1000 Years Left To Wanderby Black HailstormChaptersLightKeeperUnexpected VisitorLightTwo voices shouted as one, one hers, the other almost foreign. There was white, nothing but white light as a spell flooded to life and three Elements glowed with a horrible and dangerous light. It blinded her even though she could stare straight into the sun without protection. It hurt her, even though this was a light she had used on foes before them. Then it devoured her entire being without a shred of mercy. It pushed its way past the eyelids, dug itself into the retinas, burned its way into the brain and then made itself comfortable as the scream became a holler of anger and fury. How is she doing this?! She could barely make out the words that were called out to her as the world collapsed around her and flesh warped as she became a part of the vileness that swam all around her. Light bended and in turn her body followed the odd twists and shifts of angles as matter became particles and particles moved like currents- her whole body acting like the waves of an ocean or the push and pull of the tides-- How is she doing this without all the Elements?! She would never get to ask her question because all that came was the scream as they were enveloped in light and the ruined castle shook, as the ground vibrated then trembled, and a thousand of her soldiers with a thousand of her minions all freezing at the sound of their leader's defeat. There was an explosion as a pillar drove itself through five floors of stone, widening the holes from their fight, and creating a sonic crack that sent a breeze across the forest that made the fighting between forces stop as everypony and every thing went silent and stared. Hundreds of eyes looked up to the sky. All of them wide. All of them watching. For seconds, two armies loyal to two different Princesses forgot about the battle and could only stare up as they watched something unnatural take off into the sky. A pillar of light that demanded their attention, brought comfort to some in its glow while it brought fear to the tainted that saw it. The silence stretched for seconds as the pillar climbed higher and higher, a spear of light that went straight towards the eclipse where Moon blocked Sun and bathed the world in an eery glow. Then without hesitation every one of her own troops, every one of her minions in this rebellion felt the grip of fear as that light flared with the echoes of her protests and their leader was taken with it. Their muscles unfroze. Seventeen thousand souls shared one single thought at that exact same moment and it was to run. They turned and fled as the pillar of light shot out into the sky, fleeing from the ravenous light as it stretched out across the Everfree and gave soldiers the chance to chase down the remains of their fleeing foe who took off. Membrane wings spread, some fled on two legs and charged towards the nearest rivers where boats were hidden, others took off on currents of air with feathered wings beating or horns glowing in hopes that the light would not come for them as it had taken her. And as she screamed bloody murder, cursed the one she called sister and then cursed the ones she'd called 'friends', the light slammed into the moon, spread across its surface, exploded in the air and bathed the whole world in blinding warmth. All while one Princess was joined by several unseen figures that stood beside her. Watching one of their own serve a sentence they'd hoped would never come. KeeperHer eyes were still closed because the light had been that bad so it took her time to adjust before she would dare to open her eyes again and when she did her cold heart nearly shattered as every thing came into focus and she had a look at her surroundings. Eyes blinked as they adjusted as the sight that greeted her was not the sight she had been expecting. Nightmare Moon rose with slow caution as she stood up in a land of light that was both warm and cold. Where the stars twinkled above her, each one seeming to grow and shrink and the sun hovered on right, the moon floating at the left, where in the center was a sphere of life that she had just been on. She stared up at the sky. Her heart pounding. Breathe racing. Eyes widening as she stood there for seconds and her pupils turned to slits as the raw emotion took over, only for the first thought to come to mind which gave way to the first pangs of fear. Immediately her horn glowed and it was a relief to know her magic still worked, a grin crossed her muzzle, flashing shovel shaped teeth as her anger subsided and her relief turned into confidence. Horn igniting she reached out to her Moon, felt it in her grasp, tried to draw strength from it as she had done so many times after learning how-- Came up empty and instead felt nothing. She blinked, scowled. Another attempt at slowing her down but one she did not fear because they were invincible as there was nothing that could truly slow them down or hold her back forever. Her wings spread, her neck straightened, confidence flooded through her body as she flapped her pitch black, feathered wings and found that despite no air here she took off with ease. Hooves hovered over ground that lapped at her shoes like dancing white flames that neither burned but felt neither cold nor warm. Her eyes moved away from the white, bright ground, looked back up into the rose tinted sky that held her Sun, her Moon and her Stars before they focused on the orb of life and she floated up-- Only for it to move not an inch forwards the higher she went. Eyes narrowed and her flapping increased just a little, Another trick. Just another obstacle she would break through. So she flapped upwards, horn glowing. Casting spells that gave her no answer every time she made it up a single climb. Trying to pinpoint the weakest point that would grant her access to the keys in breaking the seal that bound her. She kept flying. Searching, scanning. Stuck in the same place at the same point. Trying to find a way to break the device back home that kept her stuck in this forsaken space. She walked and as she did, every step caused a blade of white to shift with her every movement. It was infuriating. The white, but yes this place was also chiseling away at her nerves. Looking up, her horn glowed. She reached out. Touched the Moon, nothing. She bit back the desire to scream and instead counted to a hundred. When she was done a hundred poisonous words flooded into Nightmare Moon's mind and everyone of them was grumbled out as she marched onwards towards the horizon's distant expanse. Five thousand and two-hundred and forty-five. 5,245 times she'd awoken. 5,245 times she'd trudged this path. Every step she took, the sky followed. Like a bird stalking its prey the world only moved when she moved. The stars only twinkled in time with her every breathe and if her breathing became erratic as the anger, fear and hatred and regret at not having done things in a different way slipped in, they would flare. Some going red, others green, changing colors and peppering her eyes with different lights till she calmed down. It was relaxing but also annoying. Sometimes, disturbing. The white that stretched for miles and miles, leading nowhere, going somewhere, was probably the worst. There were times she felt odd. This strange sense of being watched. Of not being completely alone but every time she cast a heartbeat spell or did a scry she found nothing, no one, nobody here except herself. So she would keep moving and keep going, always aware of how the Sun never moved towards the Orb or how the Moon kept itself following closely as she walked. Always aware that she was being watched. And then there were the moments she stopped walking because she was too tired to continue. So she'd summon her magic for the 179th time and force it to see if her Moon would obey, become infuriated when it didn't, scream when she would muster all her will to grab the Sun only to have it be just as unresponsive then curse when she could not craft the constellations she so loved. "The Plane of Lights" it was a fitting name. A world of light that did not allow her rest in the way she wanted it but a realm that gave her the energy to move without ever going anywhere in distance, requiring no food or water of any kind. To never feel thirsty. Never feel