Author's Note

Trigger warning; This story contains an unlikable female protagonist, and heavy themes.
Pass on this one if you wish to see humans portrayed Only positively.

This tale begins here: The Treachery of the Supplier: I

Many parts of the confrontation were dropped as I ran through them in my mind.
After I played it through in my mind over a few days, the fire inside me turned to sadness; as this dynamic is seemingly all too possible.

Stepping outside myself, it occurred to me that the alicorn would likely.. not bother attempt any lessons, nor exact any recompense, for it would be in vain anyhow. A pointless effort on her part.
So, the tone changed into a foreboding of an individual doom. The alicorn leaving free will intact, and the door of choice open to its conclusion.

Forming a tiny in memoriam that the alicorn would carry of humans. Which in turn, would draw back to the need for a fair final impression, expressed in; The Mystery of the 21st Century City: Last Impressions

The Treachery of the supplier: III

Standing over the company president, the alicorn wasted no time checking her over. Closing her eyes, she began her spellwork;

"Hmph, not nearly as polluted as her offspring are, just enough to slumber soundly. Is this what is required in order to slumber peacefully, madam?"

Finishing her work of un-clouding the humans mind of chemicals, the alicorn got straight to the next task at hoof;

"It is now time to take a journey down memory lane. Thou have a few pieces of the puzzle which I desire filled, before our business is to commence"

Diving right in, the alicorn didn't spend as much time with this ones memories, as she did with the others.

It was quick work, and when she found what she was looking for, the alicorn put the humans mind back into a state of slumbering inactivity.

Digesting the information she gathered, Nightmare calmed her emotions and readied herself for the confrontation.

"She will attempt to pull at me to her level. She is... low. Not as dark as I was a time ago, however distastefully so"

Letting a chuckle come forth, she opened her eyes and smiled darkly at her;

"There was a time when I would have counted thee an asset in my service. Thine mind is quite susceptible to ideological causes... and it would have been a foals work to sway thee to rebel against the sun. Here; mere words have taken thee, whereas I..."

Barking a couple laughs at the inanity of the circumstances, she found herself in better spirits.

"Tis fortunate that I happened upon the benefactor, rather than thyself. Lest I might have in some measure returned to the way I was, no?"

Letting out the tension from her body that had been building throughout the night, she began her spellwork; putting in place what she was about to let the human know of personally.

She had her presuppositions of how this confrontation would proceed, but humans still had the ability to surprise her. And like any game that was played, the results wouldn't be known until it had played out.

With the glow of her horn abating, she opened her eyes, and smiled a dark smile;

"Complete. Now, let us have a nice quiet place to chat"

With that, the Nightmare brought the woman's subconscious to an active state, and planted a dreamscape inside.

...

Driving to work, the company president pulled into her parking spot marked for her, and exited her car. Dressed in her suit, she made her way toward the front entrance of the towering office building, her car automatically locking behind her.

When she was a few meters from the automatic door, she looked down at her phone to check the time. When she looked back up however, the building was gone. Where the building once stood was only a vacant gravelly plot of land.

Thinking that she might have somehow walked in the wrong direction, she looked back the way she came. Though where her car should have been, was only another barren plot of land; as if the lot had been torn up years ago.

"The hell? Where's the my car??" she asked in confusion.

Turning her head back toward the office building plot, she saw a horse standing where the door should have/used to have, been.

Startled, the woman tried to take a step backward, or perhaps run, but found her shoes stuck to the ground.

Looking down to the walkway, she found that it had become a gravely barren patch of earth as well. Though it somehow kept its grip on the soles of her shoes.

Bringing her gaze back to the only other living thing around, she watched the horse for any sign of attack.

The horse had a jet black coat and stood there motionless, staring straight at her. Its ears were pinned, and it gave her the creeps.

"I don't like the looks of this horse... It might have rabies or mad cow, or something.." she said in a low voice.

But the horse didn't move a muscle besides breathing. In fact, it didn't even blink, it just stared at her endlessly.

After what felt like an eternity, the woman tried to move her feet again to get away from the disturbing animal.

Though, she found that her shoes still wouldn't budge.

