Nyx Returns

Chapters

1 Princess Luna's Most Faithful Student
2 'Princess Business'
3 Nightmare's Last Secret
4 A Warning From the Past
5 Nightmare Sparkle
6 The Power of Nightmares
7 A Visit to the Wonderbolt Academy
8 Justice is Served
9 Surprise Disclosure
10 Unity and Showdown
11 Aftermath
12 Bonds Remade
13 The Sun and the Moon

1 Princess Luna's Most Faithful Student

The impenetrable darkness that had been the backdrop for the night's flying began to part in a horizontal line trimmed with brilliant gold, providing the first hint of the coming dawn. The black alicorn filly still giggled with giddy excitement, intoxicated by a sense of elation that the freedom of the night sky had offered her.

She banked and rolled over into a gentle dive losing herself in the ecstasy of the moment, feeling the increasing wind resistance on her face as she built speed, her feathers rippling in myriad patterns created by aerodynamic forces she would never know the names of, and cared even less.

She closed her eyes and plummeted, waiting until the moment felt right before pitching up and feeling the g forces strain at her wings as they began to support much more than her bodyweight, while simultaneously sensing her whole body level out and then point heavenwards. Her speed bled away as she reached the top of her loop and lay inverted, waiting for gravity to restart.

“Be careful not to become disorientated” came the friendly mentoring voice beside her “It is easy to fall to one side if you are not careful.”
She pricked her ears to heed the calm voice of maturity, crystallised by hundreds of years of experience. Princess Luna was right, of course, and Nyx took stock of her position, recognising the onset of the lateral disorientation she had been warned of and corrected her attitude accordingly, rolling out of the loop perfectly.
“Thank you, Princess!” she called over in appreciation.
“You have made very good progress and I am most pleased, but night time is drawing to its end and I have duties to attend.”

Turning to her student, the Princess of the Night wrinkled her nose as a cheeky smile crept onto her face.
"Catch me if you can!" she giggled, looking over her shoulder to see the ebony coloured filly beating her wings frantically to join her mentor. Luna led them through a random sequence of beginner level aerobatics, smiling at the sound of Nyx's cries of delight as she did her best to keep up.

Nyx had paid no heed to where she was, just happy to be spending time with the mare with whom she shared aspects of a combined past. Originally, she had been scared of the regal alicorn who had stood as judge and jury over her actions as Nightmare Moon, fearing banishment to the moon for what she had done. Even Princess Celestia had been against her, her only ally in that dark hour being Twilight Sparkle who out of her infinite kindness had adopted her as her own daughter.

It had taken Nyx a long time to develop the confidence to see Luna as anypony other than the Diarch of Equestria, but through her Mom's gentle coaxing she had grown to see her as somepony more. Under Luna's tutelage she had begun to embark on a voyage of self-discovery, exploring the bonds that connected her to the night. This tuition had taken her down many different avenues, tonight's being one of the most fun and she hadn't wanted it to end.

Luna steered them unerringly back towards Canterlot, Nyx marvelling at the spectacle of the first golden rays glinting off the highest features of the great city. Luna lined up her approach with the confident familiarity of hundreds of years’ experience, taking a more conservative line than usual to ensure that the filly accompanying her would not clip herself on the wall.

Twilight was waiting for them on the battlements and felt a lump of pride catch in her throat as the two dark coloured alicorns drew into sight and appeared to skim effortlessly over the wall, wings outstretched and legs braced for landing. She marvelled at the obvious familial similarity they shared and secretly gave thanks that the two of them had cultivated a relationship of such closeness that could never have been imagined only a few short years ago. Although Twilight could teach her daughter much, it was evident that her heritage was born of the night, and hard as it was to accept, this was where her destiny lay; not as a librarian's assistant.

"Nyx, you looked amazing!" she called out, a broad smile on her face "Thank you so much, Luna!"
Luna finished furling her wings with a little flutter and dipped her head in recognition of Twilight's thanks, but was promptly caught a little off guard when Nyx wrapped her forelegs round her in a happy embrace.
"Thank you Princess!" she said, her words tripping over each other in her excitement "That was so amazing! Can we do it again tonight, please?"

Twilight caught her daughter's pleas across the still morning air and sprang into the air herself, gliding down to join them, interceding on Luna's behalf.
"Princess Luna has a lot of duties to perform; not just flying around with you" she observed.
Nyx looked a little put out, but begrudgingly accepted her Mom's gentle chiding.
"I will look forward to continuing your training next week" said Luna leaning down to give the excited filly a nuzzle "Do not forget to practice."
The shy filly still found herself a little overcome with overt displays of emotion from the Royal Princess whom most considered to be unreachable and aloof, even though she had been giving her lessons every week for months.

"Do you have the time to take a meal with my Sister and me?" enquired Luna, looking at Twilight expectantly.
"Why, thank you Luna" replied Twilight, somewhat surprised. She knew that the two Royal Sisters used the opportunity afforded by sharing a meal just after sunrise for Luna to brief Celestia on the night's events. This regular meeting was always considered to be very private because it frequently delved into affairs of State that nopony else should be privileged to hear, especially as snippets of gossip could easily be misreported as solid fact to disastrous effect. Indeed, Twilight could only recall a handful of occasions on which she had ever been invited previously and she furrowed her brow, suddenly speculating as to why both she and Nyx had been invited on this particular morning.

Apprehensively, she followed the midnight blue mare while her daughter skipped happily by her side, oblivious of the significance of her invitation.

The table had been set on the Royal Balcony, no wind ruffling the table cloth, four places set. As Twilight emerged onto the balcony she suddenly recognised that this was no ad hoc invitation, moreover one that had clearly been premeditated. Beyond the table was another door leading into the castle, and visible on the far side of that doorway was the unmistakable pure white form of Princess Celestia, clearly talking with somepony.

As the three alicorns walked over to the table, Celestia terminated her discussion and made her way out to join her guests.
"Good morning Sister" greeted Luna "Are you well rested?"
"Good morning Luna, Twilight and of course, Nyx. Thank you Sister, yes, I slept well and am looking forward to hearing all about the night's activities. But first, let us be seated."

Twilight's mind immediately jumped to the confidential reporting that she knew this meeting always entailed and started to feel that she and Nyx were encroaching. She was even more startled when she found her daughter to be the subject of Celestia's keen interest; startled and nervous. She recalled how Celestia had taken Nyx away from her before and immediately felt her guard raise; she was never going to let that happen again.

Luna reeled off the progress that Nyx had been making across all the subjects she had been teaching and rounded off her report with a resume of her flying skills. Celestia looked most impressed. Twilight felt her guard raise even more.
"Nyx" said Celestia "There's a buffet being kept warm for you through that door, if you would like to help yourself."
"Oh yes please!" she replied and then checked with her Mom before leaving the group.

Twilight felt uneasy that after having been invited to this meeting, Nyx had been sent out of earshot. The scenario seemed all too familiar. A tide of raw emotions surged through her; the previous broken trust and the betrayal, as well as the ultimate judgement when she, Nyx's adoptive mother had been forcibly excluded from proceedings. She gave a stiff nod of ascent that she hoped did not betray the rising anger she felt and Nyx scampered off happily to see what treats awaited.

"It's Nyx isn't it?" blurted Twilight standing suddenly, her rage finding its voice "If you're planning to take her away again, Celestia, I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU! SHE HASN'T EARNED IT!"

The Sun Princess opened her mouth to speak, but guilt formed a tight knot in her throat and she could only flinch as she soaked up Twilight's outburst of protective maternal aggression. She recalled how she had tricked Nyx away from Twilight once before and hated herself for it still. Of all the things she wanted to forget from her long life, this was among the highest, followed closely by her misjudging Twilight's warning that Cadence was acting out of character at her brother's wedding. On both occasions, Equestria had nearly been lost due to her own poor judgement. She had vanquished entire armies with less guilt than she felt towards her former student, who now, far from being the submissive filly of only a few short years ago, had developed a very pronounced protective streak towards her daughter as a result of Celestia’s own actions.

"No Twilight" interjected Luna as her sister floundered "That is not the issue. Nyx has shown unusual aptitude for magic; a talent of which she herself is not fully aware. All she can see is that her spells sometimes go awry and blames herself for lack of ability, whereas in fact the opposite is true; she has too much ability and does not know how to control it. Another day we can discuss opportunities to school her further, but I think perhaps now is not the right time."
Twilight calmed and Celestia wordlessly wiped fresh tears from her muzzle, still feeling the lilac pony's penetrating glare even though lingering shame prevented her making eye contact.

Peace between the grown-ups had broken out just before Nyx bounded back out to join them.
"Sorry I've been so long, only they had so many of my favourite things I couldn't choose what to put on my plate, so you want to know what they did?" she spouted enthusiastically "They gave me two plates! And they promised to carry them out for me!"
Nyx was so excited that she didn't pick up on the dissipating tension that had less than a minute before threatened the very harmony between the ruling Princesses. As Nyx had proudly announced, waiters followed on behind her with two plates piled high with delicacies. At the sight of royal protocol being driven through with all the subtlety of a herd of marauding buffalo, even Twilight's anger evaporated.
"Are you sure you're going to eat all that?" she asked incredulous.
"Of course I will Mom" came the reply "Flying makes a filly very hungry."

Following on behind Nyx's feast were three other waiters; two carrying a breakfast each for Celestia and Twilight, whilst the other brought Luna her dinner. Luna tried to make a show of enjoying her meal for Nyx's benefit, but the two other Princesses only pushed things half-heartedly round their plates; Celestia still feeling the occasional icy glare directed towards her.

Nyx continued to bubble enthusiastically, covering any awkward silences with a stream of anecdotes about her flying, leaving no doubting that this was the favourite subject she had been coached in so far. The meal drew to a close with Nyx finally having to admit defeat; she had almost gorged her way through the two platefuls, but had reached the point where there was no conceivable way she was going to clean both off to the pattern on the plates.

"I do not believe you will be able to show Twilight your new flying skills now!" quipped Luna.
Nyx contemplated the overly rotund sensation that had once been her empty tummy and returned her a look that may have owed its origins to shame, but ended in a broad grin.

With the meal over and no more smalltalk forthcoming, Twilight offered her grateful thanks and bade the Royal Sisters good morning, gesturing for her daughter to follow. Luna and Celestia stood up from the table to share a formal nuzzle with their guests, a tangible stiffness still hanging between white and lilac ponies.

"Do you think you can manage to fly home?" teased Twilight.
"Of course" replied her daughter quickly, then qualifying her impetuous statement a moment later "... Maybe..."

2 'Princess Business'

Twilight thought at length about what Luna had told her. She was alone in the library and the hour was late, but sleep would elude her until she had rationalised what she was going to do about Nyx. She was certain of one thing - nopony was ever going to take her away again without her permission.

She gave a deep sigh as she reflected on the inevitability of what had happened; firstly, Nyx had been born of an evil magic inherited from Nightmare Moon, not from real parents - strike 1.

Next, she had been created without the checks and balances in her personality derived from Luna before she was Nightmare Moon, as those memories had been reclaimed by Luna herself when the shreds had been left behind - strike 2.

Finally, at her judgement, Luna had extracted the memories of banishment and the actions that had led up to it, but in performing that act of mercy, what else had she accidentally removed or left in place? Did this constitute a strike 3, and even if it did, would she be prepared to watch as yet more punishment was handed down, even if it was for the good of Equestria?

She at least knew the answer to this last question - she would fight to the death to protect her daughter, her precious Nyx no matter what anypony said or did.

It boiled down to this; she trusted Luna more than she trusted Celestia, and if Luna was suggesting that Nyx had magic that was too powerful for her to control, then she would indeed need help in learning to master it. Fine, but who was best placed to help? The more she cast around for an answer, the more it became apparent that the responsibility clearly fell on her as not only her mother but also the Bearer of the Element of Magic.

She sat at her table, face in her hooves, wrestling with these difficult issues from different perspectives to try and see some way through, but every different approach seemed to lead to more and more unpalatable answers.

Gradually she started to become aware of another presence in the room and turned to see two beautiful turquoise eyes with vertical slit irises, framed by an inquisitive black face.
"Nyx" she said, gently stroking her black muzzle with her forehoof "It's late, you should be in bed."
"Actually, Mom" she replied "It's morning; I've just got up. Is everything alright?"
"Princess Business, that's all" soothed Twilight, stroking her daughter affectionately.

"I didn't do anything wrong when we had breakfast with Princess Luna or Princess Celestia, did I?" she asked tentatively.
"No Nyx. Like I said, Princess Business."
"That's alright then" said Nyx "Because she's always really nice to me and I wouldn't ever want to upset her."
"Even though she took your powers away and turned you back into a filly again?"

Nyx thought for a moment before answering "Yes. I was still a filly even though I was in a grown-up body with really scary magic. If I had wanted that magic and learned it for myself, I wouldn't have liked her to take it away, but I didn't ever really know what I was doing, only what I was told to do. I'm glad it's over and I can grow into the pony I want to be, not what somepony else wants me to be."
Twilight smiled at the strength of her daughter's moral conviction and was going to say something when Nyx continued "She could have banished me. I believe Princess Celestia would have."
Twilight felt that she ought to defend her former mentor, but she knew Nyx was right and couldn't bring herself to fabricate some mollifying lie, so let her daughter's opinion hang unchallenged.

Dear Princess Luna,

I thank you for having taken my daughter under your tutelage and am delighted to advise you of the high regard in which she holds you. The rich and varied curriculum you have devised is also stretching her physically as well as mentally, and I have been delighted to see her develop her interest in self-learning.

I have also given some thought to what you told me about her aptitude for magic and have both considered and dismissed every possible tutor within the School for Gifted Unicorns, for reasons I can explain on an individual basis should you choose.

Owing to her unique bonds with both of us and our particular talents in magic, I can only suggest we combine our skills and teach her ourselves. Whilst I recognise this places an additional burden on your time, I believe if we nurture and support her, then her talents can join with ours to support Equestria rather than potentially come to oppose us in the fullness of time.

I should welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.

With fondest regards,

Your friend

Twilight Sparkle.

