess that came with waking up, and gently lifted the bedding off her body. She wasn't very surprised to see casts on her hind legs, and a weird contraption that held her hip in place. It was made of precisely cut and shaped metal and a couple black straps that stuck together rather oddly. When she undid one, she was surprised to find one side was fuzzy, and the other had these tiny little loops of plastic. She found it oddly mesmerizing to slowly attach the two, and then just as slowly pull them apart.

So they have made advancements in technology since I was banished it seems. The question is, which banishment? She hummed in thought, and was about to separate the strips again, when she heard voices outside the door. Both ears swiveled to the hard wood door in curiosity.

A gruff and elderly voice broke the quiet, just beyond the closed doorway.

"It's good you got her here when you did, although i'm not sure what else I can do, Will. She is the oddest case I've ever seen!"

The other voice, Will apparently, spoke up. "What do you mean, doc? She seemed to be fine, minus the broken legs and hip, frankly i'm surprised that is all the damage she sustained!"

A heavy sigh, "That is just it, Will, those aren't her only injuries. I did a fully body scan, an X-ray, and a blood test, and something screwy is going on with her, especially her wellspring." Here a couple sheets of paper were rifled through, and then the Doc spoke again. "Her wellspring is fluctuating sporadically. I used a magical meter to check and I got two completely different readings."

Two readings? Nightmare blinked, and then mentally cursed. She had rushed her transformation, and thus the form she had didn't add up to what she actually was! A normal unicorn wouldn't have the wellspring of an alicorn, and whatever the doctor had done showed up in her results. She growled softly and closed her eyes, trying to connect with her magic. She found it similar to what the doctor had witnessed. It bounced between a normal mare, and that of an alicorn more like Celestia or Luna. like a thermometer being pulled back and forth from a fire and cold water, her levels of magic went up and down faster than any medical professional would say was healthy.

Almost as if she'd voiced her thoughts, Will spoke up. "Is...is that bad? I mean, couldn't you just use your magic to fix it?"

Nightmare almost laughed out loud, but muffled it with a hoof. The two outside failed to notice.

"Of course not! I'm an Medical Doctor, not a Magical Doctor. You need a specialist when it comes to these kinds of things, and even then, I've never heard of a unicorn's wellspring destroying a magical meter."

A pause of silence,and then Will spoke up. "Um...okay, was there anything else?"

Another sigh. "More than I care to admit, confidentiality and all that, but yes. For starters, something has happened to her larynx."

One more pause, "Her what?"

"Oh for the love of-- her voice box, Will! Seriously, for a ranger who took medical classes, I thought you'd retain at least some of the knowledge. I took a look down her throat and found it...well it looks funny."

The door knob creaked, and Nightmare quickly schooled her expression, stopped casting magic, and pulled the covers back up to her chest.

Will spoke through the opening door "It looks funny?" The two stallions entered the room and the doctor's reply fell away as they noticed she was awake.

A pregnant pause permeated the room for almost a full minute. She blinked at them with a calm expression that showed no hint her frustration, only silent curiosity as one of her eyebrows rose up. She had to get this right otherwise they'd immediately suspect her. The stallion she now knew as Will was a silver coated unicorn. His mint green mane was cut short and braided into a tight hunter's braid, with dual braids on either side of his neck. His tail was cut short and tied off at the end with a leather band, to keep it from getting tangled or caught in anything.

His eyes were crimson colored, and they sparkled lightly in the light as he held her gaze. He was wearing a dark green jacket that had a formal style to it. Pleats sat atop each shoulder, and a pocket with some form of badge pinned to it, was on the left side of his chest. He was very healthy, if his musculature was anything to go off of. His legs were strong but slender, meaning he could probably keep up in a race or two, and the shins of all four of his legs had armored plates covering them.

Lastly a saber, silver in color and fashioned to look more like an attachment and less like an actual weapon, was at his right side. She felt her lips curve into a small smile as she looked him up and down. This did not go noticed by Will, who graced her with a grin most bold. This stallion probably got along well with the ladies.

She glanced to the unicorn Doctor and found him...well, lacking felt like a proper word. Named Dr. Health Points, he was well beyond any age she'd be interested in, and his scraggly, graying mane was in complete disarray. His dirt brown coat held no luster to it, and his green eyes had bags under them from obvious lack of sleep. He wore the typical doctor's attire, that one might see at any medical facility. With a white over coat, stethoscope around his neck, and a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose, he looked completely average to Nightmare. His expression furrowed at her when she pinned her ears back at him.