hunger. Just tired if she worked herself into it. It was annoying and Luna hated it. Much like she hated many things about this place. There were no tracks so she never knew if she was going up or if she was moving at all. Whether she was actually going somewhere or actually just walking in a loop over and over again with reality bending to follow those dimensions she had no idea. Star Swirl might have been able to answer this question if the fool hadn't finally-- A voice silenced the thought and Nightmare Moon's starry tail lashed out in frustration. She rose, felt the odd sense that she always did that she was being watched, shoved Luna's paranoia aside, then her horn ignited. Another attempt to wrestle the Moon back into her control to grant her the power she needed to break this weak seal. For one brief moment she was the only one in this Tartarus forsaken reality, then there were two and she rounded on her trespasser with a speed that couldn't be processed by the normal brain. It will not listen to you. The words were like a weight that pressed in on some part of Nightmare Moon's mind and she banished the momentary wave of regret that came flooding forward at his words. As if they were a reminder of how she got here and made a mockery of the fantasies she had of someday escaping. Her horn dimmed at the statement, no longer trying to reach the moon but now trained on the entity that towered before her. You have failed. Her horn burst to life and the blades of white grassy fire danced around her as her glare became a grimace. He, merely cocked his head to the side. She glared up at him. Her corona's unstable glow, steadying. The massive giant that loomed over her who cast no shadow, whose mere presence altered the sunset tinted sky into a cold and chilly ice blue, looked down at her with eyes that burned like the sun but radiated the cool breeze of a winter's chill and she remained defiant as the massive entity stared back at her with an expression both as calm as a quiet night but as ferocious as a blazing fire. "What do you want?" Her tone as equally distant, equally infuriated. Eyes of burning light never blinked. You have failed. Was the only thing the giant with no shadow repeated. He shifted forms, became a massive dragon, the largest dragon she'd ever seen yet still he cast no shadow and still the sky maintained the cold color that matched the coldness that radiated from his blazing eyes. "You keep saying that" she started. Because it is true. He interrupted, ignoring the way stars swelled as the alicorn's anger grew. We warned you. He warned you. You chose not to listen. Chose to ignore the signs and warnings we gave at every turn. A feral growl freed itself from her throat. "Do not speak to me of warnings, spirit!" The last word spat with venom. "We chose the path that led to victory and we would do it again if given a second chance!" The dragon's head tilted one way. Blinked. Tilted the other and now he was a Zebra. Stripes moved across his coat like currents on the ocean. ...We? For a brief second Nightmare Moon somehow became darker. Her feathers fell out, her wings grew thumb claws, her once-square-now-shovel-teeth cracked and reformed to become the fangs of a carnivore, slitted pupils like those of a tiger became reptillian and gained an eery glow-- then the image was gone and Princess Luna stood in the Nightmare's place. Her coat a few shades darker than before, her mane semi-transparent billowing on a nonexistent breeze. She looked up at the giant, staring coldly as if they were the same size. Said nothing at the statement as the two old acquaintances shared a long look of silence, trying to read the thoughts of the other. 'We'. The giant Minotaur repeated, rubbing his right horn in thought. Who is 'we'? Luna said nothing. Her eyes narrowed more. Celestia-- "Do not-- --would not have-- "Speak--" --allowed you-- "--THAT ENCHANTRESS' NAME!" And the Nightmare returned in an explosion of cold indigo light as her wings exploded outward with a crack and the space that had no air vibrated with the force of her shout, doing little to push the giant back but if anything drew his attention back to her as her words silenced his own. "We ARE NO LONGER THE YOUTH WE ONCE WERE, TAURIN!" Nightmare Moon bellowed and several stars went through supernova, "IT WOULD DO YOU WELL TO REMEMBER THAT IT WAS YOU WHO ORDAINED US AUTHORITY OF THE NIGHT!" The giant goat named Taurin said nothing. He watched the heaving alicorn before him with burning cold eyes, and by his first blink, for the first time since his appearance, they were the same size. Equals. "And", she heaved a sigh as a small tight smile formed "as the Sovereign of Night it is my right to do as I please for the benefit of my charge." You are right. I did. And it was. The alicorn made of cold flames and a mane peppered with dying stars and passing comets that flew through his mane and died in his fiery blue coat, smiled, though she saw it as one of spite than one of pity. The Elements have seen fit to revoke you of that title. Not I. Which just made her snort as two stars died as she scoffed at the statement. "And who do you have replace me? The traitorous enchantress and I cannot be so easily replaced, Keeper." "She knows it." Nightmare Moon's fangs shined with her grin as she licked the top lip in self-satisfaction. "You know it." Which is why the Enchantress is your substitute since your forfeit of title. The smile faded. Half the sky turned a dangerous indigo on her side while the other became a paler shade of ice blue on his. Her horn ignited. "What?" She said in a strain. The Moon no longer belongs to you. You failed me Luna. You failed. You have broken the oath you swore to me. Thus you forfeit your title. As long as you remain here the Moon will never listen to your calls. I have made certain of that. The Elements have ensured that your power may be weakened but I am the one who decides how strong the connection remains. I came here to tell you that, and to wish you luck in absence. "You can't do that." She said with a mixture between confidence and doubt. "You don't have the power to." The words came out in disbelief. But he continued as if he'd never heard her. Neither Moon or Stars will aid you. You have been cut off, completely. You will not prevent the one you call Enchantress from continuing the cycle. "You can't do that!" She said a little bit louder. Loud enough that several stars grew larger in the passion of her ire. "You lie to protect her!" And as long as the Elements keep you here, he continued, your power will continue to be weakened, and you will continue being cut off. The feathers began to fall as her stare began to waver. The grimace began to rise as the wings began to twist and gnarl, as the teeth changed shape and form. "What gives you the right?" Nightmare Moon hissed in a venomous whisper that echoed across the realm and curled the white grass with the gravity of her words. "What gives you the authority to take away what you have given?" I do. The voice answered with barely restrained fury. Because it was I who protected Moon before you, just as I had protected Sun before her. Just as I bestowed the Houses of Day and Night the strength to raise, as I did across the world, as easily as I saw fit to bestow you the role as Carrier-- "And yet somehow" the Nightmare cut him off with a spear of light from her horn as she rose into the air on devilish wings of night and cold, "I was the greatest Carrier you ever found. I was the one who protected the night for centuries. I was the--" Then all of a sudden they weren't the same size and he was towering over her. Growing larger and larger, shadows spilling out and wilting the ground, sucking the white out and turning it grey, then a redish-orange as it became fire that writhed with the same intensity that reached up for her as she soared higher in the air to meet his gaze. Do not his voice echoed across the space, as icy cold blue began to push against the indigo that stood against it in the sky, test my patience Inferna. I spared you a suffering-- "YOU SPARED ME NOTHING! For for a hundred thousand slumbers I have been left to wander and for a unknown more, even with magic, I am powerless!" The sky exploded in light as a star hit critical. "What mercy do you show Keeper to deem this