"Captain! Griffon vessel sighted Three kilometres ahead, She's running low and slow." I smiled as I stood up, the deckhand ahead gesturing over to the edge of the hull. The cold air blew through my mane, my breath forming small clouds as a spyglass floated with me. A look over the side revealed the griffon airship, her engines bleeding smoke as it limped along. Thick cloud cover had seemingly hidden our approach.

"All speed we can muster, Helmsmare take us into a dive, Bosun Tibbs get the chase guns ready!" I barked orders, the result was instant as the crew of TMS Vengeance launched into action. Unicorns and Earth Ponies disappeared below deck as I heard the propellers at the aft of the ship roar before we lurched from their thrust kicking in. My lips curled into a predatory snarl as I stalked back up to the bridge, spyglass floating along behind me. With practised ease the Helmsmare pitched us forward into a shallow dive, coming in right behind the Griffon airship.

"Captain, They've not seen us yet" reported a gunnery officer. The dull thump of gun ports on the bow and sides of the Airship dropping down to reveal our lethal bounty. I nodded in acknowledgement as we continued to close on our prey. The sound of hoofsteps almost entirely lost to the rushing wind as it ripped past us all, threatening to tear the tricorn from my head.

"Greetings Captain"

"Ah, Firstmate Shadow I see you….Shadow?" I stalled as I was about to speak, the rushing wind having faded as I looked around myself thoroughly bewildered. We were on some kind of Airship from the looks, a glance up revealing a large flag frozen as it blew in the wind. I craned my neck to see what I was wearing, realising it was some form of naval uniform. If the surprisingly comfortable cap on my head meant what I thought, I was a captain? "This is a dream, isn't it?"

"An astute observation Sir" Shadow teased as she crossed towards me, a bicorn hat resting atop her head paired with a noticeably less fancy uniform than my own. "I must thank you for waking me up, The exhaustion you felt was our body taking the magical strain I was still recovering from. In a few hours, it will have passed."

I stood my ground, the railing of the bridge behind me as well as the frozen Helmsmare. Looking at her again, I realised her startling resemblance to Katty, only thrown off by the Helmsmare's green eyes. I returned my attention to Shadow, looking at her as my brain worked through her explanation. Would her being fully rested allow her to possess my body as she potentially had possessed Luna?

"So that means you'll be back to full strength?" I accused, my eyes narrowed as I felt the fur on my neck raise involuntarily. Shadow took a moment to react, halting her advance whilst her eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal.

"What do you believe that would result in Captain? It appears you are suspicious of me if there is something you have yet to tell me, then please do so."

"I wanted to speak to you after what I have read today. Who are you, Shadow? Where do you come from? Why did you appear in the eleventh hour to save my friends and me?" I ask, unsure if I'm genuinely asking her or thinking aloud. "It all seems too convenient, and after doing some reading about recent events. Well, let's just say it looks suspicious, you enabled me to use dark magic and directed us in combat as if we were one entity. Your fear of Princess Celestia was also noteworthy, I thought it was just because of using dark magic, but there was something more there."

"You believe that I am withholding information about my origins?"

"Yes, I think that you are more than you're letting on."

"What do you suspect I am then, Captain?"

"The Mare in the moon, Nightmare Moon."

"Before I answer that, I must know how much did you research the Elements of Harmony?"

Silence rings around us, I'd neglected to really look into the elements, assuming they were reliant on magic theory that I'd not have understood. I'd gone a little out on a limb with my accusation, preparing for an enraged dark magic-wielding pseudo-goddess to try and smite me. Instead, the question threw me for a loop.

"I….Not enough, I suspect." My words feel heavy as I speak them, the fire that had fueled my argument sputtered as my momentum faltered. Leaving me wide open as Shadow seized control of the conversation.

"I am not Nightmare Moon, though I suspect I am part of her. Allow me to try and explain, in short, the power of the Elements of Harmony. They cannot destroy. Instead, they can create new life, change its form, or more importantly negate non-harmonious magic. Be it Sombramatic or Chaos magic, both are weak to the Magic of Harmony."

Shadow took a step back, her horn glowing as the world around us started to fade, replaced by a familiar grassy hill. The lone tree at the top framed by the star-filled night sky, constellations twinkling behind it. Seemingly pleased with her work, Shadow sat beneath the tree, her teal eyes still not moving from me.

"Forgive me for the change to our dreamscape, but it is easier to hide this smaller dream than what your mind had conjured."

"Why would you need to hide our dream if you weren't Nightmare Moon?" I asked before I even knew I had spoken. Refusing to approach or break eye contact with Shadow, remaining at a distance from her.

"As I said, I suspect I am part of the Nightmare that was torn apart to free Princess Luna. Sombramatic magic is fueled by emotion, as such, it is complicated to predict how it will react or act. If I am merely a part of the Nightmare, it explains why my memory is incomplete. To be Blunt if I were the true Nightmare Moon, I suspect we would not be having this conversation at all."

"What do you mean your memory is incomplete? You seem to understand magic pretty well."

"My knowledge seems intact. However, I cannot remember any of the events leading up to Luna succumbing to the Nightmare. Instead, my earliest memory is the first clash with Celestia, no emotions, merely what happened. Surely you understand my fear of the vengeful sun now?"

She made a fair point, I supposed. Princess Celestia had seemed friendly to me, but considering how much larger than me she was, let alone her command over the sun. I shuddered at the idea of what Celestia could have done to me. "Alright, you've made your point, but that doesn't explain just what you are."

"I believe that I am part of the Nightmare, a shard if you will. Based on my knowledge of the Elements of Harmony, it seems in line with what they would do. They dissected the entity known as Nightmare Moon into its parts. Freeing the moon or Princess Luna to use her actual name, and carving the Nightmare into pieces."

As she spoke her horn ignited, a glowing image of a dark alicorn appearing between us. Rearing up to meet a beam of rainbow light before it washed over her. Once the rainbow light disappeared, I saw a blue alicorn with a crescent moon cutiemark, as well as a dark blob floating beside her.

"The Elements of Harmony seek to create balance, that is why they are the greatest tool against disharmony. Luna's memories are completely gone, so I cannot know the exact details. However, Nightmare Moon's studies of the Elements during the civil war remain. So you can see why I believe I am part of the Nightmare. As for the Nightmare, Sombramatic curses like it are complex, consisting of many different spells woven together."

The magical diagram started to glow as the dark blob split apart into dozens of different sized chunks. Each shimmering and rippling as Shadow paused, I assumed she was thinking as I took a step forward my brain mulling over what she had said. It sounded vaguely like an advanced computer virus. The Elements of Harmony tearing it apart into all the different subroutines. Which only raised the question which parts would do what, and which part she was meant to be.

"That is all I know about my potential origins, it is why I am working to obscure our dreamscape from Luna's sight. I cannot anticipate what she would try to do should she find out that even a part of the monster that tormented her still exists."

Shadow's horn ceased glowing, and the magic diagram winked out of existence, leaving us both facing each other. The space between us was more noticeable than before as I sighed. This land promoted harmony and all that, she had lied to me, but it was out of fear. Lord knows how much of a nervous wreck I'd have been if she'd told me this before I had to meet Celestia. One question needed to be answered before we could move forward.

"So, why are you in my body? What drew you to me over the others or us in general?"

"I was adrift, drained of magic and dissipating into the natural magic of Equestria. I suspect that was the fate of many shards, which likely was what the Elements had intended. Why you specifically? Because you are a unicorn, and channelling any kind of magic that would be useful in that situation is not something a Pegasus or Griffon is capable of. You were largely uninjured, and I could sense you would be the first to die should I not step in. As such, we bonded when you accepted my offer."

Shadow spoke as she stood up and took a deliberate step forward toward me. I matched her step with one of my own, nodding as I agreed with her assessment.

"Right, I assume this means I don't have to fear you possessing my body?

"Unless you willingly give control to me, I cannot steal your body. Luna succumbed to the Nightmare, and they became Nightmare Moon. Nothing is powerful enough to outright steal a ponies body other than Discord himself."

I took one more step closer to her, which in turn, she matched. Her explanation made some sense, albeit she had to speculate in parts. Internally I was relieved, the potential of body theft had been assuaged. The lingering feeling that she must have some form of agenda twinged at the back of my mind, but for now, I trusted her word.

The clearing around us rippled as we stood, the gap between us diminished to almost nothing. Cool night air gently blew, my mane swaying in the wind. I suppressed an involuntary shudder from the chill, still in some way marvelling at how realistic dreams felt when Shadow was influencing them. If she could do this, it made me wonder what Luna could do, my reading had mentioned dream walking, so could she travel between dreamscapes? It would explain what Shadow meant about hiding from Luna's vision. Although how long that would be a sustainable option, I couldn't guess at.

The clearing rippled again, shaking slightly, causing both of us to look around. Shadow took the final step to come to my side as her horn lit up. Tremors spreading through the dream only seemed to intensify despite her efforts. The cold wind started to speed up, blowing a chill through the trees.

"You must wake up Captain, she has noticed us."

Shadow said before turning and pressing her glowing horn to my head. The brief glimpse of her before my vision went white showed Shadow's eye narrowed in concentration. Her eyes pressed against her head in fear, as the moon in the sky started to darken.
____________________________________________________________________________

My eyes flew open as I tried to sit up, my panicked movement only serving to pull me off my bed and onto the floor. Cold hardwood met my muzzle as I crashed onto the floor, the sound of my groans of pain gently floated out into the otherwise quiet room. Moments passed as I remained still, electing to just wait on the floor instead of trying to get up, trying to sort out the chaotic mess in my head. I could tell a migraine was coming. Whether that was from Shadow forcing me awake, whoever had been trying to enter our dream or getting intimate with the floor, I didn't know.

The sound of hoofsteps echoed through the house as I heard someone rushing up the stairs, only for Katty to burst into the room and look around before her eyes spotted me. One of her ears flicked as she sat down and tilted her head. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just felt like inspecting the floor up close." I reply, trying to free my forelegs from the tangled quilt wrapped around me. My admittedly rather pathetic struggles only managed to free one leg, whilst the other remained stuck in its soft prison. My ears swivel as I heard Katty thump to the floor, giggles escaping her watching me struggle. Another sharp tug finally freed my stuck leg only for the force to cause me to fall over again, my head landing near Katty's. Based on the fact she was nearly in tears from holding in her laughter. "You're really bored, aren't you?"

A nod was the reply I was given as she wiped her face with her ankle, sniffling as she stemmed the flow of tears. We got to our hooves, Katty's eyes still slightly puffy as she giggled to herself, whilst I rubbed my muzzle. It didn't hurt, but the dull throb wasn't helping the headache which arrived with the force of a sledgehammer on my skull.

"What time is it?" I asked, noticing the dying light outside. The sun had vanished behind the forested hills outside of Hoofington, long rays of orange spilling across the softly lit red sky. Equestria's natural beauty was still enjoyable, I couldn't help but hope it would always be unique like that.

"Like six o'clock? Give or take. Tibbs brought back dinner from his job, it smells so good! I was coming to get you when I heard a bang and rushed up, you sure you're alright, Asher?" Katty said as she closed the gap between us before she put a hoof to my head only to lower it to the floor as she giggled. "Forgot about that for a second, but you are feeling alright, right?"

I chuckled and nodded, my muzzle twitching as the scent of food floated in through the open door. The heavenly combination of pastry, cream and all kinds of vegetables floated in being picked out by my surprisingly strong sense of smell. I felt myself start to drool before I wiped my mouth, ignoring the blush burning on my cheeks. This smelt so much better than what Katty and Tibbs had cooked before, what was going on?

Katty and I trotted downstairs to find Tibbs putting bowls onto the table, a bandana tied around his head and his naturally brown feathers stained white. I stopped and watched as he got back down on all fours and walked across the room to grab something, leaving a trail of pawprints from his hind legs. "Been baking today then mate?"

"Don't start, you know why Flaky Crust hired me? Not that I'd run my own fucking restaurant but because I have hands. I spent all day making pies, baking pies and prepping vegetables." Tibbs fumed as he ferried an impressively large pie to the table, steam rising from its beautiful golden-brown crust. My mouth watered as I watched Tibbs place the pie down onto the table, like a mother would a child. That heavenly aroma filling the room was even better. I could smell the earthiness of fresh root vegetables, subtle nutty hints and a warming heat from what I guessed was pepper.

"You want to know the weirdest fucking thing? The big fucking basis of pony cooking?" Tibbs continued, turning to grab a knife, his words barely registering as I was hypnotised by the pie. "What we missed when we cooked for ourselves? Fucking Sugar. I'm not even kidding. Apparently, it's vital to a pony or Griffon's diet, that's the secret to it all smelling so great."

Maya seemingly materialised from behind me, joining myself and Katty in staring at the pie. All cares in the world forgotten at the altar of our new savoury saviour. Tibbs passed us, cutting into the crust and cutting it into quarters before putting the portions into our bowls. "Not gonna bother with cutlery, I've seen how you ponies eat today. Messy bastards."

I chuckled at Tibbs' complaining, some handled the strain of their jobs by drinking, he always did by taking the piss out of his customers after shift. It was reassuring that some things refused to change, although that was not on my mind as I raced to my chair. Sitting my flanks down and promptly sticking my muzzle into the heavenly smelling slice of pie. The muffled moan from my right suggested that Katty enjoyed it, my first mouthful nearly eliciting the same reaction. A practical explosion of flavours assaulted my palette, whatever sugar had done it was probably magic. Vegetables weren't supposed to taste as good as they did, deep roasted flavours melding with sharper notes of herbs and pepper as I chewed the pie. Whoever Flaky Crust was they had certainly lived up to their name.

Tibbs ate and watched our reactions. The lack of dinner time conversation and the three ponies muzzle deep in pie probably gave him some decent sense of satisfaction. I wanted to keep going only to be betrayed by my lungs crying out for air. I raised my muzzle from the bowl, gasping for air as I looked down at barely a quarter of my dinner remaining. Clearing my throat as I licked my lips, trying to muster what remained of my pride before finishing what was left in my bowl.

"I really need to figure out how to use this thing" I mumbled, looking up at the slightly pointed horn mocking me with how useless it was to me. "Eating like that is just demeaning."

"That it is, funny to watch though," Tibbs said, a glance revealing the smirk on his face as he sat back in his chair. Turning away from the table and revealing a large bottle filled with amber liquid. My eyes widened as I realised what it looked like, Tibbs grin only widening further. "This was a welcoming gift from the old Griffon running that pub in town, she wanted to get off on the right paw. Griffonian whiskey, imported all the way from High Claw…..wherever that is, I'm assuming that capital of Griffonia, I still need to look that up."

With a dramatic flourish, Tibbs slid four glasses onto the table, uncorking the bottle as Maya and Katty finished their bowls. Their cream coats practically glowing red as they realised what they'd just done, I couldn't help but chuckle a little. When it was somepony else eating like a starving animal, it was kinda funny. A moment later, Tibbs placed out the four shots, pausing after he picked his own up.

"I just realised we can't toast properly cause you lot can't hold stuff, well shit." Narrowing my eyes in concentration, I placed my hooves on either side of the glass, pinching it between them before slowly lifting my glass off the table. A smug grin on my mouth as I looked up at Tibbs, only to find him staring as Maya grabbed the glass using one of her foreleg's ankles. I mentally slapped myself before adjusting my grip to match how she did it, raising my glass up.

"A toast to our brave chef then, first to get a job regardless of what world we end up in." Tibbs rolled his eyes before knocking back the shot, I followed suit. At that moment, I learned of my mistake, the whiskey was definitely not for drinking as a shot. The burn as the drink went down my throat was like nothing I had ever experienced. If I could have described dragon fire before coming to this world, it would have paled in comparison. Katty bolted for the kitchen, Maya taking off after her. My brain too distracted by the raging inferno in my throat to notice that Maya had managed to clear the ground for all of a second.

Tibbs sat across from me during this commotion, his pupils had shrunken down to pinpricks as he remained motionless. Only after I had succumbed to coughing up my lungs did he then join us, our cries of pain slowly turning to pained laughter as we all filtered into the kitchen. Maya and Katty having downed what pint of milk that was delivered after I'd left that morning. Shaking my hoof at them, wheezing promises of revenge for their betrayal I staggered from the room. The return to my bed was simple enough before I knew it, my head met the pillow, and sweet sleep was able to take me away from the conflagration in my throat.

Author's Note

Just a small cultural context on the off chance people didn't know, taking the piss, is English slang for a good-spirited mocking of someone or something. One of my proofers thought it was literal so I figured it might be best to make it clear, just in case.