"I will kill this creature!" Nightmare declared. Black hooves pounded into the ground around her, reducing patches of perfectly green grass to a dank brown soup of torn roots and slurry. Her legs sunk into their hoof-made mud mixture and pushed upward to propel Nightmare's body up into the air. Nightmare achieved her ambition and lifted three feet into the air, all the while the furry being riding upon her back refused to let go.
"Sir Angel Bunny of the Court of Fluttershy fears no beast!" the animal declared in a language only woodland creatures and a crazy stallion named Pokey Pierce could understand. Immediately Sir Angel's eyes caught the deep blue of the wild beast's black magic. Such an occurrence meant only one thing: the beast would strike again. His long, slender white legs ejected the brave bunny off the eldritch pony.
Nightmare snarled and sent a telekinetic wave toward the spot Angel once stood. However, since the annoying furred vermin no longer rode upon on her back, she merely ended up yanking her own tail instead. The force of the pull toppled Nightmare's balance, sending her plummeting into the brown and green slick below.
"Ha! Take that knave! This is a victory for the Court of Fluttershy. None defeat the will of the Stare Master."
The vile monster Fluttershy had dubbed "Nightmare" rose from the mud. Its face twisted and contorted in fury. Such fury Sir Angel had only seen once before when Madame Fluttershy became "New Fluttershy" and tossed about her friends. Sir Angel stood his ground and quickly reminded himself the beast was just a child, hardly a true threat.
Nightmare leapt at the bunny, intent to kill at maximum. Angel grabbed a pocket watch on the ground beside him and jumped into the air after her. For a second the world went in slow motion. The two approached each other in the air, both ready to lay down their final blows. Nightmare never delivered her attack, instead she received the blunt end of a brass watch to the cheek.
"Victory for the good Madame Fluttershy!" Angel declared, crawling atop his fallen foe.
Behind Nightmare a massive purple oak rose from the dirt, casting a long shadow over the fallen alicorn's body. Twilight watched from its entrance with annoyance, shaking her head in disapproval. Deciding to keep Nightmare Moon was quickly becoming Twilight's biggest regret every day.
When the idea of harboring a known criminal in Ponyville was brought to Twilight, she was hesitant, to say the least. However, the mare trusted Luna's wisdom and accepted her decree. With reluctance, Twilight took the duty of watching over the child; mostly because she felt she was one of the few who wouldn't immediately want to kill the pony. At the moment though, that didn't sound like a bad idea.
"Nightmare. That's enough. The Crusaders are going to be here any minute." The child pulled her face from the soup, with thick streams of mud trailing from her face to the ground. Behind Nightmare, Angel Bunny returned to his master, Fluttershy, to continue searching for some lost chickens.
"I don't care who's coming. I am Nightmare Moon, the true princess of the night! I will not do anything you, that cake guzzling black hole, or the stuck-in-the-medieval-period moron tell me to do." the child hissed with burning hatred.
"Nightmare. You've been sitting around the library, doing nothing but read books, try to set Spike on fire, and practice your levitation. Princess Luna says you have to study the magic of friendship alongside me."
"Or what." she snarled with a deep scowl.
"You could be executed. That's what." Nightmare's pupils dilated.
"Fine... I'll meet these 'Crusaders', but I won't like it."
"And don't try to light them on fire or freeze them."
"Oh come on!"
The patter of small hooves halted the conversation between student and eldritch monstrosity. In the distance a wall of orange, white, and yellow rose up from the horizon. A trio of fillies slowly trod toward the library.
Fear coursed through Sweetie's young legs, screaming at her to run away and not face the upcoming horror. Only the reassurance of Twilight Sparkle's protection pushed her further.
Beside her, an orange pegasus's eyes looked as if they were she were about to fall asleep. From her mouth slid odd curses about having to play with Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna being a bit of a jerk. Unlike Sweetie Belle, she felt no fear over the alicorn. Her only issue was her own belief hanging out with Nightmare would be the equivalent of standing indefinitely beside Diamond Tiara. Angry hisses dripped from her as the image of Diamond Tiara entered her head.
Applebloom did not fear the child they would meet. Granny Smith told her to do her best to be a good example for Nightmare, that no pony could be completely bad. Besides, Applebloom had seen her at the town meeting where the alicorn's residency was announced. If anything, the beaver that attacked the black filly on stage proved to Applebloom: Nightmare was no longer a threat.
Nightmare watched the trio take their time to trot up to her. Quickly, she noted how Sweetie Belle kept her distance. Reptilian eyes met the Crusaders' own and glared back at them. There was little but anger and hate in the black creature's gaze.
In the crusader's eyes, the innocence of a child twinkled beautifully like a cave of crystals in the light. It danced, swayed, and mocked Nightmare with its existence. They had not yet seen the horrors that life would bring them. These naive children were unaware of how their dreams would be built up by the adults around them, only for the same ponies to take a hammer to the very thing they helped build.
That wasn't even the worst of the horrors they would face. Even Nightmare did not wish upon these children certain terrors. Terrors such as the angry beaver named Chuck, with his gnashing teeth and moon-hating claws.
"That beaver..."Nightmare whispered with a deep shudder.
"Are you N-Nightmare?" Sweetie asked.
"Yes child. I am the princess of the night." Nightmare smugly replied, enjoying every minute of fear. "Do you fear me Sweetie Belle?"
The unicorn slowly nodded in response. Nightmare rested her armored hoof below Sweetie Belle's chin. Snake eyes peered into to Sweetie Belle's face while the night filly whispered an almost seductive "Good. You should." gently into her ears.
Tufts of dust flew up from the ground and a near inaudible thud hummed through the vicinity. Despite frequently telling herself she was a superior being, Nightmare could not deny she was born from a part of Luna and therefore had bits of the night goddess's personality. As Celestia was with cake, there was no stopping Luna ( or Nightmare ) when their eyes set sight on a certain food. It was the one thing Nightmare could not resist; a delicious spongy moon pie fresh from the oven.
Cracks ran along a foal sized crater where Nightmare previously stood. A miniature sonic rainboom complete with rainbow trail stretched from ground to sky. The Crusaders' eyes followed the lengthy rainbow trail from the crater to the clouds. High pitched squeals racked against the crusader's ears as Nightmare fell to earth, landing directly atop the moon pie.
Sharp fangs snapped the pie in two without hesitation, scraping along a patch of dirt to go with it. Young teeth crashed together then came undone, repeating the cycle until the spongy pie was little more than a slimy brown mush.
The Crusaders gagged as Nightmare chomped down into the pie. Their disgust was only furthered when she made pleased moans, bits of food stuffs dribbling from her mouth.
"More! For the love of Celestia! More!" Nightmare yelled, latching onto Twilight's face with a crazed look in her eye.
Applebloom stared in wonder at the sight of Nightmare Moon screaming for a treat. In a split second, any fear she felt dissipated into nothing. Joy bubbled inside her, creeping up her throat into her mouth. Yellow hooves pressed against the farmer's mouth in attempt her keep her amusement hidden. Soft snickers escaped her lips, tearing down her barriers. The young apple farmer fell to the floor laughing. Sweetie and Scootaloo faced similar circumstances, holding their a hoof to their mouths, failing miserably at hiding their amusement.
"What? Why are you laughing? Stop laughing! I am the princess of the night and you will fear me!" Nightmare cried, her voice cracking in mid sentence. The Crusaders' fits of laughter grew into an uproar, drowning out the monster's complaints.
Deep blue arcane energy covered Nightmare's horn. Fuming with anger, she aimed her weapon at the giggling pile and called upon her dark magics to smite them. Three seconds of magical glow passed with no smiting whatsoever. At Sugarcube Corner the same dark energy hummed inside the Cake's oven.
Opening the steel door, Mr. Cake unveiled his latest confection; a large, moist peanut butter cake, topped with chocolate. Quickly he took note of the odd dark glow emanating from his scrumptious creation and leaned in to inspect the strange phenomenon. In response to his intrusion the cake expanded, grew tentacles, produced three eyes of caramel, and wrapped its dripping buttery tendrils around his throat.
At the library, Nightmare looked about in confusion. Dust covered the coats of the crusaders, who were rolling around in joy. Irritated by the Crusader's amusement, the goddess turned to storm back into the library.
"Play with them or you won't be getting moon pies for a month." Twilight threatened.
"What!? That's just evil!" Nightmare declared. Twilight raised a brow, unsure if the child caught the stunning irony of her own words.
"You need to shave your eyebrows." the alicorn remarked.
She didn't.
"Just go play with them." Twilight commanded. Uttering a few curse words no filly should have known, Nightmare begrudgingly trotted up to the smiling fillies.
"That was hilarious. I can't believe we thought you were supposed to be scary." Scootaloo wiped a joyous tear from her eye and smiled. The dark goddess of night snarled at her remark. Urges to hit the orange pegasus quickly became harder to resist with every word the child uttered. "I'm Scootaloo." The pegasus said with a wide smile bolted onto her face.
"I'm quite aware who you all are. Scootaloo, the rainbow pegasus's fangirl; Sweetie Ball, the clothes designers sister; and Appleblossom, the farmer's daughter."
"Sweetie Belle." the curly-maned filly corrected.
"Applejack ain't mah mom!" Applebloom barked.
"From what I've been briefed on, you three 'crusade' for cutie marks. I shall assume that is what we will be doing. Pray tell. What exactly does that entail?" Nightmare inquired in complete ignorance of Applebloom's outburst.
Wide grins, foreshadowing a terrible fate for the dark alicorn, stretched across the three friends' faces. Six hooves wrapped around Nightmare like tentacles, leaving no time to scream or resist. By the time the black filly could open her mouth, a deep blue helmet replaced her azure head piece.
"What the bu-" she tried to scream, but was quickly silenced when the garden of hooves that was the Crusaders slammed her into a red wagon. Shoved by the force of three excited fillies attempting to push by, Nightmare's helmet wobbled and fell over her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Soon soft buzzes filled the air and the sensation of motion came into being under Nightmare's rear.
"I'll get you for this, Sparkle!" Nightmare threatened before being dragged away by the town's most notorious children. Twilight chuckled at the threat.
Under the wagon multiple stones gently rocked the vessel, furthering Nightmare's irritation while she pried at the head protection with her rear legs.
"Pop" went the air around her when the large head piece gave way, returning vision to young Nightmare's eyes. Her gaze rested on the yellow and white fillies accompanying her on the trip to lord knew where.
"Where are you three taking me?" the alicorn hissed softly. Rage and fury burned hot in her tone.
"Miss Colgate said we can help her out with her dentist work." Sweetie Belle happily exposited, the exposed bits of her curled mane bouncing at every word.
Warm air filled the lungs of the trio. Joyful mouths hung open, in taking all the air they could hold. Nightmare leaned in to berate them on whatever it was they were doing. She was met with a deafening roar.
"Cutie Mark Crusader Dental Assistants! Yay!" they screamed to the heavens.
Nightmare gritted her teeth, greatly bothered by the shout. Letting the ring in her ears pass, she looked about, taking in the passing surroundings. Multiple forms of pony zipped by in her vision, each cheerfully taking to whatever activity they had at the moment. However, the alicorn noticed a common trait in all the equines they passed. Every one of them took time from their activity to shoot an angry scowl her way.
Used to hatred, Nightmare only bothered to focus on one. A stallion with a coat as black as night (obviously painted on as his natural brown coat broke through in many spots) with a deep blue mane, also painted on. His blue eyes shined in the light pouring through the tree he hid behind. At the sight of Nightmare, an eerie grin slid across his lips.
Nightmare raised a brow at the stallion but ignored him in favor of the next sight to behold. Coming across Sugarcube corner, all the Crusaders -plus their alicorn compatriot- turned head at the strange scene unfolding.
Pinkie stood ready with a massive candy cane battle axe in mouth. Twenty feet away from her rose a behemoth of sugar, flour, and eggs. Sweet buttery substance oozed from it spongy pores, giving off a wonderful peanut scent. Mr. and Mrs. Cake yelled as the being whipped them about in its sticky yellow tendrils. Pinkie wiped the beast's butterscotch secretions across her face to ready herself for battle.
Slender pink legs pushed against the ground and sent Pinkie charging into the air, where she would meet the beast one on one in mortal combat.
"Do ya'll hear music?" the apple farmer asked.
"Mortal Kombat!" screamed a voice out of nowhere, accompanying mysterious rock and roll.
Nightmare paused for a moment to soak in the idiocy before moaning "Just drive."
Despite the earlier odd happenings, the remainder of the Crusaders' trip proved peaceful. At least as long as Nightmare ignored the children's incessant bantering about their cutie marks.
"There's Colgate's office!" Scootaloo cried.
"Thank Faust." Nightmare responded, her head buried as deep as it could possibly go into her helmet.
Structurally, Colgate's office resembled a tooth, which Nightmare found fitting for a mare of her profession. Atop the structure rested a massive brush pushing back and forth in an endless cycle. Each brush brought about a wave of bubbles from under the bristles. Pushed away by the massive brush, the bubbles slid quickly down the sides of the tooth.
In front of Colgate's office stood the titular dentist, cavorting with a stallion. The stallion was a medially dark shade of blue. His mane was near white, but filled with hints of blue. Atop his head sat a massive horn, larger than any the fillies had seen before. Unlike other horns, which rounded off at the end, his jutted out further till it reached a single point.