"Spike, send this scroll please" she said, simultaneously putting down her quill and rolling up the letter she had just finished.
"Sure thing, Twi" he responded obligingly, exhaling a gout of green flame that relayed the scroll across the ether to its recipient in Canterlot. He had noticed the volume of traffic to Princess Luna increasing recently as that to Princess Celestia had been diminishing in direct proportion.

He also noticed how Twilight was presenting him with completed scrolls these days rather than dictating to him. This meant that he no longer knew what the messages contained - not that he was prying, but he did none the less feel more 'out of the loop' and was inquisitive as to what was going on. However, every time he asked, he was just told that it was Princess Business. In fact, he observed that this was increasingly being offered as the standard answer any time somepony asked her a question.

His reverie was punctuated abruptly as he belched up a sealed scroll marked for Twilight's attention.
"Want me to read it for you?" he asked with an air of outward expectancy that he felt unlikely to be fulfilled.
"Thank you, Spike" she replied "That won't be necessary."
"Anything your number one assistant can help you with?"
"No Spike ..."
"Uh, let me guess" he said, deflating, "Princess Business?"
"Sorry Spike, but there's ... things."
"OK, I get it Twi" he responded a little dejectedly.

Twilight unfurled the scroll and began reading. Sensing his moment, Spike continued "So I guess I should catch up on some comics then ...?"
"Uh huh" acknowledged Twilight absent-mindedly, her eyes busily tracking left to right across the scroll.
"Yes!" whispered Spike to himself triumphantly as he set off for his stash of comics.
He heard Twilight monologuing in that way she did when she read to herself, but didn't focus on the words - she always talked to herself when she read something interesting anyway.

"Secret stash ..." he picked up from her rambling and stopped in his tracks; how had she known?

He looked back at her and saw that her eyes hadn't left the scroll. That had been an uncomfortably close coincidence, so he decided to trot off as fast as he could without being rude.

Behind him, the scroll vanished in a puff of smoke. The magical impetus that caused the scroll's premature demise radiated outwards catching Spike unawares and sending a shiver through his body making him freeze on the spot, his eyes wide with shock. In a split second he realised he had the opportunity to turn back and behold some powerful and unexpected magical manifestation appear in the library, or make good his escape and hit his comics. He chose the latter, and once he had satisfied himself that Twilight wasn't in any danger, ran off before anything else weird happened.

The scroll from Princess Luna had only enjoyed a short life, but one that had conveyed a secret of huge significance. Twilight played the message over again in her mind's eye before she could have the chance to forget it:

Dear Twilight,

This is a magically sealed scroll.

The message will only appear if you take an oath never to reveal the content without my permission.

If you wish to proceed, say 'I promise Luna' and you will be bound by the oath for eternity. If you do not proceed, I will bear you no ill will.

Twilight's curiosity had of course got the better of her as Luna knew it would and as soon as she had pledged her oath, the remainder of the letter suddenly materialised before her eyes:

Dear Twilight,

When I fell out with my Sister, I could not have summoned the magic to become Nightmare Moon by myself. Instead, I drew upon long forgotten ancient texts written by the Mages of Unicornia that predated the unification of the three tribes.

Nopony knew they still existed, so I hid them in the Castle of the Two Sisters in a safe place under many layers of complicated spells. I am confident that to this day nopony has found them and that you, Twilight Sparkle, are now the only other living pony who even knows of their existence. This is a secret even from my own Sister. I have not looked at these arcane texts since my banishment, but I am prepared to retrieve them and direct you to those which will train Nyx's talents for good, whilst not showing her those that can, as in my case, lead to corruption of the soul.

In this way, she will reach her potential and become a powerful protector of Equestria and also one day a ruling Princess in her own right.

However, this power comes at a price; temptation. We will need to work together to keep each other in check as exposure to dark magic deepens the longing to satisfy personal desires, sometimes at high personal cost.

I tell you this because I trust you, Twilight Sparkle. We do not have to go this way, but if we do, we must be prepared for the consequences.

This message will now destroy itself leaving no record that it ever existed. Remember the oath you have taken.

Signed, Luna.

Twilight stood open-mouthed at what she had read and squealed as the scroll spontaneously combusted in front of her, a look of indelible shock etched on her face. Had she really read such a scroll from Luna? If so, then it surely bordered on being treasonous!

She paced vexedly as she always did when she was stressed, mulling over what she now knew. Although initially shocked, the more she thought, the more she came to convince herself that this was in fact the only way forward.

3 Nightmare's Last Secret

The castle had been built in a style that was intentionally imposing, and now in a state of incremental decay, the first impression presented by its jagged edges was nothing short of brutally sinister.

The sun had set an hour since and Twilight stood near the main entrance watching the myriad of sparkling stars emerge against the deepening velvet backdrop of the night sky. Although it was a warm night, she couldn't help feeling a shiver run through her as the castle reached out with its inanimate malevolence to run its icy fingers down her back.

She knew she was being silly of course; the castle was no more than a vessel for what had happened here a thousand years ago, or that is what she had believed until Luna had told her of the arcane dark magic that still waited somewhere within its walls.

The prospect of such powerful magic within her reach both shocked and fascinated her, an involuntary shudder of trepidation combining with the restlessness of unfinished business emanating from the castle. She had always felt a draw from this place and had put it down to the tragedy of Princess Luna and the loyalty she had felt for Celestia, but now she finally realised it was this magic calling to her. She was the Bearer of the Element of Magic after all - who else was it going to call to? She felt she was on the cusp of destiny; her fate could go one way or the other. On one hoof she didn't want to go forward for fear of the risks and the stakes, but equally she knew she would never find peace unless she answered its call.

"Good evening, Twilight Sparkle" said a formal yet soft voice from behind her.
She jumped, her reactions on edge and turned quickly to see the serene midnight blue form of the Princess of the Night.
"I apologise for startling you, Twilight" she reassured "I had to see for myself whether the items of our joint interest are still there; it has been a long time.
"And are they?" she asked, her heart in her mouth.
"Yes."

Twilight's heart skipped a beat.
"I have them awaiting our attention in a secluded room where we can study them without interruption."
Time seemed to have stopped for Twilight. Part of her was screaming to run away and forget all about it, but an inexorable force moved her hooves one at a time to draw up to Luna. She said nothing, just looked deep into her teal eyes, her inner turmoil heightened under Luna's gaze. After an extended pause she nodded weakly. The die was cast.

Twilight followed Luna through the castle, their way lit by ethereal blue flames that danced within the wall sconces. She thought she knew the castle's layout quite well, but it wasn't long before she started to feel that she was following unfamiliar passageways past unknown rooms.

Luna looked back at her companion periodically, a glint in her eye.
"Are you not interested to know where you are, Twilight Sparkle?" she enquired.
"Well, yes actually. I can't say I've recognised anything for a while now."

"Good, then the spell has retained its power" said Luna "You see, where you are does not exist; it is a projection of my imagination. If you take the wrong turn or go through the wrong door at any point, then you will be trapped forever roaming the recesses of an infinite maze. This then, is the first level of protection."
Twilight gulped. If this was only the first level, then what must the other security spells be like?

At the end of the corridor they were on, Luna opened the door and showed Twilight the interior, but barred her way with a foreleg.
"What do you see?" she asked.
Twilight peered in and said in surprise "An empty room with a door the other side with a sign on it - 'library'. Oh, let's go!"
"Not so fast Twilight Sparkle, remember there are traps. Describe the room to me."

The chastened look on the lilac pony's face changed to one of thoughtfulness "The room is unremarkable except that its ceiling is open to the sky."
"Does that not strike you as unusual?"
"Only now you come to mention it."
"Test for magic."

Twilight furrowed her brow and a magenta aura emanated from her horn "I got nothing" she said.
"Good" countered Luna "There is a spell preventing the detection of magic ..."
"Devious ..."
"If one is to enter without having first cast the requisite anti-gravity spell, then one would experience a sensation akin to falling upwards, but in fact one would be falling down into a dark pit. You see, that is not the sky where the ceiling is, but a deep hole; the room is inverted."
"Oh, Luna" gasped Twilight "That's so clever!"

"Would you care to proceed in safety?" she asked innocently.
Twilight nodded sheepishly, feeling in response the glow of Luna's aura flow through her and followed the midnight mare through the enchanted room.

Luna depressed the antique latch on the solid oak door and pushed it open. The interior was illuminated with the same ghostly blue flames in wall sconces as she had become used to in the corridors. Twilight smelled the waft that curled around the door jamb, regaling her senses with a mental image that was part library and part museum; all the types of places where she felt at home. A tremble of excitement ran through her body and she moved forward tentatively, her eyes growing wide as she took in the enormity of the repository. There was a rich variety of books, as one would expect, but also scrolls, tablets and other media she had never seen before.

"I should be surprised if you recognised more than one or two of the books in here, and probably none of the other items" said Luna factually without any hint of showing off as Twilight fought to find the words to express what she saw.

"I will allow you access to this library, but you need to be aware of one more spell protecting the magic in here; none of it may be allowed to leave. If it does, it will cause a magical imbalance on the ethereal plane akin to when Discord sensed us transferring our alicorn magic to you. Such an event would cause unwelcome attention from many quarters, and magical creatures you have never heard of would be drawn in to it from all the different realms. As a consequence, every item in here is individually protected."

Twilight took in the significance of what she was being told and nodded her ascent to Luna who continued "I draw your attention to the book on the table."
It was a deep volume in a dark hide covering, embossed with gold letters that Twilight recognised as being early Unicornian and a runic symbol she had not seen before. The tome smelled musty and when she opened the cover, the pages seemed to assault her senses, expressing resentment at not having seen learned eyes for far too long.

The enthusiastic librarian, having read all the known books at her disposal had turned to studying languages, both contemporary and also those that were no longer spoken. This gave her an advantage when it came to negotiating with foreign dignitaries and also developed an academic understanding of how the roots of all languages ever used in Equestria were all fundamentally linked. Never did she think she would be called upon to put these skills to such a practical use, and revelled in the opportunity laid out before her.

She looked through the titles of the chapters, equal emphasis appearing to have been placed on mind coaching and meting out varying types of destruction.
"Did you read all of these?" she asked.
"Yes" replied Luna sadly "I developed my ability to learn and because of my jealousy, used that potential for my own evil ends. For example, you will remember the different tricks I used to stop you and your friends when I first returned as Nightmare Moon; all that magic is in there.

"Do you believe we can teach Nyx without developing within her the same dependence for dark magic?" asked Twilight "She does carry your essence after all."
"In my case, I studied to get back at my Sister. Nyx does not have the same negative focus. If we do nothing, we have no idea where her power could end up being directed."

"How should we proceed?"
"I will show you the spells and exercises most suited to mind training and direct you past those that I consider the most dangerous. We will discuss them and we can teach her together. I suggest I introduce new topics on a weekly basis as I am currently doing with her already, and you reinforce her training with a daily routine."
"Very well, Luna. Let's start."

***

"Welcome Nyx" greeted Luna "We will be studying magic tonight."
Although Nyx did not want to sound ungrateful, she was really looking forward to more flying.
"Do you not approve?"
"Well, my magic always seems to go wrong, but I'm getting really good at flying. Perhaps I'm just more pegasus and less unicorn?" she replied, really wishing she could show off her flying skills.

"You are an alicorn and as such need to develop yourself in both. If you were a pegasus, then you would be looking to go to the Wonderbolt Academy but with no expectation of learning anything about magic. Similarly, if you were a unicorn, then you would be looking to go to the School for Gifted Unicorns but with no expectation of learning anything about flying. But you are an alicorn and that is why Twilight and I are taking the time to teach you ourselves. You hold a combination of the greatest talents across Equestria and we believe that it is incumbent on us to bring the best out from you."

Nyx hung her head sorrowfully "I'm sorry Princess Luna."
"But we will find time to fly after the magic lessons - Huzzah!"
Nyx immediately perked up at the prospect and set her mind to focus on magic.

Whilst nopony would ever forget how she had turned Fluttershy into a tree during Miss Cheerilee's 'Learn and Play Day', that had been before Luna had passed judgement and taken away her powers. Since then, nothing she had tried had quite gone as planned, and although basic magic such as that required to open doors and levitate small objects seemed to work, at least mostly, she had developed an unintentional penchant for turning things into oranges whether that had been her objective or not. If she focused really hard, then sometimes she could produce a tangerine, but her repertoire appeared to be heavily tilted in favour of orange coloured citrus fruits.

Luna sat the eager young filly down and explained the principles of meditation, then placed a goblet in front of her student.
"Now Nyx, once you have entered your meditative state, reach out to this object and picture it as a stick; believe that is what it is. Take your time and only direct your energy when you are ready."

There was a pause while Nyx screwed her eyes shut tight, a look of extreme concentration on her face and then something started to happen. Luna watched intently as an aura formed around the goblet, swirling mists coalescing together and growing brighter; reds oranges and yellows. She stared in disbelief as what should have been an elementary transfiguration exercise started to enter dimensions rarely seen outside the highest levels of sorcery.

Hurriedly, Luna uttered the words of a protection spell, the blue of her aura mixing with the deepening reds circling the now fundamentally irrelevant goblet, forming a deep purple colour that matched exactly that of Nightmare Moon's cutie mark. Luna recognised the symbolism immediately and started to feel a pull drawing her in, a familiar attraction that was as comforting as it was evil.

She fought against its magnetic appeal, feeling herself being pulled more and more fiercely, her eyes growing wide as she struggled to resist what she had once desired with not just all of her heart, but her very soul. The feel was seductive, tempting her with the attainment of all her most twisted dreams, promising her ultimate power if she agreed to let it consume her. She drew on her reserves of willpower, forming her mouth into a silent scream as she threw everything she had at resisting.

Suddenly it stopped as Nyx's turquoise eyes blinked open expecting to see yet another orange. The purple aura had vanished and its associated magic dissipated in the same instant, leaving Luna wide eyed and hyperventilating in stark contrast to the pervading silence of the room. Nyx was taken aback at her mentor's unexpected behaviour and let out a startled "Eeep!" before hiding under the table.
"Sorry Princess Luna, I'm so sorry!" she quavered.

Luna took a few more breaths to steady herself before she could think about composing an answer. There was no doubt left in her mind that the power within Nyx was growing strong and that she had, however inadvertently tapped into Nightmare Moon, reawakening emotions she had prayed were long gone.
"I am sorry child" she said in the most reassuring voice she could muster "I was working alongside you and must have got a little carried away; forgive me."