traitorous reward such a feat of kindness?! For all that We have done, for all We have been through, you repay your oldest friend with this sin!" She spat and her fangs grew sharper. This sin spares you misery! His body brightened with his fury. Your suffering has been halved, unlike the others that fell to this fate you have a realm to distract you! The stars, the Sun, the Moon, this space! Your company will not be the craters and dust, darkness and night, silence and suppression that exists on the Moon. You will not suffer from the concotions of the mind in isolated nothingness as it may have been! There will be no terrors drawing towards you in the night for this plane is guarded! You will not hunger, will not need food or water where it would be torture. I have saved you a eon of suffering. And you know this could have been worse, Princess-- "Do not speak of that title traitor!" they screamed and her horn flared in a furious crackle of energy that popped and crackled. Let this serve as your lesson. The alicorn now a giant said as its baleful eyes rained cold down upon her. A reminder of your errors. Let it teach you well. And let this be your reminder, had it been Lucius- you would have been dead. He would have ended you the moment the signs first began and gloated about your death as if you were nothing but a trophy. Luna screamed in righteous indignation and the Nightmare howled, "We will find a way out of this prison Taurin! We will make you pay for this betrayal!" And all the giant could do was stare at her with an expression that mirrored something almost like pity. It broke her. That sickening look of sympathy threw away the last shreds of mercy. And just as she was about to charge as her horn burned a vile green, she blinked, then he was gone. Unexpected VisitorShe didn't get why she did it but this had become a pattern. A routine. Awake, rise, trot, reach, curse, shout, trot some more then slumber from exhaustion. Then, repeat. She didn't know what she was moving towards. Why she kept on walking forward. Why she kept on scanning for weakpoints when deep down she knew there wasn't one. It was the hope. Hope that she'd find one. So as she did upon every awakening once her reserves had been restored, she reached and kept reaching till it hurt which is where she could feel the seal around her. She could feel it keeping her tethered to this realm. Could feel it every time she reached out to the stars and tried to move them even an inch. But she could never do a thing and always came up with nothing. 134,009 She thought. Wasn't sure. Didn't care. Her mind reeled as she'd been wandering. Kept on wandering, never tiring, never leaving behind a single print in this vast field of damned star speckled grass. No idea if she was making progress or not. Only had this odd suspicion that something was watching and she wasn't sure why it wasn't showing. The vague and disturbing sense of being watched returned when she took a step forward only to stumble and drop to her knees. Sparks sputtered like a leaking hose from her horn as she tried to reach out for the 179th time, where she reached up into the heavens as proof of being a Carrier, grabbed the Moon-- felt it resist. And found her attention drifting elsewhere as that alone was enough to break her focus. For the umpteenth time she became aware of how alone she. How alone they were. In a field of sparkling white with a sky that held everything that should have been hers. Theirs. It was just them. Just her. Together. And it was painstaking to get up and trot, always feeling like eyes were watching her, and never have a soul she wanted to talk to, as traitors had no right to demand her attention. In a burst of light the Nightmare vanished and Luna tried not to think about the way the stars flickered, expanding and growing, shrinking and dying or birthing anew. It didn't make sense why they did that. It didn't feel right but didn't feel wrong either. She had a clear understanding of the nature of stars. Their formation from hydrogen, bonded to stardust and heated by a thousand as they expanded and amassed more into themselves from their surroundings. Yet when she looked at these stars they were different. Different from her own in a way she didn't understand. Or maybe couldn't, as the Elements were always hiding things in their own way. They glowed with her every breathe. Expanded when she became enraged, darkened when she fell to a empty slumber where she was alone and there was not a soul to touch amongst the dreamscape; where even in her own dreams she found herself wandering and never stopping. For a brief moment she rose, thinking there was someone else in this realm with her but upon twisting and turning she found nothing. Which is when the anger grew when she recalled him. The Keeper had not returned. Not after her screams for him to return, not after the spears of light she'd cast off at the Moon hoping to destroy him as he returned to his domain on running tigers made of dying stars, screaming at him in her fit of rage to face him in battle as he was a coward. A coward and if she couldn't have it then she would make him rue the day he'd ever allowed her to wield it. So every time she rose she now expected him to return. To watch, to say something as he had done the day they first took over Sun and Moon. Though her waiting was to no avail. It was a cruel joke, Celestia's sort of humor. The kind where she got a slight kick out of annoying others or surprising them in a way that was only slightly amusing. She waited expecting him, sometimes expecting the Enchantress, every time she got up she waited expecting, but never once having those expectations met. Infuritating. He hadn't shown his coward face yet. Where those eyeless pits of shifting light and cold bore into her being like a judgemental older brother. And she knew the coward wouldn't come. Not after the first thousand slumbers and not after the next thousand later. They would not understand. Never had. Never would. She had deserved the chance, a moment to shine. A moment to be free of the Enchantress' charms, to captivate the masses as she had once done centuries ago when chaos fell and balance was restored. She had given up everything to Equestria and its progress into the future; herself, her body, her mind, her spirit, her friends, her lovers, everything for the citizenry to no longer feel the pressures of pure peasantry and what had her payment been when she demanded a bit more respect? Exile. Just a moment to go back in time and feel their exuberance at her mere presence, was that too much to ask for? The joy the foals had in their eyes instead of the distant respectful recognition. The way they would bow and prostrate themselves before her as if she were a goddess. She had missed it, wanted it, needed it-- We deserved it --and merely wanted a taste of what had once been. In a explosion of light, the Nightmare swapped places and Luna rested her head on a patch of white sparkling grass, feeling no warmth, no coldness just the sensation that something was touching her and it was as empty as she felt in this Tartarus forsaken realm. Which is when the anger flared and his words came back in a torrent about 'showing mercy' she grimaced, 'saving her' she slammed her hoof into the immaculate ground and grinded her hoof against the non-existent dirt. Mercy he said. They think this is mercy? A choked laugh escaped her as her eyes misted over at the sheer absurdity, as unwanted thoughts of Sombra locked away; Tirek sealed in some cage somewhere in hell; Discord trapped in stone, unwanted thoughts forced their way into her mind and she laughed even harder as the tears began to spill and she heard their mocking laughter bounce around in her inner ear. She laughed. Laughed and laughed. Then sobbed as the ground left no mark of her presence, her tears, or her hatred. Left nothing behind her as she continued to howl and the sparks of encroaching madness flew from her horn as she tried to beat the ground in her disoriented anger to make the ache stop. Tears spilled. She laughed, swore and cursed as she always did when the frustration had hit its peak. A hundred stars swelled with empathy. Cursing every single one of them as she entertained the thoughts of revenge. Went on like this for awhile till the one good