Currently this stallion wore a smug smile as he spoke to the mare, occasion whipping his tail toward her, probably attempting to brush her legs. His smile soon turned to a vicious scowl when Nightmare and the Crusaders came into view.
"Thanks again for the help Colgate." he said.
"No problem. Anything I can do to help the community." She said with a smile, prompting him to leave.
Nightmare watched the scowling stallion trot away, her eyes locked onto his the whole time.
"Hello Crusaders!" Colgate softly shouted, gently trotting toward them.
"Hi Colgate." All the fillies but Nightmare responded.
"So. Are you ready to enter the wondrous world of floss and plaque?" Colgate asked, wearing an calm yet eerie smile.
Nightmare stepped back a few paces. Colgate was quick to notice, her eyes turning to the eldritch child (especially her mouth).
"It's going to be wonderful. I'm going to show you all the places on your teeth that make little fillies scream in pain and agony." She hissed, keeping the presentation of a friendly neighborhood dentist.
Sky blue energy wrapped around the children's frames before it jerked them into the air. Each filly released a shriek at the shock of being lifted without warning. Colgate paid no heed to their discomfort, instead she dragged them into her abode of drills and hygiene.
"Alright you succulent little fillies. What do you know about dentistry?"
"It hurts." said Scootaloo.
"Pinkie is scared of it." responded Sweetie Belle
"Ah have to brush mah teeth twice a day or th' tooth fairy will come an' beat me." Applebloom replied.
"The hay is dental hygiene?" Nightmare asked.
"Well. I think we have our first volunteer." Colgate happily exposited. An almost evil smile formed on her face.
"Volunteer?" Nightmare wore an expression of confusion. A plastic mask laying to her right came to life via Colgate's unicorn aura and made its way to Nightmare's face.
Suspicion was the child's natural instinct. No pony around town particularly liked the alicorn, so why would this creepy unicorn be any different. Strangely all that went away as the cup floated toward her.
Purple gas snaked from the mask, into the child's nostrils. At first, Nightmare struggled against the mysterious gas, but soon her hooves halted their flails and fell silent to the ground. Fear, hate, anger, all her usual emotions faded away to make way for a sensation of pure bliss.
Nightmare laid on the floor, foam dribbling out of her crooked smile.
"Is she supposed to be like that?" Applebloom asked.
"Indeed." Colgate answered far too happily. "Now stay there. I'm going to need your help." The snap of rubber gloves accompanied her declaration. The stench of plastic and mint drifted off the unicorn, passing onto Nightmare when the unicorn lifted the alicorn off the ground and into the dentist's chair. Colgate's threatening grin grew wider.
"Let's begin." She stated, wearing a malevolent smile.
Forty five minutes later, a melody of pattering hooves floated from the office. Nightmare strode out into the bright light, groaning when it scratched against her eyes. The crusaders followed their alicorn associate out of the massive tooth, careful not to let the excess suds from the top drip onto their coats. Though they wouldn't say it out loud, Nightmare's gas induced behavior amused them.
"Nah Applebum. You wuz a hippo when the mare be cleanin' muh grill. Yuz even shot the lazers from you eyes." Nightmare drawled, picking herself up from the ground. "a-and Scootaloo had a biiiiiig ol' beard. Heh. An' Sweetie was roo-but."
"Are you ah'right?" Applebloom asked, trying to hide a smile.
"Nah baby. Ah Clean." Nightmare spoke with a drooling smile on her face. A second later she fell over giggling like a madmare.
One full minute passed before the alicorn spoke again. Angry growls ripped from her throat, signaling to the Crusaders she was feeling better. Nightmare's returned to her hooves, her body mimicking the motion of a pendulum perfectly.
"I don't like that mare." She spat. "What's next on your list. Tell me it's far away from here." Her words were slow and choppy, still partially under the influence of the purple gas.
Sweetie Belle caressed the underside of her chin, trying to remember what the next of many tasks they had planned out was.
"We're going to Sweet Apple Acres." She exclaimed, holding up her hoof as if to point to something.
"Yeah. We're gonna see if cider makin' is our special talent!" Applebloom exposited.
"Cider? What's cider?" The Crusaders mouth's fell open. The alicorn swore she heard the creaking of metal leak from their jaws as they swung softly in the air.
"You ain't tried cider yet!? Well ya gotta try it now! Maybe ya'll won't be so grumpy if ya'll have some!" the apple farmer cried.
"I highly doubt that. I hate all of you. Have I not made that obvious? Honestly. Why aren't you running away?!" Nightmare shouted, her hooves fumbling against the rims of the steel wagon. Falling twice, Nightmare forced herself through a strange dizziness plaguing her and made her way into the vehicle.
"Well. Twah'light said you ain't got no powers and Princess Luna said we gotta play with ya'll." Applebloom answered, following Nightmare into the wagon alongside Sweetie Belle.
"That doesn't explain why you lack the common sense to run from me."
"Granny Smith says there's some good in everypony. Even them sales ponies who done tried to take our house."
"Sales ponies tried to take your house? That's just...wrong." The remaining two crusader's raised their brows. "Eternal night you all deserved, none of you ponies paid any attention to my wondrous night. But taking away homes, even I'm not that evil."
"Um. Actually Nightmare. Ah kinda like th' night. Not eternal night, jus' th' night." Applebloom said nervously. Under her, the wagon's wheels gained speed, bumping upward against every rock. The farmer focused on the black filly, rather than the gentle bumps of a wagon.
"Go on." Nightmare brushed a hoof against the air, occupying her remaining hoof with the task of adjusting her recently reequipped armor head piece.
"It's real fun fer sleepovers! " Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement with Applebloom.
"And the stars?" Nightmare questioned with a hint of eagerness in her tone.
"They're real purty too. 'specially durin' Zap Apple Harvest." Applebloom told the eldritch child.
"I think I like you, Applebloom was it? More fillies should be as wise as you."
Not too far behind the Crusaders, Colgate went about her business. She checked her toothbrushes, checked her floss, and checked her tools. This had been the fifth check today, few knew Colgate was somewhat anal retentive. Gently she clasped a tube of toothpaste and spread the mixture inside onto her brush. Commanding the brush to her mouth, she began to rub the paste vigorously against her teeth, releasing a loud pleased groan with every stroke.
Minutes later, she withdrew the brush from her mouth, panting hard. After washing it she brought the bristle to her face. Her soft lips slipped over the bristles.
"Oh Brushy." she moaned. "Oh Brushy! I love you!" she cried, planting kisses firmly on the brush's bristles.
"Am I interrupting anything?" asked a long horned stallion in the office entrance.
"Augh! Pokey!" Colgate screamed, hiding the brush. "What do you want?"
"Did it work?" he asked, eyeing the plastic mask Colgate previously placed on Nightmare.
"She'll be still as a statue when you meet her."
"Good. Then I must be off! I must serve my community!" He exclaimed before running back out the door.
"Freak..." Colgate muttered.
Dust rose from the ground, creating a trail behind Pokey Pierce. The wind brushed against his hair, forcing it to tumble like laundry as he stormed ahead. His hooves pounded furiously against the dirt, propelling him forward toward his target. Upon reaching the destination, a statue in the middle of town, he skidded to a stop to allow the wind to caress his mane while he begun a monologue.
"Oh vile beast of black and magic. You shall not get away. I shall avenge those you have wronged, beast of nightmare and eldritch terror. I, Sir Pokey Pierce of the Court of Fluttershy shall slay thee! Then I shall present thine wings as a trophy and woo fair Lady Shy! Then I shall woo Lady Pinkie as well!" Pokey said to the air around him.
"Mithta. Why are you talking to yourthelf?" Asked a filly beside him.
"Off I go!" He cried, knocking a pair of large red glasses off the filly and bruising her face with his gesticulating leg. Bright light filled the vicinity and with a flash Pokey pierce disappeared.
Back with the Crusaders, the four found themselves discussing the uses of apples.
"It quite strange, but apples can ward off certain ghosts." Nightmare claimed.
"What? No they can't. Ghosts don't even exist." Scootaloo objected, turning her head slightly as to keep a good view of the road.
"They do, and some hate apples." She paused to wrinkle her nose "Hmph. Ghosts are the least worrisome monster you can find though." An evil smirk painted itself onto Nightmare's face. Nothing heinous was being planned, that much the Crusaders were sure of, but it was clear Nightmare knew something none of them did. Immediately their curiosity raised.
"What do you mean?" Sweetie Belle asked. Instinctively she clutched her tail, pulling it to her chest as if it were protection.
"Ghosts are little more than ants compared to some of the things out there. There are beasts that challenged Celestia and I's mother in the time before time itself existed. I think the closest description your modern words could conjure would be 'eldritch abomination'." the filly smiled coyly.
"They sound real scareh." Applebloom stuttered out.
"You have no idea". Immediately a flash sparked in front of the wagon.
Her heart skipped a beat and Scootaloo fell back onto the metal rims of the red wagon, her scooter continuing to press forward without her. Encouraged by the orange pegasus's weight, the wagon tilted forward, unloading its passengers atop the orange filly. Her scooter rolled as far as possible until the rope attaching it to the wagon reached its maximum length, then jerked back, flying into Scootaloo.
A collective groan rose from the pile of fillies under the overturned wagon. Around them the world spun and blurred. Sweetie Belle pressed her horn against a red blob she assumed was the wagon and flipped the object. Noisy metallic clanks proved her theory to be correct. Finished with the steel vehicle, Sweetie Belle outstretched her hooves to help up her friends, all the while taking notice of a strange blue blur.
All rising to their hooves, the fillies stared at the azure blur in their vision. Quickly their world became crisper and more in focus. Now able to see, they beheld before them the notorious balloon popper of Ponyville, Pokey Pierce.
"Mister Pokey? What are you doing here." Scootaloo asked.
"Hush child! I am here to cleanse Ponyville of this black monstrosity!" Seemingly out of nowhere a gentle wind blew across the unicorn's face, waving about his hair as if he were a romance novel hero. Closer inspection would reveal it to be simple horn magic.
"Mister Pokey. Ya'll ain't allowed to hurt Nightmare. Remember, at the town meetin'? Mayor said th' princesses don't want Nightmare bein' hurt." Applebloom stated.
"The beast has clouded your mind, child. Don't worry! I will protect you!" Light blue energy covered Pokey's horn. Applebloom raised a hoof to object to Pokey's actions, but immediately disappeared in flash of light. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were given no time to question Pokey, when they too disappeared in a flash, along with the wagon and scooter.
Luckily for the Crusaders, while Pokey was very adept at ramming his horn into balloons, magic had always been his weakness. As such, they rematerialized within a short distance of the cocky stallion, about two hundred feet away.
Once more feeling the dirt under their hooves, the three fillies began to shake their heads. None of them had involved in a teleportation before Pokey's little trick, so they all felt a tad bit of wooziness from their experience. Managing to shake off her dizziness, Applebloom scanned her surroundings. Nightmare wasn't there, meaning she was still with the likely crazy Pokey Pierce.
"Come on girls! We gotta save Nightmare!" Applebloom cried out. The other two Crusaders were somewhat hesitant to help the creature who once tried to bring about eternal night. However, they knew if they didn't the princesses would be disappointed, or worse, mad.
Fear surged through Nightmare's bones. Perhaps Pokey sensed this fear, because he began to smile and lick his lips when he turned to face the child. Mentally screaming at the fear to leave her be, Nightmare set her horn aglow. Not too far away, Chuck the beaver materialized beside the Crusaders, covered in a dark glow.
The saliva in the goddess's mouth drained quickly, leaving her mouth a barren desert. Reptilian eyes quivered at the sight of a smug smiled Pokey making his way leisurely toward the child. Common sense told her to run away and hide behind something. Her alicorn side told her to essentially be a suicidal pony and try to fight him. She found herself incapable of doing either, fear overtaking her body.
Blue energy caressed her frame. Gravity made an exception for Nightmare and allowed Pokey to telekinetically pluck her from The ground.
"Sir Angel told me all about you, vile creature. A good knight he is. Struck and harmed you with a clock." the stallion finished his sentence with a chuckle. "He proved something useful. You may be an alicorn, but as a filly you are still as mortal as I. So. Any last words monster?" Pokey positioned Nightmare's head directly above his horn. Nightmare choked out something about not wanting to die. "Nothing? Good. Nopony cares what you have to say anyway." the unicorn chirped.
"Cutie Mark Crusader Beaver Tossers! Yay!"
"Huh?"
Vicious moon-hating claws sped through the air. Fur and teeth latched tightly to Pokey's face. Chuck had discovered the one thing he despised more than the moon: the smell of Pokey pierce. Long buckteeth sank into Pokey's flesh, horn, whatever Chuck could reach.
Pokey howled in pain as he fell back. Around Nightmare, the blue aura that bound her against the force of gravity faded away. She produced a squeak akin to squeaky toy when she struck the ground.
"Cutie Mark Crusader Alicorn Savers! Yay!" the three children cried. Once more the six hooves of the trio wrapped around Nightmare to drag her off. However, this time it was not unwelcome. If it meant getting away from certain death, she would take it.
