Twilit Nightfall

Chapter 3

Conversations in the Dark

Luna took a deep breath and continued to examine her surroundings. If she was completely honest with herself, this was an extremely familiar castle. She couldn't quite place her hoof on WHY it was so familiar, though...

Shaking her head slightly, Luna lapsed into thought on her reasons for coming in person. If Twilight had thought it strange that Luna had come personally, she didn't show it, which Luna was grateful for. It meant that there was less awkward questions to be answered in the long run.

Luna thought back to when she had first returned to Yggdra on that fateful night what seemed like an eternity ago. She had noticed that ponies had changed dramatically in the millennium she had been gone, but the one thing that had caught her interest the most was the number of same gendered couples at the party. Apparently, her own preferences had become more acceptable, which made Luna smile all the more. Granted, the occasional rutting every now and again was divine, but for Luna, nothing could beat the gentle caress of a loving mare, twining their bodies together as the sun rose over the new day.

Luna's thoughts turned towards the lavender mare who's dreams she was currently walking through and blushed slightly. The night she had returned, Nightmare Moon had allowed Luna a glimpse at her would be saviors. They were all rather attractive, Luna's shadowy doppelganger even said that she would.... 'reward' the six mares by making them the first in her new harem which irritated Luna. But the purple unicorn leading the group courageously had caught Luna's eye. The courage she had shown while facing Nightmare Moon alone had made even the dark alicorn pause, if only for a moment.

So, with the reason for Luna's personal intervention finally revealed to herself, the princess of the night finally reached the door to the throne room with a slight blush. Composing herself for whatever may lie behind the door, Luna pushed the door open with a slight pulse of silvery magic. She strode in confidently, until the mist that Twilight spoke of swirled around her once before moving up to the throne proper and coalescing into the form of Nightmare Moon.

"Luna," the dark alicorn said, her tone neither friendly nor hostile, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You are possessing Twilight Sparkle, I wish to know why," Luna said to her darker half.

"Considering the time we spent together, I'd have assumed that to be obvious by now," Nightmare Moon said, "I am still trying to take over Equestria!!" As she said this, the dark alicorn stood on her hind legs and raised a foreleg in a triumphant pose as a bolt of lightning struck somewhere outside of the castle, throwing the throne room into sharp relief.

Luna growled defiantly and took up a defensive posture, waiting for Nightmare Moon to strike..... Instead, what she heard was... surprising, to say the least. It was laughter. Not the maniacal kind that Luna's dark counterpart was known for, but true, joyful laughter. Shaken, Luna plopped her flank on the ground and looked at Nightmare Moon curiously.

"I... I'm sorry, Lulu," Nightmare said in between gasps, "But the look on your face! Priceless!!"

Composing herself, Luna said icily, "I fail to find the humor in the situation, Mare in the Moon. Pray thee, tell what hast crawled up thy flank and expired."

Nightmare Moon slowly calmed down enough to speak normally and said with a chuckle, "Two things. First, you're falling back into archaic speech patterns. Second, it was a joke. You do happen to be a reasonably talented prankster, so I figured you could take it like the grown mare you are."

Luna blinked in surprise. This whole situation was becoming more and more confusing by the second. Nightmare smiled kindly, a wholly crazy thing, considering the mare in front of her attempted to subvert the crown and plunge the world into eternal night.

"Come, walk with me, Luna," Nightmare said, beckoning with a wing tip, "I promise you'll have your answers. I won't even bite, either."

Nodding numbly, Luna followed her doppelganger as she walked towards a door, hidden off to the side of the throne. The door opened up into a long hallway, with beautiful windows depicting most of Twilight's life.

"I found this place shortly after I latched onto Twilight," Nightmare started, "Each mural depicts each and every one of Twilight's memories, from the day her mind could keep such information, clear up until the conversation you two had, barely a few hours ago. That answers that question for you, I believe, but I know that you have many more, so fire away, Princess."

Luna's head snapped to Nightmare Moon as she said 'Princess' but there wasn't even a hint of sarcasm or loathing in the word. Letting the slight drop, for now, Luna pondered her first Question.

"Why are you here?" Luna asked after a moments contemplation.

"An easy enough answer," Nightmare said with a smirk, "I was originally here to try and make Twilight Sparkle, the most powerful mage of this generation, the personal student of Celestia, and the Wielder of the Element of Magic, my own personal slave."

"You say that as if your plans have changed," Luna accused.

"Always were rather quick on the uptake, Lulu," Nightmare said with a sigh. She took a deep breath and continued, saying, "Yes, my plans have changed. Quite drastically, to be honest."

Nightmare Moon stopped in front of a mural window depicting her defeat at the hands of the Elements of Harmony. She reached out a hoof and touched the window, which started to move and play out like a movie.

"Twilight has.... Changed me. Starting from when I first latched onto her, Twilight's life has changed me in so many ways, it's hard to tell where she ends and I begin sometimes," Nightmare said, watching the events unfold in the window, "Her honesty, loyalty, kindness, laughter, and generosity have changed me for the better. I... if I'm honest with myself, I fell in love with her..."