In reply she heard a tremulous but indecipherable response from under the table.
"Would you like some refreshment after your exertion before we commence our flying training?"
The thought of snacks followed by flying did the trick, and Luna watched as first a horn then two wide turquoise eyes appeared from under the table.
"Are you cross with me?" she asked apprehensively.
"Of course not. You have worked hard, and I am pleased with you."

Both alicorns simultaneously looked to where the goblet had once stood, and both were surprised with what they saw. Luna kicked herself for not checking sooner what toxic legacy could have been left behind before her young student could see, but it was too late now.

In place of the goblet was a stick, as instructed, but one that had obviously been worked and had once been highly polished, but now bore marks of much subsequent handling. Luna noticed also that it bore a series of symbols around its base and along its length.

Luna recognised it and recoiled in horror.

This could not have happened!

4 A Warning From the Past

Four fillies were laughing and giggling as a fifth, a yellow one with a big red ribbon in her mane held her forehooves to her eyes, facing a tree. Her friends scattered in all directions as they heard her counting down a sequence of numbers and quickly sought whatever cover they could find. There were lots of bushes around the clubhouse for those who found themselves short of time to hide, but equally they were places that the seeker would always check first as she began her hunt.

As far as Apple Bloom was concerned, she was counting painfully slowly, but her friends all heard the numbers tripping off her tongue as a rapid sequence with barely a pause separating them, adding to the urgency each felt in trying to find a hiding place.
"Ready or not, here I come!" she called, pivoting away from the tree and uncovering her eyes in one slick movement.

She composed herself and tapped into the second sight she possessed that made her so good as a seeker; something that she shared with Pinkie Pie, and provided further evidence that the Apple family and the Pie family were in fact related. Whilst not as strong as the party pony's legendary Pinkie Sense, this unusual talent still gave her a distinct advantage in finding ponies who were trying to hide from her.

In no time at all, she rounded up Scootaloo and Twist, but Sweetie Belle and Nyx eluded her. Not far away, a black alicorn hid in the shadows watching her hunter draw nearer and realised she would soon be spotted, so desperately wanted to find somewhere more secluded to hide. As she had been making such good progress in her magic lessons, she reasoned there would be no harm in casting a little spell to create a diversion and began to focus her aura onto a bush that would direct Apple Bloom away from her.

Nyx concentrated on making the bush rustle as if somepony was behind it. She imagined the bush in her mind's eye and really believed it would shake a little. Then the aura started to form; the reds, oranges and yellows swirling around the bush, consuming it. Apple Bloom shrieked and jumped away, running to hide behind a pile of logs where Sweetie Belle was hiding and knocked her flat.
"OK, you've found me, but there's no need to ..." she began, but Apple Bloom grabbed her face between her forehooves and pointed it at the swirling vortex where a bush had once grown. Sweetie Belle's eyes grew large and her mouth fell open before she too ran screaming toward the clubhouse, followed very closely by her friends.

Nyx decided that the bush had probably had enough of a shaking to create the necessary diversion by now, and opened her eyes again. She was surprised to notice that the bush was no longer there, and that in its stead was a smoking stump with the occasional burned leaf fluttering to the ground. Making the only probable connection between her use of magic and the freshly incinerated bush, she ran to hide behind the same pile of logs that had only recently been vacated by two of her best friends and fell to the ground shaking, covering her eyes with her forehooves.

Back in the clubhouse, four friends suddenly realised they were missing one of their number - where was Nyx?

They had faced so much together in the past, especially when Nyx had been terrorising the land as Nightmare Moon, that they weren't going to let something as mundane as a spontaneously combusting bush put them off finding their friend. Ignoring the possibility of further exploding shrubbery, they spilled out from the comparative safety of the clubhouse and made their way to the rising column of smoke that had up until recently been a perfectly content bush and spread out to find their friend.

Sweetie Belle found her first, going back to the last place where she had been hiding.
"Please don't be cross with me" sobbed Nyx in between her tears "I didn't mean to do it."
"Wow!" responded her friend in wide-eyed awe "You did that?"
"I think so ..." replied Nyx "But I've not done anything like that before; please don't tell Twilight, will you?"
"Well, if you're not sure whether you did it or not, then I don't see why you should have to tell her" said the white filly with a shrug "Especially if it might get you into trouble."
Nyx felt a little better for her friend's support, especially because she, as a unicorn was coming to grips with learning magic herself, and rose uncertainly to her hooves, still eyeing the smouldering remains of the bush with a sense of guilt.

Sweetie Belle turned back to her friend and commented offhandedly "As you were last to be caught, I guess you won the game!"
At this, Nyx perked up and followed her back to their friends waiting in the clubhouse.

***

"Thank you for seeing me today, Twilight" said Luna.
"It's pretty unusual to get a meeting invitation from the Princess of the Night during the daytime; it's got to be important. It's Nyx, isn't it?"
"Do you recognise this?" she asked, passing over the wand that she and Nyx had conjured.
"Not exactly, but it looks old."
"What about the markings?" asked Luna.
"No. Wait ..." said Twilight examining the artefact from different angles "Ah, yes - I see it now; it's early Unicornian!"
"Precisely."
"What has this got to do with Nyx?"
"She attempted a simple transfiguration exercise; turning a goblet into a stick ..."
"And Nyx created this?" interrupted Twilight incredulous.
"Not so much created but summoned, I think."

Twilight sat back, mouth open. "That shouldn't be possible!" she gasped.
Luna nodded seriously.

"Twilight, I have to let you into my confidence more than I should have chosen to. There are an increasing number of disturbances in the dark realm that I must address on top of which I appreciate all too clearly that Nyx's talent is leaving her exposed as being a potential conduit for the surplus of magical energy in the ether."
"Like a lightning rod, you mean?"
"Precisely. We must speed up our tuition so that Nyx has learned how to control her talent before she finds herself struck by lightning, as per your analogy."

Twilight shuddered as she contemplated the image; they both knew she would do whatever it took to protect her daughter.

"Come with me to the Castle of the Two Sisters."
This was no request and she knew she was expected to follow.

The two alicorn Princesses flew wordlessly the short distance over the Everfree, each alone with their own thoughts; Twilight mentally running through all possible avenues of maternal angst, while Luna wrestled with the prospect of letting her into her deepest and darkest secret.

They landed with understated elegance, Luna leading the way to her library. She stopped at the start of the maze and looked Twilight fixedly in the eye.
"I will ask you two questions and I expect you to answer honestly. If you had to choose between saving me or saving Equestria, which would you choose?"

She could see the internal conflict going on in Twilight's mind before at length she looked her in the eye "I choose Equestria."
Luna nodded her approval "Very well. Now, what if you had to choose between saving Nyx or Equestria?"
This time she watched as tears ran down her lilac muzzle.
"I know what I should answer, but I can't bring myself to say it! Please don't force me to choose!"
"I am disappointed, but not surprised. If the time comes to choose, Twilight Sparkle, you will remember this conversation."

Twilight hung her head in shame and prayed that such a choice would never be hers to make.

"As I said earlier, our time is limited and I have no more to give. Consequently, you must be the one to research Nyx's magic and the threats she faces, and you must do it without me. Therefore, I will show you how to get into my library alone. Be careful Twilight Sparkle; if you make a single mistake, you will never be seen again."
Twilight baulked temporarily at the responsibility she was being given and then looked Luna in the eye to accept.

"Very well. You are a scholar Twilight; what is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter?"
"Easy, that's pi; 3.14159265 ..."
"As we enter the maze, take the third turning on the right ..."
"Oh, I see" interrupted Twilight "Then the first left, fourth right ..."
"Yes" said Luna "A good little trick that is easy to remember, but only follow it for four numbers."

They followed the simple mnemonic until they stood by the door to the anti-gravity room and Luna shared the spell, letting Twilight cast it to ensure it worked properly for her too. They walked through the enchanted room safely and then opened the door to the library, noting everything to be as it was when they had left it before.
"I shall not tarry here as I have business to which I must attend" said Luna placing the wand on the large reading table "But first ..." she tailed off as she scanned the bookshelves, clearly looking for something.

She produced an old tome about ancient Unicornian magic symbols and incantations and flicked through it, leaving it open at one particular page. Then she turned back to Twilight "Close the door now and conduct us out back into the castle please, remembering to count the number sequence backwards."

Twilight did as she was bidden, and they were soon back into the real castle.
"I must leave you now, Twilight Sparkle. Use this library as you see fit, but remember the responsibility that goes with it."
Then Luna spread her midnight blue wings and sprang effortlessly into the air for the journey to Canterlot to confront her full agenda, and some sleep too, if time would allow.

Twilight meanwhile re-entered Luna's maze, knowing that any incorrect move would spell her certain demise, whether she was a close friend of the Princess of the Night or not. She navigated the maze, counting and double-checking each intersection and every turn, arriving at the correct door with her heart in her mouth. What if she had miscounted? Would she run around the maze forever or would she fall to her doom?

Twilight opened the door, cast the spell and prayed, relieved that she did not feel any sickening uncontrolled falling sensation, then entered the library on her own, heaving a heartfelt sigh of relief.

Briefly checking the wand to be where it had been left, she trotted over to peruse the rich variety of texts and tutted; such a unique collection deserved a better indexing and cross-referencing system. Shaking her head, she cast her eyes over the different titles making random "Ooooh!" and "Aaaah!" sounds as she got to grips with the scope of the repository of knowledge to which she had now been gifted privileged access.

After a while, her attention drifted back to the book that Luna had left open on the table, reasoning that she would have only done so had it been important. Drawing closer, she noticed a beautifully embossed illustration of a familiar looking object and furrowed her brow as she turned the book to face her. She held her breath as she translated the heading 'The Wand of Fulfilment'. What in Equestria was this and what could have caused it to appear thousands of years after it had clearly ceased to be relevant?

She turned page after page of writing from long forgotten generations, some interspersed with artistically embellished illustrations and sketches demonstrating specific scenarios of this artefact in operation. Images of destruction were more prevalent than she had been expecting, causing her to consider the turbulent past wherein the peace of modern day Equestria had finally been forged.

Returning to the beginning to start her word by word translation of the text, her pupils visibly shrank as she worked down the page, then she stood back and gasped, staring at the wand as if it were a venomous snake. Out of habit, she marked the page with a silk ribbon that had been sewn into the binding at one end and carefully closed the book, forehoof trembling.

Twilight left the library, remembering the precise routine to be followed for effecting a safe exit and soon found herself back in the castle. It was still dark, and it looked like it would be another night with insufficient sleep. She stretched her wings and took to the air, contemplating briefly whether she should fly to Canterlot to tell Luna immediately of what she had found, but soon dismissed the idea once she realised how tired she felt and headed home instead; at least she could get a few hours sleep.

In the east, the sky started to grow light.

5 Nightmare Sparkle

Dear Princess Luna,

I have traced the wand, and it is early Unicornian as I suspect you already knew. It was known as the 'Wand of Fulfilment' and granted three spells to its bearer after which it extracted their soul and condemned them to eternal torment.

Its power was wielded by the High Mages initially for the benefit of the unicorns, but in those warlike times this soon cut down the number of senior ranking Mages, so after a while they cultivated a pool of willing acolytes who did as they were told and were then casually discarded to eternal damnation once the magic had run its course.

Over a period of time, its power was used for increasingly trivial wants and the acolytes could see their lives being sacrificed on an arms race between rival Mages for the building of ever bigger palaces and rebelled, allegedly destroying the wand thousands of years ago.

If this is the genuine artefact, and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, then it must stay in your library. We must also be on our guard for what else Nyx may summon as we cannot allow such powerful items to be inadvertently used as playthings. I do not need to elaborate further on what effect that may have.

I also believe you know more about this item than you have so far seen fit to share with me. I hope you will allow me into your confidence, so we may discuss further.

Meanwhile, I shall be discouraging Nyx from further magic and focusing instead on flying until we can be assured that both she and everypony else will be safe from her unintended talents.

Your friend,

Twilight Sparkle

Luna sighed. She already knew all about the Wand of Fulfilment, as she had tried to summon it a thousand years ago in her misguided quest for revenge against her sister and Equestria's 'precious sun-loving ponies'. She reflected on her actions at that time and felt the full weight of shame and guilt bear down on her. All the time she had sought this wand it had eluded her, and now she had reformed her ways, it presented itself, providing her a sorry reminder of a past she wanted desperately to leave behind.

Luna shook herself out of her self-pitying mood and cleared her mind to rationalise. She was tired; there was a surge of magical activity in the dark realm that was demanding her attention - at least now she knew one of the causes; the sudden arrival of the Wand of Fulfilment.

***

"Thanks for coming over to help Nyx out with her flying guys" said Twilight to her two best pegasi friends.
"No problem Twilight" said the demure primrose animal lover "We'd be happy to help."
"We'll turn her into Wonderbolt material in no time, Twi!" added Rainbow Dash confidently.
"Shall we have a bite of lunch first?" suggested their hostess "I've got something ready just in case ..."

With nods of approval all round, the three friends filed through into the dining room where Nyx was helping set up.
"Hey Squirt, how ya doin'?" called the rainbow maned display flier "Heard you've been flying the wings off Princess Luna!"
Nyx blushed that the news of her night time lessons had reached the ears of everypony's favourite Wonderbolt, and became tongue-tied.

Fluttershy eased the tension by floating over to her side and chiming in "Did you do it at night time?"
Nyx nodded in response.
"I don't ordinarily like flying at night myself" said the shy pegasus "But I did it when I was a bat - can you imagine me as a giant yellow bat?"
The thought of this picture put a smile on Nyx's face and she giggled as Fluttershy joined in and gave her a gentle nuzzle.

"Lunch is served!" called Twilight, summoning the four of them to their places, all lovingly set by Nyx.
Rainbow sat next to Twilight with the other two friends opposite them, Nyx helping Twilight serve out the delightful treats that had been prepared for them. They all started, Fluttershy taking dainty nibbles while Rainbow stuffed her mouth full as she regaled the star struck filly with stories of her daring exploits.

