Dreams of the Damned

by Stellar_

Rating: teen
Tags: Royal Guard, Adventure, Princess Luna, Original Character, Alternate Universe, Nightmare Moon, Thriller
Length: 22090

Luna had come to terms with becoming Nightmare Moon. However, after finally forgiving herself for events preceding her fall to darkness, a strange feeling leads her to an underground complex full of dark secrets that could mean the end of Equestria.

DON'T READ THIS, ITS BAD

In the aftermath of Flurry Hearts crystalling, Princess Luna finds herself looking back at the painful events before becoming the dreaded Nightmare Moon. She had pushed the events to the back of her mind, telling herself to never think of those events ever again, but when something happens that forces her down the long and painful road of remembering all the events leading up to her becoming banished to the moon, all the events of the months and years leading up to her transformation come flooding back to her. Of actions regretted, of words left unsaid... Of love, lost. When it is all said and done, a feeling, deep in her chest, leads her to a strange facility, buried deep beneath the forests of Northern Equestria, where she finds a group with sinister intentions, and a prison full of horrible monstrosities. Some of who hit a little close to home...

My first story, so please leave a review and tell me what you think.

Published 2016-12-11 05:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-04-27 13:08:49 UTC

Chapter 1

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 1

Luna looked out over the expanse of Equestria before her, the land of the ponies stretching off to the horizon. She stood there, admiring the view, before turning to cast one last glance at her sleeping body on the bed behind her. She leaped off the balcony, spread her wings, and glided out over the city of Canterlot. She landed softly on one of the street corners, none of the few passing ponies giving her even a glance. She liked it that way, being invisible, being able to walk around and watch her subjects without crowds following her everywhere. Seeing nothing abnormal, she spread her wings again and leapt onto one of the surrounding rooftops, now able to see the whole city. Being a residential neighborhood she had landed in, few ponies remained on the street after the sun had gone down, compared to the bustling nightlife of the city center. White wisps of dream essence floated out a few of the windows, indicating ponies who were safe and sound asleep in their beds, happily dreaming away. She phased through one of the walls to the houses, and was pleasantly surprised when she found a small Pegasus colt, little more than a few weeks old, softly snoring away. She watched the little one for a few moments, before turning away and leaping out the way she came in, smile on her face. She always enjoyed watching the young ones, always so happy, so oblivious to the problems those older had to face. So full of cheer and love, just like- She stopped herself before she could finish that thought, setting down on a roof, now on the very outskirts of Canterlot, the lights of Ponyville visible below. No, she couldn’t think about them, either of them, not here, not now, not in this state…

But, she slowly realized, if not now, then when? That child had given her the push toward the subject she had been avoiding talking to herself about ever since she returned from her exile; the reason she had been forced into exile in the first place. She leaped off the roof, and found a bench located on an overlook. She needed to sit down for this. Once situated, she hung her head. Hadn’t she already done this, back in Ponyville with Twilight and her friends? She sighed, realizing that the problem was way bigger and deeper than Nightmare Moon. But where to start? The path that sent her tumbling down into darkness was a long one, full of painful memories she would rather not re-live. She needed to go back, she decided. Back to where it began. She stood up, scanned the skyline, and took a running leap off the side of the balcony, spread her wings, and shot off toward her destination, traveling faster than anyone had ever flown before. As a spirit while inside the dreamscape, she was not bound by normal physics. Quickly approaching her destination, she slowed, and began circling the great city of the Crystal Empire. She could remember the days when the phrase ‘Crystal Empire’ meant something, back in the days when the Crystal Empire controlled most of what was now northern Equestria. Finding the location she was looking for, she swooped down, skimming low over houses and streets, finally landing on a square just outside the castle. Doing a panoramic sweep of the city, she let all the memories and emotions that had built up and that she had kept contained during every visit since the Empire's return two years ago. Giving in, she kneeled down and cried as the nostalgia washed over her.

She had first met him here, in this square. It was just after he had been crowned king, there was a celebration, and she and Celestia had gone to congratulate the new king on his rise to power after his father had died. It was an event she remembered not being very fond of going to, as she had known next to nothing about the Crystal Empire, and couldn’t care less about a new king. But Celestia had dragged her along anyway, being the older sister that she was. He was a young and handsome king, being just 29 years of age when he had been crowned, and she had immediately taken a liking to him, as him with her. You could say it was love at first sight. They spent most of the remaining night and next day together, and had agreed to keep in touch after she and her sister returned home. During the next two years she found herself spending more and more time with him, going on multiple trips, and eventually sleeping together one glorious night. While Celestia supported their relationship, Luna wondered if she ever knew how far their relationship had actually come. Being always busy, Luna rarely saw her sister at this point, always off doing royal duties and whatnot, Luna wondered if she had even noticed that she had moved out, now living in the Crystal Empire, or the growing bulge in her chest.

Eight days after New Year’s Day, three years into their relationship, Luna gave birth to a baby alicorn colt. The father proposed two days later.

Luna was on top of the world. She had a kid, a husband, and unlike when she lived with her sister, work to do, so she couldn’t wander around the large castle being bored, a phrase that pretty much summed up her life before meeting Sombra. She recoiled, realizing what she had just done. She had said his name. She braced herself for the wave of pain and regret that would wash over her, but none came. She stood up. “Sombra.” She whispered to herself, this time aloud. Again, no wave of pain and regret. She smiled. She had said his name! She had said Sombra’s name! She took off toward the Crystal Palace at a gallop.

Luna grinned, now walking the halls of the Crystal Palace, numerous fond memories now surfacing after years of being pushed into the back of her mind as she walked down the crystal halls. She could feel small pieces of the weight surrounding her soul slowly chip away as she walked around each bend, as around each corner lay more happy memories. She caught a glimpse of Cadence and Shining Armor in one of the side rooms, watching over a happy Flurry Heart. She watched them for a moment, before continuing on. She found it ironic, how similar the two couples who had lived in this castle were. The mother was an alicorn, the father a unicorn, and both had given birth to a baby alicorn. However, she was fairly certain that the second couple wouldn’t turn out the way the first one had.

Luna stepped out the door onto a balcony overlooking the entire city. They had the wedding one month after he proposed. They had decided to keep the news that they had a child quiet until after the wedding, and Luna had made the not-so-painful decision of not inviting her sister to the ceremony. She decided that she had had enough of her sister ignoring her at this point, and for her sister to finally recognize she existed, at her wedding no less, wasn’t something that Luna wanted to go through. So, they had it without her, and announced they had a child directly after. Luna was certain Celestia heard about the wedding at some point, but whether or not she made the connection between it and Luna was uncertain. At last, Luna had found happiness. Even though taking care of a baby was hard work, who she had named Silver Star, and being a queen (as her title had been updated) meant actually needing to do stuff the help the empire, she was happy. But it didn’t last. She didn’t know how it happened, but seven months after they married, Sombra started showing signs of dark magic corruption. She quickly sought help for him, but in those days’ knowledge about dark magic was few and far between, and good help was hard to find. However, Luna felt certain that help could be found. That was, until Sombra finally succumbed to the darkness four months later. Famine and disease quickly spread throughout the Empire, and the military tripled in size, while Luna had to sit and watch it happen. And then she had to watch as her home, her son, and the love of her life were all engulfed by the lights of the Elements of Harmony, and swallowed by the void and snow. She returned home that night, to the life she left behind, to her untouched room in the castle, to the sister who rarely noticed her, to the kingdom where she was invisible and unneeded. And so she sulked, for two whole weeks, the hole in her heart left by Sombra’s missing presence slowly eating her away from the inside. A hole that hate, despair, and sadness quickly filled. She destroyed every document mentioning her and Sombra. Celestia was forced to use the Elements for the second time in as many weeks. The rest, as they say, is history.

Luna stepped back from the railing, sighing. That was it, that was her story. A story of how she met the love of her live, watched him succumb to the darkness, and then succumbed to the darkness herself. A large portion of the weight on her soul had been lifted, but some of it still remained. As the sky in the east began to turn orange, she realized that she didn’t feel any better. But now that that small bit of weight had been lifted, she now realized that something was tugging at her, a feeling in her gut, pulling her toward an unknown destination. And as the sun rose, she wondered if she should follow it. She walked back down through the castle, passing servants and guards beginning to start their daily routine. She peeked back into one of the bedrooms, now finding a lone Flurry Heart asleep on the bed, wrapped in a bundle of blankets. She viewed the sleeping filly for some time, briefly wondering where the parents were, but knew they were somewhere nearby, always watching over their child. Just like she was with Silver Star. She sighed. She just wanted to see their faces again, to hug them both, to say goodbye and sorry for everything she’s done wrong. She still loved him, even after what he did, and she knew that he did too, even when his mind was controlled by darkness. Words began to pop into her head, words first said by one consumed with guilt and regret, but now being said by one in sadness. Softly, she began to sing, as she walked out the front door of the castle.

I don’t know what I was thinking, leaving my child behind,
Now I suffer the curse and now I am blind,
With all this anger, guilt, and sadness,
Coming to haunt me forever,
I can’t wait for the cliff at the end of the river…

Is this revenge I’m seeking,
Or seeking someone to avenge me,
Stuck in my own paradox I want to set myself free,
Maybe I should chase and find, before they’ll try and stop it…
It won’t be long before I become a puppet…

It’s been so long,
Since I’ve last seen my son lost to this monster,
To the man behind the slaughter...
Since you’ve been gone,
I’ve been singing this stupid song, so I could ponder,
The sanity of your mother…

Luna stepped out into the courtyard, feeling the newly risen sun’s rays on her face. Her form began to flicker, fading in and out, being called back to the Earthly body in which it normally resided, her time in the dream realm over. She cast one last sad look at the Palace before her form faded away.

I wish I lived in the present, with the gift of my past mistakes,
But the future keeps luring in like a pack of snakes,
Your sweet little eyes, your little smile, is all I remember…
Those fuzzy memories mess with my temper…

Justification is killing me, but killing isn’t justified,
What happened to my son, I’m terrified,
It lingers in my mind and the thoughts keep on getting bigger,
I’m sorry my sweet baby I wish I’d been there…

It’s been so long,
Since I’ve last seen my son lost to this monster,
To the man behind the slaughter...
Since you’ve been gone,
I’ve been singing this stupid song, so I could ponder,
The sanity of your mother…

She finished her song, now standing on the balcony where all of this had started, and reflected on her life since returning from being Nightmare Moon. At first ponies would avoid her, afraid, but then, mostly thanks to the actions of the Element bearers, they started warming up to her. She still noticed a hint of fear in a few of them, but she ignored it. Her sister had apologised to the way she had treated her in the months leading up to when it began the day she came back, but it took a while of her to truly forgive her. But now she had the love of her sister and her subjects, royal duties, and a whole regiment of the royal guard at her beck and call. But still, untill tonight, there had been the sadness weighing down her soul. And while most of it had gone after last night, there was still a small part that remained, a part the was nagging at her that she was forgetting something, a part that was pulling her toward an unknown destination on the horizon.

She sighed. “I never truly blamed you for what happened. I know it wasn’t your fault, that there was nothing that I could have done to save you, to save you both. I wanted to stay with you, to help you through it, but once the purges began I knew I couldn’t stay any longer, for my own safety. I was selfish. And then, when my sister sealed you away, I couldn’t live with myself anymore. So I became someone else. And then…” She sniffed. “And then you returned, and I couldn’t bring myself to face you, alone. And then you were gone again. I just wanted to see you, one last time, in any form...” She stood there and bawled her eyes out for a full minute. And then she was done, no more tears to give for herself or for the two who she lost.

At that point, she decided.

No more. No more would she live in regret of her actions, in fear of the past. The past was done, and there was nothing she could do, so she decided to stop worrying about it, and live in the present. She smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. Yes, today would be the start of a new chapter for her. Today was going to be a good day.

She grabbed her crown and walked out the door.

“Well someone’s certainly happy today.” Celestia noted, smiling.

“I do not know what you mean, sister.” Luna said, smirking.

Celestia rolled her eyes. “You’re smiling.”

“Is one not allowed to smile?” Luna retorted.

“Fine, be that way.”

They walked in silence.

“I can't be the only one craving chocolate pancakes right now, can I?”

Celestia chuckled. “Why chocolate, if I may ask?”

“Because chocolate is only the best thing in the world.” Luna replied, licking her lips.

“But if chocolate is the best thing in the world, that what about movies?”

Luna had to think about it. “Motion Picture is a close second.”

“I knew I never should have let you watched anime.”

“Too late now.” Luna walked down the hall. “Now come, I can smell pancakes with our name on it.”

Celestia just chuckled and followed her sister.

Author's Note

Song used was "Its been so Long" by The Living Tombstone

Chapter 2

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 2

Soaring above the clouds, Luna gazed down at the forest below. It had been a week since she had made that trip to the Crystal Empire, and she had started feeling better, but there was always this nagging feeling in her mind that she was forgetting something, and then there was the feeling that something was calling to her, that her mind was telling her to go someplace. That's what she was researching now, flying above the forests of north-western Equestria. She was getting close to where it was telling her to go, but she could see nothing but trees for miles around. She set down in a clearing close to where it was telling her to go, finding nothing out of the ordinary. She set off walking toward her destination, simply watching the moonlight filter through the pine needles. This far north winter came earlier than normal, the signs already showing, a few preemptive snowflakes falling to the ground. Winter was her favorite season, as the nights were longer, and the weather colder, which she much preferred over the hot, short nights of summer, when her power was weakest. Not that she didn’t enjoy summer, but winter was a lot more… peaceful. She wished sometimes that she could just get away from the city for awhile, and go fly out to a snowy forest and just sit there for hours, listening to the silence. But not right now, right now she had a job to do. A fox suddenly dashed across her path, spooked by something. She looked in the direction it had run from, and was surprised to find two ponies with flashlights approaching her position, sweeping the area. Even though she knew she was invisible to the average pony, she still tensed up when the beam washed over her. After a while they left, leaving Luna confused. Nopony ever came out this far into the woods except the occasional camper or research team, but the two ponies didn’t look like they fit into either of those groups. She decided to follow them, a bit intrigued. Her quest could wait. The two ponies walked for some ways, occasionally talking to each other, before stopping in front of a large cabin. Luna raised an eyebrow. How had she not seen this from the air? She had somehow flown right over it without noticing it, despite the fact that the light coming from the windows could easily have been seen for miles around. The two ponies knocked, and the door quickly opened, letting them in. Luna simply phased through the wall.

“Nothing?” A female voice said.

“Nothing.” Another voice confirmed, probably one of the ponies who were outside.

“Strange, the fields never done this to us before.” The female said again. “The equipments the latest model and in good condition, I don’t see why it would suddenly have something show up that wasn’t there…”

“Maybe it the antenna, you know how battered that thing can get being exposed to the weather.” Another male voice spoke up, probably the other pony from outside.

“No, if it was the equipment it would be showing one large mass, not one small, contained dot.” Said the female. She thought for a moment. “I’m going below, I need to talk the the tech team about this.”

“Alright, we’ll hold down the fort.” The female nodded and walked toward an empty wall, the confused invisible Luna following close behind. She walked up to a bookshelf and pressed a hidden button, a hidden door opening in the wall. Luna rolled her eyes. Really, a hidden button in a bookcase? What is it with people installing hidden switches or secret passages behind them? Luna personally didn’t have much experience with bookcases, so she wouldn't know. Behind the wall was a metal box, that the pony stepped into and pressed another button on the wall, before Luna was able to jump in just in time before the doors closed. The box lurched downward, before the doors opened to a stone hallway lit with electric lights. The pony continued down the hallway for a while, before turning into a room marked Sensors, but at this point Luna decided to split up, and took a look at the electric lights. Electricity was an emerging technology in Equestria, and while Luna had seen electric lighting before, it was in science labs and powered by a very large and very expensive mana engine, which took the natural magic given off by the planet and absorbed it and converted it into electrical energy. These lightbulbs looked nothing like they had at the labs, and gave off brighter light. Luna continued walking, now even more confused than she was before. The stone hallway opened into a large empty room, looking like some kind of meeting place. A sign read Courtyard. A few ponies stood around, a some wearing grey uniforms of some kind, obviously soldiers, while a few wore lab coats, and she spotted a squad of Changelings down one corridor, and even a small group of Griffons. Suddenly, a large group of ponies walked out into the Courtyard, escorted by some Ponies and Griffons, wearing the same uniforms as the others but white and carrying what appeared to be metal devices of some sort. As for who they were escorting, it was a jumble of different species, including ponies, griffons and even a dragon, who all looked very weak and hungry. She swore she could she the ribs of a few of them. Then, it came to her what the ponies were carrying.

Rifles. They were carrying rifles. She had seen rifles before, back during Princess Cadence and Shining Armor’s wedding. She had seen one of the elite guards carrying them around, and asked her sister what they were. Celestia explained that they worked by firing a metal bullet down a tube (called a barrel) to hit a target at range. But they were very hard to produce and mostly unneeded, so only the most elite of squads were given them. However, these versions looked much more advanced than the ones she had seen in Canterlot. Again, another piece of tech that was much more advanced than what Equestria had. She watched as they crossed the courtyard, noticing that everyone watched them with pitiful expressions. One of the escorted ponies, a dark blue unicorn raised her head and scanned the room, her eyes resting on Luna. The pony gasped and her eyes widened in shock. Luna recoiled. How had that unicorn seen her? She was invisible! The unicorn in question was suddenly jabbed with the end of a rifle.

“Head down, keep moving!”

The unicorn obeyed, giving one last glance back to Luna before being led to a stairwell leading deeper underground. Luna followed. What she found unsettled her. They went down four levels, before arriving at a large metal door being guarded by two more white-uniformed soldiers. The sign above read Containment. One of the leading soldiers showed a pass, and they were let through the doors into what was one of the worst prisons she had ever seen, pretty much to a dungeon level. The floor was cracked and covered in moss, and water dripped from rusty pipes in the ceiling. The whole room was crammed full of cells, one eight foot square cell fit one pony, with cells stacked two levels high. At least they had stone walls between them. She passed many cells where it was unclear where its resident was alive or dead, and she was fairly certain that the red stain covering some of the walls wasn’t paint. One by one members of their group were stuffed into cells, until all that were left was the dragon and the unicorn from before.

“In you go, Princess.” One of the guards sneered, holding open the door to a larger cell and tossing her inside. She whimpered and crawled to one of the dark corners of the cell, the soldiers laughing. The dragon just watched blankly. Luna wished she could kick these guys flank. The soldiers continued on, still laughing. She just sat in the shadows and whimpered, before finally falling silent. Luna stood there for what seemed like forever, before turning to leave, but something made her stop. She turned back to the pony to her watching her, one eye closed and the other open halfway. Luna slowly walked back and forth in front of her cell, the one open eye always following her. Finally she stepped inside the cell and walked up the the pony.

“Can… can you see me?” She asked in a whisper. The pony very weakly nodded yes. “How?” She asked, but the pony just layed there.

“Who are you? What is this place? Why are you here?” She quickly asked, but the pony didn’t react to any of the questions.

“There’s no point in asking her, she can’t talk.”

Luna whipped around in the direction of the voice, but found nothing. She growled. “Who said that?”

“Take a closer look.”

Luna squinted. There, in the shadows, was the faint outline of a mare, wings at her side and a horn on her head. “Who… who are you?”

“I believe you already know the answer to that question, Princess Luna.”

“How do you know who I am?”

“It's hard to find someone inside Equestria who doesn't know who you are, Princess.” The mysterious figure said. “You live up in your palace and lower the sun to raise the moon, but one day you decided you had had enough of living in your wonderful sister's shadow and refused to lower the moon, transforming into the evil being Nightmare Moon, only to be stopped by the power of the Elements of Harmony, and banished to the moon. However, you return from the moon to once again cover Equestria in eternal night, only to be stopped by, once again, the Elements of Harmony. Trust me, I know who you are Princess.” The figure bowed. “Oh, excuse my manners, I haven’t met someone who wasn’t a prisoner like me or wanting to use me for some horrible experiment for a very long time.”

“So... what's the deal with you and this other pony over here?” Luna asked, glancing back to find to unicorn watching their exchange. “And why can't she talk?”

“Vessel never learned how.” The alicorn said, suddenly standing next to the unicorn she called Vessel. “She was born in this prison, and the scientists don't want their test subjects talking while they experimented on them.” She comforted to crying unicorn, Vessel drifting off to a painful sleep. “They only give her the bare minimum of food needed to survive, so she can’t really do much but lay here.” She sadly watched the unicorn for a moment, before turning back to Luna. “They only treat her like this because of me.” She looked at the floor sadly, before averting her gaze from Luna’s.

“Tell me, how do you contain a spirit, something that can pass through solid objects with ease?” She asked after a moment of silence.

“You… bind it to an earthly object, so that it cannot escape.” Luna said, getting where she was going with this.

The shadow alicorn nodded. “Exactly. That's what Vessel is, just a vessel, nothing more, at least, not to them.” However, she smiled. “But to me, she’s to only one I can count on in this sun-forsaken place.”

Luna stood there, watching the alicorn made of shadow. Then, her face hardened. “You never answered my question.” She said, stepping forward. “Who are you, and how do you know who I am? You said you have been in the dungeon your whole life, but you talk about me like you know me, there is no way you could have picked up that information in this place. So I ask again, who are you and how do you know who I am?”

The alicorn laughed. “Let me show you something Princess.” She walked up to the edge of the shadow, Luna watching with interest. “You see Princess, I am a being of shadow. Shadows are my home, they are where I thrive, and where I get my energy from. If I were placed in a room without darkness, I would be vaporized within seconds. However, this body that I am bound to would prolong my demise, increasing my lifespan in the light by a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the strength of the body.” She pointed her hoof at Luna, but when the shadow pony’s hoof passed into the light, it revealed itself to be not a hoof made of black shadow, but a hoof connected to a black furred leg, like the kind of a real pony, but still retaining its ghostly look. “Just like you Princess.”

“H-How do you know that?” Luna said, shocked. “O-Only I know that, I never told anyone!”

“Oh, I know everything about you Luna. I know that if you're exposed to sunlight for more than twos days, you’ll die. I know all about your little love story with Sombra, and the child you lost. I know all your weaknesses, your strengths, and I know your limits. How far you will go to protect something you love…”

“H-How could you possibly know these things? It’s like you're inside my head…” Luna took a step backward.

“Think about it Luna.” Said the shadow alicorn, looking sad. “Do you know anyone who can manipulate shadows, leap across them, and has to equal control over both light and dark magic?”

“No!” Luna cried out. "No, no I don't! For a thousand years I thought I was the only pony who could do such advanced shadow magic, but now you come along and tell me there is another!” She stamped her hoof again. “And you still haven’t told me your name!”

“But Luna, you're the only being in the universe who can do that magic. But I can to. Think about it, I thought you would have gotten it by now.”

“You say it like were... the... same... person…” Luna trailed off, finally coming to a conclusion.

The alicorn of shadows nodded, and finally stepped into the dim light. Luna gasped. Same, fur color, same powerful wings, same pointed horn. Same muscular build, same flowing mane, same sharp fangs. But Luna noticed some small differences. Her once menacing stance was now one of uncertainty, and the same eyes that had stared down her sister were now filled with sadness and confusion. She looked like simple act standing there was causing her discomfort, wore no armor or coverings of any kind, and simply stood there as Luna stared at her in shock. Instead of the full moon cutie mark Luna wore on her flank, the mark had been replaced with a crescent moon instead, and the glowing red eyes had been replaced by bright purple orbs instead. The remnants of the alicorn who had once tried to cover Equestria in eternal night were still there, but the pony in front of her could hardly be called the same pony.

“Because, Luna, we are. Or, at least, we were, until five years ago, when the Elements hit us…” Nightmare Moon said, a sad look on her face.

“I… I don't…” Luna stammered, speechless. She didn’t know what to do. She could stay and confront her, or simply flee. She had never been good at confronting people that weren't trying to fight her, but even if Nightmare was, she didn’t feel like fighting her. So she picked the second option, and ran.

“W-Wait! I’m not going to…” Nightmare called out, but Luna was gone, having run away in panic. “P-Please come back…” These was no response, as she was talking to the wall. She hung her head for a moment, and then walked up to the wall and proceeded to bash her head into it. “Dammit, dammit, dammit! You said you wouldn’t do anything to scare her off! But now she’s…” She gulped and slumped to the floor in defeat. “And now she’s not coming back…”

Nightmare Moon sobbed into the darkness.

“Something wrong sister?” Celestia asked. “You seem troubled.”

“Why yes, sister, something is troubling me. You remember Nightmare Moon right, my little alter-ego who wanted to block out the sun and cover all of Equestria in darkness? Yea, her. Well last night I found out that she’s still alive and-”

“Luna?”

“-living in some dark dungeon, bound to some sad little unicorn how can’t talk, while some stanic ponies do horrible experiments on people.”

“Luna!”

“Oh, and also the people there have advanced technology and are probably planning something super bad, like blowing stuff up or something, and-”

“LUNA!”

“I, um… what?” Luna asked, startled, looking at her sister.

“You were staring off into space again. I called your name five times.” Celestia said, looking concerned. “Is something wrong Luna? You’ve been happy and cheerful all week, but now you seem distracted. Something bothering you?”

“I…” Luna thought for a moment. She didn’t like lying to her sister, but this was something that she wanted to handle herself. Well, not completely. “Sorry sister, I’ve just had something on my mind, nothing to worry about. Now, what were you saying?”

Celestia didn’t seem convinced for a moment, but then she smiled. “Well, alright then, if you say so. Now, as I was saying…” Luna didn’t hear the rest of the sentence, as her mind had already drifted away.