Luna stared for a moment at the back of Nightmare Moon. The dark alicorn, bringer of night eternal, changed by loving a mare? Insane. Not possible.

"That, is highly improbable, Nightmare Moon," Luna said scathingly, "You were cold and unforgiving when you took over and I have no reason to believe otherwise now."

Nightmare Moon heaved a sorrowful sigh and said, "Yes, I suppose you don't.... But I'm not going to try and convince you. Twilight already trusts me implicitly, at least she does subconsciously. If the fact that I haven't forced her to do anything against her will is not an indicator, then I'm not sure if you'll ever be convinced...."

Nightmare turned around, her face unreadable and said, "Next question."

Luna pondered for a moment before saying, "Twilight has been having nightmares... that involve you, as I'm sure you already know. Why?"

"I built this palace inside of her subconscious," Nightmare Moon stated, "At first, I could barely maintain it, but after a while it became easier. But, in order to do this, I had to partition an incredibly small part of Twilight's mind away from her, so I would not end up becoming lost in her subconscious mind. After a few years, the palace was completed and I had realized my feelings for the adorable unicorn egghead. She found her way here and started exploring."

Nightmare Moon turned and began walking down the hallway again, stopping in front of a mural depicting Twilight in front of the doors to the throne room and began speaking again, "She was very eager to learn why this place was here and how it came to be, so being the logical pony she is, she deduced that a palace like this must have a throne room, and therefore, someone or something ruling it. She came to the throne room, searching for answers and I would have gladly given them to her. But she always hesitated or woke up shortly before making it in here. Then the Hellions started appearing in her dreams. They forced her mind into this palace and chased her here, where I appeared and struggled in vain to keep them from her. In my haste to protect my love, I forgot that Hellions feed on fear and Twilight was absolutely terrified of them. So they became stronger, while Twilight became weaker. It wasn't until after the second or third time she was chased here that I found a way to keep her safe from the Hellions.... I forced the object of her fear to become me, by draining her til death."

Nightmare Moon had lowered her head in shame as she told her story. Luna had watched as her counterpart spoke her mind, her voice cracking in several places and tears starting to fall. The lunar princess was beginning to doubt that Nightmare Moon was truly evil. After all, she had heard second hand stories from first hand witnesses at the wedding of Cadence and Shining Armor that love had quite spectacularly saved the day from Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling horde.

"Let us say that I believe you," Luna said slowly, "What, exactly would you do if I left you to your own devices here?"

Nightmare Moon looked up, surprised and said, unsure of herself, "I would probably continue to keep the Hellions at bay. At least until Twilight could face me without giving into her fear... Then, I don't know what I would do."

Luna pondered her reply for a few moments, then said, "Twilight's body is not strong enough to maintain multiple souls for very long. At the most, it would end up being a few months, then her body would begin to tire out."

"I know," Nightmare Moon said, solemnly.

"But, I believe that mine would be able to handle the stress," Luna said confidently, "And, because of how resilient my body is, you would be able to continue to live on, in some way."

"You would do that for me?" Nightmare asked hesitantly, "After all I put you through?"

Luna nodded and suddenly found herself wrapped up in an embrace from Nightmare Moon. She awkwardly patted the other alicorn on the back. Nightmare Moon pulled away with a sheepish smile on her face. Then, the two of them walked back to the throne room in an amicable silence, Nightmare Moon's face plastered with a goofy looking grin.

"Luna," Nightmare said as the two of them reached the throne, "I have a small request to make of you."

Luna hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'll try and do what you ask, but I cannot make any guarantees...."

Nightmare chuckled and responded with a smile, "It is not anything world shaking, to be sure. I was just wondering.... Would you ask Twilight to call me Serene?"

"Serene?" Luna asked, "Why that?"

Nightmare Moon.... No, Serene looked up and said with a heavy voice, "I'm tired of being seen as an evil thing. On Nightmare Night, it's rather flattering that ponies do not exactly fear me, but enjoy the night... Other times, it feels like a hot knife being pressed against my breast and it hurts me. I would have asked Twilight myself.... But I do not think that she would be as likely to treat me with the deference you have shown. Not without some sort of proof that I truly mean her no harm."

Luna nodded and said, "I will talk to Twilight about this, Serene. I promise."

Serene nodded and said, "Twilight will be here soon. Which means that you should leave, before she gets here, so you can talk with her after she wakes up."

Luna nodded once more, then left in a flash of silvery light, just as the door to the throne room was pushed open.

--

Back in the waking realm, Luna could smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen. She went over to the dining room and found a disheveled Twilight already sitting at the table eating, with Spike carrying out a second plate of pancakes and something that looked suspiciously like bacon. Taking a seat, Luna thanked Spike and sniffed the bacon-y thing gingerly before taking a tentative bite.