He spoke first, never losing the grumpy frown. "Hello, Miss. I am glad to see you are awake--"

No you're not. Nightmare didn't need to be a changeling to read the Doctor's emotions. He was frustrated, annoyed, and disinterested in any reply she might try to give.

Lucky for him I can't reply. She thought sourly. Health, seeing no reply come from her continued.

"We have quite a few questions for you, if you can answer them, that'd be appreciated." He said bluntly, raising a brow at her and levitating a clipboard up to his face, blocking everything but his eyes from Nightmare's view, so it looked like he was glaring at her from over the board.

"Alright, first question should be the simplest, What is your name?"

Nightmare blinked, and her ears remained pinned back. She opened her mouth, and pointed at her throat.

The doctor's brow furrowed. "Can you not speak?"

She shook her head. Both Will and Health gave a look to each other. Will spoke up, walking up to the other side of the bed. "B-But you can understand what we are saying, yes?"

When Nightmare nodded, they both sighed and then the doctor coughed into a fetlock. "Erm, right then, here." He set the clipboard on the bed, with his pen. "I assume you can write, yes?" After a roll of her eyes and an exaggerated nod, he huffed and walked to the door.

"Good, I'll need those questions answered and then we will take a look at your hip." Health turned to Will, "Keep her company, Will, and help her with any questions. I'm going to go fetch a nurse."

When the door closed and they were alone, Will sighed and chuckled. "Sorry about him, he can be a stick in the mud sometimes, but he means well."

Nightmare smiled kindly to him and waggled her ears. Will smiled back and sat casually at the side of her bed.

Nightmare then looked to the paper and the first question.

What should my name be? She thought back to her transformation and the talk Will had been having with whoever had accompanied him into the forest. Will had mentioned that he knew magic had been cast and that it had been the cause of the damage to the forest. Whatever name she chose had to coincide with that. Nightmare lifted the sheets and looked at her cutie mark.

A dragon roaring...hmm, that is perfect. Nightmare levitated the pen over and scribbled her name.

Silent Roar, this seems like a good name for now. I merely need it until I get my full power back and that should be within a few days of being around these two. She thought. The Doctor had more than enough frustration in him that she could latch onto.

The second question was asking where she was from, so she chuckled and put 'Equestria'. She noticed Will perked his ears up at her noise and she looked to him. he had a bewildered expression, his ears were straight forward. he lifted a hoof and pointed at her.

"U-um, can you open your mouth for me please? I thought I saw..." he let his hoof lower as she blinked at him with a raised brow. Opening her mouth, she let him lean forward, and then closed her mouth when he leaned back. His expression was one of complete confusion. He looked from her eyes to her mouth and then pinned his ears back.

"Wow...never thought i'd see that..." When Nightmare continued to stare at him, he shuffled his hooves nervously. "Your uh, teeth aren't normal..." When she gave him a confused expression, he continued by pointing at her mouth. "What I mean is, ponies don't normally have teeth like a diamond dog or...or a dragon, huh." here, he looked to her rear, which was obscured by the blankets.

"I guess that sort of explains the cutie mark you've got, and what the Doc said about abnormalities..."

Nightmare felt her teeth grit together and she hissed lightly, making Will's ears perk up again. She frowned, and licked her teeth, checking each one. Sure enough, her teeth had kept the general structure of a dragon's mouth. Inwardly she smiled. This was actually rather funny. Her transformation had been sudden, so she'd latched onto the only thing she could, which so happened to be an image of a pony and dragon fighting in a children's book Luna had liked to read. It was the first thing that had popped into her head. The heroine of that story was what she now looked like. At the time, the idea of a fierce female dragon fighter was something she hoped would give her an appearance more suited to a pony, but still hold the intimidation she wanted.

And if history hadn't completely wrecked their habits, dragons were naturally intimidating.

Her magic had altered her body to be more like a pony who fought the huge beasts, but it had also given her the aspects of a dragon as well. With any luck, she could pass herself as a dragon slayer. Hopefully those were still a popular occupation. she tapped a hoof to her chin.

Hmm, maybe I could breath fire too heheh. She grinned, showing off her canines and went back to writing.