thing about this seal finally played its card again when she got this worked up: she finally tired herself out. She awoke and when she did the Nightmare rose in the sea of blue that surrounded her. Blue as the sky and sparkles that fluttered all around her. One hoof moved up, another moved forward and she moved through the dream uncertain of what was to follow. The voice in Nightmare Moon's head whispered to be on her guard and with grim determination she moved on, forward. As if she were awake there was that odd sense again. That strange sense she was being watched. The odd feeling that was now considered a fact since the Keeper had appeared and she'd seen Cria on the horizons, watching her with sad eyes in the distance as she had made her tired trek through the 127 thousands, refusing to acknwoledge her or say a word across a gap that she doubted this realm would ever let her cover-- then the dream shifted, breaking her thoughts as she was brought into open plains. For the first time in a long time the sun was setting and if she touched it with her magic she could feel. Rolling hills of lush green came into existence as she raised Sun. A forest with life that chirped and made sounds and for the first time in a long time Nightmare Moon felt the first pangs of real fear nag at her mind as she completed the cycle. What is this? She turned, looked around, trying to make her way through the flood of chaos overwhelming her senses after it had been so long. Birds chirped, owls hooted, eagles cried. Noises and noises and noises and noises and noises and noises and-- "Luna." Silence descended and all was quiet. Slowly two eyes opened, blinked and stared at the shape before her. An alicorn. Grass green, made of leaves and blades of grass, a mane as red as a rose and a coat as green as a stem. "Luna", the feminine voice called out to her and she looked into somehow familiar eyes. "I've been trying so hard to reach you, you silly little filly." Stunned. Silent. She didn't move. Didn't dare breathe. Hopeful that perhaps she'd found a hole in the seal, a breach that gave her access to the outside. Nightmare Moon blinked, realized she was staring then fixed a glare on her face as she saved what dignity she had. "Who are you?" the words were asked cooly. A frown rose and in careful reply of gentle words "Who comforted you when Princess Amore was assassinated and Sombra went mad for the mare he so loved?" And she gasped because they hadn't seen each other in years. "Mistress?" The name was only a barely audible whisper. "It has been a long time Luna." The response was tinted with a smile. And for the first time a genuine smile tugged at the Nightmare's lips. The taller alicorn moved towards the smaller and nuzzled her. They shared it briefly and perhaps it would have lasted longer till the other said, "I heard what happened." Just like that Nightmare Moon was on the otherside, staring with a cold calm. Eyes slightly narrowed, posture back to stiff and solid, almost unyielding as she regarded the taller alicorn before her. "How did you find us." The words were barbed with traps aplenty. "You do not convene with the others and I have never spoken of you per your requests. So how. How did you know where we had been imprisoned?" "How could I not know where my first and only student would be?" Mistress stated with a cryptic reply and an equally cryptic smile. "That is not an answer", the dark alicorn's tail whipped. "It sounded like one to me." The taller one's ears twitched. There was a palpable pause. Nightmare Moon repharsed this time with a "How did you get here?" "I followed the stars." Came Mistress' response. And as if in reply she looked up to the growing and shrinking lights in the sky above the clear forest grove. "Was it not you who said the stars are our most natural compass?" Nightmare Moon said nothing for a moment. Then in a burst of light a equally tall Luna stared at her unexpected visitor with the smallest hints of a smile. "Forgive us, Mistress, but the manners of your appearance are not what we expected." "You have a right to be suspicious." Was the only dismissive reply. "I would be also." And so they lapsed into a silence as the two regarded one another, and then the taller turned away. "Come, sit with me." Without waiting for a reply, she took off towards a hill. Luna was quick to follow and in no time they were both sitting atop a incline, watching the surrounding forest before them. Every now and then the noise of a bird or a squirrel jumping branches or some other animal would reach the ears but it would never be as overwhelming as before. "We hope your appearance means that we have finally discovered a tear in this realm?" Luna's voice was kept neutral, but the hope that lingered in those words was there. Which was why she couldn't bring herself to look at Mistress when she didn't immediately reply. Instead she kept her posture unyielding and straight, like a true royal would no matter what pressures they faced. "I am sorry Luna. No, you have not found a tear. I merely was able to squeeze a portion of myself through the tiniest gaps and just barely reach you as you slipped into the dreamscape." For a moment, Luna became Nightmare Moon again as her expression hardened, but the illusion disappeared with a thought. Measured silence passed as Luna allowed these words to sully her being. Then she said "Why are you here?" Even though she really wanted to ask what good are you to me then? "I came here to offer you company." Was the cheerful reply. "Though it will only ever be in the dreamscape as that is the best I can manage. I fear I am not powerful enough to enter the realm. But I can at least keep you company whenever you slip into a slumber." And while this brought some form of satisfaction, it also brought a touch of anger. "Do you desire to lecture us as well, Mistress?" "Nay. I would not dream of it" came the wry reply. "Then what use could your company provide that would do nothing but bring us anguish when we awake" was the immediate caustic response as Luna rounded on the alicorn and darkened just a bit more. "We do not require false hope Mistress! We desire a way out!" shouted the Nightmare as she rose and her blackened wings cast shadows across the land. "If you cannot grant us an exit, then leave us be to FIND ONE OF OUR OWN!" For a long pause those final words echoed across the shadow covered land where a Moon replaced the Sun. Then, stepping back, sitting a distance away, Mistress regarded Luna with a calm and cool eye. "Temper Luna." Mistress chided, no witty smile, no jovial tone. "It does not become you to lose your temper so easily. I see you handle this power well. Your anger will be your undoing when the time comes for your freedom." And then the darkness rushed forward in a cloud of indigo and violet, reappearing in solid form as the dark alicorn loomed over the other, greater in size, a mixture between gas and solid. "What do you know of the future" the fallen Princess growled. "I know what could be." Came that cryptic response. "What might be. What may be. The ifs and mights, the could-a, and should-a. I have looked into the future Luna and in every one, you lose." The shadows began to slink away as the light began to remerge. "I can help you Luna." The taller alicorn said to the mass of writhing gas and dust, "a thousand years trapped in this realm with barely any way to expand your magic will leave you rusty. You will be out of touch with the world upon your return. You will be facing those with an understanding in magic you will have to catch up on. You will be out of practice. There is nothing I can do to stop these things." "But", and the sun peeked over the horizon, "I can help you expand on your magic. I can help you face the next bearers of harmony..." the words began to sink in as Nightmare Moon became solid once more, shrinking and returning to a normal size. "...that is, if you are willing to let me stay and help?" And after a long pause, Nightmare Moon turned to look at the ball of fire that bathed the once shadow cast land in rays of light, a glint of hope sparked in her eyes. "Yes. Just as your aid helped awaken my true potential...I trust your teachings will be beneficial once more." Mistress smiled. "Of course" the rose maned alicorn said with perfect white teeth. "Let my teachings guide you on your quest."