Chapter 3

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 3

Celestia,
Don't worry about me. I’ll hopefully be back within two days if everything goes to plan. I’ve taken a squad of guards with me, so i'll be fine. Sorry, I can't tell you where i’m going, as this is something I needed to do myself. If i'm not back within two days another letter will appear on my bed detailing my location.

Your sister,
Luna

“In this solemn field of silence
I can barely feel the pain
Blind and deaf to all the violence
And I’ve always felt this way.”

She had failed. The assault has failed. They had known they were coming. But how? Her head pounded. The moments ever since the assault had started had all been a blur. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, but ended up just getting hit with the butt of a rifle again. She struggled for a moment, but just ended up exhausting herself. Whoever was singing in the slightly demonic high-pitched voice that seemed to come from everywhere wasn't helping any.

“On the wind the smell of misery
Fear and death perfume the air
It begins again in mystery
And I always end up there.”

“Always unsuspecting
So easy to lure them away from
All the angels within.”

Seriously, who was singing? Where even was she? Last she remembered they were about to launch an assault on the secret compound she had found in the woods. She remembered things going wrong, and then…

Ah, they must have captured her. That was it, she remembered now. That explained why she was being dragged down a flight of stairs instead of walking down them like a normal pony would.

“I am running
From something I’m becoming
Unstoppable
And I’m coming from the something that I’m
Running from
Becoming one

Always running
Like something might be coming
To follow me
And I’m running from the something that I’m coming from
Becoming one.”

She tried to cast a simple spell, just to test out her magic, and found that something was blocking it. She could feel it spewing up inside her, but she just couldn’t release it. They finally stopped carrying her down the stairs, and when she looked up, although her vision was blurry, she could just make out the entrance to the prison.

The large steel doors of Containment filled her blurry vision, and as they got closer her stomach filled with dread. There were two white uniformed guards, one a griffon and the other a pony, standing next to the door, and one of her escorts handed the griffon a piece of paper. The Griffon scanned it, and then glanced up at her.

“That her? You sure she’s still alive after the White treatment?”

“I am
Letting go of all I know...”

“Oh, trust me, she’s still alive. Was struggling all the way here.” The guard who had handed her the paper said, taking the paper back.

“From this buried well of consciousness
I can barely hear the rain
Everyone becomes anonymous
All their faces seem the same.”

“Just checking.” The Griffon said, stepping backwards and pulling open a hatch in the wall, revealing a red lever. “You know what the White treatment does to you. Don’t want another corpse down here for them to play with.”

Another?

The second guard chuckled. “Well, if she is alive, how much longer do you think she will be?”

“Always unrelenting
Descending into our own nightmare
From this twisted fantasy.”

“Falling far away from
The Beauty of Annihilation
Do the faceless face fear?”

“Depending on who finds her first, I’d say anywhere between two minutes and four very painful days.” The griffin grinned, looking right at Luna when she said it. Luna shuddered. The guard pulled the lever, and a loud alarm began blaring as the doors slowly opened.

“Take off that muzzle, I want to hear her screams.”

Luna gave a soft cry as the pressure around her mouth gave way and she was pushed forward, into the prison. She turned back toward the open door, only to stop when the barrels of four guns were pointed at her. “In you go, Princess.” One of the guards said, grinning evilly. Their laughs could be heard over the alarm as the door closed, submerging her in darkness. The singing continued as she was grabbed by another guard and led down a hall, the music slowly getting louder.

“I am running
From something I’m becoming
Unstoppable
And I’m coming from the something that I’m
Running from
Becoming one

Always running
Like something might be coming
To follow me
And I’m running from the something that I’m coming from
Becoming one.”

“I’ve become
Something they all run from
I want you to be gone
But I know you’ve just begun
Why am I numb
To everything I have done?
There’s no going back for me
Becoming has taken its toll on me.”

The strangest thing was that the pony alongside her didn't seem the hear the music, and if he did, he did not react to it. It seemed to echo from everywhere, but as they continued moving, it became louder. Luna became more afraid every second. Who knew what kind of horrifying creatures they had down here?

Suddenly, it was silent. No, not silent, just very quiet. Luna had to listen very hard to hear the chorus repeat itself.

“I am running
From something I’m becoming
Unstoppable
And I’m coming from the something that I’m
Running from
Becoming one

Always running
Like something might be coming
To follow me
And I’m running from the something that I’m coming from
Becoming one.”

“I am running
From something I’m becoming
Unstoppable
And I’m coming from the something that I’m
Running from
Becoming one

Always running
Like something might be coming
To follow me
And I’m running from the something that I’m coming from
Becoming one.”

Then the singing picked up again, although not as loud as before.

“I am running from the other one
And the other ones
I’m running from
And becoming one means I’m running from
All I am…”

Finally, it stopped, and so did they.

There was the distinct sound of a rusty metal door opening, and she was tossed inside a cell, before the door was closed and locked. She groaned. Today was just not her day.

She looked around her. Yep, still the same old dusty, moldy, rotten, wet, pretty much everything horrible you could think of cell she remembered from a week ago. She sighed, and lay down on the floor. How was she going to get out of this? She had no magic, she was stuck under tons and tons of rock, and while she had left a note to Celestia, it wouldn’t appear for another two days, and who was to say that they wouldn’t capture her as well? It was hopeless.

"I was never one to give up so easily.”

“Out of all the empty cells in this entire place, I had to be put next to you. You would think they did it on purpose.”

The sound of chuckling echoed. “Well, if you can imagine it, there aren't many empty cells in this place. The few there were available were filled up by your soldiers.”

“Please, just go away for right now, my head hurts and I can’t think straight, I think I may have been tortured, so I need time to regain all my senses.”

“Oh, they must have used the White treatment on you. I understand, that things a bitch. I’ll leave you alone.”

She opened her eyes, and turned her head toward the cell cell across the hall, where she could see Vessel standing there, watching her. Nightmare seemed more… casual, than last time. She wasn’t speaking like, well, Nightmare Moon would, and more like a normal pony would, namely, herself. Finally, she chuckled, despite herself and the situation.

“What's so funny?”

“I never knew I had such a horrible singing voice.”

There was a few moments of silence, before the voice of Nightmare burst into laughter. Not terrifying, evil laughter, but real laughter. “That was just for atmospheric effect! Although being stuck in the moon for a thousand years and then coming back for, like, an hour, and then being sent into a horrible dungeon would cause anyone’s singing ability to go down.”

“Man, this is all so weird.” Luna said, rolling onto her back.

“Having a friendly conversation with your disembodied evil alter-ego?”

“Yes, and the fact that we're talking about singing. Like, really singing? That's like Pinkie Pie level of randomness to be talking to a evil version of myself about.”

There was a quick moment of silence. “Pinkie Pie, the pink, happy, jumpy one?”

“Oh, right, I guess you wouldn't know the Elements of Harmony besides the few moments you spent with them before they blasted you into oblivion. Yes, Pinkie’s the pink, jumpy, happy, random one, like you said.”

“And then there were Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle…” Nightmare said, listing off the remaining Elements of Harmony. Luna nodded affirmative.

“What… what are they like? The Elements of Harmony, I mean?”

“Well, first, there is Rarity, who is a fashion designer, and…” She trailed off.

“Yea?” Nightmare asked.

There was silence before she inhaled sharply. “Nightmare, I believe the drugs they gave me have just worn off, and I am now in extreme pain. I’m going to pass out now.”

Nightmare didn’t even have the time to respond before Luna slumped to the ground. She just blinked. “Well, that happened.”

Luna groaned and sat up. “Ugh, my head really hurts…”

She looked over at the cell across the hall, where Vessel could be seen asleep against a wall. However, the pony who shared her body was not.

“So, I suppose you're going to want answers now.” Nightmare said, standing next to her.

Luna groaned and sat up. “Ugh, hold on, I haven't had my morning coffee yet.” She clapped her hooves together. “Servant, bring me my coffee! If you can believe it, i'm not exactly a morning person.”

Nightmare just rolled her eyes. “Hardy har har. And you don't even like coffee.”

“You're right, I don't. I guess you of all ponies would know that. Oh, speaking of which, first question; what do you remember? Like, do you have all my memories, or just the ones from when you were Nightmare Moon?”

“When we were Nightmare Moon.” She corrected her. “And… yes. I retained all of your memories when I got expelled from your body. Including… Sombra.”

Luna hung her head. “Yes… I figured as much. Ok, second question; you said you retained all my memories when you were expelled, meaning that after you were expelled you would have thought that you were Luna, because your memories told you you were. How did you figure out that you were Nightmare and not Luna?”

“Well, as I said, I did retain all your memories, but it took awhile for them to come back. The first thing I remember is floating over the Everfree forest, not knowing who or where I was. I floated into Ponyville, and that's when the memories started returning. But it was when I floated up into Canterlot that I finally figured it out, because I saw myself, meaning you, and that's when I figured it out. I must say, it's very distressing to see yourself in the third person.”

“So how did you end up here?” Luna asked.

“It was about two, maybe three weeks after I figured it out. I was flying above the woods when my body started to get pulled in a direction, and I basically ended up here, trapped inside a pony who is a prisoner inside some horrible dungeon with demented freaks wanting to take over the world. They managed to summon me with some kind of machine, and they sealed me inside Vessel here so I couldn’t escape. They performed some experiments on me at first, but then I guess they forgot about me and left us down here to rot.”

“So, what do you know about the guys who captured us? They seem very well funded, but they obviously don't work for Equestria, and they have technology that years ahead of Equestria.”

Nightmare shook her head. “Being trapped down here, I don’t have much information, but I do know that the group who runs this place is called The Horizon Pact, or simply the Pact for short. I don’t know who funds them.”

“Well, so much for finding out information.” Luna leaned against a wall, but then looked at Nightmare. “I just realized something.”

“What?”

“You act more like my friend than a evil pony who wants to cover Equestria in eternal night, and I think I know why.”

Nightmare raised an eyebrow. “Please do share, I've been wondering that myself for awhile, but I only have theories.”

“Its simple… You’re not Nightmare Moon. But, in a way, you are.” Luna said, pointing to the shadow alicorn.

“What?” Nightmare asked, confused.

“Think of it as me having Multiple Personality Disorder. When Sombra got sealed away, I was angry, but my personality prevented me from acting on that anger, as I wouldn’t hurt my sister, no matter how angry I was, and there was nothing dark magic could do to change that. So, it got into my subconsciousness and suppressed the personality that wouldn’t hurt my sister, and copied it, but changed it slightly so that I could hurt my sister, and let that control my body, resulting in Nightmare Moon. But then when the Elements were used against us five years ago, it removed the second personality, you, and let the first personality, me, regain control of the body.”

“But that still doesn't explain why I don't think and act evil.” Nightmare Moon pointed out, somehow keeping up with Luna’s explanation.

“Actually, it does. The E.o.H. didn’t remove the-”

“E.o.H.?”

“Elements of Harmony.”

“Ah, ok, carry on.”

“The EoH didn’t remove the dark magic influence from my mind, it removed it from yours, before expelling you. If someone did a magic scan on me right now, it would show that while my mind has been exposed to dark magic, it's not as high as if they scanned you.”

“So you're saying that i'm a version of you who would attack her sister, but i'm not Nightmare Moon because I don't have the dark magic?”

“Exactly.”

“So i'm basically a clone?”

“Um… I guess, yes.”

“Wow, thats… pretty big. But it's strange, because that's pretty much what my theory was as well.”

“Well, you know what they say…” Luna winked. “Great minds think alike.”

“I would so hoof-bump you right now if I could.” Nightmare smirked.

“Wow, you pretty much are my clone, aren't you?” They both chuckled.

They sat there in silence, each watching the other for awhile, Luna rubbing her head.

“So... where would one go to find some grub around here?”

Author's Note

Song is "Always Running" by Malukah, from Call of Duty : Black Ops 2 Zombies

Chapter 5

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 5

They marched her down the hallway, guards on the left, right, in front of her, and behind. They had come for her at the end of the third day, and she had let them take her, and her guard knew not to mess with them. She allowed them to lead her to wherever they were taking her, and she soon found out. They entered a dark room, and shoved her into a chair. Multiple wires and cables were strapped to her body, all connected to large machines, occasionally giving off a burst of steam, and making whirring noises. But that wasn’t even the unsettling part.

She couldn’t see them, but behind her sat multiple projectors, she could hear the clicking noises they made, the pictures they were showing appearing on the walls in front of her. Pictures of Manehattan, Ponyville, the Crystal Empire, Canterlot. From inside the palace. All recent. Scenes of her, her sister, the Elements of Harmony, the royal guard…

“You’re finally here.” She lifted her head. A single figure sat behind a glass window, looking down at her, its voice garbled and off pitch. “What do you know?”

“I don’t understand.” She answered calmly, and braced herself for what was to come. She cried out in pain as an electric shock was sent across the wires.