Will leaned forward and tried to look at the sheet of paper, and Nightmare instinctively raised it higher in her purple magic. He frowned and then smiled. "Oh come on, I just want to see your name, so I don't have to keep calling you miss." When he reaches out with his hooves to grasp it, she growled loudly and watched with glee as he yelped and took several steps back from her.

The stallion regarded her with an incredulous expression. His brow then furrowed and his lips creased into a frown. "W-what the--Okay, did you just growl at me?"

When she happily nodded, Will sat down again rather suddenly and looked at the floor. "Oh boy, the doc was right, you are...different."

Nightmare stuck her tongue out at him playfully and then went back to her questions. As she answered each, she noticed Will slowly crept back to his original position at the side of her bed. By the time she'd finished, he was sitting next to her again, and he seemed intrigued.

"You have got to tell me, are your eyes normally that way or is this a spell of some sort you cast?" She blinked owlishly and then he blinked back. When she picked up the clipboard and pointedly looked at it and then him he understood.

"O-Oh sorry! I get it, you can't see your own eyes. Um, well, they aren't circular. The pupils are slits, like a cat. Although admittedly I thought of a dragon first, again. That's why I thought this was some sort of spell you'd cast on yourself. Still, I've never seen or heard of a spell that could do this!" he said waving his hooves in her direction.

Will seemed very excited by her physical appearance, and for a moment Nightmare felt good. At least some pony liked her natural attributes. Then she frowned. These were her natural attributes, but she wasn't herself. Not without her wings, or her regalia, or her wellspring intact. Right now she was a false form.

She handed the clipboard to Will who took it and waggled his eyebrows at her. "Alright mystery mare, lets see what your name is." He went to read her name...and then stopped. His expression darkened and he squinted at the writing.

Nightmare frowned and cocked her head sideways. Is it not legible? Impossible, I remember my writing from Luna. There is no way it could be sloppy--

"U-um...one sec, Miss." Will said, his voice filled with confusion and a hint of worry in the tone. He stood just as the door was opening, and the Doctor re-entered. When he saw Will with the clip board he commented. "Oh, thank Celestia for little miracles, I suppose. I couldn't find the nurse. It seems she is out on an errand, so we will wait to check your hip, now lets have a look see shall we."

Will cleared his throat. "S-sir, she answered them...but--" The doc cut him off and snatched the clipboard from the stallion's magic. Levitating it in front of himself as his eyes read the first line.

"But nothing, Will, there shouldn't be...anything...wrong..." He fell silent as his eyes traveled down the page. When it reached the bottom he gulped and looked at Nightmare like she'd grown a second head.

"Miss, when I asked if you could write...I meant in modern equestrian...not ancient."

Nightmare felt her cheeks flush.

Oh ponyfeathers...

Luna sat at in the main castle dining hall, waiting for her sister to arrive, her empty plate was being given a rather grim expression. the kind of look one would give a tool that had broken or a co-worker when they'd mucked things up and made your job harder to accomplish.

Luna's night had been bothersome to say the least.

Her usual agenda had been going swimmingly up until she'd entered the dream realm. It was here, she found many things wrong, and in ways she could not explain. Normally when a pony or other sentient creature had a dream, their doorways glowed a light green or blue color, to show they were at peace and required no assistance from their lunar princess.

If they were having a nightmare, the doorway would turn black or purple, and would usually put up a fight to allow Luna entry. A pony also could not have more than one nightmare at a time, just as they could only dream one dream. If the dream needed to shift or change to something new, there was a lull in between them, a sort of quiet that permeated the pony while it slept. This was why some ponies said their dreams were blurry or fleeting, as these shifts would cause irregularities in their memory of what they experienced.

Another set of rules pertained to lucid dreams and night terrors. Lucid dreams were caused when a pony fell asleep and became aware they were dreaming, thus allowing them the control to do what they wished within the realm of their mind. Luna actually found it exciting that this had increased since her banishment. Lucid dreams made her job far easier, as she wouldn't have to check up on a lucid dreamer.

A night terror, on the other hoof, was horrible. This was when a shift between dreams froze. Unable to continue on to the next thing, or even revert back to what was before, the pony's mind would lock up and try to reboot itself mentally. If it failed this, the pony sleeping would panic. Screaming, flailing, thrashing in their sleep, and jumping rapidly between emotions were well known symptoms of a night terror. Luna was capable of stopping them but the amount of power she would need to stop one tended to leave her winded and tired.