LightTwo voices shouted as one, one hers, the other almost foreign. There was white, nothing but white light as a spell flooded to life and three Elements glowed with a horrible and dangerous light. It blinded her even though she could stare straight into the sun without protection. It hurt her, even though this was a light she had used on foes before them. Then it devoured her entire being without a shred of mercy. It pushed its way past the eyelids, dug itself into the retinas, burned its way into the brain and then made itself comfortable as the scream became a holler of anger and fury. How is she doing this?! She could barely make out the words that were called out to her as the world collapsed around her and flesh warped as she became a part of the vileness that swam all around her. Light bended and in turn her body followed the odd twists and shifts of angles as matter became particles and particles moved like currents- her whole body acting like the waves of an ocean or the push and pull of the tides-- How is she doing this without all the Elements?! She would never get to ask her question because all that came was the scream as they were enveloped in light and the ruined castle shook, as the ground vibrated then trembled, and a thousand of her soldiers with a thousand of her minions all freezing at the sound of their leader's defeat. There was an explosion as a pillar drove itself through five floors of stone, widening the holes from their fight, and creating a sonic crack that sent a breeze across the forest that made the fighting between forces stop as everypony and every thing went silent and stared. Hundreds of eyes looked up to the sky. All of them wide. All of them watching. For seconds, two armies loyal to two different Princesses forgot about the battle and could only stare up as they watched something unnatural take off into the sky. A pillar of light that demanded their attention, brought comfort to some in its glow while it brought fear to the tainted that saw it. The silence stretched for seconds as the pillar climbed higher and higher, a spear of light that went straight towards the eclipse where Moon blocked Sun and bathed the world in an eery glow. Then without hesitation every one of her own troops, every one of her minions in this rebellion felt the grip of fear as that light flared with the echoes of her protests and their leader was taken with it. Their muscles unfroze. Seventeen thousand souls shared one single thought at that exact same moment and it was to run. They turned and fled as the pillar of light shot out into the sky, fleeing from the ravenous light as it stretched out across the Everfree and gave soldiers the chance to chase down the remains of their fleeing foe who took off. Membrane wings spread, some fled on two legs and charged towards the nearest rivers where boats were hidden, others took off on currents of air with feathered wings beating or horns glowing in hopes that the light would not come for them as it had taken her. And as she screamed bloody murder, cursed the one she called sister and then cursed the ones she'd called 'friends', the light slammed into the moon, spread across its surface, exploded in the air and bathed the whole world in blinding warmth. All while one Princess was joined by several unseen figures that stood beside her. Watching one of their own serve a sentence they'd hoped would never come.
KeeperHer eyes were still closed because the light had been that bad so it took her time to adjust before she would dare to open her eyes again and when she did her cold heart nearly shattered as every thing came into focus and she had a look at her surroundings. Eyes blinked as they adjusted as the sight that greeted her was not the sight she had been expecting. Nightmare Moon rose with slow caution as she stood up in a land of light that was both warm and cold. Where the stars twinkled above her, each one seeming to grow and shrink and the sun hovered on right, the moon floating at the left, where in the center was a sphere of life that she had just been on. She stared up at the sky. Her heart pounding. Breathe racing. Eyes widening as she stood there for seconds and her pupils turned to slits as the raw emotion took over, only for the first thought to come to mind which gave way to the first pangs of fear. Immediately her horn glowed and it was a relief to know her magic still worked, a grin crossed her muzzle, flashing shovel shaped teeth as her anger subsided and her relief turned into confidence. Horn igniting she reached out to her Moon, felt it in her grasp, tried to draw strength from it as she had done so many times after learning how-- Came up empty and instead felt nothing. She blinked, scowled. Another attempt at slowing her down but one she did not fear because they were invincible as there was nothing that could truly slow them down or hold her back forever. Her wings spread, her neck straightened, confidence flooded through her body as she flapped her pitch black, feathered wings and found that despite no air here she took off with ease. Hooves hovered over ground that lapped at her shoes like dancing white flames that neither burned but felt neither cold nor warm. Her eyes moved away from the white, bright ground, looked back up into the rose tinted sky that held her Sun, her Moon and her Stars before they focused on the orb of life and she floated up-- Only for it to move not an inch forwards the higher she went. Eyes narrowed and her flapping increased just a little, Another trick. Just another obstacle she would break through. So she flapped upwards, horn glowing. Casting spells that gave her no answer every time she made it up a single climb. Trying to pinpoint the weakest point that would grant her access to the keys in breaking the seal that bound her. She kept flying. Searching, scanning. Stuck in the same place at the same point. Trying to find a way to break the device back home that kept her stuck in this forsaken space. She walked and as she did, every step caused a blade of white to shift with her every movement. It was infuriating. The white, but yes this place was also chiseling away at her nerves. Looking up, her horn glowed. She reached out. Touched the Moon, nothing. She bit back the desire to scream and instead counted to a hundred. When she was done a hundred poisonous words flooded into Nightmare Moon's mind and everyone of them was grumbled out as she marched onwards towards the horizon's distant expanse. Five thousand and two-hundred and forty-five. 5,245 times she'd awoken. 5,245 times she'd trudged this path. Every step she took, the sky followed. Like a bird stalking its prey the world only moved when she moved. The stars only twinkled in time with her every breathe and if her breathing became erratic as the anger, fear and hatred and regret at not having done things in a different way slipped in, they would flare. Some going red, others green, changing colors and peppering her eyes with different lights till she calmed down. It was relaxing but also annoying. Sometimes, disturbing. The white that stretched for miles and miles, leading nowhere, going somewhere, was probably the worst. There were times she felt odd. This strange sense of being watched. Of not being completely alone but every time she cast a heartbeat spell or did a scry she found nothing, no one, nobody here except herself. So she would keep moving and keep going, always aware of how the Sun never moved towards the Orb or how the Moon kept itself following closely as she walked. Always aware that she was being watched. And then there were the moments she stopped walking because she was too tired to continue. So she'd summon her magic for the 179th time and force it to see if her Moon would obey, become infuriated when it didn't, scream when she would muster all her will to grab the Sun only to have it be just as unresponsive then curse when she could not craft the constellations she so loved. "The Plane of Lights" it was a fitting name. A world of light that did not allow her rest in the way she wanted it but a realm that gave her the energy to move without ever going anywhere in distance, requiring no food or water of any kind. To never feel thirsty. Never feel hunger. Just tired if she worked herself