Minutes later, the door to the library flew open with a loud crash, striking the wall beside with enough force to leave a visible dent. A mix of colors piled through the entrance. The Crusaders shoved Nightmare into the library with the force of a bulldozer. Again, there was a deafening crash as the trio forced the door shut.
"Twah'Light! Mister Pokey's gone crazeh! He's tryin' to hurt Nightmare real bad!" Applebloom screamed.
Thump. The book Twilight read slammed shut, her focus now directed elsewhere. Lavender eyes turned themselves from the thick brown leather cover onto the mish mash of colors that was the Crusaders plus one. Annoyance washed across the unicorn's face.
"I'll take care of him..." She muttered. Twilight wasn't that surprised somepony wanted to kill Nightmare Moon. So many ponies hated Nightmare just because of what she was, Twilight knew an eventual attack was inevitable. She just hadn't expected it to be so soon.
"Lock the door while I put up a force field." the lavender unicorn sighed.
"Alright, Twilight." Scootaloo squeaked. The click of lock mechanisms became music to Twilight's ears.
Groaning she turned to head into the bowels of her book filled abode in search of a strong force field spell. Quietly she whispered a rant about never being able to finish her book, before beginning a trot. Her annoyance rose a little when Nightmare began request.
"Sparkle. Do you possess any cider?"
"I have a cup or two in the ice box. Why do you want it?" Twilight asked, suspicious of Nightmare's motives.
"Give it to me. Applebloom has informed me that this beverage is good." Twilight tilted her head in confusion. Nightmare had never before shown interest in anything modern. Immediately her eyes caught a small smile staining the filly's lips. Twilight grew a small smile of her own at the sight.
"Nightmare?" Twilight began.
"What?" she groaned, annoyed Twilight wasn't getting the cider.
"Did you learn anything today?"
"Actually. Yes. Your little friendship propaganda. It's not that bad." Nightmare paused a minute before she continued. "Don't think I'm about to obey you though. Your foalish 'friendship' is still pointless and terrible, just not that bad."
Twilight rolled her eyes and said "It's a start."
"Get me my cider, Sparkle..."
Far off, a painted black stallion stood in the darkness of a secluded room, hovering over an altar. His blue eyes and painted azure mane shimmered in the faint light of his candles. Breathing heavily he whispered "Oh Beautiful Nightmare. Hear my prayer. I have found thy vessel. I ask of you, give me strength to deliver it. Make the true believers of night strong. Praise be to the Nightmare."
In the shadows, a thousand inky black tendril spilled onto the floor. They slithered about the stallion like snakes, secreting a color not on any visible spectrum. Hundreds of eyes opened in their darkness to scan the pony, to see his worth. In the pitch black a thousand teeth bared themselves and smiled their approval.
Ponyville as most ponies knew it, was a relatively busy town. Nothing compared to big cities like Canterlot, Stalliongrad, or Manehattan, but it still held its fair share of hustle and bustle. However, if anypony were to head to the foremost edges of the village they would find about a dozen abandoned buildings, each wrecked and rotting from years of neglect. It was common knowledge these dilapidated homes would attract unpleasant crowds, like whiny emo teenagers or the occasional gang of thugs. As such, most ponies strayed away from these locales, making them a perfect hiding spot.
One particular abode was marked as Ponyville Sun and Fun Dance Club. Years before the current bearers of the Elements were born, it had been the go-to place to dance and give appreciation to Celestia for raising the sun. Unfortunately, time was not kind. After years of success, the dancing ponies decided to move on and abandoned their club. Now it served as the ironic home of the Cult of Nightmare; a small and often ridiculed group of ponies who painted themselves black and prayed to Luna's evil incarnation.
Within the guts of the long forgotten dance locale, a white pegasus stood on a rotten stage, one hoof through the floor, looking down on her fellow worshippers. Her wings stretched out then relaxed as she prepared to speak to her subjects; Clippy Clop the clown, Screwball the town fool, and a yellow stallion named Cosmic. Lifting a mustard smothered tofu-dog from the rotting wood, she began.
"Yo. My fellow dudes and dudettes that worship that big black all too awesome alicorn. I have some great news. Have you seen the sun? It's totally yellow, but I think a tiny bit less yellow. Definitely a sign dudes slash dudettes." she said, chomping down into her food. Her inane news was met with a low rumble of hooves pounding against the dank floor.
In front of the stage, her followers -minus Clippy- stood and stared up at their leader in awe, plodding their hooves into the ground louder to show their support. A white hoof was raised to silence them.
"Heh. That's enough applause my moonbros. We have more important matters than applauding. You dudes all went to town meeting last week, right?"
"There was meeting?" asked a yellow stallion with a blue crescent moon on his flank.
"Duh, Cosmic. The mayor called the whole town out for some real big news, but I forgot what it was. Oh wait, now I remember. Wait I forgot again." Screwball prattled to the stallion. Her words came out as a near indecipherable string of babbles and slaps, due to her incessantly slapping a hoof against her lips. "Heeeeey. Why weren't you there? Yer a bad stallion! Bad stallion!" she yelled accusingly as she rose off the ground by her rear. Out of thin air, a roll of newspaper materialized beside her. It floated in the air shortly, then began to beat Cosmic repeatedly on his spiky blue mane.
"I was visiting my cousin, Moondancer, last week. She was sick and I had t- Will you cut that out!?" Cosmic screeched at the mare beside him.
"Nu! Yer a bad stallion. Bad!" The paper's pounding tempo rose dramatically, until it produced a buzz similar to a fly.
Their leader finished her tofudog, idly glancing at the two and licking her hooves to remove every inch of her favorite spicy mustard that dripped onto her forelegs. Lightly amused by the antics, she continued to clean her hooves and watched her partners bicker.
Knowing the silly shenanigans had to come to an end, she sighed and sucked in a large breath of rotten air.
"Quiet!" screeched the pegasus. "Bros! We are not gonna bicker about...whatever it was you guys were bickerin' about. That's just not radical for bros to be fightin'. Now, to answer your question Cosmic, the mayor held a town meetin' to announce Nightmare Moon now be livin' in our town."
A series of honks rang through the stale air. The white pegasus's eyes turned to a large stallion in the center of the group. On his front hooves he wore large shoes fit for a creature with feet like Spike's or a monkey's, not ponies. A bed of bright rainbow made up his mane and tail, and to top off his ridiculous appearance, he had painted his face white then stuck a red ball to his snout. The clown released another series of honks, this one faster than the last.
"Yeah, that's the one problem we've been havin'. We can't actually find her. The mayor was total bogus and refused to tell anypony where our god would be livin'." the pegasus slowly droned. "'Pparently she wants Ponyville to have time to 'cool down' before she tells anypony that. That's all we know 'bout our radical filly's whereab- whirli- weaboo- where she is." she barked the last phrase with a sudden jerk.
Honk honk honk.
"Yes. Thank you for reminding me Clippy. I was going to ask you gnarly dudes if any of you have seen or heard anything about our goddess. Well, have you?" the white cultist leader asked softly.
Silence fell over the cultists. The only noise existent was the soft scurrying of rats within the aged wood.
"Oh come on man! Nothing? None of you have anything?" the white pegasus's usually moderate tone raised a few points, managing to rattle the wood around the cult. Each cultist inched closer together for second when streams of dust and mud trailed from the ceiling. Once the ceiling ceased shaking, their leader leapt off the stage and over to her followers. "This like totally not gnarly, dudes! How can we call ourselves Nightmare's rockin' posse if we can't even get any news on her?!"
"Sunny Daze!" called out a voice from the club's entrance, once again rattling the interior. "I found her." A poorly painted black stallion with a visibly blonde mane, which was shoddily painted blue, galloped into the wrecked club. "I saw her! I saw our goddess with those three called 'The Cutie Mark Crusaders!'" he said seconds before clasping his stomach. For a moment his face went green and he let out a sickly cough.
"Rockin', Coconut! That is totally what I'm callin' you now. 'Rockin' Coconut', because your awesome." Sunny Daze cried softly, arching her body back and reaching for the heavens. "We finally got some useful info! So, Coconut. Where is she?" She asked giddily.
"Um. I don't actually know that." Coconut said with a nervous chuckle, his face still somewhat green. Sweat trailed down his brow as he looked into the foggy, almost blood-shot irises of his leader. The painted stallion gently rubbed his front leg, as if doing such would belay an outburst from his leader.
Sunny Daze did not get angry or yell, just frowned. But that frown soon disappeared into hazy smile, the kind a pony got when they had a little too much cider.
"Well bro. Did you see where they went?" the red-eyed white pegasus asked
"To Colgate's office. I heard around town that Pokey Pierce attacked her afterwards." The stallion's eyes quivered as he relayed his report. He could not pull his gaze away from Sunny's calm smile. It scared him how she kept so calm, despite his failing.
"Ah. Totally not cool. Not cool, Coconut. Oh well."
"O-Oh well?" the stallion sputtered out.
"Don't matter. There's a simple solution to this."
Honk honk honk.
"No Clippy, we ain't goin' to kidnap them. We're goin' to monitor them." The white pegasus shot an almost sleazy smile to the ground below. Inside her head, the gears ground away like moderately oiled clockwork. In others however, these gears were rusty and replaced with square reading "Beanies R Kewl."
"Why?" Screwball asked, floating by her odd propeller beanie.
"There's a chance our mare will return to them, dudette. If we watch them, we might find ol' Nighty."
"An' then I punch her right?!" Screwloose cried. A wall of multi-colored boxing gloves from the ground. The silly mare's partners -bar Sunny Daze, who was rubbing her puffy red eyes and murmuring something about plants- leapt back at the display. Screwloose didn't notice the faint traces of fear in her fellow cultists' eyes, instead taking to giggling in amusement at her own show of power.
"Nah Screwy. We don't punch her, and we totally ain't kidnappin' her. See, I read a story once where the cool cultists let the monster be kidnapped, sorta, and it turned on the cool dudes! It ended the awesome eternal night it brang. Not cool man."
A chorus of boos rose to disown the story. Clippy opened his mouth to say something, then slapped his lips shut for fear his words would be lost on the ponies around him.
"Yeah I know, totally not cool, right? See, I got this like rad plan. We're totally gonna give her back her powers, but to do it we need town hall. See, I figure since she appeared in Town Hall and all, there's gotta be somethin' magical about the place. So all we gotta do is get Ponyville to trust her enough to let her in Town Hall for long periods o' time. So before the whole powers back deal, we gotta watch the three brats, find her, then watch her." The leader prattled.
Honk honk honk.
Clippy's eyes twitched like Pinkie's tail on a bad day. Any happy clown expressions he might have had, committed seppuku with their own slap stick and drowned themselves in their face paint. The children of those expressions took to dressing up as bats, fighting crime, and swearing vengeance on Sunny Daze's very existence.
"Nah Clippy, dude. This plan is like totally original man. Ain't no holes in it either. This is gonna be boss dude. Boss like Nightmare Moon is totally bein' right now I'm sure."
"Sparkle."
Twilight Sparkle laid snuggly in the covers of her bed. Dreams of books and lists danced about her mind. She smiled, snorted and giggled in her sleep, pleased by the images of bouncing literature.
"Sparkle." the voice called out again.
Twilight snorted out a broken sentence and giggled again. The covers rose and fell as her hooves began a slow running motion. Smacking out a sloppy yawn, Twilight muttered a few words, her face beginning to grow warm.
"Oh. Book Stallion. You're all I ever wanted in a pony." she murmured. Twilight drooled into her pillow and giggled out "Book Stallion. Stop, not here", wrapping her hooves around the wet cloth.
"Sparkle!" the voice screeched directly in the unicorn's ear.
Tired eyes shot open, red and burning. Once neatly folded covers rocketed into the air, where they made acquaintance with the ceiling before falling back to Earth. In her moment of shock, Twilight scrambled about like a frightened chicken atop her bed. Soft fabric then fell from the sky and draped Twilight's figure, partially calming her.
Nightmare stood at the side of Twilight's bed, unamused by the outburst.
"I'm hungry, Sparkle. Make me breakfast." she commanded, tossing a small book at the unicorn's cloth-covered snout.
Twilight groggily lifted the sheet from her face. Her usually perfectly trimmed hairline sat in tatters, covering her eyes. If her eyes could be seen they would display an anger enough to force a cockatrice a step back.
"You look like you tried to fight a hydra. And the hydra won. That or Celestia when she wakes up." Nightmare said with a snarky chuckle.
What came from Twilight could only be counted as words in the broadest sense. An odd gurgle accompanied by tufts of foam escaped her lips. Far off in another galaxy, millennia later, an acid-blooded alien would mistake this as its queen's war call, but for now it was the sound of Twilight's attempt at telling the black filly to shove off. Failing to make any comprehensible words Twilight fell back into her bed, and her purple sheets made their triumphant return to her petite figure. It was then a song of snores gracefully swam out from the sleeping unicorn's mouth.
"Stop calling to Cthulhu and make me breakfast, Sparkle." Nightmare prodded Twilight's side with her horn. The slumbering beast refused to stir. "Sparkle?" she prodded again, but harder. The soft rise and fall of the covers indicated Twilight Sparkle had left for Slumberland once again, but Nightmare wasn't known for giving up. With a quiet buzz from her wings, the night child flew atop Twilight's stomach and immediately began jumping atop her lavender guardian.