Luckily, night terrors were few and far between. If she had to deal with them at all, the number of cases in one night rarely amounted to more than five or six. It was by these set standards that Luna had grown to understand and control the dream realm, as rarely ever did it change or shift in a way she was not prepared for.

Last night however, had been a whole situation entirely of its own.

The nightmares and horrors she found were numerous and causing chaos. On top of this, she noted that the entities she'd encountered were excited. Almost like having emotion, Luna had been forced to chase the dark feelings and entities as they gleefully rushed from one door to the next, Like they were searching for something. This worried Luna to no end. The last time she'd witnessed something like this, it had been at the hooves of King Sombra. His fear and anger had seeped into the minds of the crystal ponies, and Luna watched as the doors were encased in black dark shadows.

However, the nightmare entities had never shown emotion, be it positive or negative when they were at work. They went about their actions in a clockwork style. Even when banished, destroyed, or removed from the pony, Luna never caught wind of feelings or thoughts.

Last night they were abundant with energy and joy, crowing with happiness as they darted out of her grasp and zipped from door to door. Another odd thing was that they never seemed to stay in a pony's dream realm for more than a couple seconds. They would dart in with her hot on their heels, and then upon entering, wouldn't even attack the pony's dream. They drifted on the outside of it, watching, before shaking or shivering and then leaving just as quickly.

At one point, Luna had caught one and held it down with magic, intent on getting answers.

It had replied, even before she opened her mouth to ask. Squirming and laughing ominously up at her with teeth made of cracked bone and eyes that poured darkness.

No, no, no, Ahahaha! You are not the one, not what we shall crown, not where we shall beg to reside! You, of the side we cannot go! Respect! respect the side which of we must choose! For you are the other half! soon soon SOOON!

She had let it go, mostly due to confusion. It had shot off with the rest. whisking away down the corridor of doors and as she sat there, befuddlement clear on her muzzle, the creatures had all come together in a swirling mass of darkness and horror...

and vanished. Shrinking in on themselves like a black hole before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke. Luna had made sure none of her ponies were harmed before exiting the dream realm. She had then sat at her desk in her tower and written everything she'd seen or heard.

Her conclusion was to be expected, it just wasn't what she'd wanted to realize.

The nightmare creatures were looking for something or someone, and they were going to follow that being. Luna shivered and shook herself as a cold bead of sweat ran down her neck. She nickered in frustration and nibbled her neck fur, removing the annoying droplet.

A door behind her opened, and through it the sound of a delightful sigh came into the room. Luna lifted her head and with magic, smoothed her fur down, before gracing her sister with a smile.

Celestia, in all her regalia, stood but a few feet away, her front legs bowed and her wings spread wide. Her head lowered between them as several pops and cracks made themselves heard as the elder Alicorn stretched. Luna smirked as her sister, ever so playfully, spread her back legs, arched her prismatic tail, and moaned daintily.

"Ooohhaaa...yes." She murmured. The hint of a grin on her lips as she slowly flapped her wings.

Behind her, two solar guards, new recruits by the look of their shoulder ranks, blushed furiously and snapped their eyes away from the royal posterior.

My sister, ever so cruel to her golden guardians...Luna thought with a smile.

Celestia stood and hummed as she stared out a nearby window, looking at the outside world with a gentle smile Luna knew to mean her sister was content. It saddened her to see that smile, knowing it most assuredly would not last with her breakfast announcement.

"Luna, a pleasant morning to you, little sister."

Luna nodded with the slightest hint of a smile. "A pleasant evening to you, mine sister."

After Celestia had sat down and gotten comfortable, Luna continued. She lifted a fork in her magic and twirled it idly. "The night time events were less enjoyable to be sure. We had troublesome issues to deal with."

Celestia had unfurled a newspaper and paused in her perusal of the front page to look at her sister with curiosity on her brow. "I assume these issues were dealt with to the fullest?"

Luna tilted her head left and right in a weaving pattern, her wings shuffled. "Weeeeell, that is yet to be determined, I'm afraid. I found the situation had resolved itself before I could glean much from its purpose." Luna set the fork down and paused in her conversation as a pair of cook ponies arrived with their breakfast. Trays with silver dishes were set in front of the two sisters, and their lids removed to showcase a large portion of pancakes and waffles.