Finally after having enough, she bent down to try to remove her shoes, just to find that the laces were knotted, and her feet and socks were stuck inside them as if they were held with an invisible glue.

Having come to the end of her patience, she screamed;

"What the hell is going on!?"

Regaining an erect posture, she screamed at the horse too;

"What do you Want!?"

What she didn't expect, was a response from the horse;

"A few answers from thee, before we commence with our business" the horse spoke.

Eyes wide, the woman's mind came to a screeching halt. Many thoughts raced through her mind, questioning everything in her own sanity.

Eventually, she settled on;

"You can talk?!"

"I can do much more than talk, as thee shall know in due time, madam president" came the reply from the alicorn in horse form.

The horse spoke with a woman's voice; it was rich, deep, and commanding, and it put the woman on edge.

"H-how do you know about me? And what is this place? And what do you mean questions? As if I'd answer to a horse!" came her indignant reply.

Her indignance, was answered with mirth from the horse, as if it had just heard a joke told to it;

"Indeed ye shall. I will answer thine second question first. This" the horse lifting a leg and motioning around "is what thee would call a lucid dream. Thee are asleep in thy bed, with thy canine also slumbering at the foot of, in thine home. A respectable domicile I find it to be, additionally" the horse replied, the addition inserted to put the woman off of her guard.

The next was to drive the point home;

"Thy bed appears well crafted as well. As I too, have a penchant for crafted wood"

Taking a few steps closer to the woman stuck in place, smiling just a bit to show that the horse's teeth were more vicious than any normal equine, the Nightmare spoke;

"For you see, I am standing over thee in the waking world at this very moment"

At those words, the woman's confusion turned to dread as her blood ran cold and the hairs stood up on the back of her neck. Such is the power of lucid dreaming in the presence of a master of dreams.

In the waking world, the woman's heart rate shot up, but remained asleep.

Putting on an expression of indifference, the horse went on;

"For thy first question; I know much of thee, very much indeed. For I have stood over thine offspring before I came to visit thee. Of them, I gained detailed knowledge of.."

The alicorn in horse form was cut off by the woman's dread changing to fury and rage as she thrashed in place;

"Don't you DARE harm MY FAMILY!!!" she screamed at the four legged phantom.

The horses reaction made her even more irate, if such a thing were possible. With mirth in her voice, she dismissed the woman's threats;

"Oh, I have no interest in thy lame and made miserable offspring. Indeed thee have done more harm than good upon them already. I would be pressed to outdo thee in such short time. However, that brings us to thy third question. What do you mean Questions? I believe it was?"

Giving the human a moment, the jet black equine figure continued;

"As I was saying; When I entered thy home to speak to thee, I first came by thy firstborn son. An unfortunate case he has become, no?"

Receiving no reply from the woman, the horse added;

"Ye need not speak with words. A benefit of being physically before thee, is that I shall know thy thoughts, despite thy attempts to restrain them verbally. Thus, I know that thee agree; Quite unfortunate, he is. A disgrace to thee, thou find him. In fact, thee did not at all desire a son, and resented being beset one. I thank thee for thine cooperation"

Still receiving thoughts of vengeance, and daggers through her eyes from the woman, the alicorn pressed on;

"My next question is; Why did thee make him lame? Did thee see no benefit to thy lineage besides the laming of him?"

Still silent, the company president turned her head away in disgust at being asked such a personal question.

"Hmm. Yay, thee did see value at first, however thine interest in investing into him abated quickly as time passed. We are making good progress. My next question concerns thy second born"

Whipping her head back around, the woman was ready with a thousand prepared retorts, but didn't expect the next question, and faltered;

"How did thee feel when she advocated all her unborn ovum to thine sole discretion?" the horse asked her.

Mouth gaping, she was silent for a moment before getting back on track.

Her response came, dripping with venom.

To this response, the alicorn was actually amused. Keeping a straight face, she was surprised that the human didn't have a formed response for this, and returned with a simple demand for silence and slander.

The slanderous words and demand however, were ignored as the horse replied;

"Thou were quite proud to have received such a treasure. Indeed such a bounty comes along only once in a lifetime, and it was given without much debate. Prey tell, are thee proud of thy handiwork? That thy second born languishes in misery, and will hath no heirs, save your discression?"