"This isn't meat, is it, Spike?" Luna asked, "I drink blood as it is, I do not want to add carnivore to the list at the moment."

Spike peaked out of the kitchen and said, "Nah, it's some kind of meat substitute, made from tofu, I think. Tastes almost like meat, but Twilight can never get enough of the stuff."

He popped back in and came out carrying his own plate with a small assortment of gemstones and a plate of pancakes all his own and took a seat as Luna started in on her food. It was quite delicious, and Luna said so, to which Spike said, "Don't mention it, Luna, I'm glad to do this stuff. And we both know Twilight is kind of a bad cook."

Luna chuckled as Twilight huffed and said indignantly, "I'm not that bad... Am I?"

"The first time you tried cooking, it looked like a volcano erupted in the kitchen and the food itself looked like it was made of obsidian," Spike said in deadpan, "And obsidian tasted WAY better than that stuff did."

"Right...." Twilight said with a slight blush, "So... on to a different topic then. Luna, how was the dream walking?"

Luna took a swig of blood from her flask, then said, "It went well. I can confirm without a doubt that Nightmare Moon is inside of your body, and that she means no more harm to you than Spike."

Twilight visibly relaxed at that and let out a sigh of relief she hadn't been aware she was holding in. She took a drink of the orange juice in front of her, then asked, "What is she doing inside of me? I thought that she had been destroyed by the Elements of Harmony."

"The Elements are not tools of destruction, Twilight," Luna explained, "They merely purged my body of her influence, which left her as a spirit and allowed her to latch onto you. Like, I said, however, she means you no harm. She had some nefarious plans for you at first, but being with you changed her, for the better."

"How can you be so sure she's changed?" Spike asked, "I mean, this IS Nightmare Moon we're talking about here. How do we know she isn't trying to trick us?"

It was Twilight, much to everyone's surprise who responded and said, "Serene has had plenty of time to do something by this point. I think the fact that she hasn't done anything to hurt either me or anyone else through me speaks volumes about her change."

"How do you know that name, Twilight?" Luna asked.

Twilight blinked and said, "What do you mean?"

"Serene is the name Nightmare Moon wishes to go by from now on," Luna explained, "She told me so herself, shortly before I woke up. So, how do you know it?"

Twilight took another drink of her juice and said slowly, "I think I felt it... Here." She put a hoof over her chest where her heart is, then continued, "I'm not sure, though... May have just been a slip of the tongue."

Luna studied Twilight's almost lovestruck expression for a moment, then said with a smirk, "Then I do not think I will need to convince you to call her by Serene. Seems your heart has already accepted it."

"Yeah, I guess so," Twilight said with a small smile.

Luna, Twilight, and Spike ate for a few moments in a relatively friendly silence. It didn't last long, though, because a bright pink blur blew through the house and sat down at the table, her cotton candy like hair bouncing as she did.

Luna was thoroughly shocked by the appearance of Pinkie Pie, so much so that the bite of pancake she was about to put into her mouth was left there as her mouth hung open at the pink mare. She quickly put her fork back down and closed her mouth before turning to Twilight, who shook her head, even as Pinkie took a sip of juice. Luna sighed, then continued to eat, knowing she would probably never have an explanation for what just happened.

"So, Pinkie," Twilight said with a smile, "What brings you here?"

"Oh, that's REALLY easy!" Pinkie exclaimed happily, "I'm here because Luna is here to see you and she needs to be properly introduced!!"

"Actually, that sounds like a pretty good idea," Twilight said thoughtfully.

"What sounds like a good idea?" Luna asked curiously. Spike covered his ears with a smirk, knowing what was coming next.

"A PARTY!!!!" Pinkie said at the top of her lungs, "There will be cake and games and punch and ponies and then in the morning, I'm makin' waffles!!!"

Luna's eye began twitching as Pinkie continued rambling, occasionally saying something like 'alcohol' and 'no kids allowed after nine'. After Twilight said that they would be there the next day, she ushered Pinkie out the door, mostly to save Luna's sanity but also to make sure Pinkie had enough time to plan the party.

"How do you stand that mare?" Luna asked, her eye still twitching.

"She grows on you," Twilight said with a chuckle.

--

Meanwhile....

In a castle bordering the edge of the dragons ancestral lands and the kingdom of Equestria, a  lone dragon, no larger than Princess Celestia finally began to put his plans into motion. He called forth a pegasus from outside of his personal study, and prepared to give her orders to carry out, first penning a message to be delivered upon getting a hold of the package.

"Epitaph," the dragon rumbled, "Here are your orders. Tell no one of your whereabouts or of your mission. When you retrieve the package, return here after delivering this message to our targets."

Shattered Epitaph, the pegasus messenger gave a crisp salute, took the sealed scroll from her master and said, "Yes, Count Dracul." then, she took to the air, through the window of the study and angled herself towards Ponyville. Count Dracul, lord of the castle Wyurd watched as Shattered Epitaph's form became smaller and smaller in the distance, a smirk on his face as the first part of his plan was put into motion.