"Wake up, you foal!" she hollered.
Impressively, Twilight sleeping form went undisturbed, her covers continued to their gentle wave motion as if nothing happened. Determined to get her breakfast, the ex-Mare-in-the-Moon leapt from the bed to a perfectly adjusted basket beside it. Without hesitation she jerked the basket onto its side, ejecting a rather small purple dragon.
"Ow! Hey, what was that for?" Spike barked before a deep blue aura traced his frame like a spandex suit. Instantly, he was thrust into the air, turned on his belly, and aimed at the librarian's bed. A sharp magical yank on his tail sent out wall of grass green flame that bathed Twilight Sparkle's body. The purple cloth shrouding the purple pony disappeared immediately within the blast.
"So you see, Luna. Red and black alicorns and the like are not actually real ponies, but terrible unworldly beings spawned from an eldritch abomination known as Marai'gh Zuul." Celestia happily explained to her younger sister.
"This new knowledge doth please us, sister!" Luna shouted, thinking her tone was at an acceptable level. In spite of the deafening, gale force, and oddly cheese-scented winds spewing out from her sister's pie-hole, Celestia kept her usual smile. "Now. Regale us with the tale of how thou bravely flew into battle with Nylarthohotep, the Crawling Chaos, and proceeded to best the loathsome wretch with naught but cake!" Luna decreed.
"Of course, Luna. It's an interesting story. Soon after Cthulhu broke up with me, you know, the whole 'I'm a monster and you're a pure princess' deal'. Nylarthohotep arrived a- "
Magical green flame consumed the air above them. Out of the fire materialized an purple blanket that momentarily clung to the air before physics took charge and draped Celestia in perfectly washed fabric.
"This is starting to annoy me." Celestia said from under the sheet.
"Alright! I'm up!" the lavender unicorn cried out.
"Good. Now make me breakfast, Sparkle!" Nightmare barked, tossing Spike across the room and out a window. The librarian shot a harsh glare at the alicorn child. "What? I didn't require the postbox anymore."
"What do you need me for?' Twilight asked with groggy anger, her horn lit brightly with magic. Spike floated back in through the window, wrapped in a veil of purple aura. "You're millennia old. You know how to cook."
"I'm surprised you would trust your mortal foe with a fire, and yes I can. But you locked the cupboard, icebox, even the breadbox, with a magical seal! You know how weak my magic is right now!" Nightmare shouted in an accusatory tone, pushing her armored hoof pushed against Twilight's snout.
"That's because of Derpy." Reluctantly, the unicorn rolled out of the bed. Setting her hooves on the oak floor, a cold chill went through her body. The floor felt like a piece of ice slathered in liquid nitrogen, with a dash of the depths of outer space for good measure. Her teeth ground against one another momentarily, before her legs began to adjust to the cold wood.
"The mailmare?" Nightmare asked, ignorant of Twilight's blight with the cold floor. Having lived inside the cold stone of the moon for a millennium, she became used to a frigid temperature.
"Derpy has a bad habit of 'emptying fridges'." Twilight quoted from the town carrot salesmare, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Magically she reached out for the comb on her dresser, beckoning it to her hair. Trotting down the stairs, she worked the utensil through the tangled jungle atop her head until her bedmane was thoroughly slain. Casting a anti-bacterial spell over the comb, she silently passed off the clean tool to Nightmare before entering the kitchen.
"I will assume that is why -Carpet Plop, was it?- was carrying a massive set of chains into her home, yesterday." Setting her own horn aglow with alicorn power, Nightmare firmly clasped the blue helmet she always wore, and levitated it into the air. Unobstructed by steel, her glorious glittering indigo mane shined in its full glory. Gently, the comb pushed into the glimmering mist and ran its teeth through the multitude of tiny galaxies inside, tearing away all the dead stars that lied within.
"Yes." Twilight answered the child, entering the kitchen with Spike in tow. Eyeing the cupboard, she let her natural power flow through her horn and spread across the room, undoing the magical locks. Forcefully, the cupboard doors swung open with an elongated creek, which reminded Twilight she needed to oil them sometime. In the cupboard, sat a pasty brown box, so dull it would make even Discord weep, that read "Blandoat-Meal"; the perfect food for a growing filly, especially if they were a rude de-aged alicorn.
While Twilight fulfilled the rude foal's wish for a morning meal, Luna's bite-sized dark reflection climbed onto a chair. While not usually interested in matters beside her own, Nightmare felt she needed entertainment. Casually, the alicorn reached for a newspaper directly in front of her, but her filly-sized legs proved insufficient at reaching across tables, as her hooves barely scratched the edge of the paper. Silently scowling, she telekinetically brought the paper into her metal-covered hooves and skimmed over the articles, personally hoping to find a juicy scandal involving her sister; perhaps Celestia overindulging in cake.
There was no delicious cake scandal over Celestia, but there was a picture of a pompous looking pink filly in a dress and tiara, standing beside a older looking stallion. The headline read "Rich's daughter does it again." The ensuing article described in mind-numbing detail some filly's success in a child beauty pageant. Nightmare's eye twitched at the idea of a child beauty pageant, but she thanked Faust that this one appeared to be tame compared to others she'd overheard Rarity speak of.
However, it didn't prevent her from muttering "So this is what counts as news in this era. Depressing." After glancing over an ad for an arcade game called Magnet Mane, she set her gaze to a bowl of oatmeal magically set before her.
"Make sure you eat it all. You'll need energy for your first day of school." Twilight said with a sleepy smile.
"Unless you're a white alicorn with a long flowing crimson mane, I do not care what you want m- Wait. Did you say school?" Nightmare asked, levitating chunks of oatmeal into her mouth. "Guh. This gunk is bland..." she murmured quietly to herself as she contemplated sullying Twilight's face with the pasty slop.
"Of course. You're a filly. You have to go school." A bag of daisies floated down from the cupboard. Next came two slices of bread out of the breadbox, aligning perfectly parallel with one another on the table.
"I am hundreds of thousands years old! I saw the beginning of this world! I saw the last of the third era wither away! I am an alicorn! All powerful! Almighty! I do not go to school!" barked the nightmare child.
"You've been away for over a thousand years. You have to learn what you've missed. Princess Luna's orders." Twilight reasoned, keeping her focus on the daisy sandwich she was preparing. "Besides, the Crusader's go to school and you could make some friends there. Maybe Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. I've heard they're nice." she said with a smile.
"Make me." Nightmare snarled. Ever defiant, she released the soaked oats from her hold, allowing them to fall and dirty the table.
"Spike. Could you tell Pinkie Pie, Nightmare wants to help her with her baking."
"Sure Twi-" Spike pulled out a quill from what appeared to be a natural pocket in the side of his leg.
"No! No! No! I hate that- that- thing! I will attend your foalish school! But you will keep that poofy pink wretch away from me!"
"Good!" Twilight happily chirped. Her hooves clapped together to show her enthusiasm.
"I loathe you..." The filly hissed with unbridled hatred.
"I know. When you're done with breakfast, get a brush."
"Why should I, Sparkle?"
"You made a mess, you have to clean it. And for abusing Spike, you have to do it without magic." There was a momentary pause from the alicorn. A pause that was quickly dashed like Lyra's dreams of being a human, when a black hoof swept across the table, sending pasty pale oat food across the table and onto the floor.
"Or what? Sun lover."
"Pinkie said she's willing to take care of you for a few days, you know how much she loves children." A wash of black shot across the floor, a loud splash rang throughout the room, and the previously sitting filly was now upright and standing over the fallen food, a soaked yellow sponge in her hoof and a panicked twitch in her eye. Her hooves became a blur against the mess, quickly scraping it from existence. Finished with the floor, she swiftly flew to the table to exterminate the remaining oat residue there. What Twilight thought would take the child till school time, happened in twenty seconds flat. Mentally she noted to use threats of Pinkie more often in the future.
Her task completed and the threat of Pinkie babysitting eliminated, Nightmare fell limp on the table to catch her breath. Vulgar curses streaked from her throat, but were whispered only to the now reflective shining wood below for fear of further punishment from Twilight.
Done cursing out her caretaker, the alicorn laid on that table the rest of the morning until time to leave came. In that time she played in her mind, over and over again, her glorious return to power and vengeance on Celestia's Element bearers. In her current state she wouldn't be able to get her vengeance on them at all, and she knew that as a fact, but the idea of it still provided a nice escapist fantasy. When the time finally rolled around, the pony prepared herself for what would surely be a terrible day of school. Filling her blue, star-themed saddle bag -something Rarity crafted and practically forced her to wear- Nightmare trod out the library door; followed by Twilight.
Twilight was sure that if left unattended, the dark goddess would do something horrible. Her fears were not unfounded: at that minute Nightmare contemplated burning down a few acres of Sweet Apple Acres for no other reason than being bitter over the loss at Everfree castle over two years ago. But, because Applebloom, the only child who at least somewhat respected the stars, happened to reside there, she quickly perished the thought. Instead she imagined burning Sugarcube Corner down; sweets always had smelled good burnt. Pinkie being torched -if she didn't happen to be fire-proof anyway- would have been an extra bonus.
Once they strode at least fifty hoofsteps, Nightmare's world became a shaded magenta. Startled, her body quickly fell into a heap on the dirt and she was tossed aside from her pyromaniac dreams. Breathing heavily, she inspected the purple before her. It was a transparent force field, much like the ones she and Celestia used to fend off invaders in their youth.
"Warn me before you do that, Sparkle!" Nightmare screeched.
"Sorry." Twilight said, trying not to smile at the filly's outburst. "I have to make sure you get there safely," she paused for a second. "and don't try to burn down an orphanage or something."
"Why would I do that!? I would immolate the pink mare's abode fi- Rrrrgh! Forget it. Just take me to the school. I want to get this over with." came a disheartened groan from the ever-disgruntled immortal beside Twilight.
"Just a second, Nightmare. Your friends are here." A bright smile drew itself across Twilight's face. To counter, Nightmare wore looked like something out of a caricature painting, with her mouth stretched out as far it would go.
"I have no friends." Nightmare stated bluntly.
Her dragon-pupils clicked onto the horizon and found a painted black stallion staring back at them in the distance. On his flank, the only part of him not drenched in crudely-applied paint, the pony bore the image of a coconut tree. Everything else from his obviously brown coat to his clearly blonde mane was slathered in watered down black. He looked like a poor attempt at a Nightmare Moon costume, which very much offended the goddess.
The stallion gave off an over exuberant smile upon sight of her. At that smile, the dark child immediately recognized him as the creepy stallion from the prior day. Quickly as it appeared, his smile faded into nothingness, replaced by a hanging jaw and sickly gagging sounds. Turning to run, the stallion tripped over a large stone then lunged headlong into a pile of leaves. There he released a series of noises that could be likened to mud being dropped on stone repeatedly.
"Ew." Nightmare inwardly exclaimed. Ignoring the sick stallion, she set her pupils on another set of hooves tearing their way toward her.
Applebloom sped across the landscape with her friends in tow. Raising a leg in mid-run, she waved cheerfully to the grumpy alicorn ahead. Much to Twilight's surprise, Nightmare took it upon herself to return a wave to Applebloom, albeit a half-baked sluggish motion. Further surprising was the dim emergence of a smile from Nightmare, who, as far as Twilight knew, only smiled when she gained retribution.
Focused on her black acquaintance, Applebloom failed to notice the large rock in her path.
"For Tom!" the brave stone shouted in the language of Earth, firmly positioned in its spot since it was a rock, possessed no legs, and therefore could not move. It already bested a cultist of Nightmare, now it would defeat a pony of earth. Today was a good day indeed!
Victory came quick for the stone. Applebloom's hoof crashed directly into the side of it, sending the yellow pony tumbling forward. Within seconds, Applebloom became a miniature wrecking ball of power, speeding uncontrollably toward Nightmare. The alicorn didn't bat an eye, merely setting her horn alight and snatching the farmer from the ground with arcane power. When the remaining two Crusaders fell prey to vengeful stone, the corrupted foal allowed physics to take its course and send them into the force field wall behind her.
Caring little for any injuries Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo may have sustained, Nightmare softly set Applebloom on the ground.
"Are you alright, child?" Nightmare asked.
"Ah'm fine. Ah've taken worse tumbles than that." Applebloom chirped out, bearing a set of teeth that made the local dentist jump for joy. In fact, back at Colgate's office the dentist shed a happy tear and didn't know why. "How come ya'll didn't catch Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" the farmer asked.
"My magic is weaker in the morning." A poorly constructed lie, but Applebloom, having lived around the Element of Honesty and a family that valued said virtue her whole life, did not see through the deception.
"A-Are you really coming to school with us, N-Nightmare?" Sweetie Belle shakily asked, rising from her fumbled pose. Beside her, Scootaloo stretched out her legs and wings before rolling over onto her hooves.
"I have no desire to interact with moronic children. Unfortunately the fat sun's backwards blip of a sister has commanded that I do such. So, yes. Yes I am."
Ensured the fillies were alright, Twilight started her trek to Ponyville Elementary again, prompting the alicorn and Crusaders to get their own legs into gear and follow.
