What If: Chinggis Khan had Ponies in his Horde?

Temüjin was lost for words. He didn’t know what to say, or even how to emote his thoughts at this juncture in time. He had so many questions for this… “alicorn”, but he was mostly trying to wrap his adolescent mind around the fact that he was flying in the air! The steppes that Temüjin was so familiar with looked so minuscule and humbling from above, and it almost brought a tear to the teen’s eye.

“I said, Temüjin, you can ask me anything, are you alright, young one?” Nightmare Moon asks him, cocking her head behind her to see if her new passenger was feeling well.

“Yes, noble mare, I am feeling alright, and I do have some questions.” Temüjin replied, which put the moon alicorn at ease.

“Please, Temüjin, call me Nightmare. While I am a princess, we are not in my domain, and…well I find you to be an interesting person, so I don’t want you to grovel all over me. We are equals!”

“Alright… “Nightmare”....Question number one: “WHAT ARE YOU!”

Nightmare let out a hearty chuckle and then began to explain herself.

“Well, I am an alicorn. Alicorns are a lot like the “horses” you are familiar with here, but we have wings and a horn. Oh, and we can use magic!”

Temüjin took a minute to process this information, and then had a follow-up question for Nightmare Moon.

“Well…you might not know this, Miss Nightmare, but when I was a boy, my uncle was a trader on the Silk Road, and-”

Nightmare Moon interrupted him with a gentle tap of her wing.

“What’s a “silk road”, young one? Is it a road made out of silk? That sounds really cool if it is said and true!”

Temüjin placed a hand on the mare’s neck and proceeded to stroke it in a sense of patronization, but also to humor her.

“No, my winged friend, although it would be cool for a whole road to be made out of silk. The Silk Road is a trade network that stretches all the way from China, past the Steppes, into Arabia, and all the way to the Western Lands! What I was trying to get at is that since my uncle was a trader, and went to places all around the world, he heard many different stories and legends from other races as he sold his wares. One such legend he recounted to me from Arabia, where the locals say their holy man flew to the heavens on a winged horse. Are you that horse of legend?”

Nightmare Moon looked at Temüjin seriously and then grinned. “No…I am afraid not because I don’t even know what Arabia is. I am from Equestria. Now, I don’t know if this place you call home is connected to Equestria or not, because I am not entirely sure how I got here…but that’s beside the point. I assume you have more questions, and I am happy to answer them!”

Temüjin took a minute to think about what other questions he could ask this alicorn, and then alerted her with his next query.

“You said that you would help me conquer the world. Why would you say that? I don’t even want to conquer anything! I wanted to be a tradesman like my uncle!”

Nightmare took an awkwardly long time to think about how to respond to this direct query, but she finally takes a deep breath and answers: “Because I sense the rage in you, Temüjin. I think that you have the innate potential to not only conquer but to rule justly as well. Obviously, a human cannot do this monumental task on his own, and considering how poorly your fellow Mongols have been treating you…it would bring karmic justice to the world to rule them! I have a few grievances of my own, and since I cannot exercise them in Equestria, perhaps I can help somebody else with theirs?”

“H…how do you know I have rage?” Temüjin asks further, a bit curious as to how this alicorn came to such a conclusion.

“I can use magic, remember? The magic I specialize in involves all domains of the night, which happens to include dreams and the subconscious. As soon as I was flying overhead and saw you suffering, my horn lit up, and I immediately empathized with you…I have been dealt my own lot of crap in my life, and while now is not the time for me to elaborate on that…perhaps I can help you deal with yours? Imagine! Temüjin! An empire no civilization has ever before seen or will see again! I can do this for you and more!”

The idea fascinated Temüjin, but he was not completely sold on this concept yet. Why would somebody trust a winged talking horse that claims to want to help you? It seems too good to be true, doesn’t it? Well, he did have one more question, so why not?

“Okay…Nightmare. Before I agree to conquer all four corners of the Earth with you, I have one more question. You are clearly a noble and valiant mare, and I would be honored to ride with you across the world, but…I don’t have an army! All the great empires in history were manifest with legions and legions of men, let alone steeds to carry them. As much as we both want to exert justice on the world…you are but one… “alicorn”! How exactly are we going to do this as a two-person team?”

Nightmare Moon once again turned her head towards the lad, not with a look of concern or anger, but with a devilish grin.

“You can leave that part to me, boy. I might be able to help in that department…assuming that my magic is stronger tonight. My magic is strongest at the full moon, which is tomorrow, I think? As I told you before, Temüjin, I am a princess and a pony princess at that. I will provide you with legions of ponies that your army can use for transport, or even offensive purposes! AH- I am a fool, I didn’t tell you about my world, Temüjin, care to listen?”

Well, he was astride her, thousands of feet above the steppes, so he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

“Sure, Miss Nightmare. I would be honored to hear about your home.” He replied kindly.

Nightmare Moon began to descend slowly, noticing a free, uninhabited area in the steppe, where nobody could be seen for miles.

“While I might be nocturnal, Temüjin, humans are not. A growing boy needs sleep, and since I am an alicorn of the night, I would gladly facilitate this for you. Besides, I make pretty good jasmine tea!” Nightmare says, slowly gliding down towards this empty area. After a few more minutes, Temüjin jolts back atop Luna, not expecting the landing impact to be that hard. Galloping a bit more to slow down at a normal rate, Nightmare Moon slowed down to a complete stop, before using her magic to gently lift the boy off of her.

“Leave the lodging to me, young one. I can conjure a tent for us.” And with a mere flash of her horn, a tent big enough for two people (or ponies!) appeared in front of them, fully configured.

“Woah…this is a very impressive talent, Miss Nightmare!” Temüjin says, entering the tent, seeing that a medium cot has already been configured for him.

“Drink tea before you sleep. It’s not caffeinated, so it will only relax you. You haven’t had any nourishment in days!” Nightmare says, using magic to spawn a teakettle and two porcelain cups, using this uncanny ability, she pours a cup of tea for the young man and hands it to him.

“It’s very hot, Temüjin, so don’t drink it all at once!” She says with a smile, as the two of them sit down inside the tent and drink their tea in serenity.

“This tea is really good, Miss Nightmare!” Temüjin says, sipping it slowly and letting the aroma of the jasmine calm his nerves.

“Well of course it is! I made it with my own hooves! Now…about Equestria. It is a vast land, filled with magic and mystery. While there are beings that inhabit the land that is not ponies, I only know about our kind. There are a few different kinds of ponies: Earth Ponies, which strongly resemble the “horses” of this realm. The only difference is that they can talk! Pegasi are just ponies who can fly, and some of them can fly really fast! Unicorns…well they are like the Earth Ponies, but they have a horn on their head that allows them to cast magic! All three of these different pony breeds rely on each other for the society to function, and-”

Temüjin gently taps Nightmare’s barrel with his hand, since he has another question.

“Hold on, Miss Nightmare. What about alicorns? You are one, but are there any other alicorns in this place?”

Nightmare hid a frown, but she tried to remain diplomatic with the boy because he doesn’t deserve to know about her trauma.

“Well…there is one other alicorn in Equestria. My older sister Celestia, who is the pony princess of the sun, in contrast to me being the princess of the moon. She…well let’s just say we didn’t agree on much, and I decided to take a vacation! Still not sure how I got here, though, not that I am complaining. Now…get some rest, and in the morning, I will help you conquer the world!”

Temüjin finishes his tea, and climbs up into the newly conjured cot, tucking himself in, he can’t help but ask one more question to this mysterious mare who saved him.

“I have one more question, Miss Nightmare. I…I really enjoyed riding with you. Am…am I allowed to do it again?”

Nightmare could not help but hug the boy with all of her might.

“You are the first being, pony or human, to ever say that they enjoyed spending time with me. I would be honored to act as your personal steed…although I am going to need to figure out how to blend in better with the locals…”

“You don’t have to blend in, Miss Nightmare…because we are going straight to the top!” He whispers into the mare’s ear, before letting go of her and trying to fall asleep.

“I like you, boy.” She whispers, letting go of him and watching the moonrise as the teenager in her care falls asleep.

“This child will conquer the world, and I will bring it to him on a platter! If I can’t take Equestria…I’ll take this world instead!”