To this question, the prepared retort came quickly;

"Of course I'm proud! He's my son! And I've never been more proud of him!" she screamed.

Nodding, the alicorn conceded her pride, for it was there;

"Indeed thou art proud. Of he, and thine own actions"

Then the alicorns head tilted a little as confusion set in, and Nightmare asked the woman;

"Hold a moment. Thou art proud of thy second son, yet resented being beset a son since the first. How are thee not resentful of thy second borns choice?"

As the unspoken answer came to the alicorn, her eyes widened in shock.

And upon seeing the realization in the horses eyes, the company president turned her head away in frustration and shame.

"This humans treachery... knows no bounds..." Nightmare thought to herself in awe.

"Should her second born ever learn of this, it would destroy Her, for that is what this woman still sees her second born as... Should she ever come to accept it, she would come to despise Him in turn. So they shall ever be separated by either the mothers lies, or contempt"

An oppressive silence fell over the dreamscape, as neither knew what to say.

After many minutes had passed, the alicorn spoke;

"That will be enough questions, let us take care of the business at hoof."

Bitterly, the woman dismissed any farther discussions;

"I don't have anything to say to you, Monster"

"Be that as it may, thou do have a couple of matters to be aware of, for they involve thyself directly. I suggest thee heed them"

Getting no response, Nightmare pushed the conversation forward;

"First is the matter of thee making thyself my obstacle,"

"Then you shouldn't have come here then! Trespassing into MY home, threatening MY children, questioning me WITHOUT a warrant, just WHO do you think YOU ARE?!" the human angrily spat.

"I am... beyond thy comprehension and science, for I am older than both. The reason I visited thee this night, is Because thee have made thyself my obstacle. Had thee not, thou would never know of me, for that is how I carry myself. To what I refer to, is my need of your companies services, to which thee have, with unearned prejudice, denied me unjustly and under false pretense"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked

"My visit to thine office this day. Hath thou already forgotten thine enacted plans to not only blacklist me by thou peers, as well as send authorities to grief me? Are such things so commonplace to thee, that they are done idly?" Nightmare answered her.

"YOU!?" the company president shouted with a mixed expression, turning to joy. Terrible thoughts of recompense were rolling in her mind.

The alicorn was undaunted by this, and returned a smile back showing her own teeth.

"Ah thou Do remember me. I am honored. Indeed thee know my guise now, and such knowledge puts thyself in a very precarious position, madam president"

"When I wake up... Whatever you are, will wish you'd Never been born. I promise" the woman threatened the alicorn with full confidence.

However Nightmare Moon just laughed genuinely;

"Ah thy arrogance is as boundless as thy treachery against thine own offspring. Had thee any rationality, thee would know when to cut thy losses. Rather ye poke bears which can enter and leave protected places at will. Not a single consideration of what could be put in place of thy guard dog while thee sleep, at any night? Thee should have more forethought before leveling threats, unachievable as they may be."

Her amusement dying down, the alicorn returned to being clinical.

"As thee now must surmise, I keep my profile insignificant, and work my ends unheeded. To that end, I require thee out of my mane for a time, and silent about this evermore. And so it shall be. When I leave this lovely gravel lot landscape, I shall keep thee in it for a time. However do not distress, that with my presence absent, the passage of time will become non-linear. Seemingly an hour here, will be months in the waking world"

"Months?.." The woman repeated, not believing a word of what she was being told.

Nodding in affirmative, Nightmare Moon continued;

"Indeed. Thou will not show for work tomorrow, nor the next day, nor the next year. Thy body, will be comatose, lasting little more than three years. By the end of that duration, I will have the equipment that I require, and at a substantial discount as well. Thee, will have a sore throat from a feeding tube upon awakening. And perchance, thy soiled mattress will be replaced by one of thine offspring in that time?"

"Your lies don't scare me" she bit back.

"I am curious to know what physicians will attribute this to. As this will not be a trauma induced coma; I imagine that it will be attributed to a brain swelling event, though identifying the root cause will keep them searching without much success..." the horse pondered, looking upward.