"Little demon!" A cream-colored mare with a three-pieces-of-candy cutie mark howled at the black alicorn. Determined to rid her peaceful town of this demon, the mare clutched a stone in her hooves and tossed it toward Nightmare. Instead of smashing the filly's head in, the stone disintegrated against the purple bubble arcing over the nightmare child and her associates. Another stone, larger than its predecessor, flew through the air in succession, only to succumb to the same fate. The mare didn't quit, she rained stones on the force field until there were no more stones for the mare to throw. When she saw the filly everypony called a demon, still alive and speaking to three other fillies in the violet bubble, her hooves pounded at the ground in fury.
Rich green grass, persuaded by the frustrated cream mare's hooves furiously beating it, transformed into a damp patch of brown earth and clippings of plants. Enraged at her own failure, the pony ran off swearing. In the distance her sister, a mint-colored unicorn with a lyre cutiemark, just shook her head and followed to console her.
Gladly watching the last pair of hate-filled eyes disappear over the hill, Nightmare breathed a sigh of relief. Their trip, while relatively short, was plagued with curses, swears, and glares filled with such burning hatred it managed to unnerve even the eldritch goddess of night. Despite this, Nightmare had taken to discussing matters of school with the Crusaders, namely what school was like in this modern age. Knowing she was moderately safe under Twilight's force field helped the process along immensely.
"You mean to say that they no longer teach the tale of our world's creation?!" The filly of darkness asked in utter disgust. Her companions all shook their heads "no".
"It's only in Ponyville. One of the previous mayors passed the legislation years ago. Filthy Rich didn't believe the princesses' mother created the world and he didn't want it taught to the children." Twilight explained.
"And Celestia just let him cease the teaching of an important. Nay! The most important event in our race's history!?"
"He went around her. Filthy Rich owns all the major food outlets in Ponyville and he's married to Mayor Mare, so nopony can do anything about it.. Besides, that's just how they've taught in Ponyville for years." Twilight said.
"I do not care what the excuse is, I only hate that bloated cake-vacuum more now. Ah! that must be the school over there."
Finally the black alicorn and company set their sights on the small wooden structure that was Ponyville Elementary. Satisfied to be somewhere where she wouldn't hear obscene screams, Twilight lowered her shield. Nightmare shifted her eyes about to be sure nopony besides her, Celestia's personal postbox, and Applebloom plus two were around. Assured of her own safety, Nightmare resumed speaking.
"Applebloom, child. This Diamond Tiara you mentioned earlier. If I remember the information correctly, she is the town bully? Correct?"
"Yeah. She makes fun of us and calls us blank flanks all the time." Sweetie Belle said in place of Applebloom, who just stood and nodded. "She got us thrown us in jail once!" She screamed with a high crack in her voice then stared at the ground in remembrance. "The jail was so cold..." the child finished in a soft whisper.
"Why don't you just tell somepony then?" Nightmare stated with a condescending eye roll, as if going to an adult were the most obvious thing to do.
"We tried!" Applebloom exclaimed. "Ain't nopony that believes us. They jus' keep sayin' we're exager- exa- ex- makin' stuff up."
Twilight stared at Applebloom in shock. A wave of guilt momentarily overcame her when she recalled the time Scootaloo tried to tell everypony about the rich filly, but all of them shrugged it off as a little foal exaggerating the truth, Twilight included. Ashamed of her own actions, she lowered her head further Fluttershy would, poorly attempting to hide herself under her hair. Her fallen purple ears perked up when she heard a soft laugh.
Nightmare began to giggle, her face projecting a fanged smile toward the other three children. Scootaloo promptly backed away alongside Sweetie Belle on sight of the eldritch being's faint grin. Nothing good could come of an ancient evil smiling.
"Well. Sounds like the Tiara foal has the children under a rule of fear." Nightmare adapted her trademark laugh into a similarly sounding soft chuckle. "Somepony needs to dethrone her then."
Twilight looked down at the child, awaiting for Nightmare to further explain her plans. If the filly planned to be a bully, she would know the consequences.
"Yer not gonna be a bully are ya?" Applebloom asked.
Nightmare's eyes snapped into a bloodshot glare.
"Don't ever accuse me of such a thing. I am many things, powerful, grand, and terrifying, but I am not and never shall be something as low as a mere bully." she hissed bitterly. "I am a being of glorious vengeance, not barbaric beatings. Remember that, dear Applebloom." the heinous foal added in a half-calm tone.
Twilight looked on in surprise at this reaction. Her expectation of Nightmare Moon was to start spouting about how she would rule the school and make them kiss her hooves. Yet, the child displayed very little of the expected megalomania. The lavender mare opened her mouth to inquire what Nightmare called the whole plan for eternal night if it not bullying, but was interrupted by their arrival at Ponyville Elementary.
"So this is the school. It looks...adequate." Nightmare critiqued, applying a soft stroke through her mane, which swerved and trailed like a whip through the air afterward. Applebloom giggled at the mystical mane when it moved past Scootaloo and began to tickle her chest. "Goodbye, Sparkle. I shall enjoy my time away from you." the deity declared jubilantly. Without another thought Nightmare disappeared into the house of education, pleased to remove Twilight from view. A series of clops creaked from the small stairs as the Crusaders followed her in.
Twilight scowled in annoyance, but let it go, telling herself "Don't let her get to you, Twilight. She will have to stop being so annoying sometime." Momentarily the thought of Nightmare refusing to change crossed the unicorn's mind. "If not she'll be executed." the lavender mare uneasily reminded herself. Though the child was little more than a dark projection of her lunar princess, her potential death didn't sit well in Twilight's thoughts.
"They grow up so fast don't they Twilight?" sighed a poofy-maned pink mare suddenly beside Twilight. Bags full of various fruit lined the pink mare's head and back, and began a gelatin-esque dance when she let loose her usual giggle. Almost immediately Twilight fell forward from fright, freed from her memories.
Inside Ponyville Elementary, Nightmare traced her gaze over the architecture of the school. Bright colors scratched at her eyes in every direction. Pressed hay lined the ground to ensure the students wouldn't hurt their hooves. On the back walls were a set of seemingly random paintings. There was also an abstract painting of Celestia on the back wall, that just ticked her off. The final straw was the heart-shaped holes in the seats. She hated this place with a passion, it was almost as bad as the sun-lit halls of Canterlot castle.
"Is there anything not freakishly happy about this place?" she silently asked the air.
"You must be our new student. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm your teacher, Miss Cheerilee." chirped a cheery magenta mare.
"Faust, dear mother, why do you hate me so... What sin did I commit to deserve this?..." Nightmare mumbled to herself, eyes locked onto the giddy face of the teacher.
Magenta hooves quickly descended down upon Nightmare's figure. They clenched against her sides like a predator grasping its prey. Under her she felt her hooves skid against the floor, her metal shoes producing a low screeching sound against the wood. Had she not worn the steel, azure jewelry, she surely would have received a friction burn from the speeds.
"Class. We have a new student. I'm sure you've all heard about her." Cheerilee bore a oddly happy smile as she pulled her latest student to the front of class. The sheer size of her grin made Nightmare want to back away, yet at the same time it invited her to stay, an invitation she obeyed. Unlike the freakish smiles of Colgate and Pokey Pierce, this one held no signs of malevolent intention.
"Hello, my little ponies. I'm sure you all remember me. For those less mentally capacitated though, I shall reintroduce myself. I am Nightmare Moon, true princess of night. As for Luna, she is just a medieval nimrod with a rear as big as the moon she lifts." Nightmare declared, managing to tear her eyes away from the overly happy grin covering her teacher's features.
"Yeah..." Pipsqueak sighed dreamily at the armored filly's last comment.
"You're not a princess. You're just a wimpy little blank flank!" a filly in back cried out.
"Who said that!? Who the *Buy some apples!* said that!?" Nightmare screeched into the air. Beside her, Cheerilee reprimanded Applebloom for attempting to instigate apple sales on school grounds, somehow managing to miss the squeals of an angry deity.
"Applebloom, what did I tell you about selling apples at school?"
"But Miss Cheerilee-"
"No buts, missy. I am going to have a long, long...talk... with your brother about this." For a moment, Applebloom thought she caught a hint of red growing on Cheerilee's cheek.
Unconcerned with the apple fiasco to her right, Nightmare scanned the joyful architecture for the culprit. Inwardly she swore when she found her offender, she would subject them to the worst torture she could conceive of: being read to by that boring librarian, Twilight Sparkle. The culprit had to learn just who it was they insulted, so she shot the entire room her fiercest glare. The response she got was not exactly what she hoped.
Some giggled, others cowered in fear of the demon foal, Pipsqueak sighed Luna's name, and one sat in her chair, adjusting her jewel-encrusted tiara to sit perfectly atop an upside-down-U-shaped mane. Said one gave Nightmare a glower on sight. Making sure her tiara was absolutely perfect and clearly representing her authority, the child cast uncaring eyes on the goddess and uttered out the worst insult she could think of.
"Blank Flank." She spat with pride. The tiara-bearing filly had been there the day Nightmare's residency was announced, and she quite frankly she didn't care who the foal claimed to be. At that moment she felt untouchable, and some alicorn child who couldn't stand up against a beaver wasn't going to scare her.
Her insult struck with the accuracy of the pony folk hero, Robin Hooves. Rage filled the face of black goddess, transforming her cheeks from the night sky black to a dark shade of rose. Gritted teeth and furrowed brow furthered informed the rich pony her insult was a grand success.
Blue blurs covered the area Nightmare's wings once resided, prophesying the imminent flight to her verbal attacker's desk. Low buzzes hummed through the classroom as the students watched their newest addition rise into the air and fly toward Diamond Tiara. Landing rather ungracefully atop the offending child's desk, Nightmare drooped her head to eye level.
"Care to repeat that, child?" In spite of her recent display, the pitch black pony kept her voice calm.
"Y-you're a b-blank flank." The rich pony spoke back, trying to hide the quiver in her voice. It was partially obscured, but only by another indicator of poorly hidden terror. The pounding of her heart was at an almost audible decibel, yet the filly vaguely masked her fear to those around her with an air of supremacy. That feeling of power she just slapped like a pimp and ran off.
An unnerving smile graced the eldritch alicorn's lips. Like magic, all the red seemed to disappear from her face, a gentle calm overcoming her young features. The Crusaders, however, weren't fooled. They saw the burning anger behind her smile, they could see the desire to kill welling up inside the demon pony.
"I'm going to guess you are the infamous Diamond Tiara I've heard about. So, tell me, you little Canterlot snob, how am I a 'blank flank'?" Nightmare softly whispered through a gritted smile. "Please inform me. I'm dying to hear..."
"Y-your cutie mark d-doesn't mean a-anything. Y-you don't make t-the night a-anymore." Cracks formed along the thinned mask of supremacy Diamond Tiara so desperately wanted to show.
Diamond Tiara's vision became a wall of black. Nightmare leaned in uncomfortably close, her snout inches away from the crown-wearing filly's own.
"I see." she hissed softly. Leaning back, Nightmare calmed herself just enough to not put a hoof-shaped dent in Diamond Tiara's skull.
Inside, she cursed Twilight. She knew the minute she harmed the child the lavender mare would find some kind of torture to punish her with; possibly making cupcakes with Pinkie Pie, the worst torture imaginable. Sending the spoiled child a warning glower would have to do.
"You're wrong, foal. I am the night itself. Now remember that and thank my mother I cannot have my way with you." the eldritch foal hopped from the desk onto the floor, took her seat, and tossed her saddlebag to the ground.
Finally finished giving Applebloom a lecture on why apples were not to be sold in class, Cheerilee began the day's lesson. In the passionate speech she gave about why apples weren't to be sold at school -Applebloom ignored most of it- she completely missed the debacle between alicorn and wealthy aristocrat.
"Nightmare." said the educator.
"What?" Nightmare groaned. An already large scowl on her face grew wider at the sound of Cheerilee's chipper voice.
"Today, we're going to be learning about the birth of Equestria. I'm sure you're already very acquainted with that period of history."
"I'm acquainted with the real events that transpired in that time. Not the fictious version you ponies fabricated so you can pretend the supernatural does not exist."
"Would you like to come up and help then?"
"Why are you asking me, mare. What can I tell you that your atrociously edited textbooks cannot lie to you about?" Nightmare growled, flipping through one of the textbooks she found in the desk.
"I figured since you lived through it, you could contribute something to the class and give us your own perspective on it." At this, Nightmare tapped the tip of her metal shoe against her chin in contemplation. Mulling over the pros and cons of doing such an act and finding the pros to outweigh the cons, she shut her eyes and silently nodded.
A certain pink filly, however, waved her front legs through the air in objection. That mask of perceived supremacy she wore melded with her, becoming her true face, as she sucked in air to blurt out her disapproval.
"But Miss Cheerilee! She's Nightmare Moon! She's evil!" Diamond Tiara declared.
"Now, Diamond Tiara. Princess Luna sent her here to learn about friendship and become a better pony. We should all give her a chance before we judge what kind of pony she is." To this, some student's -particularly Diamond Tiara- rolled their eyes. Others glared at Nightmare, some sunk into their chairs in fear, and one yellow pony smiled. The demon child herself snarled at the name of Luna.