into it. It was annoying and Luna hated it. Much like she hated many things about this place. There were no tracks so she never knew if she was going up or if she was moving at all. Whether she was actually going somewhere or actually just walking in a loop over and over again with reality bending to follow those dimensions she had no idea. Star Swirl might have been able to answer this question if the fool hadn't finally-- A voice silenced the thought and Nightmare Moon's starry tail lashed out in frustration. She rose, felt the odd sense that she always did that she was being watched, shoved Luna's paranoia aside, then her horn ignited. Another attempt to wrestle the Moon back into her control to grant her the power she needed to break this weak seal. For one brief moment she was the only one in this Tartarus forsaken reality, then there were two and she rounded on her trespasser with a speed that couldn't be processed by the normal brain. It will not listen to you. The words were like a weight that pressed in on some part of Nightmare Moon's mind and she banished the momentary wave of regret that came flooding forward at his words. As if they were a reminder of how she got here and made a mockery of the fantasies she had of someday escaping. Her horn dimmed at the statement, no longer trying to reach the moon but now trained on the entity that towered before her. You have failed. Her horn burst to life and the blades of white grassy fire danced around her as her glare became a grimace. He, merely cocked his head to the side. She glared up at him. Her corona's unstable glow, steadying. The massive giant that loomed over her who cast no shadow, whose mere presence altered the sunset tinted sky into a cold and chilly ice blue, looked down at her with eyes that burned like the sun but radiated the cool breeze of a winter's chill and she remained defiant as the massive entity stared back at her with an expression both as calm as a quiet night but as ferocious as a blazing fire. "What do you want?" Her tone as equally distant, equally infuriated. Eyes of burning light never blinked. You have failed. Was the only thing the giant with no shadow repeated. He shifted forms, became a massive dragon, the largest dragon she'd ever seen yet still he cast no shadow and still the sky maintained the cold color that matched the coldness that radiated from his blazing eyes. "You keep saying that" she started. Because it is true. He interrupted, ignoring the way stars swelled as the alicorn's anger grew. We warned you. He warned you. You chose not to listen. Chose to ignore the signs and warnings we gave at every turn. A feral growl freed itself from her throat. "Do not speak to me of warnings, spirit!" The last word spat with venom. "We chose the path that led to victory and we would do it again if given a second chance!" The dragon's head tilted one way. Blinked. Tilted the other and now he was a Zebra. Stripes moved across his coat like currents on the ocean. ...We? For a brief second Nightmare Moon somehow became darker. Her feathers fell out, her wings grew thumb claws, her once-square-now-shovel-teeth cracked and reformed to become the fangs of a carnivore, slitted pupils like those of a tiger became reptillian and gained an eery glow-- then the image was gone and Princess Luna stood in the Nightmare's place. Her coat a few shades darker than before, her mane semi-transparent billowing on a nonexistent breeze. She looked up at the giant, staring coldly as if they were the same size. Said nothing at the statement as the two old acquaintances shared a long look of silence, trying to read the thoughts of the other. 'We'. The giant Minotaur repeated, rubbing his right horn in thought. Who is 'we'? Luna said nothing. Her eyes narrowed more. Celestia-- "Do not-- --would not have-- "Speak--" --allowed you-- "--THAT ENCHANTRESS' NAME!" And the Nightmare returned in an explosion of cold indigo light as her wings exploded outward with a crack and the space that had no air vibrated with the force of her shout, doing little to push the giant back but if anything drew his attention back to her as her words silenced his own. "We ARE NO LONGER THE YOUTH WE ONCE WERE, TAURIN!" Nightmare Moon bellowed and several stars went through supernova, "IT WOULD DO YOU WELL TO REMEMBER THAT IT WAS YOU WHO ORDAINED US AUTHORITY OF THE NIGHT!" The giant goat named Taurin said nothing. He watched the heaving alicorn before him with burning cold eyes, and by his first blink, for the first time since his appearance, they were the same size. Equals. "And", she heaved a sigh as a small tight smile formed "as the Sovereign of Night it is my right to do as I please for the benefit of my charge." You are right. I did. And it was. The alicorn made of cold flames and a mane peppered with dying stars and passing comets that flew through his mane and died in his fiery blue coat, smiled, though she saw it as one of spite than one of pity. The Elements have seen fit to revoke you of that title. Not I. Which just made her snort as two stars died as she scoffed at the statement. "And who do you have replace me? The traitorous enchantress and I cannot be so easily replaced, Keeper." "She knows it." Nightmare Moon's fangs shined with her grin as she licked the top lip in self-satisfaction. "You know it." Which is why the Enchantress is your substitute since your forfeit of title. The smile faded. Half the sky turned a dangerous indigo on her side while the other became a paler shade of ice blue on his. Her horn ignited. "What?" She said in a strain. The Moon no longer belongs to you. You failed me Luna. You failed. You have broken the oath you swore to me. Thus you forfeit your title. As long as you remain here the Moon will never listen to your calls. I have made certain of that. The Elements have ensured that your power may be weakened but I am the one who decides how strong the connection remains. I came here to tell you that, and to wish you luck in absence. "You can't do that." She said with a mixture between confidence and doubt. "You don't have the power to." The words came out in disbelief. But he continued as if he'd never heard her. Neither Moon or Stars will aid you. You have been cut off, completely. You will not prevent the one you call Enchantress from continuing the cycle. "You can't do that!" She said a little bit louder. Loud enough that several stars grew larger in the passion of her ire. "You lie to protect her!" And as long as the Elements keep you here, he continued, your power will continue to be weakened, and you will continue being cut off. The feathers began to fall as her stare began to waver. The grimace began to rise as the wings began to twist and gnarl, as the teeth changed shape and form. "What gives you the right?" Nightmare Moon hissed in a venomous whisper that echoed across the realm and curled the white grass with the gravity of her words. "What gives you the authority to take away what you have given?" I do. The voice answered with barely restrained fury. Because it was I who protected Moon before you, just as I had protected Sun before her. Just as I bestowed the Houses of Day and Night the strength to raise, as I did across the world, as easily as I saw fit to bestow you the role as Carrier-- "And yet somehow" the Nightmare cut him off with a spear of light from her horn as she rose into the air on devilish wings of night and cold, "I was the greatest Carrier you ever found. I was the one who protected the night for centuries. I was the--" Then all of a sudden they weren't the same size and he was towering over her. Growing larger and larger, shadows spilling out and wilting the ground, sucking the white out and turning it grey, then a redish-orange as it became fire that writhed with the same intensity that reached up for her as she soared higher in the air to meet his gaze. Do not his voice echoed across the space, as icy cold blue began to push against the indigo that stood against it in the sky, test my patience Inferna. I spared you a suffering-- "YOU SPARED ME NOTHING! For for a hundred thousand slumbers I have been left to wander and for a unknown more, even with magic, I am powerless!" The sky exploded in light as a star hit critical. "What mercy do you show Keeper to deem this traitorous reward such a feat of kindness?! For