Looking back down toward the skeptical woman, the alicorn in horse form advised her;

"If thee doubt my power; Then, when thee reawaken three years hence, consider that I took three living years of life from thee, never to return. Merely for thine attempt at being a nuisance, and wasting my attention"

Closing the distance, the horse came to nearly a meter's distance of the human.

"Should thee still have doubts after that; Attempt to send word of my true self, or even try write of it, and see thyself fail inexplicably. From such failed attempt, thee will know that my shadow hath fallen upon thee, and it shall Never recede from thee. For once I have levied my decision, I do not repeal it, as I do not levy them flippantly or hastily. More than you will know, rides upon the success of my labors. And so, I have deemed that thou art untrustable with the limited knowledge thee posses, and therefor an acting threat of great scale"

What little I am attempting to preserve from oblivion, thine actions attempt to consume in the now The alicorn kept to herself.

"What did you do!?" the woman's paranoia getting the best of her, demanded an answer.

"You could think of it as an...Asimovian-limiter. Permanently placed, via a method unknown by your science. It will leave thine will largely intact, however constrained in matters concerning myself."

"I don't believe you, and I won't be intimidated by a horse, or whatever you like to think of yourself as" came the company presidents defense.

"Thee not need to believe now, for the gravity will come in a short while for thee. However do expect ramifications on this. When thou awaken, thy company will have been in the hands of whomever was next in line. It may be prospering less, perhaps more. Remember, that this all is the result of thine judgments as reigning president, and it will be interesting to see the results of them come to fruition. So comfortable thou were, that thee became discretionary over thy purpose therein. Discretionary actions levied of a thing merely skin deep. I find it a precarious irony, considering thy personal circumstances"

"We'll just see who comes out on top, thing"

Nodding, the horse had one more thing to say;

"Before I leave thee to thy thoughts, I bid thee know of one more reality; I find thee endlessly subversive and treacherous. Therefor, I shall keep thee in my thoughts. However I shall not suffer thine ill desires endlessly. For I do not have the luxury of time to indulge any of thee, more than I already do"

It is that very indigence, that currently hinders my time, as it is. A mobius of constraints this has made for me, and us all she thought to herself.

"Should by proxy, thou attempt to subvert my judgement, I will know of it. And two things shall befall thee when I come to know of thine attempts..."

Taking a breath the alicorn warned her;

"First; Any difficulties thee attempt bring, shall be wholly reversed at the peril of those whom attempt to enact thy will. Then again, I shall place thee back into coma. When thee reawaken for the second time, thee shall be unable to communicate with the world save though rudimentary muscle control. Whereas thou shall live thy remaining years as merely a burden to others. In this manner, thee shall make thyself an even lesser concern to myself, and in turn favor to lessen my burden of thineself"

Pausing to let that sink in, she went on professing her doom on the woman;

"Second; Therein that state, every night thee will dream the nightmares of thy children, through their eyes and feelings. Perchance thee shall gain a greater appreciation for thine own handiwork though their woes? Already, have I planted in you, what I have found there, in them. In this; medications, will function to being thee peace in slumber, no longer. Long will be thine inexpressible suffering, which none save the two of us, shall know"

At this the woman tried to spit on the horse, but it sizzled and evaporated in mid air, never reaching the alicorn in disguise.

"You're disgusting, leaving my sons without any support. What if something happens to them!?" came from the company president, to which the horse quirked what would be an eyebrow.

"Thy children, are thine concern solely. If thee have made them unable to care for themselves at this late maturity, it is thine own concern and doing. For thee have, by intent or negligence, failed to achieve that which a humble rodent does solely by instinct"

Looking at her with disgust in her eyes, the alicorn said to her;

"Do not further soil thyself with attempts to use them as a tool and shield to slip from thine earned penalties."

Shaking her head, the alicorn put aside her feelings at the woman's attempt to play on her emotions via her children.

At this point, the alicorn swore to herself to never let this happen to her own ponies. Closing her eyes, she made a silent declaration;

"Long after thine children have turned to dust, and their voices fall to silence, mine shall fill the skies. With their voices, shall be mine. I vow to never let my foals voices turn to lamentations as thee have done. For I am Their sword and shield for only a limited time, despite my years Not the reverse"

Opening her eyes once again, she brought her attention back to the human before her;

"However... I shall award thee a bounty for being worthy of my remembrance of thee; Ye shall live a long number of years under my protection, outliving thine own offspring, which thee have shortened. To see thine line end by thine own architecture, and to witness everything ye have worked to build; crumble before you, which it will without my doing. It will not be an unusual count of years, yet thee shall curse the name thee know me as, all the same for seeing it come to pass. The same as I shall, for that doom is mine, however it is one we will both share witness"

Turning away from the human, she looked back toward the human and gave her final words;

"We shall not meet again, however thee will know my wroth should thee cross me again. I hope thou have enough sense of self preservation to shelve thy thoughts of vengeance... though I do not trust to it. Freedom of choice is thine, make it as thou wilt"

And with that, the black coated horse dissolved into nothingness, leaving the company president alone, feet still stuck to the gravely ground where she stood.

---

The connection to the dream having been severed, the alicorn opened her eyes and beheld the sleeping figure in the bed.

Looking at her sadly, Nightmare told the still air around her;

"Where I could return thine sentiment and spit upon thee; I shant, pitiable mare. As thine quality will show, before the end" she spoke as she turned away.

"No traces shall I leave in my wake"

Leaving the bedside, the alicorn made her way to the door of the bedroom. Her horn alight, her hoofprints behind her disappeared from the rugs. Additionally any scent left behind disintegrated, leaving nothing for the canine to be aware of.

Eventually reaching the balcony she entered through, the nightmare latched and locked the door behind her, and took flight.

Once she reached a considerable height, she cast a thorough invisibility spell on herself and teleported to the lobby of the office building.

Gliding to the elevator door, she pressed the call button.

The ding of the elevator doors drew the attention of the night watchman, however seeing no one, dismissed it as a mere glitch.

Stepping into the carriage, the alicorn tapped the [4] button: Information Services.

"Now, for the annoying task of data manipulation..." the thought to herself.

...

By the time that the morning twilight hours came, the alicorn was back in her hotel room.

Tasks completed; her order was reinstated, upgraded, expanded, and listed as an humanitarian PR promotion event in the companies records. Little cost would come to the alicorn for her equipment, and its quality would be the best that humanity had to offer. By the time that the company would feel the pangs of this expenditure and question or investigate it, the backups would be well overwritten.

Dawning her human guise once again, she visited the downstairs front desk to book another night, and asked to not be disturbed during the day, citing insomnia as the cause.

Purchasing a few humble items from the vending machine afterward, she made her way back to her room.

Once there, she wolfed down the snacks as she booked her flight and a taxi. Afterward, the alicorn secured the door lock once again and curled up in bed.

"The night was long and taxing, however sufficiently spent" she said as she settled in for the dawn.

...

The next day, she arose late in the afternoon.

Eating a few large salads at a couple of local restaurants, the alicorn passed the hours idly while going over the previous nights events in her thoughts.

Checking out of the hotel, she got into the taxi which was to take her to the airport.

The driver was rather terse and uninterested in the passenger, unlike the one she had before.

Coming to a stop at the airport, the driver announced the price of the fare.

Catching a glimpse of the bitterness in the drivers expression via the rear view mirror, the alicorn in disguise added a 100 percent tip to the fare.

The added gratuity did little to soften her expression.

Getting out if the car with her bags, she bid the driver a good day and walked toward the entrance of the air port.

Thinking back to the company president's filly, the alicorn thought to herself;

"I grow weary of the bitter eyes of mares. Tis any wonder why any would choose to become male in this era? Such would be begging for additional strife brought into their lives"

Suddenly, she came to a stop as realization dawned on her;

"They... Both felt powerless over their lives...how did I not see the commonality before? The second borns strife, the combativeness, and anger... all fit that deficiency of power"

Looking down to the pavement at her feet, she thought over what options and time the children had coming. And comparing the coming deadline, she thought;

"Sadly, that will never change for them, for they are powerless in their servitude. Likely they do not even posses the tools to begin turning their predicaments around? Happens so, that only one realizes this, therefor he craves merely solitude and release... "

Pitying both of the children for a moment, she lifted her head and walked on into the airport.

Making her way past the other humans, she knew that she would never know how widespread this paradigm went as she beheld them with a deeper understanding, and new pity.

Arriving at the terminal after passing through security, she checked into the flight.

...

Taking her seat aboard first-class, she pulled out her (now considered vintage/niche) music player and found what she was looking for; "Domino - Part II:The Last Domino"

Staring out the window at the tarmac, though not paying any attention to anything she saw; she listened.

A thousand miles away from where she was, her lips mouthed the words "their features are changing, their bodies dissolve, and I am alone..."

The plane having finally taken off with the alicorn in disguise aboard, she made her way back to her temporary home; a rented villa.

Coming back to the present, Moon saw the colt looking down as if he were being scolded.

Coming to her senses, she spoke gently to him.

"Oh, I apologize gentle Nightbeam, for I was lost in thought for a moment" she assured him.

Seeing him look back up in better spirits, she smiled back at him.

"Thou asked if they had princesses to look after them, I believe?" she double checked.

Seeing his nod, she replied;

"Sadly no, they did not have princesses to watch over them. They had...something, else" was her simple reply.

The colt had no idea how many meanings were attached to her answer, but seemed satisfied with it. In her mind, Moon added;

"Even I, was no princess in those days. For the world had no place for princesses back then"

After the days lessons were over, the princess bid them play while she took her leave for a short time.

Saying that she "Had a vow to keep," she teleported from the castle gardens, leaving the foals to occupy each other.

...

Appearing in the sky over a largely wooded hill, the alicorn glided down to a grassy patch near the top of it, from where she could look onto the valley below.

Finding a suitable place, she sat down and looked upon the green scenery that the valley provided, long removed was what was once there.

With the memory still fresh in her thoughts, the alicorn laughed.

It was a humorless laugh, one filled with incredulity and sorrow.

Indeed the company president did not heed the Nightmares warning, and attempted to bring her trouble once again. And in turn, the alicorn of darkness levied her punishment upon her, and all came to pass as the alicorn foretold.

The very few others whom attempted to enact her will, fell into comas that they never woke from. Never knowing who had placed them there, all they knew of; was a short dream of their choosing. Eventually their families let them go, their bodies withered and passed on.

The woman herself, lived for a respectable number of years, cursing every one of them along the way, though none could tell.
Finally, she did get to witness and partake in the gloriously horrible end of their reign.

When Moons laughter died down to an occasional choking sound, she began to sing aloud to the valley below.

Starting as melodic sounds, Moon slowly rose to her hooves. And with her voice raising to that of a Canterlot equivalent, words came from memory;

"do, Do you see? Do you See What You HAVE DONE??"

To which replied only the flapping of birds wings taking flight from the trees, as the last word echo'd back from the adjacent hillside.

Plopping back down, the alicorns voice fell to a whisper;

"Do you see what you've begun?" she added, in the very rare occasion which the alicorn used contractions.

After some time sitting in silence, and with the birds having slowly returned to their nests and perches in the trees, the alicorn arose again.

Lighting her horn, she disappeared from the hillside, returning home to her little ponies; her vow duly fulfilled in this matter.

Addendum;

It was at this point of the Nightmare's time on Earth, the time of the memory; that she began to develop an affinity for somber and moody music.

In turn, the alicorn took up learning to play string instruments; Violas, and bass guitar at first. The lower the note, the more she liked it.

However in contrast to her ponies, somber music was not actively developed or preferred by ponykind, and such remained largely constrained to the Nightmares private library as the centuries pressed on.

When she would release something from her library for ponykind to hear, it was nearly an event in of itself.

The lyrics to Domino, for example, were never released by the alicorn. As they were tied closely to this event in Moon's mind, and therefor; she deemed far too graphic for pony's ears.

Increasingly rarely did she listen to it as time went on.

She considered it one of the many privileges and burdens of holding the legacy of human kind.