Trotting her way across the hay-patched floor, Nightmare swerved to face the class.
"Listen you foals. I-"
"Nightmare don't be rude." Cheerilee interrupted.
"Fine." Nightmare grunted, not wishing to deal with the mare's objections. "I do not feel like repeating myself, so listen well...please." That "please" scraped its way from her throat like a thousand razor blades, taking a piece of her ego with it, and slipped into the ears of sun-loving ponies. Momentarily she lowered her head in shame, shame of bowing to the will of a sun lover. "This world began when my mother, The Great White Alicorn, The Crimson Mane, Faust, Tau Sunflare, whatever one of her thousand names you ponies call her now, defeated the Nigh'thu-magh." she continued.
Again, Diamond Tiara threw her hat into the ring. Timidly her hoof inched its way to a upright position in the air.
"There's no such thing as the Crimson Mane." she nervously proclaimed. Silence befell the whole school as they awaited her response. Cheerilee stood ready to leap atop the dark child if she went into one of the anger-induced fits Twilight told her about.
"You speak out of the lies your father tells you. I warn you, child. Do not speak ill of my mother. Ever." Nightmare slipped through her gritted teeth. Her eye violently twitched at the disbelieving foal's accusation.
"Nightmare. Remember, don't be rude." the teacher stated sternly. Her alicorn student refused to verbally answer, but gave a slow, reluctant, affirming nod.
"But Miss Cheerilee. My dad told me it's illegal to talk about the Crimson Mane in school."
"Well, technically we can't, but do remember, Diamond Tiara, this is Nightmare Moon, another Princess Luna. She's willing to tell what she saw at the start of Equestria. The least we can do is listen to what she has to say." Cheerilee answered in her usual cheerful manner.
"You could start appreciating the night. That would be quite nice." the star child contributed. Cheerilee chuckled at her addition and gave a kindly nod, knowing it would sweeten her student's bitter mood.
"We can stand to do that too." the teacher half-jokingly included. "Please continue, Nightmare."
"Fine. Before the beast's fall, this world was populated by horrors you could not imagi-" the child goddess resumed her rant ,just to be cut off again.
"B-But Miss Cheerilee, she's lying. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made up the Crimson Mane." Diamond Tiara weakly protested.
"Silence thy tongue, peasant!" roared the night goddess, who managed to make a few brief flashes behind her for intimidation. Her voice rose to the volume of a howling manticore. Wind storm force flew from her mouth into Diamond Tiara's face, knocking the perfectly adjusted tiara to the floor. "Neither I nor Celestia lie about such things as our own mother! I saw her with my own eyes, foal! My very being is a testament to her existence! Now! Be! Silent!" she commanded menacingly, her serpentine pupils thinned from bitter frustration.
"Nightmare Moon! Diamond Tiara!" Cheerilee barked. "Both of you stop! Nightmare, don't yell at ponies. You may be an immortal deity but you still have to respect other ponies' opinions. One more outburst and I'm talking to your guardian about your behavior. And yes, I know who they are."
Nightmare's eyes snapped to the size of bowling balls, complete with a real snapping sound. If the teacher told Twilight about this it was a one way ticket to being babysat by the insane baker. Choosing between the choices of "Stay with Pink Terror" or "Shut up" was easy. Nightmare shut up.
"That goes for you too Diamond Tiara. If you keep disrupting class, you will have to stay after school and I'll be talking to your father about your behavior. You have to learn to respect others, Diamond Tiara, especially of you want to be mayor like your mother."
"Politicians respect others? I have missed a lot." Nightmare off-handedly commented in the background.
"Are we all good now? Alrighty then." As if nothing happened, the chipper mood Cheerilee was known for quickly returned. "Please continue, Nightmare."
Flabbergasted by the magenta pony's ability to switch moods so quickly, Nightmare slowly nodded in affirmation, then turned to her classmates and continued.
"A-as I was saying... Back in the third era, the ponies were under the influence of the Nigh'thu-magh. The thing enjoyed twisting the minds of creatures around it. Because of that, ponies were quite stupid in that era and eventually their society became something out of Tartarus's nightmares. I do not jest when I say their problems consisted of losing a bottle of hoof polish or making charm bracelets. Now, remember these words little ponies, all that changed when my mother beat the beast into submission and sealed it away between worlds." Her chest puffed up with pride as she happily wove the tale of her mother's victory over a being around which even death could die.
Of course the tiara-wearing pink pony wasn't going to let her bask in glory very long. In defiance, her hoof crawled into the air once more so she could stutter out her objections. The mask of supremacy she liked to put on had become thin and frail against the anger of an alicorn, but it was as persistent as ever. Diamond Tiara didn't feel invulnerable anymore, she just didn't care about Cheerilee's threats.
"By Larson's beard! Does that brat do nothing but whine!?" A throbbing headache hummed an agonizing song through Nightmare's forehead. Caressing her aching temples did little to soothe the pain brought on by Diamond Tiara's constant whines.
"Actually, she's usually pretty quiet." Scootaloo informed, striding out the school door alongside her two friends and the demon from the darkest depths of Luna's soul that she was legally obligated to play with. Pushing past the other three, she set her sights on a tree surrounded by tall grass, perched atop a small hill. Brushing a hoof against the air, she beckoned the three to follow her.
"I do not believe it. All she did in there was complain and slander my beautiful mother's many names." Nightmare snapped, following Scootaloo's silent command but prepared to complain the entire way.
"She does that a lot." Scootaloo replied, running ahead of the fillies.
"It's disgusting. Back when I was Luna, a pony had to respect another's family name. Why, when a family's name was slandered, they would settle the transgression in a jousting duel! Now fillies may toddle about insulting whomever they please!" In her irritation, the alicorn had become completely lost in her rant. "Applebloom! You are of Apple blood. They are an old lineage with countless generations! Tell me, does the child insult even the founding families of Equestria!?"
"Um. S-she made fun'a Granny once." Just the abridged rendition of that day's events were enough to be a prime fuel for the fallen immortal's anger and frustration. A bout of silence took hold of the apple farmer after her exposition. There was something she wasn't telling, and Nightmare could see it easily.
"Dishonesty of any kind is not your strong point, child. What else did she say, Applebloom?" the black filly asked, displaying a rare moment of genuine compassion.
Scootaloo and Sweetie had to momentarily stare. This was the first time they had seen the demon foal display real concern for any creature but herself, and it frightened them. Sweetie Belle was especially scared, since she could not be sure if it was a cruel trick to hurt Applebloom or a real display of care. Scootaloo prepped herself to ram headfirst into Nightmare if the black beast tried anything funny.
"It's nothin'." Applebloom said with a mild smile.
"Do not lie to me. Are you not supposed to be teaching me about...ugh... friendship?" Nightmare said with a gag. "Friends...guh...should not lie to each other."
"Well," Applebloom hesitated to speak. "Ah guess yer right. She once said we was all jus' filtheh mud ponies. But Miss Cheerilee told her dad, so it's ah'right." that dentist-tear-inducing smile had returned her face. Her dark compatriot wore a totally different expression. A lengthy grimace was carved across Nightmare's lips. The terrible scowl sat firmly on the eldritch child's lips until she spoke again.
"Do not let her words trouble you, daughter of Honesty. She is wrong, your mother is far more than some mud pony, this I can assure you of. In due time the child will face her punishment. All evil does." Nightmare gently pat her earth pony on her bouncy red mane. It would almost seem condescending, had the black foal not taken to using a semi-comforting tone.
"Er, ah'right. ... Wait, daughter of wha-"
"Hey, there's the ball!" Scootaloo declared, pointing a hoof ahead of them.
The quartet came to halt. Before them laid a rolling green hill. In the gentle breeze the tall grass spread across the hill scraped against at the sky, the tallest strands brushing against the tree positioned atop the hill. Gleams of red twinkled beside the lush young tree. Scootaloo trotted through the tall grass toward the crimson shine. Reaching her hooves into the long grass, she produced a shining red ball that glistened in the light like a calm lake during sunrise.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom took one look at the ball and they knew what they had to do. Silently, they moved away from each other until the four children were aligned in a small diamond shape. Initially Nightmare watched their actions in confusion, only becoming more confused when they ceased moving a few feet away from her, but when Scootaloo butted the ball to Applebloom she understood their goal. They were playing a game of ball. Knowing the only other activity available for her was accompanying Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn decided to indulge her young companions in their game.
"Um. Nightmare. Can ah ask ya somethin'? Ah'm mighty curious." Applebloom said midway through their game, lightly scratching at the ground in nervousness.
"Ask, Applebloom." Her slitted eyes moved off the shining red ball, to the nervous figure of the apple farmer.
"What's a 'flyin' polyp'? Ya said somethin' 'bout them critters in class." Applebloom leapt weakly into the air, colliding head first with the ball. Though weak, her hit proved strong and accurate enough to fly toward its destination, Nightmare Moon.
"A race of flying, wingless, and very hostile creatures that enjoyed building towers out of basalt, whistling, turning invisible, and blowing winds. They were actually quite adorable." Rubber pushed against and tightened around the rounded tip of Nightmare's horn. Much to her surprise, it did not break as most balls did in her youth. Adding another item to the long list of things she wouldn't admit, she found herself beginning enjoy their irrelevant little game, especially since the ball didn't break. Sent back soaring through the air, the ball whistled ever so softly as it flew toward a marshmallow-like filly. In her amusement Nightmare failed to notice the sun beaming off the jewels of an expensive tin tiara.
Beside the schoolhouse, barely hiding herself against a wall, a tiara-wearing foal discontently watched the ponies play.
"Stupid blank flanks..." she said to herself, hissing almost like a snake. Nightmare Moon, who, for some reason unknown to Diamond Tiara, was hanging with the Crusaders, entered her gaze. In one day, this vile child dared go where no other filly or colt in Ponyville Elementary had before; she dared challenge the hold Diamond Tiara so often had on other foals.
In her mind the wealthy bright pink pony could see the effect this new student would have on the school if she didn't show her who's boss. Left unchecked, the entire school would start ignoring her and begin bowing to the legendary Mare-in-the-Moon instead. The mere idea made her shudder in horror and disgust. Silently she groped her surroundings, unsure of what she was doing, what she would find, or what she would do when she found something, but she was determined to keep control of the class on her side. It didn't matter what it took, as long as she kept control.
"Why aren't there anymore around?" Sweetie Belle asked the night alicorn, her voice cracking in way even Nightmare found to be adorable.
"Heh. You're so cute like that." the dark pony muttered toward her marshmallow-color companion. In a louder, more clear tone she answered "Mother transformed many of them into...butterflies, I believe. The ones that resisted were banished to the same void as the Nigh'thu-magh."
"That's so awesome. I wish my mom was that cool." said the orange pegasus. Red rubber fluttered gracefully through the air, making its way to the pegasus child in hopes of being hit once more.
"I thought the rainbow pegasus was already an idol in your ey-" Nightmare looked up, expecting to see the spherical outline of a red ball. There was no red ball, only the vague silhouette of something brown and jagged. Before she could register the odd shape, it crashed in-between her eyes.
Splitting pain roared through her head. Nightmare arched back and elicited a echoing unworldly howl. Clutching her head, she scanned her surroundings in search of a perpetrator.
Diamond Tiara looked on in amazement.
"I-I hit her. I h-hurt her." she told herself in awe. "I hurt her. I hurt Nightmare Moon." the filly repeated to herself to be sure she actually damaged the demon. A wide grin washed over face. Pride and joy bubbled inside her. She had done what nopony else had, she managed to hurt the evil beast plaguing her town. "I hurt Nightmare Moon!" she screamed happily, inflating her ego further.
Unfortunately for Diamond Tiara, a little pain did not mean Nightmare was about to go down. It just she got on the bad side of a de-powered immortal goddess. Glancing back at the hill she caught the sight of a charging black ball of fury storming downhill toward her, its horn tilted forward for ramming efficiency.
Diamond Tiara, having common sense, leapt out the way of the incoming force. Blades of grass and clumps of mud tore from their home and were forcibly tossed into the air moments after the speeding fury shot by. Nightmare had lost control of her speed and fell into a spinning tumble, tearing apart the loose ground beneath her.
Quickly recovering, Nightmare readjusted her position and rose back to an upright position. Whipping her head back, she glowered menacingly at Filthy Rich's daughter.
"You shall pay for that, foal..."Nightmare hissed. Quickly regaining her composure she began the declaration of war she had been preparing in the back of her mind from the minute she met Diamond Tiara. "Diamond Tiara. You have insulted my mother's name, you have insulted the only child I respect, her associates, and you have even slandered the Apple family name. While I may hold one of their members in contempt, while they may all be vile sun lovers, I have a degree of respect for Applebloom's lineage. For these insults you will face punishment."
"Why are you talking like a B-movie character? That's so stup-Augh!" Diamond Tiara squealed and strafed leftward. Two black hooves whizzed by her head, missing the side of her face by an inch. Quickly, the attacking foal whirled around to face her victim.
"I'm challenging you to combat, you ignorant foal!"
Squealing in terror, Diamond Tiara ducked another attack from the ticked-off alicorn. Again, the frustrated foal attempted to jab the tiara-wearing nuisance with her horn, but missed. Diamond Tiara managed to barely avoid another blow, while her opponent rammed horn first into the side of the school. Shards splintered off the wall as her horn plunged through the wood.