all that We have done, for all We have been through, you repay your oldest friend with this sin!" She spat and her fangs grew sharper. This sin spares you misery! His body brightened with his fury. Your suffering has been halved, unlike the others that fell to this fate you have a realm to distract you! The stars, the Sun, the Moon, this space! Your company will not be the craters and dust, darkness and night, silence and suppression that exists on the Moon. You will not suffer from the concotions of the mind in isolated nothingness as it may have been! There will be no terrors drawing towards you in the night for this plane is guarded! You will not hunger, will not need food or water where it would be torture. I have saved you a eon of suffering. And you know this could have been worse, Princess-- "Do not speak of that title traitor!" they screamed and her horn flared in a furious crackle of energy that popped and crackled. Let this serve as your lesson. The alicorn now a giant said as its baleful eyes rained cold down upon her. A reminder of your errors. Let it teach you well. And let this be your reminder, had it been Lucius- you would have been dead. He would have ended you the moment the signs first began and gloated about your death as if you were nothing but a trophy. Luna screamed in righteous indignation and the Nightmare howled, "We will find a way out of this prison Taurin! We will make you pay for this betrayal!" And all the giant could do was stare at her with an expression that mirrored something almost like pity. It broke her. That sickening look of sympathy threw away the last shreds of mercy. And just as she was about to charge as her horn burned a vile green, she blinked, then he was gone.
Unexpected VisitorShe didn't get why she did it but this had become a pattern. A routine. Awake, rise, trot, reach, curse, shout, trot some more then slumber from exhaustion. Then, repeat. She didn't know what she was moving towards. Why she kept on walking forward. Why she kept on scanning for weakpoints when deep down she knew there wasn't one. It was the hope. Hope that she'd find one. So as she did upon every awakening once her reserves had been restored, she reached and kept reaching till it hurt which is where she could feel the seal around her. She could feel it keeping her tethered to this realm. Could feel it every time she reached out to the stars and tried to move them even an inch. But she could never do a thing and always came up with nothing. 134,009 She thought. Wasn't sure. Didn't care. Her mind reeled as she'd been wandering. Kept on wandering, never tiring, never leaving behind a single print in this vast field of damned star speckled grass. No idea if she was making progress or not. Only had this odd suspicion that something was watching and she wasn't sure why it wasn't showing. The vague and disturbing sense of being watched returned when she took a step forward only to stumble and drop to her knees. Sparks sputtered like a leaking hose from her horn as she tried to reach out for the 179th time, where she reached up into the heavens as proof of being a Carrier, grabbed the Moon-- felt it resist. And found her attention drifting elsewhere as that alone was enough to break her focus. For the umpteenth time she became aware of how alone she. How alone they were. In a field of sparkling white with a sky that held everything that should have been hers. Theirs. It was just them. Just her. Together. And it was painstaking to get up and trot, always feeling like eyes were watching her, and never have a soul she wanted to talk to, as traitors had no right to demand her attention. In a burst of light the Nightmare vanished and Luna tried not to think about the way the stars flickered, expanding and growing, shrinking and dying or birthing anew. It didn't make sense why they did that. It didn't feel right but didn't feel wrong either. She had a clear understanding of the nature of stars. Their formation from hydrogen, bonded to stardust and heated by a thousand as they expanded and amassed more into themselves from their surroundings. Yet when she looked at these stars they were different. Different from her own in a way she didn't understand. Or maybe couldn't, as the Elements were always hiding things in their own way. They glowed with her every breathe. Expanded when she became enraged, darkened when she fell to a empty slumber where she was alone and there was not a soul to touch amongst the dreamscape; where even in her own dreams she found herself wandering and never stopping. For a brief moment she rose, thinking there was someone else in this realm with her but upon twisting and turning she found nothing. Which is when the anger grew when she recalled him. The Keeper had not returned. Not after her screams for him to return, not after the spears of light she'd cast off at the Moon hoping to destroy him as he returned to his domain on running tigers made of dying stars, screaming at him in her fit of rage to face him in battle as he was a coward. A coward and if she couldn't have it then she would make him rue the day he'd ever allowed her to wield it. So every time she rose she now expected him to return. To watch, to say something as he had done the day they first took over Sun and Moon. Though her waiting was to no avail. It was a cruel joke, Celestia's sort of humor. The kind where she got a slight kick out of annoying others or surprising them in a way that was only slightly amusing. She waited expecting him, sometimes expecting the Enchantress, every time she got up she waited expecting, but never once having those expectations met. Infuritating. He hadn't shown his coward face yet. Where those eyeless pits of shifting light and cold bore into her being like a judgemental older brother. And she knew the coward wouldn't come. Not after the first thousand slumbers and not after the next thousand later. They would not understand. Never had. Never would. She had deserved the chance, a moment to shine. A moment to be free of the Enchantress' charms, to captivate the masses as she had once done centuries ago when chaos fell and balance was restored. She had given up everything to Equestria and its progress into the future; herself, her body, her mind, her spirit, her friends, her lovers, everything for the citizenry to no longer feel the pressures of pure peasantry and what had her payment been when she demanded a bit more respect? Exile. Just a moment to go back in time and feel their exuberance at her mere presence, was that too much to ask for? The joy the foals had in their eyes instead of the distant respectful recognition. The way they would bow and prostrate themselves before her as if she were a goddess. She had missed it, wanted it, needed it-- We deserved it --and merely wanted a taste of what had once been. In a explosion of light, the Nightmare swapped places and Luna rested her head on a patch of white sparkling grass, feeling no warmth, no coldness just the sensation that something was touching her and it was as empty as she felt in this Tartarus forsaken realm. Which is when the anger flared and his words came back in a torrent about 'showing mercy' she grimaced, 'saving her' she slammed her hoof into the immaculate ground and grinded her hoof against the non-existent dirt. Mercy he said. They think this is mercy? A choked laugh escaped her as her eyes misted over at the sheer absurdity, as unwanted thoughts of Sombra locked away; Tirek sealed in some cage somewhere in hell; Discord trapped in stone, unwanted thoughts forced their way into her mind and she laughed even harder as the tears began to spill and she heard their mocking laughter bounce around in her inner ear. She laughed. Laughed and laughed. Then sobbed as the ground left no mark of her presence, her tears, or her hatred. Left nothing behind her as she continued to howl and the sparks of encroaching madness flew from her horn as she tried to beat the ground in her disoriented anger to make the ache stop. Tears spilled. She laughed, swore and cursed as she always did when the frustration had hit its peak. A hundred stars swelled with empathy. Cursing every single one of them as she entertained the thoughts of revenge. Went on like this for awhile till the one good thing about this seal finally played its