“What do you know?” The voice asked again, this time a bit more forcefully. “You are one of two ruling monarchs in Equestria, and we have been as discreet as possible as to not alert you to our actions. Yet, you still somehow managed to learn about us, and come in here invading this place with your royal guards. Meaning, the only thing that could happen is that someone tipped you off to our actions. Who told you?”

“Fuck you!” She growled, her body still slightly spasming from the electricity. Another electric shock caused her to kneel over in pain.

“It would be best for you to answer my questions. Each time you don’t, one of your little guards get a bone broken. If you continue to defy me, then, they will get their necks broken. Understand?”

Luna gulped, but glared at her interrogator. “Understood…”

“Now, who told you about us?”

“No one tipped you off. I just found out. You have many powerful magical artifacts here, no matter what kind of shield you put up it will still give off some kind of magical signal.” While it was actually true, that's not how she found about their little hideout, not that she would tell them that. She couldn’t tell if the person believed her story, but he continued.

It went on like that for a long while, the interrogator asking her questions, most of which she didn’t know the answer to, getting shocked multiple times, and eventually being left in the dark room alone. She briefly wondered how she had even ended up here, but decided that it didn't really matter. Celestia was coming to save her, and then they could finally figure out this mess. Hopefully.

The heavy metal door she had entered through slowly opened, and a single pony walked in. He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her, a stack of papers hovering in front of him, suspended by his horn.

“Princess… Luna.” He said, slowly, softly, as if trying to remember her name. “I hope you realize your arrival has caused a lot of… concern with my superiors.”

“Well, you know, that’s kinda the whole point of barging in here like that, to let you know your little operation isn’t as safe as you thought it was.” Luna said nonchalantly.

“Is that so?” The unicorn said. He sat there, contemplating something, before his horn flashed, and Luna suddenly found herself unable to move, a pressure pushing down on her head. “Hmmm…” The pony said, leaning in close to her head. “Interesting… no one has ever been able to resist me before.”

“You’re… not the first one who has… tried this on me.” She grunted out, talking just distracted her and allowed whoever this pony was to get deeper.

They simply stood there for minutes, glaring at each other, before the Stallion backed off. “How is it you are resisting me? I am the strongest in the world in my field, no one has ever been able to stop me. Except… you.”

Luna grinned. “I am the ruler of the night, I thrive in the dream world. Dealing with the subconscious is a simple matter for someone like me. Maybe you shouldn’t be using mind spells on the one who invented them.”

He was silent for a while, before grinning. “Well, well, well. I thought I was the most talented pony in the world with matters of the inner mind. Turns out, i'm second best.”

‘You sound happy.” Luna narrowed her eyes.

“Why yes, I should be. For all my life, I could get any information out of anyone. Pony, Griffon, Dragon, Changeling, didn’t matter. If it had a brain, I could break it.” He smiled evilly and stood up, slowly walking around her chair.

“I was born in Las Pegasus. From an early age I had these powers. I drove my school teacher to madness with my constant meddling with her mind. My parents…” He chuckled. “They never loved me. So I left. Wandering Equestria when I was only eleven years old. Then, I was picked up by these fine gentlecolts you’ve seen during your time here.” At this point he had made a full revolution, now standing in front of her again. “They offered me something no one else could. A challenge.” He leaned on his chair. “No matter how hard I tried, I had never found anyone who could even remotely resist my powers in Equestria, until I came here. And now, I have met my match.” He sat back down, smirking.

“You will get no sympathy out of me.” Luna said. He shrugged. “Thats a shame.”

Luna sighed and laid back on her chair. “Look, I get it, you're the stereotypical physic madpony who wants to take over the world because it's wronged you, blah, blah, blah.” She groaned. “I’ve been having a pretty bad day so far. So just do what you're going to do and get it over with.”

He leaned back in his chair and stared silently at her for a minute.

“Why did you truly come here?” He asked.

Luna was unsure how to answer. He continued. “Because, I say that your explanation that the distortion in the magic field attracted you is bullshit. So, what could have attracted you? Oh yes…” The doors burst open, and two guard wearing what appeared to be thick body armor dragged Vessel into the room. He grinned. “Thank you. Now leave us.”

“S-Sir?” One of the soldiers asked, his voice muffled by the helmet. “You sure sir? This one put up quite a fight when we grabbed her, and-”

“Leave.” He ordered again, the two soldiers glancing at each other before dropping Vessel and exiting the room. “Damn Horses, have no respect for other races authority…” He mumbled to himself.

Luna raised an eyebrow. Horses. There was that word again.

Vessel slowly struggled to her feet, a pained expression on her face. “Hello Vessel, remember me?” He said, towering over the filly. Apparently she did, as she trembled as he grinned at her. “How’s you and your little roommate doing?”

No response.

He sighed and shook his head. “Pitiful. Your a disgrace.” He watched her for a moment, before suddenly bringing his hoof up and swinging it at her, in an apparent attempt to hit her. Vessel gasped and seemed to try and cover her face, but the swing never made contact.

“Hello Doctor.” Nightmare flashed her most evil and menacing of grins, her eyes glowing white with fury as she held the doctors hoof in her own. “It seems that you forgot to cast your little protection spell while you were dealing with my friend over there. Too bad.” There was a sickening crunch sound as his leg broke, and then Nightmare unleashed on him.

He was flung across the room, out of her sight, sending him crashing into the far wall. He attempted to get up, only for Nightmare to kick him back down again, repeatedly pounding her hooves into his face and chest.

Luna couldn’t tell, but she swore she could see Vessel smiling.

“Any last words you monster?” They were back within her line of sight, Nightmare having him pinned up against a wall, lifted off his hooves. From what Luna could see, it looked like at least a few bones were broken, there were multiple bruises covering his body, and yet he was still smiling.

“You call me the monster, yet you seem to forget who you are, Nightmare Moon.” He laughed. “The mare in the moon, the evil pony who wanted to cover all of Equestria in darkness.”

“I know who I am.” She tightened her grip on his throat. “But I didn’t play with people's minds and caused people to go insane.”

“Go on, kill me.” He challenged. “Do it, end my life. There is nothing for me here.” He looked her straight in the eye.

Nightmare seemed to hesitate. He smile became wider. “You can’t do it, can you?” Nightmare hung her head. “You don’t have the will to look me right in the eye as you kill me, you don’t have the will to kill anyone! How sad, the embodiment of darkness, scared of a little blood!”

She stood their silently for a moment. Then she smiled a sad smile. “You should have done your homework. I kill for Mobius and his gang all the time. I don’t like killing, but he forces me too. However…” She growled. “I really, really, hate you. So I can make an exception.” She raised her hoof.

Suddenly, Nightmare froze, as did Vessel when a knife pressed against her throat, held their by the doctors magic. There was a flash, and he teleported next to Vessel. “You were saying?” He sneered.

Nightmare silently glared at him.

His horn flashed again, a green light surrounding his body. “I must give you some praise, for noticing that I had forgot to cast my shield, a simple mistake that I paid the price for, and almost beating the life out of me. It was entertaining. Now, where was I.. oh yes!” He returned to his spot in the center of the room, half limping, half walking.

“You're not going to get medical attention for your injuries?” Luna asked, speaking for the first time since Nightmare had entered the room.

“And leave the two of you together?” He chuckled. “These injuries are merely painful, but not fatal. Your little friend has done much worse to me before.”

Luna gave a questioning glance to Nightmare, who shrugged.

“Now, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…” He began to say, but then their was a buzz, and he stopped.

He huffed. “Yes?”

“Sir, command needs you. There is an emergency.” A voice said over the intercom.

“What's the problem?” He asked.

“Some guards have broken out, and they are calling all important personnel to the command center at once.”

He sighed. “Alright, send some soldiers to escort these two back to their cells.”

“Affirmative.” The soldier said, and then the line went dead. He turned to the two of them. “Well Princess, it seems your loyal guards are giving us some trouble. We shall continue at another time.” He walked over to the door, and Nightmare walked up to her.

“I'm sorry, I tried.” She whispered to her. “You did your best.” She responded. “So what's your deal with him?”

She sighed. “He was the one who first did experiments on me when I first arrived here. I don’t know specifically what they were looking for with me, but he was the one who killed my first two Vessels. He has caused me quite a lot of pain, and…” She couldn’t continue, and instead just looked at the ground. “Lets just say that I would rather be sealed in the moon again then have to go through another minute of torture from him.”

“That bad huh?” Nightmare nodded. Luna looked behind her and smiled. “Well, looks like you're not going to have to deal with him anymore.”

“What?” She spun around, where she was greeted with the sight of her tormenter slowly backing away from one of Luna’s royal guard, clad in full body armor, pointing a gun right at him.

“I did say some prisoners had escaped.” Divine Wind said, pushing him back to the wall. “You make one move and you get your head blown off, is that clear?” He nodded.

“Corpral Nightfleet, good to see you!” Luna smiled as six more royal guard entered the room.

“The feeling is mutual, Princess.” Nightfleet said, beginning to release her.

“Geez, what did you two do to this guy? He looks like he can barely breathe, much less stand up.” One of her guard remarked, noting the state of their interrogator, who, for the first time, actually looked scared.

“Oh, nothing but some payback.” Nightmare approached the trembling stallion, the three rifle-armed guards surrounding him backing away.

“You know, I never got your name.” She said, towering over him, her eyes glowing white again.

“L-Light Horn.” He stammered, backing up against the wall.

“Well, LIGHT HORN, I believe I have already made my feelings toward you very clear. I would pound your smug face into this wall right now if I could, but were on a tight schedule, so listen up, and listen well. I have a very specific set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for ponies like you. And if I hear of you ever using your powers to torment another pony again, I will personally find you, and make your both sleeping and waking life a living hell. You understand?” Light Horn frantically nodded. “I’m glad we understand each other.” She turned to the ponies watching them. “Let's move.”

“Alright, you heard her, let's get out of this hell hole!” Nightfleet said. “It will only be a few minutes before they’ve noticed our escape, so we need to move fast!”

“Yes sir!” The soldiers threw up a salute, and entered the brightly lit hallway, where the rest of the squad was waiting.

“Here, you might want this.” Nightfleet tossed her one of the unused rifles. “You know how to fire one, right?”

“I think so, but these look a lot different than the ones back in Canterlot.” Luna said, examining it as they followed the squad of guards down the hall.

“Same basic principle, but this time, after you’ve fired, you don’t need to individually reload a single bullet. Instead, you got twelve shots in this one thing.” She said, gesturing to the magazine. “And when you're out, you simply pop it out and put in a new one.”

“Interesting…” Was all Luna had to say, before their was a shout and she looked up to find the guards surrounding somepony who had apparently turned the corner right into them.

“On the ground!” Someone yelled, and the pony quickly obeyed.

“Hey, look what he had on him!” Hard Wind held up a ring of keys. “Should we go-ahead with Step Two?”

“Step Two? What’s that?” Nightmare asked, who had been hanging back with Vessel.

“Oh, we took your plan for a escape attempt, and shortened it to eight steps.” Luna explained.

“What was Step One?” Nightmare asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luna grinned. “Step One: Secure the Keys!”

Chapter 6

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 6

“Come on…” Nightmare pressed the button multiple times, grumbling to herself.

“Nightmare…”

“Quiet! I know what i’m doing.” She stared intensely at the button, before finally giving up and pressed it again.

“Nightmare, pressing the button multiple times does not make it come faster.” Luna tried to suppress a giggle at her alter-ego’s actions, but mostly failed.

“I know that! I’m just impatient.” She rolled her eyes.

“Wait, how are you impatient, but i’m not? Isn’t our personality the same?”

“Humor for storytelling sake.”

Luna paused, processing what she had said. “What?”

Suddenly, there was a ding, and the elevator's doors opened, revealing the empty interior of the metal box. The squad entered, Nightmare pressing the button for the top floor. They all stood there uncomfortably until the doors opened, and a scene of complete destruction greeted them.

The courtyard where she had first seen Vessel was in ruins, with the walls cracked in some places, scorch marks where explosions had gone off, spent shell casings littering the ground, and she counted at least a few bodies sprawled out on the floor, red pools of blood forming around them. There were two groups of ponies and assorted creatures, each standing on either side of the room, shooting at each other. The sound of both bolt-action and automatic fire, the shouting, and the rumble of explosions was defining in the enclosed space.

The two sides were taking cover behind what seemed to be sandbags and portable metal walls that had been hastily constructed. One side wore the now familiar uniforms of her captors, the grey and white shirts, while the other wore, in comparison to their enemy, seemingly outdated iron helmets with the purple emblem of the Royal Equestrian Sun Guard emblazoned on the front. It seemed the enemy was trying to stop them from reaching the stairwell and the elevator, most likely to stop them from reaching the rest of the base. The elevator they had just come out of.

She couldn’t have accidentally planned that better.

“Fire!”

When the smoke cleared, the defenders were all bleeding out on the ground, or had bolted down the stairwell. The survivors were quickly rounded up and treated, before being taken to the surface.

“Princess!” Luna looked up to see a familiar pony walking toward her, his normally white coat and blue mane stained red and brown with blood and dirt.

“Ah, General Shining Armor, good to see a familiar face. I presume you’re in charge here?” He came up to her and saluted, flanked by two ponies. “Inform Cadence that Objective One has been completed, and tell the troops to move on to Objective Two.” The two ponies nodded, and left to complete their tasks. Now alone, he answered.

“No, although my wife is. We were worried that they had moved you once our attack stalled, but it seems you managed to fight your way out. While your letter had said that they had advanced weaponry, we weren't quite expecting… this.” He gestured to the fallen weapons, some of which were beginning to be picked up and placed into piles. “We are collecting as many examples as we can so we can transport them back to Canterlot so our scientists can study them, and now that you are here we can shift our focus from finding you to collecting information about this place.”

“If it's information you need to find, I can be of use.” Vessel walked up to them, her eyes and horn glowing purple.

“Uh, who are you?” Shining backed away slightly from the newcomer, wary of her appearance.

“She’s an ally, and she has considerable information about the inner workings of this base, as well as its layout. She could point you in the right direction.” Luna cast a sideways glance at Vessel, but stepped back and let her direct him.

“...and whatever you do, don’t open the big door metal door in Containment. There are a whole load of angry prisoners back there, and it would be unwise to let them out unless we had a proper place to transport them to.” Vessel said about ten minutes later, pointing to the prison on a map of the base she had conjured up.

“I see, ill make sure of that.” Shining nodded, and turned to Luna. “Princess, tell your soldiers to head topside. We can provide transport for your extraction. You guys have been through enough these past few days.”

Luna glanced to her soldiers, who had grouped together in one side of the room, occasionally casting glances back towards her. “Roger that General, ill get them out of here. You said you had extraction?”

He nodded. “We have multiple armored chariots inbound from Canterlot. I’ll make sure that your stallions are on one of the first ones out.”

“Thank you general.” Shining nodded, saluted, and walked away, most likely to relay the information Nightmare had given him to his officers. She turned to Vessel/Nightmare. “Whats with the eyes?”

“Oh, this? Sorry.” The purple aura around the horn and eyes disappeared,, leaving Vessel momentarily confused, before glancing at Luna and then looking around the large room. The ghostly form of Nightmare appeared beside her. “Sorry, guess I should have told you about this. Since i’m a spirit, I can possess my host, but I can only do it for a limited time because it uses a lot of my energy, and being in a brightly lit room isn’t helping.”

“Any other crazy powers I should know about?” Nightmare shook her head as they walked over to the waiting soldiers. “Nothing that you can’t do yourself.”

Luna just sighed and shook her head, exhausted.

Changeling Hive, Changeling Badlands
Horizon Military Command, Equestrian Division

“Fifteen years!” If looks could kill, he would be a flaming pile of ashes on the ground. He could almost see the hate rolling off her. “Fifteen years ago, you arrive here from some far away land, and offer your services in protecting ourselves from our northern neighbors, and ever since then we have been living under your oppressive rule! The attack on Canterlot, that you claimed was “for the good of my people”, was cause for concern, but now this! Your sending some of my most loyal, best soldiers on a… a suicide mission! My kind has served and slaved to your crown for fifteen years, and this is how you repay us?!”

“I fail to see your concerns. Your soldiers kidnap and then impersonate major political figures, take the love meant for them, and return it here, where your subjects can feed off it for generations. What's the problem? This is what your kind has evolved to do, isn’t it?” He looked out over the parade field, where one of the local armored divisions was assembled for inspection, the tanks lined up in neat rows, their crews standing proudly beside them, the emblem of Ethernia painted proudly on the sides of the turret. It was beautiful.

“Yes, no problem, for you!” She was standing now. “The only reason you want the Princesses removed is because the Equestrian command will be thrown into disarray when you launch your invasion! And, if my soldiers get captured, Equestria will have no choice but to declare war, and then you win anyway!”

“What, invasion? Me, planning an invasion of Equestria? I don’t know what your talking about.” He sneered, sarcasm evident in his voice.

“Oh please, I know about your troop movements. How you keep calling in more and more units for “defense”. How your factories churn out weapons and tanks and aircraft. How you have all this equipment just laying around, and yet my soldiers get none of it.” She leaned in close. “I know how, when war finally is declared, you will order my soldiers into Equestria armed with nothing more than spears and swords, and how, when my armies get annihilated, and then when the ponies march up to my hive, you plan to sit back and watch as my people and my home gets razed. And then, when its all burned to a crisp, you bomb the defenseless ponies to oblivion, and march into Equestria unopposed. I have seen the plans. Is my kind just cannon fodder for you?”

“Yes.” He said bluntly, now finally turning toward her, cigar in his mouth. “But, now that you know, what are you going to do about it?” He sat in his chair, smirking evilly at her.

She remained silent.

“Yes, that's right, nothing. Because there is nothing you can do about it, can you?” He pulled out a drawer underneath his desk, stuffed full of folders. He grabbed the one he was looking for, and opened it. “Because, you know if you do, another “accident” will occur, like, lets say… a cave collapse, trapping hundreds of poor changeling miners underground in the darkness? Or, maybe, while performing some tests of my new poison gas, the wind suddenly shifts, causing the smoke to drift towards a nearby settlement? Or, ooh, I like this one... a rogue dragon attacks?” Each time he listed an outcome he flipped to a new page in the folder, until he left her absolutely horrified at the end.

“You wouldn’t…”

“I already have.” He laid back on his chair. “I assume that, since you seem to have somehow been given access to classified documents, you read about what happened in… what was that little countries name? Oh yes… Zepland?” She gasped. “Same, really. I liked their food.”

“You're a monster.”

“Yes, I am.” He shrugged. Then, an idea struck him. “Actually…”

He flipped to the last page of the folder, took it out, and passed it to her. “Let's take this personal, shall we? Last I checked, Chrysalis, your children were still in our custody?”

The Changeling Queen could only cover her mouth in horror at the events described on the page.

“I will bring you to them. You will be reunited with your children, but it won't last. I will take them, one at a time, and strap them to a chair so they won’t escape.” As he spoke, his grin only grew wider. “First, I will remove their wings, all of them, one at a time. Then, their legs. Then, you will stand there and listen to their screams as they bleed out, begging you to tell them to stop. But no matter how many times you beg and plead, we won’t. Then, as their screams die out, we will bring in the next one, and do the same. And the next one. And the next one. Do you understand?”

The paper fluttered to the ground, Chrysalis in a daze. She weakly nodded. “Good.” He shut his folder and returned it to the desk. “Security!”

Two burly guards entered the room, each wielding a rifle. “Return the Queen here to her chambers.”

They grabbed her and dragged her across the floor, as she was still in a daze, and too shocked to stand.

“You won't get away with this.” She called back weakly.

He just smiled.

As she was leaving, a low-level officer entered the room, looking nervous. “General?”

“Yes?”

“Outpost number 48 is reporting that they are under attack. We requested more information, but the line went dead. Nearby bases are sending reinforcements, and a squadron of fighters has launched. What should we do?”

“Do we have any Verti’s in operating range?”

There was a pause as the officer flipped through some papers. “Yes sir.”

“Order them to ferry a squad of special forces on target, we can’t let any documents fall into enemy hands.”

The officer closed his folder and saluted. “Yes sir.”

The officer left the room, leaving him alone. He picked up a document that had been left on his desk, and began to read.

Chapter 7

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 7

Luna stood there in the snow, watching the ponies work, moving large crates to a small clearing they had made, and when it was in place, one of the unicorns on standby would come over, and in a quick flash, both the unicorn and the crate would be gone, most likely teleported to one of the many military bases scattered throughout Equestria to be analyzed and studied. She had heard rumours that they had even found some blueprints for various machines and vehicles, which intrigued her. When she had returned, she had become fascinated at the rate of scientific and technical progress in her absence and had devoted herself to studying all the new information that had come up when she had the chance, especially astronomy. Not even she knew all the secrets of the night sky.

There were four new planets now! How cool was that?

She watched as they loaded a large machine into one of the larger crates. Due to its size, it most likely couldn’t be teleported, and would have to be transported to Canterlot on one of the many cargo chariots coming and going, touching down and taking off near where the entrance to the base had been, now just a large hole in the ground, the cabin nothing more than ashes now. A few bright magical lanterns had been lit to provide light to the area, but it was a few minutes to dawn and they soon would not be needed. A sudden breeze caused her to shiver. “Sergeant, ETA on the next chariot?”

The officer who had walked in front of her glanced up from his clipboard and shook his head. “Sorry you’re Highness, last we heard the next chariot left Canterlot twenty minutes ago. They should be here in the next ten minutes, though.”

She sighed. “Thank you.” He nodded and left.

“We could have gone on the first chariot, but you said no.” Nightmare grumbled. Vessel stood next to her, gazing up in amazement at everything she could see. The trees, the rocks, the night sky, other ponies, the snow, the leaves, everything within her line of sight. For somepony who just a few days ago looked like she was at death's door, in the last few hours had seemed to call upon unknown energy and was actually looking alive, a stunning transformation.

“They had to get the wounded our first, and my guards had to head back for questioning. We are next.”

Nightmare remained silent, but Luna could tell she was almost overjoyed to finally be out. In the short time they had been together, she had learned to read her alter-ego’s emotions, which she normally kept behind a screen of joking answers and sarcastic comments, much like the reformed Discord, and also just like the reformed villain, Luna could tell that she truly cared for Vessel underneath her hard exterior. Just like she was before she warmed up to the modern age.

Nightmare was about to say something, before she frowned, and stopped. “Do you... hear something?”

“Hear what?” Luna paused and focused on her hearing, but she couldn’t make out anything that sounded abnormal, just the sounds of the forest, and all the activity of the ponies working nearby. “I don’t hear anything.”

“It’s like... buzzing?”

“Buzzing?” She was instantly on alert. Buzzing could only mean one thing.

Changelings.

She hated the infernal creatures, hated their looks, hated the stupid sound their wings made, hated their stupid ability to steal live, hated their hive…

Sure it was racist, but in the events both preceding and proceeding her banishment, they hadn’t really done much to redeem themselves. Multiple wars, the burning of villages, the attack on Canterlot…

“It’s not Changelings.” Nightmare announced suddenly.

Luna looked at her. “What?”

“It’s not Changelings. At least, it doesn’t sound like them. It sounds more…”

“More what?”

“I don’t know, it’s gone.”

Luna groaned. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“I’m telling you, I heard buzzing.”

Luna just shook her head. “We’re all just tired. So just stand here until the chariot arrives.”

Nightmare sighed but complied. Luna looked towards the east, where the first lights of the day were beginning to peek over the horizon. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and began to feel the cosmic magic flow through her. Her body lifted off the ground slightly, the sheer amount of magic flowing through her lifting her into the air, her horn surrounded by a blue aura. She landed back on the ground, and let go the breath she was holding. The sky slowly turned from purple to yellow to orange.

“Ugh, man that felt good.” She grinned, looking back to Vessel and Nightmare, the first looking at her with amazement, alternating between the sky and Luna, and the second trying her best to look uninterested but was failing to keep her envy full gaze away from her.

“Hey…” Nightmare started, not making eye contact. “How did you raise and lower the moon while we were underground? You didn’t have access to the sky.”

Luna shrugged. “Celestia most likely did it. She figured it out while we were banished. We were gone for a thousand ye-“ She paused.

She heard it. She looked in the direction it was coming from, towards the sky, but saw nothing. She wasn’t the only one. Everyone around stopped what they were doing, and turned their attention to the sky. The sound slowly grew louder, a faraway buzzing slowly turning into a loud droning sound. And it wasn’t, as she had slightly hoped, a squad of Changelings. It was something much worse.

Her first thought was that it was dragons. But the incoming flying objects were too small to be dragons, and since when had dragon been a shiny metallic color? While she was wondering how they were staying aloft without flapping their wings, they flew low over their position in loose V formation, before banking to the left, allowing Luna to get a good look at them, and she finally realized what they were.

Something that had caught her attention as she was going over all the technical and scientific advancements of the current age, and she had spent an entire day going over notes and papers on powered flight. The study of Pegasus flight had been all but mastered hundreds of years ago, and hot air balloons had been around for generations, but the invention of actual powered flight had yet to be perfected, mostly due to a lack of engines, both light and powerful enough, to fit to an airframe. But, there were a few prototypes in development, and the aeroplane, as it was coming to be called, was expected to enter both the military and civilian markets and improve travel and transport.

Once again, this mystery organization seems to have beaten them to it.

The fuselage was short and stubby, with a large propeller pulling the aircraft through the air. The wings, two of them, one set above the other, were painted dark blue, and a green circle with a white triangle inside, and a red circle inside that one. The cockpit was open to the air, and the pilot inside was casting his gaze over the assembled ponies below. The tail section was painted red, and another one of the white circles was painted on the side.

She was so focused on the aircraft that she failed to hear a whistling sound.

Kaboom!

She felt herself get listed off her hooves, and the next thing she knew she was lying face first in the snow. She managed to look up in time to see two ponies narrowly getting obliterated by one of the falling bombs, protected by a black shield. The two ponies glanced over in her direction, finding Vessel, complete with glowing black eyes, seemingly struggling to hold the shield. As soon as it was released, they made a break for the Teeline, where she could see a few other ponies regrouping.

“Come on, get up, let’s go.” Vessel came over, helping her up. “You injured any?”

“I don’t… no.” She confirmed after a quick look over her body, although slightly shaken by the blast from the bomb.

“Good, we need to move. We’re sitting ducks out here.” She pointed to the circling aircraft. “Those guys are attacking anything that moves, and once they see us were pretty much dead.”

They started making their way over to the forest, Luna trying her best not to look at the red stained patches of snow, or the surprisingly few bodies lying scattered around. However, as they approached the assembly of ponies, something new caught her attention. A new sound could be heard, just almost out of earshot, a low rumble, echoing off the trees…

Whop-whop-whop-whop-whop-whop-whop…

She had pulled her hoof up to cover her eyes as a bright light, flying low over the trees, blinded her suddenly. The rumble became deafening, and the wind picked up, blasting snow everywhere, causing her to cover her eyes more. When the bright floodlight finally moved away from her eyes, she stared up in awe at the floating metal machine above her.

It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It was another flying machine, but this one seemed to have very few similarities to the ones circling above. It was long and slender, and the cockpit seemed to be enclosed with glass, with two bipedal creatures inside operating it. It was held in the air by two large spinning propellers, and two open doors on each side allowed her to see right through the craft, a machine gun was mounted in the doorway, firing at anything that happened to end up in its sights. An identical looking craft swooped down into the clearing they had made, six soldiers of varying races leaping out of the craft, all clad in the same uniform she had grown a hatred for. When one pointed at her, she knew it was probably time to stop staring and move.

Bullets kicked up snow behind her as she made a dash for the trees, Vessel following close behind. Suddenly, she gave a cry as a sharp pain ripped through her leg, causing her to stumble. She rolled sideways, a few bullets hitting the snow where she had been seconds before. Now safely behind a tree, she could take a look at her leg. A bullet had grazed it, revealing the pink flesh underneath, the blood running off into the snow. While it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, she couldn’t put any weight on it.

“You alright?” Vessel was cowering behind a fallen tree, curled into a ball, being comforted by Nightmare.

“I’m alright, it just grazed me.” She looked back at her leg again. She wasn’t going anywhere on it.

“Princess!” An earth pony clad in saddlebags bearing the red cross of the medics rushed over, dodging gunfire as he did so. “You’re injured!”

“It’s nothing.” She dismissed. “Where is everypony?”

“We’re all scattered, Princess. This attack caught us completely off guard, and we have no way of fighting back against these things.” He explained as he bandaged her leg. “The large hovering ones are seemingly fitted with some kind of magical shield, none of our attacks are getting through, and the unicorns that we have don’t have enough mana to perform anything powerful enough to break it. Maybe if we got them all to perform a joint spell, but, like I said, we are all scattered.” He had to duck as a volley of lead was sent his way. “We can’t even coordinate enough to mount a resistance against their soldiers. You and you’re…” He cast an uneasy glance at Vessel. “…friend here are the only ones who have the strength to fight, but seeing as you’re currently injured…”

“I’ve suffered through worse.” Luna attempted to stand up and eventually managed after a few tries, although the pain was almost unbearable, causing her eyes to water slightly. She closed her eyes, breathed a few deep breaths, and opened her eyes again. “Private, go assemble any remaining ponies you can find and bring them here. We need to start fighting back.”

“Roger, General.” He saluted and scampered off back into the woods, a few bullets being shot his way.

“Well, the good news is that they don’t seem to be coming into the trees.” Nightmare said, poking her head over the log. “Most likely because either they fear us ambushing them, or they are focusing on something else.”

“My head hurts.”

“Yea, it looks like they are heading into the base.” Nightmare ignored Luna’s comment. A roar filled their ears as one of the aircraft flew overhead, still circling.

“So what should we do?”

“Hopefully, the flying things they arrived in aren’t protected by a powerful shield, only one just strong enough to block basic attacks. The two of us working together should be able to power through it and take it down.”

Luna sighed and slumped back on the ground, rubbing her head. “I’m too tired for this shit right now.”

A burst of gunfire could be heard originating from inside the base, and the soldier who had just arrived all hurried to the noise and began firing their weapons into the base.

“Looks like our boys are finally fighting back.” Nightmare smiled. “That’s our cue, get up. We need to do this while they are distracted.”

“…Do we have to?” Luna groaned. “I just got comfortable.”

“The sun just rose, and my power is draining fast. It wouldn’t do much good for your image if anyone found that you were sitting around while ponies got hurt for you, would it? If the upper class are anything like they were back in my day, they will tear you apart about this. Claim you’re unfit to rule, maybe try and start a revolution…”

“That was one time…” Luna grumbled, casting a painkilling spell on her leg. “There, I’m up. You happy?”

“What happened to the Luna who took her job way too seriously and spoke in old Equestrian?”

“She’s still here, but she’s been mostly absent after I learned there was more in life than work.” She smiled fondly, and then looked at Nightmare and Vessel. “Now, let’s go and kick these guys flanks.”

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long, had some trouble.

As always, leave a comment to let me know you liked it. It greatly helps authors when you let them know you like their work.

Chapter 8

Dreams of the Damned

Chapter 8

A crack rang out across the field, and one of the guards jerked backward, tumbling to the ground.

“Sniper!”

Before anypony could react to the sudden death of a comrade, the loud road of the aircraft flying overhead was interrupted by a dark purple energy beam shooting out the trees, striking the wingtip and sending the aircraft spiraling into the forest where it burst into flame. A rallying cry emanated from the woods as a large number of ponies suddenly leaped out from behind trees and rocks, charging toward the few guards remaining aboveground.

Luna squeezed the trigger, the recoil rattling the gun in her hooves. She had to be conservative of her ammo, as she hadn’t yet found another clip that fit the gun. She leaped to the side as a distinctive whizz of a bullet flying past shot by her ear.

“Nightmare! Entrance!”

“On it!” The Shadow alicorn dived down to prone, forcing the soldiers who had come up from the fight below to deal with them to take cover. The one remaining aircraft repeatedly strafed the area, slightly disorganizing the assault, but, while they made a valiant effort, it was too little, too late. Luna dived into a crater as dirt was kicked up around her, hissing when she landed on her bad leg. Three more soldiers dived down with her, leaving the crater rather full.

“Crap, if they roll a grenade down here…” Someone mumbled, reloading their rifle.

“You three! Can you do something for me?” Luna asked, tossing her gun to the side, empty.

“Yes, your Highness?”

“I need a new gun. Cover me!”

She leaped out of the crater into a roll, her body turning to shadow just as a round of tracers cut through her form. She grunted, the feeling of objects passing through your body not being a pleasant one. Just as her body returned to its normal state, she reached the open door of the helicopter, finding a cowering griffon inside. A quick mental manipulation spell took care of him. Doing a quick visual scan of the interior, she found the two objects she was searching for, mounted in each door. The rest of the cabin was mostly empty, with a row of benches lining each wall, with some boxes in the back, most likely for carrying ammo. The cockpit was fully enclosed with class, with two seats for the pilot and copilot to sit. In front of them as a large control panel, with a whole bunch of buttons and levers all in different colors, and different dials and gauges covering the surface. All in all, it looked very complex, not that she would expect any different.

“Nightmare! Can you help me please?”

“Whaddya need cap'n?” She asked, materializing beside her.

“Think you can grab that other gun over there? We're going to need the firepower,” She asked, lifting her own off its mount with a bit of careful levitation.

Nightmare nodded, and walked over to the gun, but simply stared at it for a moment, before turning her head back to Luna. “You wouldn't happen to know where the nearest set is Power Armor is, would you? My strength stat is too low.”

“Just grab the fucking gun Nightmare.” Luna jumped out the door, wincing a bit when her bad leg hit the ground, the crunch of her landing of the snow barely audible over the sounds of gunfire.

When the last remaining aircraft came flew over in another strafing run, it was met by a hail of bullets from the alicorns.

“I got him!” A shout of joy echoed across the field as the aircraft sped away, smoke streaming from its engine.

“Nice job.” Luna smiled at her, before remembering something. “Hey… Where is Vessel?”

“Right here.” Luna turned, finding the aforementioned unicorn standing next to Nightmare.

“Wha? How did-”

“We have a battle to fight, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

Her and Nightmare formed up, walking close together, slowly walking closer and closer to the entrance to the base, putting down a stream of continuous fire, suppressing the defenders, forcing them to keep their heads down and unable to fire back.

“EVERYPONY ON ME!” She called out, the soldiers all surrounding her. “Now, CHARGE!”

The sight of two large alicorns and a number of soldiers rushing at you and screaming is very intimidating, and the few defenders retreated down the hole.

Luna didn’t stop, and with another battle cry, they ran down the pit separating the world from the horrors that lay below.

Throwing up a shield to stop any bullets, Luna ran up and bucked the nearest grey-uniformed soldier in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground.

“Watch out!”

Luna turned in time to see to unicorn wielding a knife leap at her, only to get knocked out of the air by Nightmare. Pinned to the ground, he swiped at her, but his knife only passed through her ethereal body. He looked at his knife in shock, and then back at Nightmare, before getting flung across the room.

“Thanks,” Luna said.

“Don’t mention it.” Nightmare said, helping her up. “I would do anything to help myself.”

The rest of the rest of the fight was quick and uneventful as a gunfight could be. The attackers couldn’t hope to hold on when they were being attacked from two sides. Soon the whole room was clear, and then the offices, and then the whole floor.

Soon, the only sounds of combat were those that echoed from deep within the base, as the last few remaining enemies were taken care of. They had stopped to take a rest, treat their wounded, and count their dead. Shining Armor sighed, reading their current casualties off a list.

“We have 28 wounded, 5 of those life-threatening, and nine dead.” He hung his head. “We were unprepared for this. Those weapons they carried, it's like nothing we have ever seen before.Where could they even get such advanced technology?”

“Don’t hold it against yourself, Dear.” His wife, Princess Cadence said, getting checked over by medics. “You said so yourself, there was nothing any one of us could have done to prevent them from getting killed.”

“If anyone should be blamed, it’s me,” Luna said, hanging her head. “Because of me, these ponies sacrificed themselves.”

“Yes, but if you hadn't…” Shining began. “...Equestria would have had to face a much stronger enemy down the line, and much more would have gotten killed.”

Luna nodded sadly. “I guess you’re right… The feeling, of having someone die because of your actions, either directly or indirectly, it’s… A feeling I had forgotten, it’s been so long.” She looked at the Prince and Princess before her. “We should never forget the sacrifices of those who came before, remember that, both of you.” The two of them solemnly nodded.

They stood there for a few minutes before Cadence decided to speak. “Luna? Can we talk with you about something?” She glanced nervously at her husband. “It’s about your… friend.”

Luna looked up to see Vessel being tended to by a medic, her small and undeveloped body and frail figure having taken a few hits during the fighting, but she had always been protected by her unlikely ally. “I suppose you’ve figured it out, then. She’s not evil and is not going to take over Equestria, if that is what your asking.”

The two monarchs glanced at each other. “It was in some of the documents we uncovered.”

“Then I suppose you're looking for answers, but I must ask you to refrain until we return to Canterlot. And…” She turned to look at the two of them. “...I ask you not to mention this to my sister. It’s a… sensitive subject for us, and this something I need to do myself.” They looked at her skeptically, but nodded.

“General!” A red stallion ran up to them and saluted. “Private Broadsword of 2nd squad, reporting in. Captain Steel Hammer has reported the capture of a number of enemy soldiers, and requests additional support to help transport them to the surface.”

“I better go handle this,” Shining said, following the Private. “You two stay safe.”

Luna nodded and walked up to Nightmare, who, after receiving aid, had been left alone. “You okay there?”

“Just a few scrapes and bruises, nothing we haven’t suffered before.” Luna noticed a bandage tied around one of her back legs.

“Just so you’re aware, both Shining and Cadence both know about you now.”

“Oh. How did they react when you told them?”

“I didn’t, they just… figured it out.”

“Hmm.”

Silence for a moment.

“So, what now for you?”

“...What do you mean?” Nightmare asked, confused.

“You're a free Mare now. You can go anywhere, do anything. Did you think I would force you to stay in Canterlot?”

“You… you're serious?”

Luna smiled. “Look, I know that the royal life was something that I nor my sister ever wanted, but we were forced to live with it. But you… you’re not a Royal. So, I give you one thing I never had; freedom.”

She was about to continue but was cut off by two hugs. While Nightmare’s tears didn’t exist on the current Ethereal plane, the tears coming from Vessel were very much real. “Thank you.” She whispered.

Luna smiled. “And for my third wish, gene, I set you free.”

“Stop it.” Nightmare chuckled. “That's my job around here.”

“What, quoting ancient Saddle Arabian folklore?” Luna asked, pulling away.

“No, breaking the fourth… you know what? Forget it, too dangerous.” Luna gave her a confused look, but said nothing. Nightmare was about to say something, when the words died in her mouth, watching something behind her. She turned to look.

A line of beaten and injured soldiers marched past them, escorted by a squad of the guard. Most wore the standard gray uniform, although there were few remaining intact, many were ripped, tattered, and bloodstained. A few soldiers were bandaged, and they didn’t look happy about it. They passed silently, a few giving hard glares at anyone who dared to make eye contact. There were about 30 in total, a mix of first defenders, and the reinforcements who had arrived later. As the last one passed, scowling at them, the two approached Shining Armor as they walked to the surface.

“You have any idea where we can contain these guys Princess? Bringing them back to Canterlot would bring unneeded attention,” Shining asked.

“Horseshoe Bay, it’s large enough to contain all of them and it's far enough away from everything to not raise suspicion,” Luna answered.

Shining agreed. “Although I would recommend splitting them up, having different bases handle them.”

Luna looked over the assembled prisoners, a few muttering amongst themselves, most likely wondering what was going to happen to them, afraid at the prospect of remaining in jail the rest of their lives. Most we’re little over their teens and were the ones muttering to themselves. The veterans, the older ones who stood perfectly still and looked straight ahead, remained silent.

As she looked over the crowd, a very familiar pony caught her attention, as well as Nightmare’s. Nightmare approached him, and noticed something odd. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes wide with a blank stare, looking at something no one could see off in the distance. He was rocking side to side, muttering something to himself.

Nightmare smirked. “It seems the tables have turned, Light Horn. Who is at whose mercy now?” The ponies standing near him took a big step back, as the former tormenter stopped his muttering and glared at Nightmare.

“You think you are safe here.” He said, keeping eye contact, refusing to yield.

“Why would I not? I’m outside, surrounded by guards, while you are here, with a blocker on your horn. You can’t do anything to me.”

“Nightmare.” Luna approached the two. “Ignore him. The chariot will be here soon, and we can finally get out of here and leave this all behind. “

Nightmare growled at him, but turned to follow Luna.

He giggled a creepy laugh. “That what you think!” Light Horn called after them once they were a distance away. Luna froze and sighed. She was most likely going to regret this.

“Why?”

He grinned, still twitching slightly. “We have ponies everywhere, spies, all reporting back to us.” He giggled again.

“Hey, any idea why he’s acting like a junkie going through withdrawal?” Luna whispered to Nightmare, who shrugged.

“Most likely because he is. He’s acted like this a few times before.”

“Wait, really?”

“You would be surprised at the stuff they have cooked up down there.”

They turned their attention back to Light Horn, who continued whatever what he was saying.

“There are a few who are unhappy with your rule, a few in high place who want a... change in leadership. There is a storm coming, Princess, and your country is ill-equipped to stop it.

A deep growl escaped Luna’s through, and she punched him to the ground. “You know nothing. You’re just a lowly grunt. Don’t speak like you are in some position of command.”

He lay there for a few moments, muttering something to himself, before standing back up, wiping a few drops of blood off his face. A few guards approached, but Luna told them to stay back.

“I know nothing!?” Luna could see the insanity in his eyes. He was scared and desperate. There was no telling what he would do. “I know everything about you!” He giggled again, and Nightmare backed away slightly. “I KNOW EVERYTHING!” He began to tremble, now laughing like a madman. “I know your strengths…”

Suddenly, without any indication, in an amazing burst of speed, he leaped past the guards surrounding him, through Nightmare and Luna, and straight at Vessel, shoving a hidden blade into her chest.

“...and your weaknesses.” The guards leaped on him, but before they could reach him he turned it on himself, and with a cry of “Long live Ethernia!”, slit his own throat.\

Chapter 9

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 9

“Luna!”

“Urk! ...Sister… too tight…” Luna had just stepped off the chariot and already she was again under attack, this time by her bigger sister.

“Sorry, I’m just… happy to see you returned safely, and unharmed.” Celestia sniffled, backing off. Was she crying?

“Well, not unharmed…” Luna said softly, gesturing to her bandaged leg.

“Oh…” Celestia gasped, just know noticing it. She turned back to the castle. “Come, lets us move to a more proper location.”

She followed her into the palace, passing servants and guards rushing to and fro, trying to quickly accomplish whatever task set for them by their supervisors. A few bowed as they passed, but most ignored they, just the way they liked it. No need to stop doing their job to give unneeded respect. Respect us by doing your job well, that was what her sister always said, a lesson she had learned from their mother. She felt her eyes well up with tears again but tried her best to conceal it.

“Luna?” Crap, her sister had noticed. “Is something wrong?”

“There are… many things wrong, sister. Some more so than others.” She made to try and pass her, but felt herself getting pulled into a side room.

“Look, Luna…” Celestia began, blocking her way out. “I know that... things have been hard for you, ever since you returned, but…” She put a hoof on her shoulder. “I know that it was partly me making myself inaccessible that pushed you over the edge, in a time when you badly needed support from someone after going through a troubling experience…”

Luna just stared at her sister, the tears returning. The two of them stood there for a time, enjoying the rare moment they got to themselves. Then Luna recalled the last thing her sister had said. “Wait… a troubling experience?” Did she know?

“Yes, I knew about you and Sombra, and, it saddens me to say…” She fidgeted. “I was a little… jealous of you.”

“Jealous? Of me? Why?” Luna asked, surprised. “You had it all, an entire nation that adored and praised you. As for me, the only thing I got was that people knew I existed.”

“Yes, and I guess that was mostly my fault. I should have gotten you out into the public more, but you were kinda… intimidating. Still kinda are, although your history doesn't help your image…” She chuckled. “Although, to be fair, I was little better back than.”

“What was it you said once; “I’m a fucking Sun God, I can do what I want, and anyone who tries to stop me will be charged with treason?” Luna teased, now smiling.

Celestia chuckled and blushed. “Yes, I did have quite a god complex back then. I wonder what Twilight would have thought of past me…”

The two of them stood there for a few seconds before Celestia remembered what she actually dragged Luna aside for in the first place.

“Sister, I just want you to know that you can talk to me, whatever happens between us in the future.” Luna nodded, listening. “Now, I shouldn’t be keeping you, as I'm sure you are tired after all you have been through, but I must ask you one thing. It seemed like something was weighing on you, and I want to know if there is anything I can do to help you.”

Luna paused. Should she tell her the whole truth?

“It’s just… during our escape, a… friend, who had helped us escape, was killed, as well as a few of my guards.”

“Oh, Luna…” Celestia wrapped her in another hug, much to her embarrassment. “Don’t worry about that too much, there is nothing you can do now. Best get some sleep and we will sort this all out tomorrow.”

Luna nodded, and began to make towards her room, but stopped, and glanced back at her sister. “...Thank you, sister. For everything.”

Her sister smiled. “I try my best.”

Leaning on the railing, he looked out over the ocean and the multitude of ships making up the convoy stretching to the horizon. The transport slowly rocked back and forth in the waves, the light of the setting sun reflecting off the water and tinting everything orange. The only sounds were the cries of the seagulls, the waves against the side of the ship, and the distant voices of sailors talking. One might have said it was peaceful, were it not for the nature of the convoy they were sailing with.

For they were sailing straight into war.

21 Destroyers, 18 Cruisers, 15 support vessels, including hospital ships and troop transports like the one he was currently stationed on, 5 Battleships, and 3 Aircraft Carriers, all steaming toward a distant shore, where a resilient and determined enemy stood to repel them. Many would die on those beaches, and even those who made it off the beaches would be killed in the coming days of the invasion.

Unless, of course, his team completed their mission.

“Mondlicht!” He looked up to see a burnt orange pegasus descend onto the deck next to him. “There you are!”

“Phoenix, what’s up?”

“I need a reason to hang out with my Commanding Officer and best friend?” He asked, tucking his wings into the side of his body.

“Hmmm.” He turned his attention back to the task force, a flight of naval aircraft roaring overhead in a V formation, off to strike targets before the invasion began. “What do you know about our mission?”

“Hey, chill out man, the missions not for another few hours.” He said, also leaning against the railing.

“I know, it's just I don’t want to-” He paused and turned, glaring at a group of horses who had assembled on a deck above, and who were whispering among themselves. “You know, it's rude to talk about people when they can hear you right? If you’re going to gossip like Mares, you could at least come talk to us.”

The group seemed startled that they had been found out, and quickly dispersed without even looking back at them.

“What’s with them?” Phoenix asked, turning back to the water.

“Well, how would you react after living your whole life among normal-looking horses, and one day you saw one with wings, something that defies all logic as well as nature itself? You would react the same.”

“And a horn?”

“...Wings and Horn, yes.” He sighed, bringing a hoof up to tap against his aforementioned body part.

He was silent for a moment. “Do you know how hard it is to be the only one of your kind? There are other pegasuses and unicorns somewhere, otherwise, Horizon wouldn’t keep showing up with new ones, so you and Typhoon don’t know how it is. Heck, Typhoon says he has family out there somewhere, although whether or not it's a delusion caused by isolation from the outside world remains to be seen.”

“So everyone has at least a few people like them. Except me. I’m just a genetic freak.”

“Have you been having those dreams again?”

He glared at him. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because you’ve acted like this before, and after much hassling on my part, you finally opened up and said what was bothering you.”

Mondlicht was silent, his mouth open as if to protest, but in the end, he just sighed. “It’s the dreams again.”

Phoenix nodded, watching him.

“...But, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s… personal. The dreams have been… different, and I want to make certain before I tell you anything.”

He gave him a strange look, and sighed, but didn’t press it. “Kinda ironic for someone who can control the dreamscape to be suffering from bad dreams huh?”

“That's what I’m worried about…” Mondlicht sighed, before checking his watch. “Hmm. You should probably go find Quake and Typhoon, who knows what those two are doing. We need to get to briefing in an hour.”

“Yea, you're right.” He said, also checking his watch. “Smell you later then!”

Mondlicht rolled his eyes as Phoenix took to the skies, drawing a few more glances at him.

Sighing, he stepped back from the railing, looking once again out over the sea. A Battleship had moved in front of the sun, leaving him in shadow. He stood there for a few more moments, silently thinking, before speaking softly to himself.

“When will this all end? I’ve lost enough friends as it is…”

And with that, he turned and walked away. If one listened closely, the distant sound of explosions could be heard, echoing across the water.

War was coming.

TO
BE
CONTINUED..?

Author's Note

Thanks for reading my first completed story everyone, and if you enjoyed it, and even if you didn't, please leave a review to tell me what I did both right and wrong. I can't get better if no one points out my mistakes.

Chapter 4

Dreams of the Damned
Chapter 4

She stepped out into the cafeteria, and pretended not to notice how all eyes turned to her and the room hushed a bit at her entrance. She cast her eyes over the assembled crowd of prisoners with disgust, but also with pity. These ponies had lived a hellish life, and while most may be murderers, mutineers, and deserters, even they didn’t deserve living in this hellhole. But then again, she decided, maybe they did.

“Food line is over there on the left, it's edible, and will get you through the day, but don't expect it to taste good.” Nightmare by her side, Vessel walking slowly behind her. “But don’t worry about food, there is an underground black market we can go to later. You want it, they got it, for a price of course.”

While Luna did notice some wary glances being directed at her, she actually saw more glances at her ghostly partner, most scared. “You have a reputation here.” Luna said bluntly.

“Call me the Phantom, they do. Known for stalking and silently killing the enemies of Mobius. Don’t know who I actually am, of course, and even if they did know about Nightmare Moon I doubt they would make the connection. Some of them probably know who you are though.”

“Who or what is Mobius and why do you kill for them?” Luna asked, keeping all the emotion off her face, a tactic you needed to learn if you were to survive long in the royal courts.

“There are three main gangs here, the Stonebreakers, the Skulls, and the Wardogs.” She said, pointing out the respective areas where the gang members sat. A gesture pointed out a large dragon sitting in one corner of the room, looking over everybody.

“That's Mobius, leader of the Wardogs, the largest and most powerful gang here. He recruits anyone he deems powerful who enters this prison. That means you. I had no choice but to join him, or he would have his goons kill Vessel.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “If they killed Vessel, wouldn’t you be free?”

Nightmare shook her head. “They will just re-seal me in someone else. Vessel is actually the third pony who I have been contained in.”

Luna made the wise decision of not asking about the first two.

“Listen, the other two gangs will try and recruit you first, and they have some… aggressive “recruitment” tactics. Just be warned, I can't protect you without starting a gang war, and neither will the guards. They are here to keep us in, not safe.”