Seeing an opportunity to escape, Diamond Tiara commanded her legs to book it and get her out of there. First she had to keep the ferocious foal off her trail though. Clutching the closest object she could find, she lifted her a small stone into the air then sent it down on her attacker.
Another jolt of pain rocked its way through Nightmare's head. Small brown flakes of earth fell before her eyes as her horn unlodged itself and she fell to the grass. Diamond Tiara dropped the stone she held, her body jittering like Pinkie Pie during one of her Pinkie Sense moments. Seeing the fallen filly before her, her face contorted into a blend of emotion. She felt another hint of pride in being able to hurt a demon like Nightmare Moon, joy that she was about to escape said demon, but also fear that the beast would attack again.
Her fear proved immensely true, Nightmare immediately rose to her hooves. Rage and hatred painted themselves onto her face, telling those around she was not to be trifled with. Diamond Tiara took the most logical action: run for her life. Lowering her head so the horn was in stabbing position, Nightmare charged head-on toward the fleeing filly.
Noting Nightmare was quickly nearing her, Diamond Tiara reluctantly dropped to ground and rolled to her left, tracking mud across her pristine fur. Nightmare didn't have enough time to slow down and turn, instead she ended up rushing past her target. This time there was no wall to stop her so she was quick to plant her metal shoes into the ground. The night child's hooves pushed against the dirt until she skidded to a stop.
Diamond Tiara squealed and groaned at her current appearance. Patches of dirt stained her perfect pink coat and blades of grass were sticking up from her fur and face. Even her tiara had lost some of its shine and was marred with small nicks and patches of brown. Wiping disgusting soil from her figure, she looked up to see Nightmare a few feet away, revving up to charge again. Instinct took over, the rich filly did something she never thought herself capable of. She swerved around and delivered a hard buck to Nightmare's face.
With a short screech followed by an extended groan, Nightmare fell to the ground. Her hooves overlapped her face, clutching the stricken area as if more pressure would heal the damage done.
At that moment the bumbling duo of Ponyville Elementary rounded the corner, attracted by Nightmare's yells. As they turned the corner they found themselves witnesses to the sight of a lifetime. Diamond Tiara bucked Nightmare Moon in the face immediately after the alicorn charged her. Their jaws fell in sync with Nightmare's body.
"Wooooah..." Snails drawled in an almost absent-sounding kind of tone.
"Did she just?..." Snips asked in awe.
"Uh huh." Snails replied with a enthusiastic nod. After recovering from the shock of what they had just witnessed, both developed a smile that reached across their face.
"Hey everypony! Nightmare Moon and Diamond Tiara are fighting!" Snips hollered. Kombat; a young, thin, grey unicorn colt with a strange dragon symbol on his flank; slid up, seemingly out of nowhere, beside the lanky yellow pony. Veins in his face bulged as he prepared to let out his war cry.
"Mortal Kombat!" he screamed. To a few fillies that had walked over, his deep voice swum through their ears like a beautiful melody and made them swoon.
"Ha ha, Yeah." Snails said with a dopey laugh.
Back on the battlefield, black fur quivered and shook when Nightmare lifted herself off the dirt. For a second she wondered how things would have played out had she come back some other way. The regeneration proved capable of failure, it could have made her into something like a soft little bookworm. Or worse, a mindless shell. Such questions didn't matter at the moment though, she wasn't some egghead or a drooling vegetable, she was Nightmare Moon and she was mad, very very mad.
Heavy breaths floated rhythmically from Nightmare's mouth for a moment, then she bore her vampiric fangs in a angry glare. Her hind legs pushed hard against the ground, sending her soaring through the air toward Diamond Tiara.
The rich filly didn't have enough time to scream when her alicorn aggressor landed directly on top of her. Dirt spread across Diamond Tiara's coat again as she struggled to free herself from Nightmare's weight. Glancing upward, she saw the angry child was reared back and ready to bite her with those razor-like fangs.
Little time to spare, her mind raced to figure out anything that would keep Nightmare's fangs out of her skin. Something in Diamond Tiara's spoiled little mind clicked, presenting to her a viable, if a little hasty and uncivilized, solution. Left without options, she jerked her head back.
Nightmare plunged her fangs downward. Giddily she waited for the beloved feel of soft tissue giving way under her teeth, for the sweet taste of blood and meat. However, instead of anything soft, her teeth closed on something hard and smooth. The bitter taste of metal intruded her taste buds. Every passing second let the wretched taste of metal sink deeper into the alicorn's mouth, and to make it worse, the blasted thing was lodged in her teeth
Diamond Tiara took the chance to maneuver a quick roll. Still gagging on Diamond Tiara's jewel encrusted tiara, Nightmare fell off of her enemy and onto the grass beside her. A few wheezes floated from her lungs as she reached inward and yanked the shining piece of tin from her jaws.
Colts and fillies began to gather around the fighting pair.
"Ew! Ew! Ew! Eeeeew! Gross!" Diamond Tiara screeched, rising to her hind legs and kicking the air in disgust. Her once-sparkling tiara was now not only defiled by dirt, but laced with Nightmare's saliva. Tooth indents also marred the surface of the tin tiara.
A disgusted quiver soon flew up the spoiled earth pony's spine. Seconds after her declaration of utter disgust, Nightmare scooped up the tiara in her hoofs and gleefully chucked it at its owner. A timid splat hummed through the air. Diamond Tiara's symbol of pride stuck to her face like honey.
Horrified, she screeched and slapped the slimy emblem of wealth off her face. The night goddess smirked in amusement at her enemy's display of terror over something as harmless as spit.
"You ruined my tiara!" Diamond Tiara squealed. Enraged at the loss of her tiara, she felt an uncharacteristic bravery well up inside. "Oh. It. Is. On. Now!" the pampered pony proclaimed with passion. Nightmare responded by immediately ramming the side of her body against the tiara-less filly, making sure a part of her enchanted armor collided with Diamond Tiara too.
Watching the fillies collide like wagons at a demolition derby, Snails giggled in delight at the sight of two girls fighting. Behind him, Snips finished crudely painting a sign and set it atop a wood stand. Snips and Snails had spared no time in taking advantage of the fight. In the few minutes the two fillies had been fighting they had already set up a small makeshift betting stand. Atop the table and behind the sign stood two jars; one for Nightmare Moon, the other for Diamond Tiara.
"Place your bets everypony! Place your bets! Nightmare Moon or Diamond Tiara." Snips hollered. The crowd of ponies that had gathered to see the fight began tossing their bets on the table. Yo-yos, bits, cards, stickers, and candy, everything important to foals made it onto the betting table.
"I bet a candy bar that Nightmare will win!" Scootaloo declared, tossing a Daring Do candy bar from her lunch onto the stand.
"Scootaloo! How can ya'll bet on a friend fightin'?" Applebloom objected after momentarily wondering where she got such a rare candy.
"She's not really our frie-"
"I bet five bits." Sweetie Belle gently pushed five bits from her saddlebag over to Snips and Snails.
"Sweetie Belle!"
"Sorry," Sweetie said sheepishly, hanging her head low. Attempting to avoid further eye contact with her disappointed friend, she explained "it's just I accidently messed up one of Rarity's dresses and I really want to show her I'm sorry."
As Applebloom continued to discuss why it was wrong to bet on the odds of Nightmare winning, the demon child rose into the air. Pleased to see wealthy filly laid out on the grass, Nightmare hovered over the fallen pink pony.
"Get away from me you loser." Diamond Tiara choked out, fear beginning to retake her muscles. Out of Nightmare's line of sight, her hooves explored the ground in search of a projectile. Her manicured hoof clacked softly against a stone hidden in the grass
"I will enjoy this, brat." With a devilish smirk, the terrible child descended down toward her pink pampered opponent. When two feet away from her target, she immediately regretted coming down from the air. Fast as Rainbow Dash, Diamond Tiara swept up the stone from the grass and sent it to destroy her assailant. The stone flew straight and true, striking the flying foal directly between her eyes.
Nightmare howled. Though the stone was smaller than the previous two, even though her mystic alicorn armor took much of the blow, it still hurt her mortal body badly. Squeezing her eyes tight in pain, her wings ceased flapping and her body plummeted.
Diamond turned to run, she had enough of fighting an ancient evil for one day. However, unlike the soft pampered child, the monster she faced had no intention of ending the fight. Not until there was a clear victor.
Bloodshot draconian eyes ripped open instantly, set alight with unnatural fury from a world beyond.
Before she could run away and proclaim her victory, patches of brown and green exploded behind Diamond Tiara. Nightmare rocketed forward from the smoking crater she made, her wings slicing through the air, creating frozen trails behind them. Veiled mostly by a smoky darkness that emanated from her body, the furious goddess's face was now nothing but rage. Her fury had risen to such a point her eyes became dimly glowing white bulbs.
"Kick her plot, Nightmare!" Scootaloo screeched with vigor. Her friends gasped in shock. They couldn't believe the orange pegasus would use such language.
Terrified, Diamond Tiara momentarily fainted and fell to the ground, barely managing to avoid the enraged alicorn. A trail of pure shadow shot by overhead, sending off small whisps of darkness that created small ice patches wherever they landed. A cold chill overcame the pink bully's backside, faint growths of ice had formed on top of her. Right after the gaseous black trail flew past, Diamond Tiara awoke from her quick slumber. Just to see the terrible trail was begin to turn.
Darkness as black as space carved its speeding trail through the air for three long seconds before it turned back toward the pink filly. From the rushing pitch black came a embittered cry.
"Playtime's over, foal!" Nightmare's horn hummed with power. It glowed an ominous, dreary, inky blue. In her mind, Nightmare envisioned a pillar of fire rising up under the filly. Instead, when she was feet away from smashing into the earth pony, the power around her horn exploded with a flash of black and blue.
That horrible melody of agony she felt in her head earlier now spread to her body. As if the agony was not enough, she could smell her coat burning from excess magic. Nightmare winced, her body was still flying and the air brushing against her skin hurt like fire. Suddenly, her world became a sloppy brown and the pain melted away, replaced by a soothing cold.
Luck had favored Diamond Tiara this day. The ex-Mare-in-the-Moon laid face first in a puddle of mud. Unsure what to do, Diamond Tiara stood there, silently staring at the filth-ridden alicorn. Right now she had two choices. She could let the alicorn get up and most likely be caught then beaten or she could run over and deliver a finishing blow of her own.
"Finish her!" called out the deep voice of Kombat.
Barely managing not to swoon at his incredibly masculine voice, she decided her course of action. Weak little pink legs pounded against the ground, propelling her forward to the downed demon. Once close enough, she leapt at the night pony and delivered her beating. It was rather prissy.
"Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Ew! Mud! Disgusting, filthy mud! It's getting all over my hooficure!" She leapt up and down atop the alicorn's head. A few bubbles floated up from the mud, then all movement in the black body stopped. "I-I-I beat Nightmare Moon." she said in disbelief. Quickly she gained a boastful grin. Her young frame filled with pride enough to fill a dam and the inflation of her self-importance practically became audible " I beat Nightmare Moon!" she screamed with joy.
Disbelief stood on the expressions of all her classmates. Some were forced to rub their eyes just to be sure what they saw was real. Almost all of them expected the class bully to be reduced to crying for her father by the end of the fight. Yet somehow through a massive stroke of luck, the wimpy rich pony had come out on top. Despairingly the lot of them looked back at the Nightmare Moon bet jar. It was filled to the brim with toys, candy, and bits.
In Diamond Tiara's jar there was a small novelty dumbbell toy.
"Wait. If Nightmare lost, then who won the bet?" Scootaloo asked the crowd.
Featherweight rose to his hind legs and lifted his front legs above his head, bending them in a display of victory. His teeth momentarily locked into a grit and his features contorted as he let out a familiar "Yeah!" His miniscule muscles bulged in his spindly legs. Once again the fillies, including Sweetie Belle, swooned.
Diamond Tiara mimicked his gesture. Reared up on her back legs, her forelegs swung open like barn doors, an invitation for her classmates to crowd to her. Head arched back, she waited for the swarm of foals to crowd her, praise her, and carry her home in victory.
Swarming foals did come - all fillies- but not for her. The crowd rushed straight past her, a few trampled her in their hurry. Featherweight posed again then let himself be surrounded by the squealing fillies, who cheerfully carted him home.
Trampled and filthy, Diamond Tiara wobbled her way back into a standing position. The sight of Featherweight being carted off brought a burning sensation into her face. How could these little children ignore her amazing her victory so easily?
"Hey! What about me!?" She screamed to the quickly vanishing mob. They disappeared over a green hill, leaving no answers.
Applebloom ran up to the submerged alicorn and pushed against her side to get her out of the mud hole. Sweetie Belle, unable to leave another pony to suffer, ran up to join the apple farmer in her task. Scootaloo took her sweet time, walking backward toward the trio to assure her gaze was on Diamond Tiara. She refused to miss a single second of her worst enemy walking away alone despite defeating an alicorn -even Silver Spoon left to carry off Featherweight.
With a sloppy "schtup" noise, Nightmare's body rolled over into the soft grass, revealing her mud-masked face. Three pairs of young hooves quickly went to work in removing the thick brown slop from the alicorn's features. Mud now gone, Nightmare hacked up a small blob of saliva-infused dirt before fluttering her eyes open.