card again when she got this worked up: she finally tired herself out. She awoke and when she did the Nightmare rose in the sea of blue that surrounded her. Blue as the sky and sparkles that fluttered all around her. One hoof moved up, another moved forward and she moved through the dream uncertain of what was to follow. The voice in Nightmare Moon's head whispered to be on her guard and with grim determination she moved on, forward. As if she were awake there was that odd sense again. That strange sense she was being watched. The odd feeling that was now considered a fact since the Keeper had appeared and she'd seen Cria on the horizons, watching her with sad eyes in the distance as she had made her tired trek through the 127 thousands, refusing to acknwoledge her or say a word across a gap that she doubted this realm would ever let her cover-- then the dream shifted, breaking her thoughts as she was brought into open plains. For the first time in a long time the sun was setting and if she touched it with her magic she could feel. Rolling hills of lush green came into existence as she raised Sun. A forest with life that chirped and made sounds and for the first time in a long time Nightmare Moon felt the first pangs of real fear nag at her mind as she completed the cycle. What is this? She turned, looked around, trying to make her way through the flood of chaos overwhelming her senses after it had been so long. Birds chirped, owls hooted, eagles cried. Noises and noises and noises and noises and noises and noises and-- "Luna." Silence descended and all was quiet. Slowly two eyes opened, blinked and stared at the shape before her. An alicorn. Grass green, made of leaves and blades of grass, a mane as red as a rose and a coat as green as a stem. "Luna", the feminine voice called out to her and she looked into somehow familiar eyes. "I've been trying so hard to reach you, you silly little filly." Stunned. Silent. She didn't move. Didn't dare breathe. Hopeful that perhaps she'd found a hole in the seal, a breach that gave her access to the outside. Nightmare Moon blinked, realized she was staring then fixed a glare on her face as she saved what dignity she had. "Who are you?" the words were asked cooly. A frown rose and in careful reply of gentle words "Who comforted you when Princess Amore was assassinated and Sombra went mad for the mare he so loved?" And she gasped because they hadn't seen each other in years. "Mistress?" The name was only a barely audible whisper. "It has been a long time Luna." The response was tinted with a smile. And for the first time a genuine smile tugged at the Nightmare's lips. The taller alicorn moved towards the smaller and nuzzled her. They shared it briefly and perhaps it would have lasted longer till the other said, "I heard what happened." Just like that Nightmare Moon was on the otherside, staring with a cold calm. Eyes slightly narrowed, posture back to stiff and solid, almost unyielding as she regarded the taller alicorn before her. "How did you find us." The words were barbed with traps aplenty. "You do not convene with the others and I have never spoken of you per your requests. So how. How did you know where we had been imprisoned?" "How could I not know where my first and only student would be?" Mistress stated with a cryptic reply and an equally cryptic smile. "That is not an answer", the dark alicorn's tail whipped. "It sounded like one to me." The taller one's ears twitched. There was a palpable pause. Nightmare Moon repharsed this time with a "How did you get here?" "I followed the stars." Came Mistress' response. And as if in reply she looked up to the growing and shrinking lights in the sky above the clear forest grove. "Was it not you who said the stars are our most natural compass?" Nightmare Moon said nothing for a moment. Then in a burst of light a equally tall Luna stared at her unexpected visitor with the smallest hints of a smile. "Forgive us, Mistress, but the manners of your appearance are not what we expected." "You have a right to be suspicious." Was the only dismissive reply. "I would be also." And so they lapsed into a silence as the two regarded one another, and then the taller turned away. "Come, sit with me." Without waiting for a reply, she took off towards a hill. Luna was quick to follow and in no time they were both sitting atop a incline, watching the surrounding forest before them. Every now and then the noise of a bird or a squirrel jumping branches or some other animal would reach the ears but it would never be as overwhelming as before. "We hope your appearance means that we have finally discovered a tear in this realm?" Luna's voice was kept neutral, but the hope that lingered in those words was there. Which was why she couldn't bring herself to look at Mistress when she didn't immediately reply. Instead she kept her posture unyielding and straight, like a true royal would no matter what pressures they faced. "I am sorry Luna. No, you have not found a tear. I merely was able to squeeze a portion of myself through the tiniest gaps and just barely reach you as you slipped into the dreamscape." For a moment, Luna became Nightmare Moon again as her expression hardened, but the illusion disappeared with a thought. Measured silence passed as Luna allowed these words to sully her being. Then she said "Why are you here?" Even though she really wanted to ask what good are you to me then? "I came here to offer you company." Was the cheerful reply. "Though it will only ever be in the dreamscape as that is the best I can manage. I fear I am not powerful enough to enter the realm. But I can at least keep you company whenever you slip into a slumber." And while this brought some form of satisfaction, it also brought a touch of anger. "Do you desire to lecture us as well, Mistress?" "Nay. I would not dream of it" came the wry reply. "Then what use could your company provide that would do nothing but bring us anguish when we awake" was the immediate caustic response as Luna rounded on the alicorn and darkened just a bit more. "We do not require false hope Mistress! We desire a way out!" shouted the Nightmare as she rose and her blackened wings cast shadows across the land. "If you cannot grant us an exit, then leave us be to FIND ONE OF OUR OWN!" For a long pause those final words echoed across the shadow covered land where a Moon replaced the Sun. Then, stepping back, sitting a distance away, Mistress regarded Luna with a calm and cool eye. "Temper Luna." Mistress chided, no witty smile, no jovial tone. "It does not become you to lose your temper so easily. I see you handle this power well. Your anger will be your undoing when the time comes for your freedom." And then the darkness rushed forward in a cloud of indigo and violet, reappearing in solid form as the dark alicorn loomed over the other, greater in size, a mixture between gas and solid. "What do you know of the future" the fallen Princess growled. "I know what could be." Came that cryptic response. "What might be. What may be. The ifs and mights, the could-a, and should-a. I have looked into the future Luna and in every one, you lose." The shadows began to slink away as the light began to remerge. "I can help you Luna." The taller alicorn said to the mass of writhing gas and dust, "a thousand years trapped in this realm with barely any way to expand your magic will leave you rusty. You will be out of touch with the world upon your return. You will be facing those with an understanding in magic you will have to catch up on. You will be out of practice. There is nothing I can do to stop these things." "But", and the sun peeked over the horizon, "I can help you expand on your magic. I can help you face the next bearers of harmony..." the words began to sink in as Nightmare Moon became solid once more, shrinking and returning to a normal size. "...that is, if you are willing to let me stay and help?" And after a long pause, Nightmare Moon turned to look at the ball of fire that bathed the once shadow cast land in rays of light, a glint of hope sparked in her eyes. "Yes. Just as your aid helped awaken my true potential...I trust your teachings will be beneficial once more." Mistress smiled. "Of course" the rose maned alicorn said with perfect white teeth. "Let my teachings guide you on your quest."