Together, the sisters dug into their meals, each enjoying the moment of silence that eating gave. When Celestia paused for a moment to quench her thirst with some water, Luna continued her talk.

"We ran into an odd scenario in the dream realm last night. The nightmares, they were extremely active, and were able to elude my grasp."

Celestia, having taken another bite, merely nodded and twirled her hoof at Luna, letting her know she was listening. Drumming her hooves on the table, Luna figured the bluntest approach would be best. When it came to Celestia, keeping things short and simple was the best route to keep her sister from waxing eloquently.

"The nightmares are looking for something, sister. "

Celestia paused in her chewing and held her sister's serious gaze. one eyebrow raised to sit just under the white mare's horn, prompting further chatter. Luna sucked in a breath and looked at the table.

"We captured one for a short moment and found it was extremely excited, it had actual emotion. This is unheard of to us when it comes to these entities. Rarely ever have they had real feelings or thoughts, yet this one was happy, overly so. It was seeking something...or some pony." She paused to take a bite and Celestia subsequently swallowed.

"You do not think they seek you again, do they?" Celestia asked, her brows creasing in worry. Luna shook her head and swallowed.

"Nay, sister, It actually said we were not what it sought out, but it also said more than that. These entities, they seek to crown something...I fear they may be looking for a leader of sorts...like--"

"Nightmare moon?" Celestia murmured. When Luna's eyes widened, Celestia put her hooves up to stay any comment her sister may have given. "Hear me out, Lulu, you yourself said that Nightmare moon was unlike any nightmare entity you'd ever come across in the dream realm. She possessed her own emotions, personality, and feelings. It would stand to reason then, that they may seek to crown her.

"Impossible!" Luna barked, slapping a hoof on the table, "We eliminated her, Twice! She was destroyed with the elements!"

Luna kept her glare with Celestia for a mere second or two before she sighed and looked at her plate, her ears lowered to her neck.

"Lulu..." Celestia whispered.

"...We...we would like to believe she is gone for good...but, the idea had crossed our thoughts..." Luna mumbled.

Celestia sighed and leaned back into her chair. "Then it would make sense that they want to crown her...No pony truly is gone, after all..."

Luna frowned and sat up straighter. "Then surely this coincides with the blood moon, and the feelings we alicorns shared recently, yes?"

Celestia merely hummed in thought. She shifted from her chair and stood, shuffling her wings and nickering in frustration. She levitated her plate and let it float in the air next to her shoulder.

"I think we should be prepared for anything, just to be sure. I would hate for Nightmare Moon to suddenly drop in for a spell or two. I will contact Twilight and Cadance, they need to make sure that we are ready from all corners of Equestria."

Luna nodded and continued eating her meal. As Celestia walked to the window once more, her eyes landed on the everfree forest and the ancient ruins that barely could be seen through the canopy. If Nightmare Moon came back, it meant far more trouble would be arriving, and from multiple directions. Celestia almost bent her fork as she took another bite of her pancakes, and she took a moment to steel herself before chewing, letting the sweet flavor of maple syrup wash away her fears for the moment.

We will be ready for anything this time...we will...

Nightmare Moon, or her new name, Silent Roar, never was a fan of sweet things. Candy and cake seemed to be the embodiment of everything she wasn't.

Which was why she was now frowning at the nurse who'd entered the room with a small plate of waffles on her back. Waffles were good, Luna ate them a lot, so Nightmare was aware they were considered a scrumptious meal. The amount of syrup that currently covered her plate however, could give a hydra a sugar induced heart attack.

"Is something wrong, ma'am?" The nurse, a petite earth pony mare with an amber coat and a split in half triangle for a cutie mark, asked. Nightmare sighed and made an obviously fake smile appear on her face before she pointedly stared at the mare and used her fork to scraped off most of the syrup. The nurse watched and then rolled her eyes.

"It's the standard amount of syrup we put on them, ma'am. My apologies if it's not to your liking but we are not allowed to deviate from the mandatory rules when it comes to serving patients." The nurse looked at Nightmare's torso and frowned, worriedly. "Besides, no offense or anything, but it looks like you could use the extra weight. You appear under weight by the average standards."