Luna nodded, but just as a large figure stepped out into the aisle in front of them, blocking their way. Luna had to look up to see the biggest Diamond Dog she had ever seen, slightly taller than her.

“Stonecracker.” Nightmare whispered.

“Hello there, your majesty.” The Dog smiled, showing rows of rotten sharp teeth. “Welcome to hell.”

“Yes, it's truly a wonderful place, great people and scenery and such, now if you will- urk!” Luna had started to walk past him, but suddenly found herself being held a few feet in the air by her neck.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill you now.” He said, pushing a shiv against her ribcage.

“You should… be afraid.” Luna managed to say through her closed windpipe.

The Diamond Dog burst out laughing. “Your strength is pitiful, your magic is blocked, and you don’t have a weapon. Your only saving grace is your wings, but you can't fly forever.” He pressed the shiv harder. “Why should I be afraid of you?”

“Oh no, it's not me who you should be afraid of.” Luna said, grinning, looking over his shoulder at the group of nineteen ponies who had sneaked up behind him. “It's the full squad of pissed Royal Elite Lunar Guard behind you.”

The Diamond Dog froze, all the color draining from his face.

Luna smirked. “Sic ‘em boys.”

The unfortunate Diamond Dog didn’t have time to react to her statement, as he suddenly found himself flung across the room, smashing into the wall. The room froze.

Luna nodded in acknowledgement at her loyal troops, and then leaped on a nearby table. “ALRIGHT YOU ANIMALS, LISTEN UP!” Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice, gazing over the crowd of amassed criminals.

“THESE PONIES DOWN HERE ARE MY GUARD!” She yelled, pointing to them. “THEY TAKE ORDERS FROM ME! THEY’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR YEARS TO PROTECT EQUESTRIA AND ITS PRINCESSES FROM ANY AND ALL DANGER! THAT INCLUDES YOU LOT!” She did a slow sweep of the room, glaring at each and every one.

“YOU HURT ME, INJURE ME IN ANY WAY, AND YOU’LL BE ANSWERING TO NINETEEN VERY PISSED PONIES! YOU HURT, INJURE, OR DAMAGE ANY OF THEM, AND YOU’LL BE ANSWERING TO ONE VERY PISSED PRINCESS PLUS EIGHTEEN! THAT CLEAR?”

The stunned silence gave her her answer.

Luna nodded, stepping off the table.

“Corporal Nightfleet, good to see you and your soldiers in one piece.” Luna said to the batpony captain, stepping down.

“Likewise, Princess.” Nightfleet saluted, along with the rest of the squad. “Orders, captain?”

“At ease men.” Luna responded.“Keep our men alive and well.” She said to Nightfleet. “We won’t be in here long, only a few days at most. I left a letter to my sister detailing our exact location and status. If we can survive just a few days, then was shall be rescued.”

“Noted. Who’s the unicorn?” Nightfleet asked, gesturing to Vessel who was standing nearby.

Luna froze. How was she going to explain this? “She’s… well, you see…”

She sighed. “Captain, bring your squad to sector 4, that's where my cell is located. I will explain who this newcomer is and reveal some disturbing information that I have uncovered. Captain, try and get your men equipped with weapons, anything you can find. Make some if you need to. Dismissed.”

And with that, she turned and walked out the cafeteria, all eyes on her.

“So, let me get this straight…” A Pegasus stallion named Hard Wind asked, looking at Vessel, or rather, the spirit who inhabited the body. They were all assembled in a room that was once used as a service passageway, and fortunately it was large enough for them to all fit. It even had a little table. Of course, they had to access it through a hole in the wall, but still, it was a place.

‘So… your Nightmare Moon?”

“In all since, yes.”

“How do we know you're not evil?”

“Because I have had multiple occasions where I could have killed you ever since we met, and yet I haven't. Plus, I saw Divine Wind over there cast a magic influence spell on me, and the fact that she hasn’t said anything yet says it came off clean.”

Divine Wind, Nightfleet’s second-in-command and also a batpony, nodded, confirming her statement.

“But still, how do we know we can trust you?”

“How do you know if you can trust some random pony you come across on the street?”

“Because they don’t have a history of trying to destroy Equestria.”

“How would you know if the pony you came across on the street did?”

“Alright, stop.” Luna spoke up. “This isn’t getting anywhere, and we still need to make a plan to last in this place. Simply “Survive” isn’t good enough.”

“Well, I've been thinking.” Nightmare said. “So, obviously, these guys want to invade Equestria. However, they needed time to prepare, so that's why they built this base. But it's clear they they were nowhere close to finishing their preparations, but now that Luna has discovered their base they will be forced to speed up their preparations. Luna is a very public figure, the public will begin to notice she’s missing soon enough, so they can’t keep her here forever, unless they are willing to invade with their plans half complete.”

“So you're saying that they’re going to release her?” Divine Wind asked. “How?”

“They would wipe our minds. A majority of the people manning this base are Horses, meaning they have no magical ability whatsoever, however, they DO have a unicorn who is trained enough to perform the spell.”

“Horses? What are Horses?” One of Luna’s soldiers asked.

“Don’t worry about that, it will be explained in the sequel. Now, in the case that Celestia fails to free us, we should still come up with a plan to escape.”

“Wait, what did you say about a Sequel?” Luna turned to her counterpart.

“Hmm?”

“You, you said something about-”

“No.”

“I... what? I could have sworn you said-”

“Nope.”

“But I thought-”

“You thought wrong.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Ok then…”

They looked at each other for a few awkward moments, before Nightmare turned back to the table they were all assembled around. She grabbed a roll of paper from one of the shelves and unfurled it across the table.

“Now, as I have been here a long time, I have managed to map out a good portion of the base. It's not much, but it should help us out a bit if we need it. There is only one way out of this base for us, and that's through the was we came in, up the elevator shaft connected to the fake cabin in the forest.”

“Wow, this is very detailed.” Another soldier remarked, a unicorn mare named Evelin.

“We’ll, I’ve had a lot of time. Now, this is where we are currently located.” Nightmare pointed to the room on the map. “Now, we can pretty much move around on this level without hassle, but problems arise when we try to travel to other floors.” She pointed to a square on the map, seemingly outside of the walls of the prison. “This is an unused elevator shaft. It used to go to all floors, but since people kept trying to escape through it, they closed it off, and now it's behind a wall of concrete. If we can break through that, we have full reign of the building. Now, here’s the plan…”

She stood alone in the middle of the street, a few snowflakes fluttering down. She was once again standing in the middle of the square in front of the Crystal Palace, gazing up at the light radiating off it. Hearth’s Warming was only a few weeks away now, decorations lining the outside of the houses. Nopony was on the streets, leaving her alone with her memories.

“Goodbye, my Princess.” Sombra kissed her, causing her to blush.

“Oh, stop it you.” She giggled. “Now go already, the chariot is waiting.”

“I would never leave you.” He kissed her again.

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that.” She rubbed her stomach. “Now seriously, go. They’re getting impatient.”

“Oh, those politicians know nothing about love.” He stayed in her embrace a few moments longer, before pulling himself away. “Now, I promise i’ll be back for Hearth's Warming, because if I don’t you’ll have my head.”

“You better believe it. And you better get me a good present this year, or the marriage is off!”

“Sheesh, alright.” Sombra put up his hooves defensively, backing out the door. “Now, I believe I have a ride to catch…”

“Just leave already!” She rolled her eyes and pushed him out the large front door of the palace.

“See you!” He waved, before being surrounded by a regiment of the guard.

She waved back, and continued waving until his chariot was out of sight, disappearing into the grey winter clouds covering the sky.

She turned and walked back into the palace.

She stared up at it now, looking exactly the same as it did a thousand years ago, besides the new banners hanging from the balconies. The entire city looked like it did when she was last here, but bits and pieces of modern technology here and there.

“A whole city, untouched by time…” A familiar voice said behind her.

“Well, if you recall, it was cursed by Sombra.” Luna said, not turning around.

“Yes, and I see it has returned.” Nightmare said, standing next to her. “Those banners, I do not recognize them. That is not Equestria’s emblem, is it?”

Luna shook her head. “No, that's the emblem of the current ruler, Princess Cadence, and her husband, Shining Armor.”

“The names are familiar, but I don’t know the ponies behind them.” Nightmare said, with a hint of sadness.

“Well, Cadence is sisters niece, and Shining Armor is the brother of Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic and former captain of the royal guard.”

“Impressive.” Nightmare said, shifting her attention from the castle to Luna. “So, what's the story here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you said, The Crystal Empire was sealed away by Sombra…” She winced. “...yet here we are, standing inside it. So what's the story of its return?”

“Ah, I see.” Luna proceeded to tell her the story of how The Elements of Harmony had saved the empire from takeover by their evil king by finding the crystal heart, and about the couple Celestia had given control of the empire to.

“Sombra…” Nightmare got a far away look in her eye, and seemed on the verge of crying. Luna said nothing, but draped her hoof over her shoulder.

“I know, I felt the same way when I heard the news. But, I had already lost him once, and the pony who came back was not my Sombra, this was an imposter. But still, I wanted to do something, to confront him, but sister refused it.” She shook her head. “I still feel bad about it.”

“What about…” She gulped. “What about… Silver Star?”

Luna hung her head. “...No sign of him.”

They stood there silently for a long moment, before Nightmare Spoke up.

“Shining and Cadence seem like very nice ponies.” Nightmare turned her attention to the palace once again. “Shall we pay them a visit?”

“Sounds like a good idea, then I can introduce you to the Elements of Harmony.”

They passed the Crystal Heart, Nightmare glancing warily at it, before moving on.

As they walked down the many halls, Nightmare seemed to be trying and failing to contain her emotions, sometimes completely zoning out in random places. Luna draped a hoof over her.

“Look, I know what you're going through. Every time I come here I struggle to suppress my emotions, and it not easy. Feel free to cry if you need to.”

She stood there for a moment, and shook her head. “No, i'm… i'm fine. It's ok.”

“If you say so, now come on, let's get moving.”

They walked down more halls, before stopping in front of a door guarded by two guards.

“I’m guessing this is where they are?” Nightmare asked.

Luna nodded, and they phased through the door.

“So that's Shining Armor, and on the left is Princess Cadence.” Luna informed. “And, of course, in the middle is Flurry Heart.”

The little family were all sitting on the bed together, the parents playing with their child, and Flurry Heart enjoying every second of it.

Flurry Heart glanced up, and looked directly at them, a moment of recognition crossed her face, before something distracted her and she looked away.

“She noticed us.” Nightmare said, surprised.

“We’ll she is the first baby Alicorn ever, so it would make since if she had some… strange powers. And babies are actually more influenced by magic, so it would make since if could see concentrated masses of magic such as ourselves.”

Nightmare stood their for a long while, just watching the family, tears in her eyes. “I’ll ...leave you.” Luna said, turning to walk away, and this time Nightmare didn’t object.

She walked up the the top of the palace, once again looking over the entire city, and the frozen north beyond. She had always liked it up here, even if it did get a bit cold and windy.

“Alright, I…” Nightmare wiped her eyes, coming up behind her. “...I think i'm good.”

“You need a minute?” Luna asked. There was clear evidence she had been crying, as her eyes were all puffy and there were visible tear tracks down her face.

“...No, i'm fine. Let's continue, shall we?”

They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Luna finally spoke. “...Alright then, let's go.”

They leaped off the balcony, and flew out over Equestria, flying low over the forests and lakes, quickly approaching Ponyville. They set down in front of the town hall, Nightmare gazing in awe at the buildings. “It's all so… different.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever come outside the prison? You could leave anytime when you entered the dreamscape.”

Nightmare hung her head. “I’ve thought about it, but I decided against it. I could never leave the prison with my normal body, so I purposefully contained myself within the confines of the prison… because I didn’t want to see it as a spirit, but in my normal body.” She sighed and looked at her leg. “Or, well, as my normal spirit self.”

“Do you miss having a body?” Luna asked, walking toward their first destination, Nightmare following.

“Yea, I guess. Being a spirit is nice and all, because you get to mess with people and pass through walls and stuff, but being able to touch stuff and actually talk to people is nice too…” She sighed. “I envy you, I guess…”

“Well, here is our first stop.” Luna stopped in front of a large blue crystal-tree looking castle, looking much like the crystal palace they had just left.

Nightmare gave a confused look at the castle. “...How did I miss this last time I was here?”

“Oh, its new.”

“How? It would have taken years to build something like this, and last time I was here there was nothing here. Unless I have been away for longer that I though…”

Luna chuckled. “No, this Castle was created by the Tree of Harmony for something or other, I don’t think anyone really knows. But Twilight Sparkle lives in it now after her house got destroyed.”

“How did that happen?”

“Giant laser.”

“Bad baddie?”

“Yep.”

“Must have been an epic fight.”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”

They walked into the castle.