Nightmare: Volume 1

Fourteen Years Later

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The nurse’s hooves clicked on the tiled hospital floors as she galloped, hurriedly wheeling a bed down the long corridors. The figure lying asleep atop the mattress was covered by a thin white sheet, leaving only the head visible. The unicorn stallion was a John Doe, having arrived at the hospital with no name or any form of identification.

“Nurse Comfort, I assume this is the patient I was told about?”

She stopped and turned her attention to a white earth pony mare quickly approaching her. “Yes Doctor Redheart. He...he just collapsed when he entered the hospital.”

“Very well,” the old mare turned back to where she had come. “Bring him to emergency with me.”

The nurse nodded obediently. Suddenly the John Doe’s eyes snapped open. They were a piercing green, almost neon bright. Nurse Comfort gasped when she was suddenly yanked away by Redheart, the doctor dragging her away from the bed.

“That’s not a real patient,” the earth pony explained quickly. “No pony, not even a seriously ill one, has those eyes.”

The bed suddenly erupted into circles of roaring green flame.

The sheet covering the patient was thrown off, revealing a changeling in place of the stallion. It fixed its blue, reflection-less eyes on the two terrified mares, its tongue flicking over its fangs hungrily. One of its jagged ears twitched and it bent its hole-filled legs like coiled springs, preparing to attack.

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The Royal Palace’s conference room was mostly barren, with the only notable furniture being a large table in the centre of the room. The lighting consisted of mostly gas lamps mounted on the walls made of pure crystal, and a golden chandelier hanging from the roof.

Luna surveyed her company with an indifferent expression. Certain hoof-picked noble ponies made up The Knights of Canterlot, a group responsible for aiding the royalty any way they could. At one point in time, they had even actively fought alongside armies, fearlessly and ruthlessly fighting to protect their ruling class.

As she looked upon the collection of pompous cowards before her, she wondered how a group with such a legacy ever fell so far.

“Princess, are we going to begin?” asked the elderly unicorn mare to her right, the wrinkles under her eyes seeming to multiply as she glared.

“Have patience, Ms Valentine,” answered Luna, struggling to ignore the mare’s irritated tone. “We are still waiting on a member, and it would be unwise to begin without him.”

The conference room doors opened, a white pegasus stallion running inside. Rich Slice, the newest member of The Knights. His blonde mane was neatly slicked back, his tail curled at the ends. He wore a silver cravat with a dark pink rose, and black shoes on his hooves.

He took his seat directly opposite from the princess, his small moustache twitching when he gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry I’m late, Princess. I was visiting my father, and it seems I lost track of the time.”

Luna shook her head, “It’s alright. It’s understandable that you would seek your father’s advice.” Rich Slice’s father was the unicorn Fancypants, an influential figure in Canterlot society and former member of The Knights. He had given up his position the year before, passing it on to his son.

Rich Slice cleared his throat, the relief clear in his brown eyes. “Thank you for understanding, Princess.”

Luna nodded, straightening her posture. “Now that everyone is in attendance, let us begin.” She took a deep breath, before continuing. “The first matter I would like to discuss, is the changeling issue facing Ponyville. As I’m sure you are aware, there have been quite a few random changeling attacks on the public recently…”

An elderly earth pony stallion interrupted. “I thought the changelings were peaceful now.” This was followed by several murmurs of agreement.

Idiots. Luna drew a deep, calming breath. But I cannot berate them, that would reflect badly on me. She cleared her throat softly, attempting to speak as civilly as she could muster. “Just because one single group of changelings has chosen to be peaceful, doesn’t mean all of them with automatically do the same.”

The elderly earth pony raised his hoof. “But how are there even any other changelings around? Only their queen is capable of breeding.”

Luna pressed her lips into a tight line, refusing to answer at first. After the destruction of the changeling throne and hive, she and Celestia had made the decision not to tell The Knights that the changeling queen was still alive, instead saying that she had died when her throne was destroyed.

At the time, the two princesses had rationalized their decision by saying that if the truth came out, it would only cause unwanted panic. Now, however, she was wondering if the choice to withhold that information was doing more harm than good.

“Pardon me, Princess Luna,” came a smooth, articulate male voice.

Everyone turned to the slim, charcoal-grey unicorn standing in the doorway. Greystone Sword, the butler to Princess Luna. The monocle around his right eye reflected the light, giving the appearance that it was glowing as the unicorn took a single step closer. “I’ve gotten word that the Ponyville Hospital is under attack by changelings.”

Luna raised a thin eyebrow at the butler, ignoring any questions The Knight’s were asking her. “I assume you’ve sent Nightmare to deal with it?”