Nightmare scowled at her and waved her away with a hoof. She was slender in form, not a damn toothpick. When the Nurse sighed and left, Nightmare growled and stabbed her fork into the fluffy breakfast, making sure her fork scraped the plate noisily.

Her thoughts drifted back to the Doctor's words, before he and Will had left.

This is ridiculous, so what if I can't write modern Equestrian, the fact that I can write ancient script should be considered a good thing right? I mean-- She swallowed and went for another bite--Won't most ponies see that as a benefit? Its like--Another bite of the waffles disappeared in her mouth as she angrily bit the fork--Having a second language! Last I checked, that was something rare back then and a pony was looked up to for knowing more then the average dingus on the streets!

Nightmare scowled at her plate of rapidly vanishing breakfast. Even with all the syrup, the waffles were well made, and she hated that she couldn't say otherwise.

Oh well, I'll just act like they are terrible. She found that pleasing, and continued eating. A few moments into the meal, the door re-opened and Will stepped into her room, closing the door behind him. He was carrying another clip board, and nightmare glowered at the object. Ignoring her expression, he sat down at the end of her bed and crossed his hooves atop the end wood frame, frowning back at her.

For a few moments they stared at one another, until he looked away and levitated the clipboard in front of his hooves.

"So...your medical reports came in and something is definitely wrong here, ma'am." Nightmare frowned further at his clipped tone, it was accusatory and suspicious. Now that she looked him over, she noticed how his sword was different, it was a real one this time, and his posture was relaxed but alert.

He's prepared for something to go down. Nightmare noted. she felt her self tense up at the idea of fighting him in close quarters, and her magical grip on the fork tightened. She was at a major disadvantage if he attacked. Her hind legs were locked up in casts and her hip was immobilized. Deciding to play her part, she Set the plate of food aside, folded her hooves together, and slumped back into the pillows bracing her back. A frown launched itself at Will.

Will, not getting more from her continued. "We have discovered several magical and physical problems in your body that don't add up, some of which lead myself and the Doctor to believe you are not a pony."

Nightmare blinked at him in confusion. Her ears fell back and she gave him the equivalent expression of "What?"

He flipped through the papers and floated over a black sheet of semi transparent paper to her in his magic. Upon closer inspection, she was amazed to see her own body, although it seemed as though whatever they had done had taken a picture of her insides.

What, what is this sorcery? she asked herself, she grabbed the paper out of the air with her hooves and felt the paper. it was stiffer than paper, no..it wasn't paper. that was a better way of putting it. Turning it in opposite directions, she stuck her face to it and could see through it, to Will, who was giving her a look of curiosity and confusion.

He took the sheet back much to her frustration, and leveled it next to him. Pointing to it, he spoke up.

"This is an X-ray picture--in case you didn't know that--of your body, and we have found many things disturbing about you. For example," Here, Will pointed to what looked like her midsection. "You have two large sacs right under your lungs that appear to be filled with an unknown type of liquid."

When he looked to her, hoping for an explanation, she simply shrugged. He sighed and moved on.

"Second, is your hip. Normally a broken hip means there are piece that have broken off or cracked in ways an X-ray machine picks up very accurately." his voice gained an air of some pony who felt they were being toyed with. "Ma'am, your hip doesn't have any broken pieces OR any cracks, what it does have, is a whole chunk missing!"

He smacked the picture where her hip was supposed to be and Nightmare noted how a distinct part of the photo just had a large splotch of black where white should have apparently been. She'd figured out that the white parts were her bones and the gray areas were her internals.

From the photo, it looked like she was missing a whole third of her hip. Her left leg, if walked on, would just fall out the open socket and she would collapse. Nightmare's mouth closed and she slowly applied pressure to her teeth as she tightened her jaw. A low growl escaped her mouth, making Will tense up.

Shit...this looks really bad. A normal pony would be incapable of walking after an injury like that, yet I appear totally healthy. It made sense that the Doctor was suspicious of her from the get go. She turned her eyes from will to the clip board. With a surge of her magic, she wrenched the clipboard from the stallions magic and brought it close to her.

"HEY!" Will stood and walked to the right side of her bed and tried to apply his magic to the board and remove it, but was magically swatted away like a slight annoyance as Nightmare read.

Multiple internal inconsistencies appear to be present in the patient.