"Rrgh. Where is the brat?..." She groaned, rubbing a throbbing ache on the back of her head.
"Um. She just left." Gently, Sweetie Belle caressed a foreleg, half-expecting the pitch black pony to literally explode in fury.
"What happened?..." Those cold, slit pupils rested uncomfortably on the nervous marshmallow-color unicorn.
"Ya lit up like a Hearths Warmin' Eve tree and 'sploded in th' air." Applebloom stated rather bluntly.
Violent yet soft spoken curses fell from Nightmare's mouth like rain. Already she already regretted asking what happened, since news of some spoiled pony besting her in combat was the last thing she wanted to hear. Inside she could feel her a piece of her ego shatter much like one of Celestia's attempts at making cake, which for some amusing reason always came out as a glass-like substance.
"I was bested by a Canterlot-noble-want-to-be." Hearing the words come from her own mouth just made it worse. "Oh me. How could I lose to somepony like her. Am I really that weak now?" There wasn't anyone in particular the question was aimed at, Nightmare merely couldn't help but voice her despair.
"Um. Nightmare." Sweetie Belle softly squeaked.
"What, Sweeter Bail?"
"I-I think she just got lucky." To this, Scootaloo and Apple could only nod in agreement.
"Yeah, that was totally just luck. That fight was awesome! Nopony's ever stood up to Diamond Tiara like that. I really thought you were going to win." Scootaloo cried out in praise.
"But...I lost. To an elitist snob... "
"So? It was still totally awesome! Especially when you made all that smoky stuff come out of you, that was just wicked!" Scootaloo said, ending with a dreamy sigh. Images of herself streaming through the air with a burning orange trail played through her mind.
"And what of you, Applebloom?" Shaking off the remaining mud, Nightmare returned to an upright posture.
"Well, ah kinda liked seein' somepony scare her too." Applebloom reluctantly admitted, hanging her head low in guilt. Something inside her forced her to feel compassion for Diamond Tiara. After all, the pink filly just fought Nightmare Moon and barely managed to win. Another side of her felt very satisfied seeing the pony who antagonized her every other day face consequences.
A literal cold chuckle slithered out from Nightmare at the sight of a pennant Applebloom. There was a dark pleasure in seeing somepony admit their flaws.
"You know. You three have proven most interesting. You save my life, despite being aware of my goals, and now you stay by my side even in my defeat. I might actually be warming up to you foals. Maybe." Nightmare let loose a thundering laugh.
The Crusaders' eyes lit up with joy at her statement.
"She's learnin' stuff 'bout friendship." Applebloom squeed. "Ah think this calls fer a group hug! Applejack an' her friends always do it when somethin' good happens to them!"
"But that's so sappy." Scootaloo's rolled back her eyes and held out her tongue to express her opinion on the matter.
"But Rainbow Dash does it all the time with Rarity-" Coconut poked his head of a bush he had been hiding in the entire time. His eyes twinkled at the Sweetie's words. "-when get together with their friends." Coconut discontently slipped back into his bush, realizing Sweetie Belle wasn't talking about what he thought.
Nightmare was so wrapped up in amusement with the Crusader's kind actions toward her, despite the alicorn having made it clear she still wanted eternal night, that she failed to notice the filly trio encroaching around her. Shock surged through Nightmare's frame when she found herself locked in place by the sudden appearance of a colorful triad of hooves. Bright smiles sat on the mouths of each Crusader, forcing Nightmare to raise a questioning brow.
"What are you doing?" she calmly asked.
"Group hug, duh." Said the pegasus.
"Why?"
"Cause ya said ya like us."
Nightmare deeply wanted to object to anything implying she would cross the line into her sister's piece of propaganda called "friendship", yet for some reason she couldn't bring herself to roar at the fillies holding her. Much to her own surprise, Nightmare did not try to escape the viper-like hold the children had on her. An alien feeling of warmth grew inside her when the girls tightened their grasp. She couldn't tell if it was their bodies were just warm or she was actually starting to like these children.
"Body heat. It has to be body heat." she desperately preached to herself. Friendship was a heathen concept, something to be destroyed, the wretched thing that tore apart her eternal night. Cute smiling young faces disagreed with her. One look at the foals around her and suddenly the concept of friends seemed a little less rotten. "No! Stop it! I will not fall for Celestia's foalish tricks!" she screamed inwardly.
In defiance to the wretched bond, she grit her teeth and filled her mind with hate.
"These foals will betray you! They are kin of the enemy! Sun-loving bile, even the young apple farmer! She hates the night like the rest of them, only pretends to like your sta-" her inward rant was quickly extinguished by the soft giggling of a curly-maned white crusader.
"Sorry, your mane is tickling me." Sweetie Belle said through giggles. Nightmare's phantasmal mane splashed like ocean waves against the side of Sweetie Belle's face.
"Why must you act so adorably? Why!? I demand you cease at once, you snuggly fluffball!" Sweetie Belle tilted her head in confusion. Perhaps it was because she was locked in a hug or the words the supposed demon had used, but Nightmare didn't seem that scary at the minute. Feeling a surge of bravery, she opened her mouth to ask something she had wondered since she met the alicorn.
"Nightmare?"
"What do you want, you terrible huggable marshmallowian creature?"
"Are those stars in your mane real?"
"Yes." she half-growled, still yelling at herself inside.
"Um. They're pretty" The other Crusaders showed their agreement through a series of nods. Flattery, it was one of Nightmare's few weaknesses, next to being blasted by a purity-powered prismatic tornado of light. The night filly could only curse her ego, which refused to let her force the compliment away.
Celestia be cursed to the darkest depths of Tartarus and be taunted with cake for the rest of her immortal days, the foals had found their way through her defenses. Nightmare suddenly screamed aloud "Just these three, Celestia! Just these three! Don't think this one incident mean you have won! I will never succumb to your pathetic ideals you fat, moronic, troll-like, frosting-sucking, filly-fooling, non-consensual-plot-slapping, piece of dung!"
"Why ya'll screamin'?"
"No reason. I'm just feeling deep personal shame at the minute. I just took a crap on my personal beliefs and let my idiotic sister have a victory. Her vile 'friendship' is more powerful than I led myself to believe...."
"So are we your friends now?" Sweetie Belle sweetly asked.
"Of all beings in this wide, wide universe I hate you three the least. I am able to feel some semblance of respect and care for you three, so I suppose you are. It still upsets me though, that ball of gas still got the best of me."
"Wanna talk 'bout it?" Applebloom asked, filling Nightmare's ears with her southern twang.
"No. Just keep hugging me. It is oddly therapeutic."
Three minutes passed before the alicorn demanded she be released. Using one of her metal shoes as a very poor makeshift comb, she outstretched her magical mane to remove the specks of dirt from her stars as she began to trod off back to the library. Beside her were the Crusaders, glad to accompany the filly on her trek. Applebloom quickly sped up to set herself beside the corrupted night princess.
"Say Nightmare. Can ah ya another question? Ah got somethin' that's been itchin' mighty bad in mah head."
"Since you are one of the few I give a rat's behind about, I will answer." Nightmare monotoned.
"I been wonderin'. Why'd ya hate friendship so much?" Nightmare's reptile pupils shrank for a second. Her pace slowed subtly, but enough for the yellow earth pony to notice.
"Get away from me, vile demon of shadow and eldritch horror!" screamed a young mare. Her body laid across the dry crackling soil. Around her the impossible mocked her senses, walls of cosmic blue fire wrapped and kissed the buildings around her.
"Dearest mare, doth thee not recognize us!? It us, thy dearest friend, Luna, daughter of the elder being Tau Sunflare! We are now merely so much more than before. With our newfound power we shalt bring about a glorious nighttime eternal!" The alicorn said loudly and cheerfully, forcing the blue flames around it to dance. She almost seem to take pleasure in the destruction around her.
"No! Thou art not Luna, thine own cutie mark would deceive ye! Luna is mine good friend and t'would never stoop so low. Thou be-ith little more than a dark Nightmare of the beautiful lady Moon herself." the frightened mare reached for a jagged scrap of metal. Weakly she clutched the scrap in her hooves. "Thy art an impersonating scum worse than the vilest of changelings and I shall slay thee in the Moon's pure name."
"I do not wish to talk about it." came a bitter hiss.
Applebloom understood this alicorn was an angry beast and as such would not always readily answer her questions. Not wanting to push her luck with an easily set off deity, she gave an understanding nod and let the question go.
"Now it is my turn to ask you a question, young Applebloom."
"Ah'right, shoot."
"No, I only kill those that annoy or anger me. Oh, you meant answer the question. Well. What kind of horrid teacher is that mare!? I produced an explosion and she didn't show up!" Nightmare hollered, nearly letting her cries reach the level of Royal Canterlot Voice. Had she bothered to turn around, she would have seen the distant image of a magenta teacher cradling a photograph in the window.
Inside the school Cheerilee gently touched a photograph of Big Macintosh. For the last ten minutes she had been lost in nostalgia. Staring longingly she let loose a deep sigh, filled with regret.
"Oh, Big Mac. One day you'll notice me." Cheerilee bemoaned, despite knowing every word was a lie. Feeling deeply mellow for the fifth time that week, she reached under her desk for her own personal anti-depressant. A massive pink and white cylindrical container, too large to fit under any desk in Ponyville, slid out from under the mahogany table.
In a sad whisper she said the one word that strangely calmed her nerves as she ate from the tub with her hooves.
"Mahogany." she whispered to the air.
Later that night, Nightmare cantered up the stairs of Twilight's library home, deeply irritated, as usual, with her unicorn caretaker.
"No, Sparkle! I did not learn anything about your tyrant's 'magic of friendship'. Nor do I intend to anytime soon! Now leave me be!" Nightmare screeched down to the lower floor.
Emitting a low grunt, the flustered filly stomped over to an open window. Another grunt crawled out of her when she slid her eyes across the landscape. Other ponies would call a Ponyville night a thing of beauty: because so few ponies stayed up during the night, leaving the streets abandoned, illuminated only by the softest of candlelight. Nightmare called it hideous for the exact same reason.
"The sniveling whelps still hate our night." she lamented. Gladly ripping the empty town out of her view, she gazed up at her domain. Billions of stars twinkled in the irises of her corrupted eyes.
At the sight of her shining beauties, Diamond Tiara's accusation sprung forward into the front of her mind.
"The foal speaks out of ignorance. I still control the sky and all it holds." Nightmare reassured herself.
Thrusting her brow into a "v" shape, she glared at the stars with a furious intensity. Determination to prove the brat wrong coursed through her young body and converted into a pure arcane power for Nightmare to command. Deep blue magic swam into her horn, ready to be shot into the ocean of glimmering twinkles above. Releasing her power, she envisioned the stars merging into her shape of choice. A twisting spiral of cosmic lights would soon remind all the ponies below just who controlled the night, who they should respect.
Tearing open her eyes with excitement, she reared up her head to look upon her sky spiral. The stars sat in the same seemingly scattered way they always did. Nightmare felt her heart plop into her stomach. She failed again, just like the last twelve times. Heaving a heavy sigh she crawled back downstairs to drown her disappointment in an apple pie the orange farmer gave Twilight earlier.
Dredging her way into the kitchen, she glanced to a window. The pony who had apparently decided it funny to paint himself up as a poor imitation of Nightmare Moon, casually trotted by outside. Had she been in a better mood, the alicorn would have sent a heavy object through the window to break his face. Instead she huffed, crawled up to the counter, and plunged her face into the apple pie.
Outside Coconut cantered past Twilight Sparkle's home. Under the black paint, which had gotten crusty hours ago and began to chip away from his fur, patches of sweat formed, dampening his coat. It had been a hard day of selling coconuts. Almost his entire stock had been purchased by the pink party pony of Ponyville, he quite didn't catch the reason since her mouth moved like Rainbow Dash on a sugar high. All he got was something about a food fight and Applejack.
Heat trailed into his face at the thought of the apple farmer. The picture of her patrolling her apple fields, kicking the trees, working up a sweat, and shooting him a sweet smile, stuck to his mind like glue. Shaking away his fantasy he told himself "Stop it, she wouldn't want you thinking about her like that. Gotta be a gentleman if you're gonna get her attention."
Finally he came to his abode, a typical thatched-roof cottage with a few coconut trees at the side and a small hanging moon above the door. Before entering the hut, he made his usual round of circling around the house to check for markings. Satisfied to find his home lacking the usual "a Nightmare lover lives here" graffiti, he slipped a smile to the air and skipped into his home where he would lay his head to sleep and hopefully dream of the beautiful orange apple farmer.
With a graceful leap that would make the gymnasts of Canterlot jealous, he plummeted into the bed. Unfortunately he forgot he was still sick, and his innards replied by trying make him hurl. Keeping his lunch inside, he nestled into the covers and drifted off to sleep.
Shortly after descending into slumber, a soothing southern voice swam about the air
"Well howdy there, Coconut." it said.
Coconut opened his eyes to find himself facing the beauty that always haunted his mind, though she wore a different outfit than usual. Around Applejack's upper body was a small jacket that left a medially large opening on her chest. