Eternal, Nightfall

The cottage was lit by candles and full of happiness. Even with how far away the stranger was, she could see three fillies jumping around, playing and just having a good time, then off to the side she saw another filly fly past the window. It was Nightfall, and just seeing how happy she seemed to be brought a tear to the observer’s eyes.

“Seven days, Nightfall. It has been seven days since they found you, and now look at how happy you are. I’m sorry,” she said to herself, then turned and started to walk away. “What do I do now? I was a fool to think I could handle this on my own.”

Your own? What about Twilight? A voice asked her.

“What about her? She’s not going to be happy in three days.”

Does her happiness really matter to you though? All you did was answer a filly’s cry for help.

“I know.”

You followed your gut and helped a filly who reminded you so much of yourself. So whose happiness takes precedence here: Twilight’s or Nightfall’s?

“I know, all right? But again, following my gut has only brought sadness now. Celestia, why am I talking to my own conscience?”

She promptly sat down and raised her head up to the night sky, and another thought came to her. “Maybe I could give her another week before I shatter her world?”

You could. You do have the power, don’t you? I mean, you should, considering all you’ve done so far. Her conscience remarked before it quieted down.

While she contemplated her next course of action, the cottage was slowly settling down.

“All right fillies, time for bed,” Bonbon spoke as she exited the kitchen.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all stopped jumping around and looked at Bonbon while Nightfall, who was hovering above the three, also turned her attention to the mare. All four fillies let out a defeated awwww, then gave her their best puppy eyes in hopes that she’d let them stay up a little while longer.

“You know that doesn’t work on me,” Bonbon told them, and giggled behind her hoof.

“C’mon now fillies, you got school tomorrow, remember?” Lyra said as she walked down the stairs.

Another round of defeated whines filled the room before Twilight and Spike walked in from the backyard, both smiling at the fillies.

“Come on, girls. I’ll read you a book before bed,” Twilight told the four of them.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders jumped gleefully then raced upstairs, nearly running Lyra over in the process, but once they were upstairs Nightfall was the only one who didn’t move. She lowered herself to the floor and looked back at Bonbon until Twilight and Spike followed the fillies up to their room, then frowned.

Bonbon and Lyra both smiled before Lyra made her way over to the couch and laid down on it. Nightfall dragged herself closer to Bonbon and looked up at her before she hid against the mare.

“I’ll tuck you in, Nightfall. Don’t frown, okay?” Bonbon said to Nightfall, then nuzzled the filly.

Nightfall silently nodded back before heading towards the stairs with Bonbon right behind her. Up in her room, Nightfall climbed into the bed and waited for Bonbon to close the door. After the door closed and Bonbon was pulling the blanket over Nightfall, the filly smiled softly and nestled herself in.

“There’s that smile,” Bonbon teased her, then booped the filly’s nose with her own and sat down. “Want me to tell you a story tonight, Nightfall?”

“That’s okay, Bons. Could you just stay with me until I fall asleep?” Nightfall asked instead.

“Of course I can,” she answered back warmly. “What do you want to do tomorrow, Nightfall?”

“Find my daddy,” Nightfall replied curtly to the question.

Of course. Bonbon thought to herself. “Then maybe tomorrow you and I can go for a walk into town. Maybe we can find some clues?” she suggested to the filly.

“Maybe,” Nightfall whispered back, “but how would anypony know if they’ve seen him?”

Bonbon tilted her head curiously to Nightfall’s question and seeing that expression, the filly closed her eyes and sighed. She was starting to feel bad for lying to Bonbon, but as with everypony else who asked about her mother and father, Nightfall was reluctant to divulge just who her parents were out of fear that if Bonbon knew that her mother was Nightmare Moon, she’d be tossed out immediately.

Bonbon smiled and began to hum sweetly to Nightfall. If she had learned one thing about this particular filly over the past week, it was that her humming seemed to calm Nightfall down and lull her to sleep. After Nightfall had finally fallen asleep and slumbered peacefully, Bonbon quietly slipped out of the bedroom and back downstairs to Lyra.

Still awake as usual, Lyra smiled and made room for Bonbon to join her on the couch. The two of them stared each other for a minute in silence before Lyra finally said something, and she said it with admiration.

“You’ll make a great mother someday, Bons.”

~==~==~==~==~

Not again…
No, not again. Not here. No!

Nightfall shouted to the blackened sky, but her voice went unheard amongst the empty streets of Canterlot. She shook with fear and felt her heart jam itself up into her throat as she looked around to the twisted deformations of what used to be trees and bushes; each now grotesque and gnarled like something right out of a horror flick.

“Daddy?” Nightfall cried out.

The air was silent and calm, almost too calm. It made Nightfall wheeze, and she started to look around herself as if she felt eyes staring at her from the shadows. She’s been having these nightmares now for two weeks and they always played out the same way.

Nightfall would always find herself in the deserted city of Canterlot, as she did now. Then an eery mood would set in, as it did, and she would feel like she was being watched. After her body was stricken with fright and frozen in place, she began to hear dark whispers all around her.

They always said the same things to her.

You were a mistake.
Momma never loved you.
Run to Daddy. He won’t want you soon enough.

And once they began to get to her she’d cower and curl up into a ball on the stony ground and cry uncontrollably, like she was doing currently. And as she wept, the voices continued, and they held nothing back as they drilled pain and suffering into her mind every minute.

“Daddy, where are you? Please, Daddy,” Nightfall whimpered.

Nightfall’s eyes snapped open upon hearing a new sound. It wasn’t one she remembered ever being in her bad dream, but it sent a chill down her back regardless. It was laughing at her, and it was a dark laugh. Afraid to move at all, the filly listened to it more closely until she heard it getting closer to her.

Closer? Was the laughter getting closer to her? This frightened the filly more now than ever, and it made her scream out in terror as she jumped up and spun around to look behind her. When she did so she saw who it was that was laughing at her. It was her very own mother.

“Momma?” she gulped in-between sobs.

Nightmare Moon just glared at her while she laughed. Why was Nightfall’s mother in her dream now? She wanted to wake up but she couldn’t. She was in a state of shock and with no control of her voice, she cried out.

“Why don’t you love me, Momma?”

“You’re worthless, Nightfall. Worthless like your father,” Nightmare Moon chided before fading away.

“What did I do?” Nightfall yelled.

“You were a mistake and nothing more. You are worthless,” Nightmare Moon whispered into her daughter’s ear.

Nightfall jumped and turned around, but her mother wasn’t there. “Why do you hate me? What did I do wrong?!”

It didn’t seem like she was going to get an answer from her mother as Nightmare Moon proceeded to ignore Nightfall’s question and continued to drive in just how much of a mistake the filly really was in her eyes. “Just like your worthless father, you’ll be alone forever.”

“Stop it!” Nightfall screamed back.

“And your new friends will disown you soon enough. So run while you can. Run to your father!”

Nightfall, being unable to hear any more from her hateful mother, turned tail and cantered as fast as her little hooves would let her. She ran through the empty streets and didn’t dare to look back. All she could do as she turned down one alley then another was listen to her mother’s condescending laughter that seemed to surround her, unending in its slurs of spite.

She soon came to the end of the road and was met by a very tall brick wall. The open road now seemed to creep in on her until there was nowhere left to run. What was she to do now? There was no way she could fly up to the top of the wall that impeded any chance of escape from the Tartarus she found herself in.

“What did I do to you, Momma? Why don’t you love me?” Nightfall whined as she shrunk down into the fetal position, shaking and sobbing as fresh tears began to fall.

Momma hates you, Nightfall.
You should just run away and never stop running.
Run to Daddy, Nightfall. Run to him and be worthless together.

The voices started back up and she grabbed at the sides of her head and purposely cried even louder in an attempt to tune them out. She did so until her lungs were exhausted, her mouth was dry, and her throat was scratchy.

And just when all seemed lost for Nightfall, a beacon of hope suddenly came to her. Unlike the cruel whispers that always put her down and filled her with doubt and sadness, the one she heard was sweet and enlightening. She opened her eyes and through her blurred vision, she thought she saw streaks of turquoise and purple, a dark plum-colored purple.

She wiped her eyes clean of the tears that distorted her vision and looked again, only to find that the pony she had thought she’d seen was no longer there. But where the vision of this angelic being was nowhere to be seen, she did hear its kind voice and the directions of where to go it told her. She stood up and looked around her to find herself no longer in Canterlot, but rather in Ponyville.

“Find me, Nightfall. I’ll wait for you at the train station for three days.”

“Why?” Nightfall asked.

“I’m sorry, Nightfall. Wake up now.”

~==~==~==~==~

She then heard another voice calling her name. This one was familiar to her, and Nightfall blinked. It was Bonbon’s voice, and she was shouting at her to wake up. “Nightfall, wake up! Nightfall!”

Nightfall’s eyes shot open and she gasped for air. The first thing she saw was Bonbon’s worried face, then she felt the mare shaking her until she realized that she was awake. Immediately Nightfall threw herself at Bonbon and wept, grabbing at the mare like a foal. After she felt Bonbon’s own hooves embrace her, her body started to shake less and less.

“I’m sorry,” Nightfall whimpered to Bonbon, “I’m sorry.”

“Hush now, little one. It’s okay now. You’re okay,” Bonbon answered back and proceeded to rub the back of the filly’s head in a comforting manner. “You had another bad dream, didn’t you?”

Nightfall nodded, afraid to look up at Bonbon or even speak to her; all she wanted to do was cry and feel somepony’s attention and to feel like somepony wanted her; both of which she was getting right now, but even while she started to feel safe again, she could not escape the harsh words she heard in her nightmares and without understanding why yet, she felt the need to run away. She had to find the mysterious voice that told her to find them in three days, although she didn’t know why. And out of everything, she felt something in the back of her mind urging her to trust this voice and to seek them out.