Two liquid filled sacks found just under lungs. Tubes lead and attach to exit orifices found behind tongue. Purpose currently unknown. Assume poisonous properties.

Fangs and predatory teeth present in mouth, question dietary habits of patient.

Draconian eyes. Patient appears to have vision shared with that of a dragon. Possible mutation, possible tampering, illegal surgery, or other unknown option. Question patient adamantly on this.

Disfigured larynx. Patient seems incapable of speech. Larynx appears to be similar in form to that of ponies medically documented one to two millennia in the past. Signs of surgery not present after magical examination. Patient has been assumed born this way, resulting in conclusion of possible inbreeding.

Missing hip section. Patient appears to have lost, removed, or never been born with a necessary bone section of their hip on the left side. body of main Ilium found to be missing. Again, no signs of surgery or tampering, resulting in stronger conclusion of inbreeding malformity.

Blood tests:

Unicorn blood sample found to be very strange, testing as three different blood types, four species, and one unknown entity never seen in blood as of yet. Consider patient contaminated and in need of disease removal magic.

Medical conclusion:

Patient appears to be one of the following:

1. a changeling with no skills in proper shapeshifting (contact CRR)

2. a direct product of inbreeding. (send letter to Canterlot genetics corps. for intervention and removal of patient.)

3. Due to their inability to write modern equestrian writing, and their general lack of common information, it can be plausibly assumed Pony is from another time zone, dimension, or third option, caused by a massive magical disruption in the forest. (contain, restrain, and study)

Nightmare stared at the paperwork and slowly let her grip on the clipboard slip from her magical grasp. Her mouth twitched, formed into a smile, and then she chuckled. Nightmare looked at Will with a disturbingly weird smile that had him back away suddenly.

"Th-thank you for giving me back my clipboard, ma'am, that was not for you to read though." He mumbled, his eyes darting to his sword handle a moment before he sucked in a breath and let it out.

"O-okay, now the hard part. Your answers to our questions leave us to believe that you are in fact a changeling as," He paused and his eyes tilted down farther on the page. "For your sake, I sincerely hope that is true, cause this second option is...ugh, horrible."

He shook himself and set the clip board aside. Taking a military stance Nightmare had seen before in the Canterlot royal guard, Will spoke formally.

"As per the code of Canterlot rule, all changelings found within Equestrian borders as of King Thorax's rise to rule, found without a permit or visa to enter the country will be detained, questioned, and then deported to the badlands. You have been suspected of being a changeling with out a permit, and I must perform a spell to check if you are. If you do not wish to be cast upon, and are a changeling, now would be the time to drop your disguise and show your permit, should you have one."

Nightmare chuckled lightly and leaned back onto the pillows, putting her right hoof over her left and sitting with proper posture. She leveled the most sarcastic, enthusiastic smile she could at Will and then flicked her ears forward, as if to say she was ready.

Will waited a couple seconds, hoping she would just shed her disguise, but when she made no move at all he sighed.

"...Ooookay. here goes." Lighting up his horn, he shot a gentle wave of magic into the room. As the spell washed over Nightmare's form she smiled sincerely this time. If the spell worked on her, this guard would be in for quite the surprise.

I can imagine his shocked expression now, a look of horror as he sees the one being he never expected to meet face to face! Nightmare chuckled as the spell completely washed over her form and she felt Will's power probing her form for changeling magic.

When she felt something odd happen. Will's magic was diminishing the longer it touched her, and he didn't seem to notice. Her eyes fell on her hip, where, like water pouring into a funnel, his magic was disappearing. Slowly, her hip joint started reforming! She then turned to him and grinned like a cat who had just found a mouse.

Well, that is...new. I suppose I just need to have him cast more magic at me and my body will slowly heal itself back? Nightmare frowned.
No, that can't be right. if an enemy blasts me with a spell meant to harm me, it would still hurt me. So not all magic, just neutral magic.

To her dismay, the spell ended before she'd even gained an inch of her joint back. She frowned. How would she get her hip back without causing suspicion?

Will frowned when the spell came back with negative results. "W-well your not a changeling...shit..." Nightmare was brought out of her musings as he frowned at her. "S-so you uh...you're not option two are you?" He stood and walked closer, standing at the edge of the bed and lifting a hoof. he put it on her shoulder. A worried smile graced his lips,
"Please...please tell me your not option two." He said with clenched teeth. "Inbreeding is horrible and, if you are, I'm so sorry for what you've gone through, b-but the rules on that situation are even--OW!"

Nightmare levitated the clipboard back onto the bed and glared at him. he rubbed his horn and glared back. "W-what was that for?!"

Nightmare ran her hooves down her cheeks and growled before grabbing the clipboard once more in her magic and poking the second option with her hoof. When she adamantly shook her head, Will sighed.

His shoulders relaxed. "Oh good...but wait." he blinked and then looked below it to the third option, then to her. "A-are you...the third option then?"

Night mare gave a pause, looking at the sheet in serious contemplation. She could lie and say yes, and that would lessen the fire she was stuck over somewhat, but then it would bring completely different questions up, and ones she had no immediate answers.

Still, it was technically true. The heroine from that children's book might not be real, but Nightmare Moon really had come from a thousand years ago. She could pass herself off as a pony from that era pretty easily. Her fascination at the X-ray paper would even help with her case.

After all, the best lies are usually the ones that are also true. Nodding to herself, she noted how Will sighed loudly suddenly. She turned and found him shaking himself of the formal posture. Apparently he'd taken her silent nod as an answer.

"Oh thank Celestia! I was really worried you were option two, that would have been terrible! But this, you're from another time, o-or a whole different dimension, this is great!" The stallion chuckled and then noticed Nightmare wasn't laughing. She was still frowning at him.

I have to make the act convincing. she thought to herself.

Wilting under her gaze, Will shuffled his hooves nervously. "I...well, I mean, no. It's not great, ma'am. You're obviously completely lost and have no clue as to what is going on. It's just, well I think it's neat that I met you and, well... yeah. Sorry. It's probably not a good thing you're here." Will rubbed his left leg with his right and risked a glance at her.

She gave him an expression that said "Ya think?!" before slumping back down into the pillows and staring up at the ceiling. He seemed to get the hint and fell silent. As she lay there, Nightmare was furiously thinking of answers to any and all possible questions she might get asked. All of these answers, she logged away for later use.

I must act, feel, and be this pony, if I am to get better. Right now I have no anchor to keep my form together, so I must keep myself from over exerting myself, and i have to somehow get magic from others into me. Hmm... Nightmare watched Will as he flipped through the sheets of paper and wrote stuff down. She had an idea.

channeling her magic, she grabbed the clipboard again and gently tried to tug it from Will's grasp. Will reacted just about the same way a parent would when one of their foals grabbed something valuable.

"Wha-hey! no! nononono! that is not a toy!" Will, wrenching his head to the left, tried to dislodge her magic from his but found she was far stronger than he assumed.

"Will you--erg, let go of--gah! my-hnnng! CLIPBOARD!"

She relented suddenly, snickering as he was sent flailing backwards, his legs in the air and him on his back. She nickered loudly and watched as he huffed and rolled back onto his belly.

"Oh har har, ya knocked me over. Whoop dee doo." He groused. Picking his clipboard back up off the ground, he shot a glare at her and then at his clipboard. he waved his hooves at her defensively.

"My clipboard. NoOoOoOo touchy!"

Nightmare smiled, rolled her eyes, and shrugged. Inwardly, she was cheering. Her plan had worked. Using her magic, she found that she could siphon a little bit at a time from him, and he wouldn't notice. If she could do it with him, she could do it to others.

As long as I can interact with their magic, i can heal.

Then a thought hit her.

Earth ponies and pegasi don't manifest their magic outwardly like unicorns...I might not be able to do it to them without them being aware of my actions. She looked at Will and felt her worries drift away. Both he and the Doctor were unicorns, and where there were two unicorns, there were usually more.

I'll be fine, all I need is a couple and this hip will be healed in no time. She thought, as her magic grasped his sword handle and she drew it suddenly. She hovered the blade sideways in front of her, acting like a child admiring the craftsmanship.

Will, on the other hoof, lost his shit.

"SON OF A--okay! THAT is definitely not a toy!"

As Nightmare,....no, as Silent Roar swished the blade haphazardly this way and that, all as an act to show her newfound acquaintance that she was an innocent little soul lost in a world she didn't know, she chuckled. As Will nervously grappled his magic to hers and they started another impromptu tug of war, she smiled.

This would be fun.