"Nyx, would you pass the salt please?" asked Twilight.
The black filly obligingly focused her aura onto the salt cellar and was levitating it before her Mom could stop her. A red, orange and yellow ball started to form on the table, engulfing the cruet before Twilight could react.
"Nyx, no!" she cried, focusing her daughter suddenly onto what was happening before the astonished guests.

Nyx dived under the table whimpering apologies as the silver salt cellar took to the air on a pair of matching silver wings that it hadn't possessed only a few seconds earlier. It circled around the dining room in the manner of a small bird before Fluttershy held out a forehoof for it to land on.
"Well hello, Mister Salt Cellar" said the animal lover with her calming sing-song voice, reaching out with her other forehoof to stroke its back, gently crooning "There, there ..."

Rainbow and Twilight watched dumbstruck as their friend soothed and comforted the strangely enchanted condiment that was behaving just like a real bird, even fluttering its metal wings in response to Fluttershy's attentions. Under the table, Nyx was crying, terrified that she would be told off and ostracised by two very special friends.
"Come on out Nyx, no harm done" called her Mom in a soothing tone "Fluttershy's looking after it now."

The familiar wide turquoise eyes peered out over the table and didn't see any anger looking back, just surprise from Rainbow, a contented smile from Fluttershy and a supportive smile from her Mom. Confidence rising, she raised the whole of her face, but her eyes still looked scared and her lip was trembling.
"Hey Nyx" cut in Rainbow "That was one pretty neat trick. Know any others?"

"I think that's quite enough magic for one mealtime" said Twilight, stepping in to defend her daughter "Shall we continue with lunch?"
The three friends resumed their places and Nyx re-appeared to take her seat once more, the salt cellar hopping around contentedly on the table top and fluttering its wings periodically, checking out each of the guests in turn as an inquisitive spectator while they finished their meal.

Flying practice was an opportunity for Nyx to leave her worries behind as she learned speed and aerobatics from Rainbow, but learned equally as much about gentleness and grace from Fluttershy, both commending her highly for her progress. Twilight had to admit that she learned a trick or two from her friends as well, and was grateful that her daughter had completely immersed herself in this activity, enabling her to forget about all the strange events that they had both come to associate with her magic.

Later that evening, Twilight put her tired filly to bed and read her two bedtime stories, tucking her up and giving her a loving kiss goodnight.
"Mom" she said sleepily "If you do something and something else happens, but it might not be you that made it happen, is it still your fault?"
Twilight felt a sudden wave of panic run through her, but suppressed it and asked softly "Is there anything you feel you want to tell me?"
"It's only that we were playing hide and seek and Sweetie Belle said it wasn't a problem” she let out a tired yawn, then added sleepily “and then I won the game."
Twilight let out a gasp of relief - it was about nothing more than winning an innocent fillies' game. At least it wasn't anything to do with magic.

***

"Twilight Sparkle" Luna addressed the younger Princess "The dark realm is under attack like never before. My Sister is unable to exercise her magic in the night and Cadence's love magic finds few allies in the darkness. It is therefore as the Bearer of the Element of Magic and the most versatile practitioner of all the alicorns that I must come to seek your assistance."

They stood in Luna's chambers within the Royal Castle. The night was warm and the moon had risen. Twilight had flown up at the express behest of the Princess of the Night, and stood facing her now, looking up into her teal eyes.
"Of course Luna, what is it you want from me?"
"I require your presence with me in the dream realm."

A shudder ran through Twilight as the full enormity of Luna's request sunk in. This was Luna's personal domain, maintained on behalf of all of Equestria by her essence alone; she could not issue an invitation to anything more personal or more private. Even though lovers may have come to know her likes, her hobbies and even her body, none had ever had such an invitation extended to them. Twilight knew the bond of trust Luna must have felt to be able to extend this invitation, and understood instinctively there was only one answer.
"I accept."

Luna nodded her approval "Very well Twilight Sparkle, we have much to accomplish."
She produced a livery collar that looked to be an exact duplicate of her own.
"Wear this" she commanded, then Twilight felt Luna's aura slip it over her neck. She allowed herself a quick look in the mirror and felt a shiver of pride to see the distinctive livery collar emblazoned with the crescent moon hanging around her own neck.

Luna caught her eyeline and quipped "Nightmare Sparkle, perhaps?"
The dark humour caught her off guard and she flustered for a moment until she cottoned on .
"Yes Luna, I sentence everypony to eternal cross-referencing within my infinite library!" she joked back.
"A quite horrifying prospect" commented Luna, a wry smile starting to form on her face "Eternal Night seems a much less frightening concept by comparison, I think."
They shared a smile that reflected their trust, their love, but above all, their friendship.

"Come now Twilight Sparkle, we must do this together" said Luna, leading her newly deputised companion along a well-trodden path to a point where they could leave behind the physical reality of Equestria at slumber. From here, they would be able to emerge onto a higher plane, one where the myriad possibilities afforded by every ponies' dreams provided the prevailing reality - the dream realm.

Twilight had entered different transcendental states before but was amazed at how this one was not focused on herself as the enlightened traveller, but instead on a jumble of bubbles, each being a current dream reality from a pony asleep under the comforting tapestry of the night sky.

"In this state we can see, but cannot be seen unless I as the dream walker choose to communicate. The ability to reveal oneself to the dream caster does involve further magic, and this is perhaps something we can explore at another time. However, for now we must focus our attention on Ponyville and look for Nyx's dreams and also anything that looks wrong."
"But how will I know what looks wrong?" enquired Twilight "I'm a bit new to all this."
"If I am right, you should not be left in any doubt."

They drifted around from bubble to bubble, Twilight seeing a number of familiar faces, but not stopping long enough for anypony to label her as voyeuristic. If she noticed anything, it was how often certain attractive young mares appeared in so many dreams, clearly being the subconscious centre of attention of so many stallions and mares alike. Particularly popular seemed to be the florists Lily, Daisy and especially Roseluck, either individually or together in some scenarios that made Twilight blush and quickly move along.

"Twilight Sparkle, look!" called Luna, snapping Twilight away from some young stallion’s amorous aspirations and gesturing to a swirling mass of reds, oranges and yellows "I should wager we have just found what we seek."
Twilight's protective maternal response kicked in and she headed over in a flash, only to be intercepted by a midnight blue foreleg.
"No, it is not safe" warned Luna "We must approach with caution. My magic has already encountered this force and the Wand was the result; we do not know what may result in this realm."

Cold logic had its place, reasoned Twilight, but at the centre of that maelstrom could be her daughter and she would willingly sacrifice herself a hundred times, a thousand times or more just to ensure her safety. What could Luna know of the bond between mother and daughter anyway? By what right did she expect to intercede between mother and daughter when she knew nothing of motherhood herself? Who was Luna to tell her what ...

"Twilight! Twilight!" shouted Luna, shaking the lilac Princess by her shoulders "You must move away! It is feeding off you!"
She shook her head and a heavy blanket lifted from her mind just long enough for her to heed Luna's warning and pull back.
"Sorry, I ... I ..." she tailed off.

"It is alright Twilight" said Luna reassuringly "We will face this together."
"Yes" replied her friend with renewed resolve "Yes we will."

The two Princesses stood back at a safer distance and took stock of the situation.
"We don't even know for certain whether Nyx is in there" observed Twilight optimistically, "Right?"
Luna just stood stoically, her prolonged silence providing the most unwelcome of answers.
"One of us must confirm your assumption" she said eventually, her unblinking gaze focused on the swirling entity "We dare not risk attacking it if she is in there, but equally we cannot ignore it and allow it to grow."

"I am her mother" volunteered Twilight "I'll go."

"I do not suppose there is anything I can say that will make you change your mind?"

"I would lay down my life for her; I cannot ask that of you."

6 The Power of Nightmares

Author's Note

For those readers who wish to avoid a disturbing scene that includes some 'T' rated gore, please scroll down to the "***" marks.

For those who choose to skip past the gore, an 'E' rated summary is as follows:
Twilight enters the glowing maelstrom and gets drawn in with a disturbing nightmare sequence concerning Nyx whom she struggles desperately to protect, but only succeeds in becoming trapped as the glowing entity seems to set around her like glue. Once completely immobilised, she is forced to watch the horrible sequence over and over again until it eventually melts away around her and is shocked to see that Luna has freed her using the Wand of Fulfilment, even knowing what it will do to her.

6 The Power of Nightmares

Luna pointed her horn towards Twilight, her eyes lingering over the livery collar emblazoned with her cutie mark. She had never permitted anypony else the privilege of wearing this sacred vestment before, and as out of place as it looked, it provided her a stark reminder how much she trusted this young alicorn; the Princess of Friendship and the Bearer of the Element of Magic.

Her aura reached out to Twilight and covered her in a blue glow as she prepared her as best she could for what lay ahead.
"You now not only have as much protection as I can summon, but are also gifted with the power to communicate with those whose dreams you enter; you are a fully appointed dream walker. It was not my intention to provide all of this to you at this time, but once you go in, I will have no way of being able to help you. You will be on your own, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight nodded her thanks to Luna and took a deep breath, steeling herself as she faced the glowing maelstrom and allowing herself one final tentative look back over her shoulder at the self-possessed Princess of the Night. Then, she turned back to face her destiny with as much confidence as she could muster, gritted her teeth tightly and walked into the spiralling mass.

The brightly coloured entity felt like molasses, sticking to every part of her; grabbing at her legs, her wings and every part of her body, impeding her progress and slowing her movements. She was moving forwards, but there was no denying that it was getting harder to make any headway and she began to feel like a housefly caught on flypaper, every move getting her more and more stuck.

Ahead of her she could see the brightly coloured lights fading to reveal an image of Nyx, her beloved Nyx, happily playing chase with her friends. As she watched, one by one of her four closest friends began to morph into more demonic looking forms; sprouting extended claws and fangs more suited to the most fearsome meat-eating monsters that dwelt in the deepest recesses of the Everfree rather than the friendly little fillies she knew.

As Nyx became aware of the danger, she tried to run away but the four monsters ran around her in a circle, corralling her away from any cover she may have been hoping to reach. Now they got closer, she could see the cannibalistic blood lust leering out through their beady eyes, their intentions frighteningly clear. Nyx was encircled with no escape and cried out in panic for her Mom to come and rescue her.

"I'm coming!" screamed Twilight, desperately surging against the sticky mass that seemed to be hardening around her.

The monsters had Nyx in their grasp now and Twilight watched helplessly as they pulled her daughters’ wings cruelly, taunting and teasing as they all took turns to slash flesh wounds into her defenceless body. Twilight tried to use her magic, but found that every spell and enchantment failed to make the leap from her mind to her horn which refused stubbornly to light. With magic denied to her, Twilight redoubled her efforts to forge on through the stiffening morass, stretching every sinew and forcing every muscle beyond any maximum level of exertion she had ever known.

The four malevolent monsters in deceptively innocent pastel shades; one white, one orange, one yellow and one beige were now twisting Nyx's wings to grotesquely unnatural positions and pulling harder as they threatened to tear them off her body. Eventually, horrifying sounds of ripping wing cartilage mixed with her continued cries for her Mom, desperate for the nightmare to end. Twilight wept hot tears of anguish and screamed back that she was coming, but it was now becoming horrifically clear that she would not be able to save her daughter from the relentless savagery unfolding before her.

She physically could not struggle any harder and although she had got far enough through the binding constraint of the enveloping morass around her to see such horrors in disgusting clarity, the sensation of being encased in setting glue was stopping her breaking through the last few feet.

Satisfied with their gruesome work in having now broken both of the alicorn's wings, the pastel monsters set about amusing themselves by proceeding to systematically break each of her legs, the snapping and tearing sounds amplified in Twilights’ ears as she watched on, powerless. She screamed in her impotent rage and strained against her increasingly indelible bonds, as still her daughter's pitiful cries for help rang out unanswered over the relentless barbarism.

As if in response to the lilac alicorn’s anguish, the savagery of the torture increased as the now completely immobile Twilight could only watch in despair as her daughter's innocent light faded from whatever hellish reality she found herself in. As she felt her prison finally solidify around her exhausted form, she let out a scream of the most heartfelt anguish and then to her horror, the bloodied corpse of her daughter turned its head to look towards her Mom through sightless eyes as the last life ebbed away.

Twilight sobbed uncontrollably at her failure to protect her beloved daughter, and as she watched, the scene before her wound back to the beginning again. There was Nyx playing happily with Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Twist. Twilight cried out with her voice and also through the magic that Luna had given her to communicate with those who were in the dream state, but nothing seemed to catch the attention of the naive little Nyx, and she was forced to watch the entire horror play out before her once more. She felt physically sick and forced down her rising bile as she felt her heart break all over again.

She lost count of how many times the horrendous nightmare played out until suddenly the scene and her captivity both melted away. She was back on the ethereal plane once more. Everyponys' dreams were all around her and there was the comforting midnight blue form of Princess Luna. Twilight ran over, grateful beyond measure to be free of her nightmare to give Luna a nuzzle of relief and a hug of gratitude.

Luna did not respond. Twilight looked more closely and saw that Luna held something aloft in her magic. She stopped dead in her tracks; it was the Wand of Fulfilment.

Luna had bought her release with an evil magic that would eventually come to claim her soul.

Twilight stared aghast.

"Luna, what have you done?" she asked. Her tone was going to be a demand, but the blue alicorn’s frozen demeanour pointed to something being wrong, badly wrong.

Luna stared into nothingness, unblinking.

"It started growing in size and power" she said quietly "It must have been feeding off you. As custodian of the dream realm it was my responsibility to stop it. It did not respond to any of my magic, so I had no choice but to summon something that would vanquish it."
"No Luna, no!" cried Twilight "I am not more important than Equestria! You knew that! You should have left me!"

Luna shook her head sadly.
"This is my realm. It is mine to protect. I had no choice."
"But Luna, if you are lost to Equestria, then there will be no dream walker to protect ponies in their sleep!"
"Another will take my place. You forget what you wear, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight felt the livery collar around her neck. It had suddenly become very heavy with the realisation that Luna could be grooming her to take on her duties.
"No Luna! No, no, no!"

"It is funny really" she continued "All the times I sought its power for selfish gain, it remained out of my reach, but when I needed it to protect others, it was there. I believe this is called irony."
"But it will claim you - the book said so!" cried Twilight.
"Yes, but not at the first use. I have time yet, but only if we can find a way of defeating this foe."
"You don't think it's coming back, do you?" gasped Twilight, shocked.
"Almost certainly, Twilight Sparkle, and we must be better prepared next time."

They exited the dream realm together and returned to the reality that was the Royal Castle in Canterlot. Once behind closed doors, Luna asked Twilight what had happened to her to make her give over her strength and her magic to the swirling entity. She sat impassive as Twilight explained in harrowing detail what she had experienced.
"I do not think it is coincidence that the imagery became more graphic the further you progressed; it wanted to incentivise you to struggle more so that it could extract as much as it could from you. No matter how hard you had pushed, it would have still held you. No, we will have to be cleverer, much cleverer in how we deal with it."

Twilight began to shake with the delayed shock of what she had been through. She couldn't help it, but she felt so weak and unworthy next to the calm and composed presence beside her. Luna sensed the emotional overload her friend had experienced and spread a wing over her, drawing her in close to her warmth. Twilight tried to resist, doing her best to maintain a controlled facade and managed to hold back her feelings for no more than a few short seconds before burying her muzzle into Luna’s midnight blue coat and starting to sob. A lump rose in her throat and although she did her best to hold it back, it broke and released a floodgate of raw emotion that she didn't think could be possible. Luna was ready for it and mothered her as the gentle strangled sobs turned into a deluge of full throated cries and Twilight clung to her like a scared filly to her mother.

***

The next morning, Nyx bounced happily into breakfast to give big hugs to her Mom and Spike, proudly announcing that her run of nightmares had stopped. Twilight returned her hug and playfully ruffled her mane in a display of maternal affection. The news of the nightmares was not unexpected and provided confirmation of what she had seen in the dream realm, but she was glad that Nyx had no recall of the other aspects of her dreams.

Once breakfast was finished, Twilight enquired what plans Nyx had for the day and took a sharp intake of breath when she heard her daughter say that she intended to play out with her friends. She rationalised that what she had seen in the dream realm was nothing but that - a dream, and there really wasn't anything to worry about. However, she resolved to swing by once or twice just to check that everything was alright; just in case.

Twilight found the promise she had made to herself increasingly difficult to keep as the answers to the problems facing Nyx in the dream realm did not lie in her own library but moreover in Luna's secret library in the Castle of the Two Sisters. At least the journey was not far and did not entail going all the way to Canterlot, but it was still absorbing a lot of her time; Princess Business as she informed Spike and Owlowiscious on an increasingly frequent basis.

She threw herself wholeheartedly into her research, but always now felt the need to keep an eye on the time so she could go back to check on Nyx; the nightmare had frightened her to the core. Back at the Golden Oak library, Spike was delighted that he hadn't had to reorganise the books for a whole fortnight now, a feat unparalleled in recorded history. He spent his time quite happily reading comics and paying lip service to everything else that Twilight had put on his agenda.

Progress was slow. There was so much new material for Twilight to absorb that she kept drilling down into minutiae that appeared to be of little more than academic interest, but keeping her librarian's insatiable instinct for cross-referencing satisfied.

If one feeling trumped her increasingly protective maternal instinct it was her growing awareness that as the Bearer of the Element of Magic, how little magic she had actually known. Access to Luna's library had allowed her knowledge to increase exponentially and she was trawling voraciously through the collected magical writings, taking her understanding to new heights that she had never foreseen. For once it was not her love of learning that motivated her, more the sense of urgency she felt to protect Nyx and Luna now she knew how much they were relying on her. If Luna's suspicions were right, then this thing, this dreadful being that fed on magic and nightmares would be back and she had to be ready.

She now knew the answer to Luna's question; whilst she did place Nyx above the safety of Equestria, she also placed Luna's safety above her own and knew she would allow herself to face eternal torment within this remorseless parasite rather than allow Luna to use the Wand again.

She got back to her work.

7 A Visit to the Wonderbolt Academy

Nyx soared above the few isolated stratocumulus clouds that had been left by the Weather Team at Rainbow's request as convenient places to take a nap. Her self-confidence had taken big leaps forward with the increased number of flying lessons Twilight had arranged to keep her away from magic and she relished the day's practice with her Wonderbolt teacher.

Twilight had called in favours from the pegasi she knew best, in particular Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but Rainbow had other responsibilities as a weather pony and a Wonderbolt as well as having the right to a private life. Further, although Fluttershy was willing to help, she wasn't confident in the high-speed flying and aerobatics that her daughter craved, in addition to which she took her responsibilities of animal husbandry very seriously and had sick critters that needed her time too.

Fortunately, Rainbow had stepped in to help out by calling in a favour from Soarin; something to do with a pie, she had said. That was why Nyx was currently flying over Cloudsdale next to a light blue stallion.
"Hey kid" he called out "You're doing really well - most pegasi of your age can't even fly!"
Nyx blushed at the compliment and performed a perfect roll in celebration.

"Can you see the Wonderbolt Academy down below?" he asked "Do you want to take a look at our famous Air Obstacle Course?"
The excited filly couldn't believe her luck and gave him a broad smile, nodding her head enthusiastically.
"OK kid" he said with a hint of mischief in his eyes "Let's see if you can keep up!"
He rolled over and dived down, making sure not to exceed Nyx's flying abilities and give her the impression she was beating him.
"Hey, hold on and wait for the old timer to catch up, won't you?" he called as she giggled in delight at her perceived victory.

Once he had caught up to her, he lined them up on the runway for a low level high speed burn-up, the two of them as low as he dared and as fast as she could manage. She bubbled with excitement as she saw a flight of Wonderbolts acknowledge their approach and stop respectfully at the side of the runway.

The display fliers watched amazed to see an alicorn fly along their runway; none of the four ruling Princesses had ever done such a thing in living memory. For her part, Nyx assumed their admiring glances to be out of respect for her precision high speed flying and grinned with pride, while Soarin frantically ran through the excuses he could present to Spitfire later in the day.

At the end of the runway, they banked together and he put them down on the side festooned with a fearsome selection of mechanical devices.
"Hey Nyx, that was quite a show you put on back there. Do you think you may one day have what it takes to be the first ever Alicorn Wonderbolt?"
She was so excited she could barely speak and let out a "Squeeee!" sound, nodding her head in violent affirmation.

"OK then" he chuckled at Nyx's evident enthusiasm "This is the famous Wonderbolts Air Obstacle Course. Some of the more scary bits aren't working right now, but I'll show you the rings if you like."
Nyx was spellbound; the prospect of being invited to participate in even a small part of the Wonderbolts training was a dream come true - even Rainbow Dash hadn't allowed her in to the Wonderbolt Academy!
"Just stay here and watch me first, then if you feel ready, you can give it a go yourself. One word of caution though, these things hurt; you can put yourself in hospital if you bump into one, OK?"

Soarin took off and lined up with the rings. He had developed a deep respect for these basic looking obstacles and was determined to clear them now with his honour intact. He flew through the first, then the second, then through them all - at least they weren't moving from side to side today. Having successfully flown through all the rings, he returned to Nyx who was eager to give it a go.
"OK kid, that's how it's done" he said happily "Ready?"
Nyx was ready. She wanted more than anything at that moment to show the ace Wonderbolt that she was up to the task.

She took off and lined up as Soarin had done before her, cleared the first confidently, only just cleared the second and aimed headlong for the third. She screamed, unable to turn away in time. Soarin held his breath, quickly trying to think up excuses for the second time that day that may placate Spitfire when one alicorn was airlifted to hospital. He also tried to think quickly what excuses he could offer to Rainbow as well as Twilight and inwardly promised to visit Nyx every day as she recovered.

In a fraction of a second, Nyx's horn lit and there was a flash. When they looked, they could each see that the ring had turned into an orange. Soarin looked askance. A hospitalised pony was one thing, but part of the Wonderbolts Air Obstacle Course being turned into citrus fruit was quite another, albeit somewhat more unexpected. As he was working on yet another excuse, one that wouldn't see Spitfire kick him out of the Wonderbolts for good, he saw Nyx fly away and heard her crying as her black silhouette shrank from sight.

Quickly, he took off after her. She wasn't difficult to track down, all he had to do was follow the sound of crying; his companion no longer the optimistic Wonderbolt wannabe, but a scared little filly calling for her Mom.

Soarin knew nothing of magic or Nyx’s particular situation and did his best to soothe her, but she was distraught. She had failed the Wonderbolts Air Obstacle Course and her magic had reverted to producing oranges. When he had finally managed to calm her sufficiently, they made the flight back to Ponyville, during which he had more time to come up with excuses for what had happened. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today.

When he returned the black filly to Rainbow and Twilight, the first thing Nyx did was to run to her Mom crying "I didn't mean to do it" over and over again.
"What happened, Soarin?" asked Twilight.
The stallion explained how everything had been going so well until part of the Air Obstacle Course had got turned into an orange.
Rainbow fell over laughing, clutching her sides and totally unable to speak as tears ran down her muzzle. Twilight on the other hoof went noticeably pale.
"Aw, come on Twi!" Rainbow guffawed, gasping for breath "That's priceless! I can't wait to see what Spitfire makes of that!"
She struggled for her breath "They could call you the flying orange - no wait, the flying pip - no, I've got it - Pipsqueak!"
Rainbow rolled around on the floor helpless with laughter.

"Thank you Soarin" said Twilight soberly "it's not your fault. Please tell me what I can do to make amends with Spitfire for you."
"Aw, come on Twi, lighten up a bit" urged Rainbow between fits of laughter "You may never see anything so funny ever again!"

"That" said Twilight under her breath "Is what I am afraid of."

***

Princess Luna flew down to Ponyville that evening having received a scroll from Twilight informing her of events during the day. When she arrived in the secret library, Twilight was already there, poring frantically over as many relevant texts as she could fit onto the table, and even keeping two more suspended in her magic at the same time. Luna could sense the urgency with which Twilight was conducting her research and knew no other pony was capable of performing such a thorough job in such a short time. She was also aware that it may not be enough.

Both alicorns shared the same fears, and when Luna arrived, Twilight put down what she had been working on.
"Shall we?" she asked almost as if requesting a dance, but both knew that what was at stake far exceeded the delightful frippery of a social function.

Twilight put on the crescent moon livery collar that she had come to fear she may inherit sooner rather than later and focused alongside Luna as they transcended into the dream realm. The dreams were there as before; little bubbles encapsulating a personal nirvana for some, while for others it would be a purgatory from which waking would be the only release.

Both Princesses scanned for the same thing, seeing past the projections of individual dream casters' most intimate revelations that would normally have been a dream walker's responsibility. Their quarry tonight was much more significant, not just for one scared little filly, but for the whole of ponykind.

Being in the Castle of the Two Sisters, it was slightly easier to focus on the dreams of ponies from nearby Ponyville rather than from further away in Canterlot. That was one small bonus and any benefit was appreciated. They searched, but the large glowing sphere they both dreaded was not obvious. Neither felt any sense of relief, moreover a sense that it was merely eluding them; like a game of cat and mouse - but who was the hunter and who the hunted?

Moving from dream to dream Twilight was the first to find Nyx. Her dream bubble was much like that of anypony else's and inside she could see a black alicorn wearing an iconic blue flight suit. Outside, her bubble differed from all the others by a faint red, orange and yellow glow.

She was careful this time not to come into direct contact with it. She had learned what happened last time to her cost and also Luna's. She had established what she needed to know; it was back. Just as Luna had predicted.

“It must have been triggered when Nyx accidentally used her magic at the Wonderbolt Academy” said Twilight.
“Yes” concurred Luna “That is an eminently sensible hypothesis. But if so, then it clearly builds very fast indeed, possibly absorbing the energy she expends when using her magic …”
“… which is why she’s only left with a token by-product, typically an orange – because the rest has gone to feed this parasitic entity!” completed Twilight.

“Yes” nodded Luna “Therefore it is prudent to conclude that she will make matters worse for herself every time she uses her magic. We must also face the likelihood that she is an immortal alicorn, so no matter how cautious she is, she will be tempted at some point between now and the end of time to use her magic, which in turn will build up to plague her every dream.”
“Poor Nyx” said Twilight, sadly “It would likely drive her mad.”

“Also, we must consider that if this entity does not get enough magical power from Nyx, then it could conceivably cross over to the other magical ponies – the alicorns and unicorns alike. We have already seen how it took to feeding off your energy.
"If that is true, then the resultant sleep deprivation would eventually drive all the magical ponies mad and the remaining pegasi and earth ponies would not be able to raise the sun and the moon.”
“And Equestria would die” concluded Luna.

Twilight considered the situation and recalled a previous conversation with Luna, one in which she had prioritised Equestria before Luna, but Nyx before Equestria. Luna too recalled that conversation but said nothing.

“I am not giving up on Nyx” said Twilight firmly.

8 Justice is Served

The morning was providing every indication of a fair day ahead, but in Miss Cheerilee’s class a storm was brewing.

She was writing on the board as Nyx settled down and the happy chatter with her friends meeting up for class once more had died away. As the black filly prepared her desk diligently for the lesson ahead, something hit the back of her head. She turned around to see Diamond Tiara looking up at the ceiling, her lips pursed as if whistling, while Silver Spoon let out an annoying high-pitched giggle.
“Miss Cheerilee!” called the pink pony accusingly “Nyx turned round and cast a spell at me! See – there’s an orange on the floor!”
“But you threw that orange at me!” she retorted.
“If that’s the best you can do Nyx, then you shouldn’t try to use magic” goaded Diamond Tiara as Silver Spoon giggled louder and more annoyingly.

“I expect better behaviour in my class” said Miss Cheerilee turning to face her students “Diamond Tiara, why are you making such a fuss?”
“It’s Nyx” she whined “She tried to cast a spell on me just like she always wanted to do when she was Nightmare Moon. I was really scared, but luckily all that happened is she made an orange …”
“That’s a lie Miss Cheerilee” interjected Apple Bloom “Diamond Tiara threw an orange at Nyx – I saw it!”
“If there is any more bad behaviour from either of you two, then you’ll both be staying behind doing detention after school” said their teacher “Do I make myself clear?”

Diamond Tiara waited until Miss Cheerilee was facing the board again and delved into her school bag from where she picked up another orange and threw it at Nyx, hitting her on the back of her head once more. She got up and turned to face her attacker with wings unfurling in anger.
“Miss Cheerilee, Miss Cheerilee!” screamed the spoilt pink filly “She’s doing it again!”

The teacher turned back to the class again and saw Nyx; head down, wings unfurled; it was all too reminiscent of her reign of terror as Nightmare Moon, and she fell her heart skip a beat.
“Nyx!” she shouted “Detention!”
“But Miss Cheerilee, it wasn’t her fault, it was Diamond Tiara again!” pleaded Apple Bloom jumping to her friend’s defence.
“Very well then, Diamond Tiara, you can stay in detention too!” said their teacher meting out summary classroom justice.

Everypony in the class knew who was to blame, as if there was ever any doubt. Even Miss Cheerilee was pretty sure, but knew that discipline had to be handed out with an even hoof so had to be seen to punish both fillies.
After this, Nyx felt the happiness she usually experienced from learning during the school day evaporate as she dreaded the detention and having to explain to Twilight what had happened. Her friends were all supportive, but she found it hard to raise a smile all day and when the final bell rang, she reported to her teacher, looking very downcast indeed.

“Right you two” said Miss Cheerilee “I want you to write two pages on ‘the value of honesty’. No double spacing and regular size hoofwriting, please.”
She left the two fillies alone together and went to get some books for marking.

“So, why’s your magic so rubbish?” asked Diamond Tiara, scornfully.
Nyx felt awful, but recognised some truth in what the school bully had said, so kept her silence, smarting inwardly.

“Do you know what I’m going to be when I grow up?” asked the pink filly “Rich!”
Nyx kept quiet and tried to ignore the insults.

“My Mom and Dad are really wealthy” she continued “Not like your Mom.”
“My Mom loves me” said Nyx “Not like yours.”
“That’s funny” sneered the pink filly “Because I thought there was nothing lower than a librarian!”

Nyx slowly got up and turned to face her tormentor, anger blazing in her eyes.
“You take back what you said about my Mom” she demanded.

Diamond Tiara could tell she had achieved her goal of winding up her victim, but the look in Nyx's turquoise eyes caught her by surprise; this was not the look of a frightened filly as she had been counting on, but moreover the look of somepony preparing to do battle and her rehearsed scream for Miss Cheerilee stuck in her throat for just a moment too long.

Nyx’s aura streamed out of her horn and hit Diamond Tiara squarely in a flash of energy. When she looked, Nyx could see that where the school bully had been sat was now an orange emblazoned with an oddly familiar cutie mark.
She calmed her breathing down as she furled her wings and raised her head, her eyes growing wide with the realisation of what she had just done.
“Um, Miss Cheerilee” she said quietly “I think I may have done something naughty …”

“Thank you for coming Twilight” said Miss Cheerilee “I hope with your knowledge of magic you will be able to sort out this little problem.”
Diamond Tiara’s parents were already in the classroom, standing defensively either side of their orange.
“About time too!” announced Spoiled Rich “I wondered when you would see fit to come along and return our daughter to us! You were probably too busy with an overdue library book to bother coming any sooner!”
Twilight fixed her with a stare “I’m sure that whatever happened here, your precious daughter had more than earned it.”

“Ladies, ladies!” interjected Filthy Rich with a nervous chuckle “I’m sure Miss Sparkle here can sort this problem out in no time at all, isn’t that right?” His last comment was less of a question and more of a demand, but Twilight didn’t rise to the bait.
Nyx cowered as her mother’s gaze fell upon her.
“Nyx” she asked gently “What happened?”
“She’d been really mean all day. She threw oranges at me and then we both got a detention. Then she wound me up again, and well, a spell sort of happened.”

“That filly of yours ought to be locked up, she's obviously lying!” demanded Spoiled Rich “She’s Nightmare Moon! She’s not fit to be in a class with civilised ponies!”
“OK, don’t worry Nyx, I’ll sort this out in a jiffy” said her Mom ignoring the outburst “What did she say to you to get you so mad anyway?”
Nyx couldn’t bring herself to look Twilight in the eye, let alone answer her.

“If you could all move away from your … um … orange, then I’ll have a go reversing the transfiguration spell” said Twilight.
“It had better work, young lady, or we’ll sue you through every court in Equestria!” chipped in Spoiled Rich.
“If you're not all completely quiet, I cannot guarantee the outcome” said Twilight staring straight at the older mare “So unless you want to see her turned permanently into something more useful, like a toilet plunger, I suggest you hold your tongue.”
“Well! How rude!” she added with an excess of theatrical hubris.
“Come on now, give the lady space to work” said her husband, eager to see his daughter back safely.
“Hardly think she qualifies on that score …” muttered the old mare as she turned away.

Twilight braced her forelegs and closed her eyes, a magenta stream of magical energy flowing from her horn towards the orange where it made contact with a bright flash. Immediately in its place stood the pink filly, looking a little disorientated.
“You were lucky that spell worked …” began Spoiled Rich, but her gaze caught something that stopped her completing her sentence.
“What happened?” she demanded “What have you done?”

All eyes started scanning over the apprehensive looking filly until one by one they saw what her mother had seen.
“Um, Miss Sparkle” said Filthy Rich “My daughter used to have a cutie mark and now it seems to have gone.”
“Yes” said Twilight “Somehow it got transferred to the orange – that’s a pretty advanced spell. It won't come back immediately, but in the time it would take for an orange to rot, the cutie mark will start to reappear, but until then she’ll be a blank flank.”

“What?” screeched Diamond Tiara, the filly who more than any other had taunted her classmates for being blank flanks “How long will that take?”
“Oh, conservatively I should say a few months” said Twilight in the most matter of fact voice she could muster while suppressing a smile. Even Miss Cheerilee found the irony of the situation amusing and watched as Filthy Rich bundled out his wife and daughter before the venomous pair could say anything else to bring bad luck on them.

“Thanks for calling me, Cheerilee” said Twilight.
“Thanks for coming to sort out the problem so quickly” replied the teacher “I don’t suppose she will suffer any lingering damage, will she?”
“No, but I’m not unaware of a certain sense of poetic justice in the situation.”
“Forgive me, but would I be correct in assuming that you could have restored her cutie mark if you had wanted?”
“Magic works in mysterious ways, Cheerilee” was all Twilight said as she left to escort her daughter away from the scene of the crime.

As mother and daughter walked away together from the school, Twilight confided “Now she's lost her cutie mark, I think we won’t be hearing quite so much from her for a while.”
Nyx cheered up and looked longingly at the playground. “Mom” she enquired “Can I? Please?”
“Oh alright” said Twilight, “But I’ve got to go to Canterlot this afternoon and there’s not much time …”
“Awwww, not more Princess Business? Can’t we stay together just a little longer, pleeeeease!”

“Would you like to come along” pondered Twilight “I will be with the other Princesses, but we can play on the train and maybe stay over if that’s alright?”
“Will all the other Princesses be there?” she asked tentatively.
“Yes” replied Twilight “Even my old foalsitter Princess Cadence will be there. I can’t promise how much time she’ll be able to spare, but I’m sure we’ll be able to catch up over tea and a slice of cake.
“Cake?” said Nyx, her ears pricking up.

“Yes; it's not a very well kept secret that Celestia has something of a weakness for cake. She likes her tea as well, so you can be assured that she will always put on a good spread.”
“Will Princess Luna have time to go flying with me too?”
“Probably best not after all that cake” said Twilight with a smile forming on her face.

9 Surprise Disclosure

“Sister, fellow Princesses; I am glad you were able to join us in Canterlot this evening” said Luna, acting as chair for the meeting she had convened.

The table around which they gathered was circular and had been arranged with the seats at cardinal points, such that none had precedence amidst the ruling quadrature. Twilight pointedly was not sitting next to Celestia, but directly opposite, flanked by the other two Princesses.

“I trust we have all had a chance to go through the information pack I sent out” she continued. Twilight flipped over a few of the pages that she had already reviewed many times that day, marvelling at how Luna had phrased events with Nyx as victim rather than the cause, thereby reducing the risk of Celestia making any rash moves against her. She also noticed how it had avoided any reference to Luna’s secret library.

“This entity is parasitic and feeds off magic; the only defence I have been able to make against it so far having been through long forgotten magic of ancient Unicornia.”
“Yes, I am intrigued by this Wand of Fulfilment” said Celestia.
“It appeared out of thin air during a transfiguration exercise …” said Luna.
“But how is it that I haven’t seen any reference to such an artefact before, anywhere in my library and yet when it appears you know precisely what it is and how to use it?” pushed Celestia.
“I am certain there is reference within your repository and you have probably just overlooked it” replied Luna.
“What are you hiding from me Luna?” pried Celestia.

“Luna stood up for the whole of Equestria and put herself in the gravest of danger to protect all of us!” blurted Twilight, standing and banging her forehooves down onto the table “I think she deserves our thanks rather than being put on the spot to try and remember the exact location of a book in a library!”

Celestia stood and stared back straight into Twilights’ eyes, resting her forehooves on the table and started to unfurl her wings; she wasn’t going to let her former student get the better of her two times running, and this time she was prepared. “Yes Twilight, my most faithful student, and now deputy dream walker too; I figured you would be bound to know something about this.”

Twilight hadn’t realised, but her wings were already raised, and she formed her face into a determined scowl, lowering her head and pointing her horn towards Celestia. She had gained so much magic from her intensive research in the secret library that she now had assimilated most of the power that Luna had used to turn into Nightmare Moon, and once again that power sought out Celestia as its target.
“Jealousy? From you, Celestia?” she whispered menacingly “How flattering.”

Celestia spread her wings and pointed her horn straight back at Twilight.

Cadence caught a determined flash in Twilight’s eye and knew she had only a split second to act before things got really out of hoof and jumped up onto the table facing Twilight and acting as a barrier between her and Celestia, while Luna, who knew all too well the scope of the newly acquired magic at her command, restrained Twilight to prevent her from doing anything she may regret.

Celestia watched with surprise. Yes, things had gotten a little heated and she was grateful that the cooler heads of the other two Princesses had prevailed, but she, Celestia was the most powerful alicorn in Equestria - surely it was her they should have sought to restrain? Yet they had both seen fit to protect her from Twilight. What was going on?

Celestia furled her wings and resumed her seat “I’m sorry Luna, Twilight; I was out of order there.”

She watched as first Cadence and then Luna resumed their places, noting the looks on their faces and the way they kept an eye on Twilight as she calmed down. The lilac pony took some deep breaths and furled her wings too, raising her head out of the threatening posture she had adopted.
“I’m sorry too Princess” she apologised “My response was uncalled for.”

Uneasy looks were exchanged around the table as Celestia noticed that both Luna and Cadence had moved further away from her and towards Twilight, creating an obvious three onto one inequality. Instead of feeling powerful, she suddenly started to feel isolated. What was happening to her?

“I appreciate feelings are running high, but I suggest we won’t be able to defeat this threat unless we can bond together to face the common enemy rather than each other” said Cadence in a measured voice “Principally, how are we going to defeat this entity?”
“There are a number of problems” said Luna “Firstly, the entity does not exist in isolation, only as a shell around the victim whilst in the dream realm. Secondly, where it only exists in the dream realm, it can only be attacked by Twilight and myself, and from what we have witnessed, I believe it requires more magic than we can muster between us.”

Brows furrowed all round the table as each tried to think of a way round this seemingly intractable problem.
The silence was broken by a tentative sound from Twilight and all the others looked up in unison with expressions ranging from being startled to immediately supportive.
“What if one of us acted as a conduit for the power of Celestia and Cadence, and relayed it through into the dream realm?” she posed thoughtfully.
“That sounds very dangerous for whoever acts as the conduit” said Cadence immediately “Am I to take it that you are volunteering?”

“No, I wasn’t” she replied “Somepony will have to be with Nyx, inside her dream, protecting her from the power of three alicorns. That is my place. If anything goes wrong, I choose to share my fate with my daughter, even if that means we die together.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at that last comment, but noted it was said in deadly earnest.

“I will contest you, Twilight Sparkle” said Luna with uncharacteristic softness “You are her mother, and I know how seriously you take that responsibility, but Nyx was made from me and so she and I are inexorably connected. She stands a better chance of fighting off any attack from the entity once it feels threatened or from your magic if it penetrates through provided she and I are joined as one.”
“No Luna, please let me …” Twilight gasped.
“Nopony is taking her away from you, Twilight Sparkle. I seek only to ensure that you and Nyx never have to be parted again.”

Cadence brushed a tear from her muzzle and opened her mouth to speak but gave forth only a strangled croak.
Celestia caught the reference of taking Nyx away from Twilight and suppressed a scowl, but even she could see the wisdom of the decision.

All eyes fell on Twilight.

Her lip trembled.

“I promise I will lay down my life for her, should the time come” comforted Luna.
“No! Not her! Not you! You can’t take that away from me!” Twilight’s muzzle collapsed into her forehooves “I love her … I love you …”

The three other Princesses stood in shocked silence as Twilight sobbed uncontrollably, the adrenaline from her brush with Celestia having now worked its way out of her system. Had she just announced that she loved Luna? Cadence certainly thought so and her purple eyes began to sparkle as she raised two forehooves to her mouth to cover her growing smile, but an excited "Squeeee!" still escaped her.

A Royal Romance? She was elated.

At that precise moment, an uncontrolled twitch suddenly afflicted the corner of Celestia’s eye, but she failed to give any other response.

Luna moved over to give Twilight a hug.
“I will look after her as if she were my own; be assured of that.”
“I know you will” said the lilac pony in between sobs “I know you will, but I don’t want to lose either of you; ever.”
Luna spread a comforting wing over and drew her close, feeling a damp muzzle bury itself in her neck fur and closed her eyes blissfully in a moment of rare intimacy. She knew she faced an uncertain future in what lay ahead, and clasped to this one special moment as she didn’t know how many more she would be able to enjoy.

Shortly, Twilight gave a gentle tug to inform Luna that she was ready to pull away and the Princess of the Night yielded, allowing the purple eyes and lilac face to look out upon the other Princesses.
“I’m sorry” she whispered.

Celestia and Cadence bowed their heads briefly in silent acknowledgment and Twilight turned to face Luna, planting a tender kiss on her lips. Luna closed her eyes in bliss and allowed her mind to drift at the subtle and delicate tingling feeling that she found strangely compelling. Twilight’s disclosure had come as much less of a shock to her as it had to everypony else and she welcomed the declaration that she knew would be coming, fully prepared to consummate if she survived.

“I believe Nyx is in the Royal Court currently” said Celestia looking away from the spectacle of her sister being kissed by her former student.
“Yes” replied Twilight distractedly, staring into Luna's eyes as she pulled away, knowing for sure at that moment that her feelings were reciprocated.

“Then we should perform what needs to be done before it can get any worse. If we are all in agreement, I suggest we work tonight.”
“Only if Nyx agrees” interjected Twilight firmly “She must consent or it doesn’t happen – nopony will ever do such a thing against her will.”

Celestia bristled, but held her tongue.

10 Unity and Showdown

Nyx sat with her choice of cakes on a plate in front of her, the slice of sumptuous chocolate gateau being so large that it fully covered the Royal Crest of Equestria that was the standard design adorning all crockery used in the Royal Castle. She hadn’t much cared for the tea and had instead been given a fruit juice based treat that had been specially rustled up for her by the kitchen staff.

“So you see Nyx” explained Twilight “What we are looking at doing is all working together to rid you of this nasty thing that turns your spells into oranges and gives you bad dreams. Princess Luna will stay with you to keep you safe while the rest of us zap it with our magic.”
“Will it go away forever?” she asked apprehensively.
“I truly hope so. We are all going to do our best for you …”
“Even Princess Celestia?” asked Nyx hesitantly.
“Even Princess Celestia, yes.”

“When will it start?”
“When you get sleepy, my darling Nyx.”
“I’ll need at least two stories tonight then” she suggested “Just to make sure I’m really sleepy.”
“Oh, how much I love you!” thought Twilight, but instead answered “Of course. Any particular favourites you would like?”
“I want you to read to me Nyx of the Night, please” the filly requested “Because she was brave when she was faced with something she didn’t want to do, and I want to be like her.”
Twilight felt a lump rise in her throat and knew that if she tried to speak she would break down in tears, so just nodded instead. If the spell went wrong and this was the last story she ever read to her daughter, she swore her heart would burst.

Twilight put Nyx to bed in Luna’s personal guest quarters; the place she always stayed when in Canterlot. She read four stories, the lump in her throat growing with each one. She would have happily read her a hundred or a thousand if her daughter had wanted, but that was enough, and the last one was Nyx of the Night, just as she had requested. The black filly tucked down happily and Twilight kissed her gently goodnight. She spared a moment to look at the most beautiful sight her eyes had ever beheld, her darling Nyx, and began to tiptoe away when she heard the peace within the bedroom yield for just a brief moment as she heard her daughter say “I love you, Mom.”

She couldn’t speak, but held together just long enough to get of Luna's chambers and close the door behind her quietly before the emotions that she had tried her best to keep bottled up burst out from where they had been hiding, tormenting her every word and threatening to betray her innermost fears. She just knelt down and cried; cried for her daughter’s bravery, cried for her own concerns about the plan and her ability to see it through, cried for Luna at whom she alone would be aiming the focused power of three alicorns, and cried for Equestria.

She knew she could not fail.

A comforting hoof appeared on her shoulder; she knew somepony was there, but wasn’t finished, wasn’t ready yet to do what she had to do. She was an essential part of this plan and they were all counting on her; Luna, Celestia, Cadence and above all, more important than anypony else, her beloved Nyx. She knew that if her daughter was lost tonight, she would not want to face the dark path of eternity without her and would choose to join her in whatever fate she suffered.

“Twilight” a soft voice coaxed “Are you alright?”
“Just give me a minute, would you?” she replied, still choking on her tears.
She felt a wing stretch over her and through her sore eyes could see a fringe of pink feathers; Cadence.
“I’m sorry” she said regaining her composure and focusing on the task at hoof “I’m ready now.”

Twilight and Cadence strolled resolutely in to meet the two Diarchs of Equestria who were having their own private discussion and looked up when they entered.
“She’s asleep” said Twilight “Give her ten minutes and we can start.”
“Are there any last minute concerns; anything we haven’t quite got sure in our own minds?” asked Celestia, giving one last chance for doubts to be raised. There was no need, everypony knew what was expected of them. Once again, the fate of Equestria hung in the balance.

“Twilight” said Celestia “I am truly sorry for what I did to Nyx in the past. Whatever happens, I want you to know that I love you, and will never let Nyx down again.”
“Thank you Celestia” replied her former student, donning her livery collar “I know we will all play our part.”
The Sun Princess smiled briefly, “I remember when we all reassured you of the same thing once before, just when Tirek attacked and we transferred all of our power over to you. I know we have had our differences Twilight, but I am still very proud of you.”
“Don’t make me cry again please Celestia. Thank you for your kind words, I shall do my best to live up to them.”

With this, the four alicorns walked quietly down the corridor and entered Luna’s chambers, opening the door into Nyx’s bedroom. She was breathing contently, not quite a snore, but enough to confirm she was asleep. They took up their positions and one by one knelt down, Luna in front of Nyx, whilst Twilight placed herself between Luna on one side and Celestia and Cadence together on the other.

The only sound was that of quiet breathing.

While Celestia and Cadence cleared their minds, Luna and Twilight meditated themselves into the dream realm. In front of Luna lay a worn old stick that Twilight would have objected to most strongly if she had seen it, but which Luna had stealthily prepared without her fellow alicorns’ knowledge.

In the bed chamber it looked like five alicorns were sleeping, but that could not have been further from the truth. Shortly, the most intense power was about to be unleashed and nopony was quite sure what would happen.

Twilight joined Luna in the dream realm. This time Nyx’s dream was easy to find, the reds, oranges and yellows hung around her more brightly than the night before. Twilight knew this was down to the transfiguration spell against Diamond Tiara, when most of the power had once again gone to feed this malevolent entity. She shuddered at the memory of what had happened when she had tried to tackle it alone and prayed that neither her nor anypony else would have to face that again.

Luna turned to Twilight and said simply “Thank you.”
“For what Luna?”
“For your trust in me, for your faith that I will protect Nyx, and for your love.”
“You knew?”
“I have loved you for a long time, Twilight Sparkle. That is why I chose to share the secrets of my library with you, why I have taught you to become a dream walker and why you can trust me with Nyx now.”
“Luna, I …”
“Hush now, we have work to do.”

In the blink of an eye they were both in Nyx’s dream, watching her performing aerobatics in front of an adoring crowd. Once she had finished the most spectacular, if not physically impossible display, she flew down next to the waiting Princesses as the crowd roared its approval with a standing ovation.
“Did you see that?” asked the filly excitedly.
“Yes Nyx” replied her Mom “That was amazing.”

“Are we ready?” she asked, striking a more sombre note. The illusion of the crowd melted away as the dream faded and she prepared herself for the incursion of hard reality.
“Stand with me” said Luna and the filly did as she was bidden.
“Twilight, I am about to join with Nyx in the way in which you may recall all the separate Nightmare Moons joining up before. As we are two different ponies, the appearance will be shocking to you, so you must go now and prepare for the next phase. Good luck.”
With that, Luna cast the same spell on Twilight as she had to get her in past the entity in the first place and suddenly she was out in the dream realm looking in once more.

Twilight focused her mind onto the dream realm and her body into the waking world, turning herself into a bridge between dimensions. It felt to her like she was hundreds of miles long with her hind legs on the ground and her forelegs way up in the highest clouds.

Celestia and Cadence, aware that Twilight was moving her body as the pre-arranged signal that she was ready, focused their auras onto Twilight and sent a small magical charge each, one yellow and one pink. Twilight received the energy and focused it onto the outer shell of Nyx’s dream, adding her own magic with it and ensuring that it didn’t drift.

With a jolt like she had been electrocuted, she suddenly felt the full magical energy from Celestia and Cadence tear into her body and surge through her. At this cue, she channeled it onto the infected dream and dialed up her own magical power to suit. It felt like she was hanging on to an immensely powerful fireman’s hose with the prospect that the sheer power could wrest it from her grip at any moment and fire it off in whichever random direction took its fancy.

The entity was increasing in size and its colour deepened as it absorbed the power, growing fat off the biggest meal it had ever enjoyed. Still the energy poured in and Twilight focused as hard as she could. It was really difficult and she wanted to let go, but hung on for Nyx and for Luna. Suddenly it wasn’t for Equestria any more, but just for them, the two ponies she loved above all others, and she wasn’t about to let either of them down.

She screamed with the effort of exertion as she could see a hole starting to appear in the side of the glowing sphere. It was like the entity was being given too much power – it was getting indigestion! She knew they were onto something and kept her mind and body focused; she was now an electric cable stretching from Canterlot into the dream realm, with both ends feeling ready to fly off and start flailing in crazy haphazard patterns at any second.

Inside Nyx’s dream, the silhouette of a dark alicorn was casting a glow of protective magic, which she prayed was enough to defend itself from the hostile environment. Luna could cope with it, she thought to herself, convincing herself as she poured more energy in; now was not the time to start doubting her and give up.

The red shell was angry now and Twilight directed the energy at the biggest concentrations of dark red she could see, battling it down like extinguishing a fire. The image she could see was still of a dark alicorn, standing resolutely against an all consuming sea of flame as magic fought magic.

The flames began to change as the entity could not match the power of the combined alicorns and melted as Twilight watched, evaporating into an inert gas that would dissipate in the ether, never to return. As the last remnants of angry red flames subsided and died down she looked for the reassuring image of the dark alicorn, but it could no longer be seen.

Twilight wanted desperately to find out what had happened, wanted to find Luna and Nyx, but felt herself slip powerlessly into the seductive embrace of unconsciousness.

11 Aftermath

All four alicorns of the ruling quadrature lay motionless on the floor, a fifth younger alicorn lay in bed. It all looked deceptively serene.

The large white one stirred and groaned before letting her muzzle fall back to the ground. She rested for ten minutes before trying that level of exertion once more and gingerly tried to raise her head again, this time succeeding in keeping it aloft. It was clear she was the first to wake, but what was the time? How long had she been unconscious?

One hoof in front of the other, she rose slowly and carefully, surveying the scene. She recalled how she and Cadence had reached the ends of their limits and had very nearly had to give up before Twilight decoupled from the dream realm. Yes, it had been close, but had it been successful?

Cadence groaned. Celestia felt her pain; she had only just progressed a little beyond that point herself.
“Cadence, are you alright?” she enquired.
“Everything I see and feel is pain” she slurred.
“Amen to that” thought Celestia seeking some sort of physical or mental support - she wasn’t too fussy which.

A check of the time showed that they had been out for almost two hours. She hunted around but there was no cake anywhere to be found nor any tea neither. Now, that had been an oversight. She made a mental note to have both on hand if they ever had to do this again.

She watched over everypony present as Cadence finally became sufficiently conscious to communicate coherently. Her every move was an effort, but eventually her coordination returned even if the pain refused to leave her quite as quickly.

Conversation between the two became less stilted as the night wore on, and when it was time to lower the moon, Celestia took a quick check of her sister to see if she was up to the task. The midnight blue alicorn was out cold, but as she was going to turn away and lower the moon, she suddenly noticed the Wand of Fulfilment clasped close to her chest and gasped in shock. Surely she hadn’t …

The moon was unimpressed to feel Celestia’s touch, misbehaving petulantly as she commanded it to set. Firstly, it refused to move and then it kept bobbing back up when she commanded it down. She had to draw on a lot of her shattered reserves to get it to comply with her will, but comply it eventually did, letting her know right up to the end that it did not appreciate being commanded by her what to do. The sun was in a good mood and did as it was told for once, Celestia sensing its humour at having seen the moon’s comedic routine.

By now, they were famished and Celestia dismissed her niece to have her breakfast while she alone remained to stand guard over the others. Cadence returned rejuvenated with tea and cake for her aunt, and the two of them progressed from discussing the night’s activities to general ruling business and then idle gossip.

As time moved along, Celestia became increasingly more concerned about what she had said and how she had acted towards Nyx, Twilight and even her own sister. With the unaccustomed luxury of time on her hooves, she became haunted by the ability to analyse in minute detail everything she had done and how it could have been misinterpreted from what she had meant. She started to see how they may have come to see her not so much as a loving friend and sister but possibly more of an interfering tyrant. She bore this realisation stoically on the outside, but inside felt consumed by a guilt fueled turmoil and promised to make it up to them all as soon as they awoke.

With no sign of their imminent recovery, she requested blankets for Luna and Twilight. Cadence obliged, running the errand and bringing back a pair of finely embroidered blankets with which she proceeded to cover up the two unconscious alicorns, tucking them both up snug. It was around lunchtime when Twilight finally started making noises that reflected her inner pain. Immediately, Cadence and Celestia rushed to her side, providing comfort and reassurance as she gradually awoke. She was in no better shape than either of them had been and they had to wait patiently as she came round; both eager to hear news from the dream realm.

Twilight’s recovery seemed to be interminably slow, and the impatient alicorns did their best to avoid sniping at each other as they waited, but it wasn’t easy. Both held strong links to Twilight and both wanted to be the one she turned to when she awoke, but Celestia pulled herself up for a moment and considered how distant and even antagonistic they had become in recent times and realised with a heavy heart that now was not the time for her to take the lead.

Although it hurt her, she realised her relationship with her former student would probably mend better and faster if she wasn’t seen to be dominating proceedings, especially given Twilight's feelings toward Nyx and her recent declaration toward her sister, which even now she was still coming to terms with.

Twilight's eyes fluttered open and watched as Cadence’s gentle countenance floated in and out of focus.
“Did it work?” she stumbled woozily “Is everypony safe?”
“Hush now, take your time” coaxed Cadence “We’re not all awake yet.”
“Yes, but Nyx … Luna …” she tailed off.

Cadence’s mind suddenly rewound to the discovery of the Wand of Fulfilment clutched close to Luna’s chest and a fleeting flash of doubt crossed her face, a look which even in her exhausted state, Twilight recognised as not being a good sign. She tried to spring to her feet, but two of her legs didn’t respond and she toppled over, falling hard onto the unforgiving floor.

“What’s happened?” she demanded, refusing to acknowledge her own pain that shot through every part of her body.
“We’re not sure if anything has happened” comforted Celestia “They just haven’t woken yet.”
Twilight was still obviously agitated and not in a mood to be placated.
“I’ve got to get back to them” she said defiantly, resuming the kneeling position she adopted when she entered her meditative state.
“No Twilight!” called Celestia, “You’re not ready, you have to recover more first!”

The sounds of concerned calls for her to stop faded into the background and disappeared as Twilight entered the dream realm once more. She gasped as she noticed the sparsity of dream bubbles around her; every other time it had been packed with clusters of the individual spherical realities within which each pony lived out their dreams. She was immediately worried with what could have happened in the dream realm until she realised that it was daytime, so it made sense that very few ponies would be dreaming at this time. Of those that she could see, one dream bubble was closer than the rest, so with her heart in her mouth, she made her way over to have a closer look.

Inside she could see two dark forms and knew instinctively that this was the one. This time there was no coloured coating to the shell, but she was still cautious as she walked over and checked thoroughly before entering it.

Inside was eerie. Usually the inside of a dream reflected the fantasies of the dream caster, and that meant everything was colourful and immediate to provide the immersive experience that made the dream ‘real’. This one was different; it was sombre, lifeless and flat. Dead.

Twilight moved closer to the two forms, the larger one clearly shielding the smaller one. She felt a knot form in her stomach; Luna had promised to defend Nyx to the death. Surely this didn’t mean …

She walked over and knelt down beside Nyx, so that her daughter was shielded on both sides.

Twilight felt numb; she was beyond grief.

There were no more tears.

She nuzzled her daughter and spread her lilac wing out over her. She stared forward into the barren emptiness of her daughter’s dream, feeling that if this was what death looked like, her life should now end too as it no longer had any purpose.

12 Bonds Remade

There was a sudden twitching next to Twilight, shaking her from her morbid reverie. She had no idea how long it was since she had nuzzled down next to Nyx and given up on the world, but opened her eyes to see that it was as if the sun had started to rise, for all around her colours were leaching tentatively into their surroundings. This was Nyx’s dream, so this must mean that she was dreaming again, which meant she was alive!

Twilight allowed herself to believe positive thoughts for the first time since she had regained consciousness and looked down to see a pair of turquoise eyes looking back at her.
“Mom?” she asked hesitantly “You came back for me?”
Twilight nodded. There were so many things she wanted to say, had to say, but none more important than what she settled on.
“I love you, Nyx” she said with more feeling than she had ever put into those few simple words in her entire life.
Nyx smiled.

“Is Princess Luna awake yet?” she asked.
“No, not yet.”
“Then I would like to dream something that would make her happy.”
Twilight looked at the form of Luna laid out close to her and hoped, no, prayed that she would recover and rejoin them soon.

“I know a dream she would like” said Twilight, trying not to let the emotional feeling choking in her throat sound obvious “Can you put her on a bed under the light of giant purple flowers with a full moon in the sky and a waterfall behind? I know that’s her favourite place.”
“How do you know that, Mom?”
“I’m a dream walker too.”

As Twilight continued lying next to the Princess of the Night’s unmoving body, both she and her daughter constructed Luna’s nirvana around them so that she would see something happy when she woke up. It gave them something to do and distracted them both from the prospect that she may not wake ever again; Twilight explaining what she wanted and Nyx casting her mind’s eye around to realise what her Mom described and then tweaked it a little as Twilight remembered more details. Finally, it looked blissful.
“I want to keep this dream whatever happens” said Nyx “I kind of, well, you know, feel at home here.”
“Princess Luna would like that very much” said Twilight approvingly, fearing that it may yet be her only living legacy.

Back in Canterlot there were recriminations between the two Princesses as to which one had let Twilight go off to the dream realm whilst having only barely regained consciousness. The lilac pony herself in that dimension knelt with her legs tucked under her looking as enigmatic as the fabled sphinx, and betraying nothing about what she was seeing in the other dimension.

As Cadence turned away from her aunt in a huff following another unpleasant exchange of sharp words, she suddenly noticed Nyx stirring in her bed, and raced to her side, calling to Celestia as she went.
“Nyx, Nyx” she cooed as she rocked the filly gently, trying to bring her back from her slumbers “You can wake up now darling.”

“Mom! Mom!” called Nyx “I’m waking up!”
“Fight it off!” replied Twilight with some urgency “If you wake, your dream will disappear and then I don’t know what will happen to Luna and me. You must stay asleep!”
“I’ll do my best, but how do I do it?”
“Focus on the beautiful world you have created for Princess Luna. Look at the flowers, the moon and marvel at how pretty they all are; you did say how much you liked it here.”
Twilight hoped that her daughter had the willpower to resist whatever forces were trying to wake her, in spite of all she had been through.

“Don’t wake her!” called Celestia when she saw what Cadence was doing.
“What experience do you have of bringing up children?” bit back Cadence, still upset from their previous argument.
“No Cadence, its not that at all” she replied “It’s just that her dream could be the only thing providing safety for Luna and Twilight. We don’t know what it’s like up there, but we can be sure that when it’s safe, Twilight will let us know somehow” said Celestia lowering her voice.
Cadence suddenly realised the wisdom of what her aunt had said and regretted the rashness of her instinctive action, straightening Nyx’s bedclothes before backing away from the filly.

“And yes, you’re right, I don’t have your experience of bringing up children” said Celestia sadly “Whether I want to or not, I am barren and will never be gifted with the luxury of feeling that pleasure.”
Cadence suddenly forgot all about their earlier misunderstandings and walked over to her aunt to give her a gentle nuzzle.
“I’m sorry” she cooed softly “I’m so sorry.”

Both mares hugged in a deep familial embrace of the type that had been missing between them ever since Cadence could remember. Celestia dwelled for a moment on the gift that most mares in Equestria would share at some time, that of giving birth to a foal that they could love as their own and a sad damp trickle ran down either side of her muzzle. Cadence noticed, but said nothing and held the white pony close as she too felt tears forming in her eyes.
“I’m sorry too Cadence” said the most powerful pony in Equestria, remorsefully “It’s just that …”
“Hush now” whispered Cadence, letting the intensity of her hug speak for her more eloquently than words ever could.

“I’m OK now” said Nyx to her Mom “I’ve got it under control again.”
“Well done Nyx” praised Twilight “You’ve done a good job here; I can’t wait for Luna to see it for herself.”
“How do you think she is, Mom?”
“I don’t know. Can you remember what happened?”

“When you left us, Princess Luna cast a spell that joined us together; you know, like two of us in the same body. I think it was something to do with joining the magic from each of us, but only having to protect one body to keep us both safe. I remember seeing you direct all that magic at us and everything going red, and then I think I had some bad dreams, but I don’t remember too clearly. I do remember Princess Luna separating us when things got bad and I was really frightened that she might leave me, but she didn’t – she just faced it all by herself … on her own …”

“I think we should give her a bit more time yet then” said Twilight, picturing the image of the defiant dark alicorn facing the combined power of three alicorns and the malevolent entity infecting her with its abhorrent dreams against a background of burning red, whilst all the time keeping Nyx safe. She let out a solitary sob, imagining Luna's courage as she lived up to the promise she had given to protect her daughter. She couldn’t help it, but one sob led to another and soon she was crying with the anguish of mixed emotions swirling around inside her; she had Nyx, but she may have lost Luna …
“Please don’t leave me” she whispered into the ear of the midnight blue mare.

It was now a whole day since the ruling quadrature had risen to defend Equestria from the attack of the malevolent dream invader and Celestia, now feeling a lot more alert had taken no truck whatsoever from the moon when she had commanded it to rise. A combination of snacks had been brought to Princess Luna’s chambers, but with a noticeably evident bias towards cakes.

Although Celestia and Cadence were both concerned about Luna, they were concurrently coming to grips with not having to perform royal duties; such tasks having been delegated to trusted deputies before they left. For Cadence as the junior of the two, this wasn’t such a big deal, but Celestia was showing signs of strain due to not being at the heart of decision making on a minute by minute basis. However, she had learned from her previous episodes with Cadence that she had to keep a tighter rein on her fractured emotions so as not to cause friction, even if it killed her inside.

In the dream realm too, Twilight and Nyx kept their vigil. They had no idea about the passage of time, but with each minute the tension ratcheted one more click. Nyx was finding it difficult to hold the dream together in spite of Twilight’s best efforts, and she would have to be allowed to wake before much longer.

Suddenly, Luna kicked out with all four legs simultaneously in both realms and gasped as if she had just surfaced from having held her breath for too long underwater, her eyelids snapping wide open revealing her eyes to be the colour of moonstones. In the dream realm and in Canterlot, Luna’s very closest family and friends watched stunned, waiting for her next move.

Her forelegs moved, like she was searching for something and under the blanket in Canterlot, her forehooves made contact with the Wand and her body stopped moving. In the dream realm, she relaxed as her eyes returned to normal and she tried to adjust her head to the reality in which it found itself.
“Luna” said the lilac Princess softly “It’s me, Twilight. You’re safe.”
She noticed an imperceptible twitch of her midnight blue ear and took a chance she was listening.
“I love you Luna. I’m so glad you’re back.”
With that, she snuggled in close and draped her lilac wing over the recovering form of the pony she so wished would be her marefriend.

“Twilight” she heard her name as softly as a summer breeze.

13 The Sun and the Moon

Luna’s eyes began to focus, taking in a pair of sparkling purple eyes set in a lilac face and she smiled.
“Twilight" she said "I upheld my promise.”
“I know – and you were so brave too; Nyx told me!”
“I have had to remove some of the memories from her mind; they were too horrible for her to bear.”
Twilight looked saddened and drew closer to Luna, saying nothing and waiting respectfully for her to continue, but there was only silence.

“I like this dream” said Luna eventually, looking around at the familiar scenery.
“Nyx made it for you.”
“It is perfect – I suspect she may have had some help though?”
Twilight smiled and Nyx came bounding over to greet her saviour.
“Hello Princess Luna! Do you like it?” she asked excitedly, before adding “Thank you for saving me.”
“I feel I have been here before” said Luna, gifting a warm smile “But I feel that once I have enough strength, we should return to the others.”

In Luna’s chambers, three alicorns began to move like mechanical mannequins on a steam organ suddenly dragged to life as a preordained sequence started up. Amidst the transition back to a waking state, Luna felt for the Wand, checking that it was still close to her.

There was cake and tea and more cake waiting for the travellers from the realm where everypony went, but none other than two special alicorns could control to their will. They rose slowly, tentatively as their bodies got used to moving in this realm again, everypony speaking at once and all wanting to hug and be hugged. It was a truly joyous reunification following the most unusual of separations.

Luna had agreed not to tell Twilight what happened as she didn’t want to force Nyx to hold the crumbling dream together longer than was absolutely necessary and it would take time to tell the story twice. Now there was no justification for further postponement and under prompting from everypony present she began her story, under the rapt gaze of all present.

“You will remember that as Nightmare Moon, Nyx split herself into individual clones, but the more there were, the weaker each individual was, full strength only being realised once all clones were joined back together. As Nyx and I have the same pedigree, I joined with her to make one alicorn in the belief that we would be stronger, and also there would be but one of us to protect.”

“Once you directed the alicorn magic at us, the entity realised it was under threat and attacked us with bad dreams too horrific to repeat. As the attack progressed, the entity recognised that it was losing the battle and increased the terror of the dreams to such a level that Nyx passed out. I too was on the point of becoming overwhelmed as the entity gave everything it had in a final outpouring of hate and I had to summoned the Wand of Fulfilment to prevent both of us from being destroyed. Just before I cast the spell, I jettisoned Nyx so that only I would suffer the curse of the Wand and not her as well. Fortunately, we prevailed.”

“My power was spent and I had nothing else to give except my body, so I wrapped myself around Nyx and purged her mind of the nightmares before I myself was overcome. I do believe this time that it is gone; I felt it die.”
“But what about you, Luna?” asked Twilight, shocked “You have paid a very high price.”

“I think I can help here” said Celestia “My Sister, you have proven yourself brave beyond measure and I am sorry that you felt it necessary to use that accursed relic. With your permission dear Luna, please would you allow me to transport it to the heart of the sun? Equestria is not prepared to lose you, and neither am I.”

Luna hung her head “Thank you Sister. You should know that I craved that Wand when I was becoming Nightmare Moon and I would have used its entire power against you to achieve my twisted aims. I am so pleased I never found it then and can only hope you forgive me.”
Celestia moved forward and held Luna with a closeness neither had shared for too long; a meeting of minds, of souls and sisterly love.

“I too have learned much dear Luna. I have not been the sister I should have been to you and I have not been the friend that I should have been to all of those thankfully present here now. I have learned through your courage and that of those closest to us what I need to do to be respected and trusted once more. Because I consider that I do so much for Equestria, I had forgotten to see the sacrifice that my friends and family make, and had grown to think of myself as better than everypony else. I am not, and I hope you will all forgive me.”

Celestia walked to the window and did something that had rarely ever been seen in the history of Equestria; she summoned the sun in the middle of the night. As they watched, they all shared the moon’s surprise as it watched the sun rise and hover beside it in the sky.

“The Wand please” she requested.
Luna passed it over and then all the Princesses watched as it flew from her towards the sun.
“No third spell, Luna. If Equestria falls, we fall together, but we will never stand by to see one of our own sacrifice herself.”
“Thank you, Sister,” said Luna.

Celestia turned to face the others in the room “I decree that I have made some bad decisions of late, but I should like to make it known henceforth that I approve of the match betwixt my Sister and my former student; may you both find happiness together. I also decree that the alicorn known as Nyx may, if she chooses think of me as her aunt and I promise to always look after her best interests.”

Cadence turned to a stunned looking Nyx and said “That must make us related! Let me show you a special dance – Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybugs awake …”

Celestia turned to her sister “I am so grateful to have you back, but I think now you may choose to spend some precious moments with your special somepony. I shall leave the sun in the sky next to the moon to act as my blessing for the two of you.”

Luna and Twilight stood together looking out of the window as Celestia retired tactfully. Somewhere in the background they heard Cadence singing and could hear the playful giggles as Nyx tried to get the dance right.

Luna stretched her midnight blue wing out over Twilight and they turned their heads towards each other, finally free to share the kiss of consummation they had both desired for so long.

From this moment on …