The unicorn smirked, “She’s already well on her way, Princess.”

One member of The Knights - an elderly pegasus mare - stood from her seat and cast a furious glare at Luna. “I can’t believe you’re just letting that...thing out into the public without supervision!”

Luna glowered at the angered mare. “If you want to avoid casualties, I don’t exactly have a choice right now,” she replied tightly. She watched as the pegasus slowly sat back down, and was unable to hold back a smug smile.

Rich Slice raised his hoof, “What do we do now, Princess Luna?”

Her tense shoulders seemed to relax. “Now…” she sighed, “We wait.” She smiled to her butler, “Greystone, could you get our guests some tea to calm their nerves?”

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The hospital floors were littered with bodies, some unconscious, and others dead from being drained of all the love in their souls. Nightmare paid little heed to any of them, merely stepping over the fallen bodies as she made her way through the many corridors.

Her blue mane and tail moved ever so slightly, brushing against walls and tables as she passed by. The hospital air held its usual smell of strong disinfectant, that was so potent it almost made her head spin. Urg, how can anypony even breathe in this place?

Her ear twitched as the sound of a low buzzing caught her attention. She watched as a pair of changelings flew around the corner towards her, before stopping and landing on the floor. Their heads were tilted in confusion, and they seemed to be studying her.

Slowly, Nightmare broke into a grin, showing rows of pointed teeth. “That’s right...you can’t tell if I’m friend or foe, can you?” She knew by now how changeling’s worked. They could detect the love in ponies just by being near them. But if a creature showed no signs of love in its heart, a changeling wouldn’t attack, and would instead become curious.

Nightmare chuckled, the sound low and cold. A bright aura began to glow around her horn. The changelings recoiled in fear. Her grin widened, a sadistic gleam in her eyes. “Do you truly think you are any match for me, you deluded abominations?”

The changelings hissed, fangs bared and forked tongues flicking the air. They charged towards the alicorn.

Nightmare cackled maniacally, her mane flowing in all directions like an extra set of limbs. A bolt of white lightning shot from the tip of her horn, striking one changeling and instantly burning it alive.

The second lunged at her, but was quickly caught with magic and thrown against the wall, the force of the impact cracking its skull and killing it, blood seeping from the head wound.

Suddenly, another attacked from behind, grabbing hold of Nightmare’s neck before biting down. The alicorn’s mane wrapped around the changeling like tentacles, reefing it off her body and tossing it to the floor in anger.

The changeling quickly recovered, hissing viciously. Nightmare scowled, raising her hoof before bringing it down again, crushing the changeling’s head with minimal effort. “Your kind really have become a disappointment,” she growled. “You’re even weaker now than ever. I overestimated you.”

More changelings suddenly began to appear from every direction, flying towards her and crawling on the ceilings and walls. Nightmare merely smirked as the swarm advanced rapidly. Multiple forks of lightning blasted from her horn, frying a few of the creatures in their tracks.

She cackled, her body morphing into a constantly moving mass of black and grey shadows. The dark inky mass grew two large, reflection-less eyes the colour of fresh blood, and a curved, fanged mouth, almost like a beak.

The changeling’s hisses and growls were cut short when the darkness lunged and began its slaughter.

One by one the enemies were destroyed, either being enveloped or strangled by the darkness, or literally eaten alive. Screeches of agony and fear echoed throughout the hospital.

Only when every single changeling was slain, did Nightmare return to her regular form. She exhaled deeply, surveying the scene around her. Blood was splattered onto the once pristine walls and stained the floor, seeping into the cracks in the tiles. At some point, a few lightbulbs had exploded, littering the ground with broken glass. The bodies of the three dead changelings from earlier still lay in the corridor in pools of blood.

It was then that she noticed something...glittering in the light.

Curious, she approached. Lying in blood beside a fallen changeling, was a small crystal. It was as black as her coat, and as shiny as a mirror. A crystal as black as night, with such a reflective surface...it was familiar.

Nightmare grinned, a half-crazed giggle making her chest shake. Oh yes, such a crystal was very familiar.

The giggling grew louder and louder, until it erupted into bone-chilling laughter. She threw her head back, her eyes closed. The laughter grew louder still, until it rang out through the entire hospital.

Doctor Redheart walked inside cautiously, confused by the apparent twisted amusement. “I-Is something wrong?”

Nightmare’s cackling ceased. She turned her head to the earth pony, her mane once again flowing in all directions. Her eyes were wide, the pupils turning to the size of peas. Somehow, her teeth seemed even sharper. “No…” she breathed, almost in excitement. “Not at all. He’s coming back. Oh yes...after so long he’s returning! This...will be...GLORIOUS!”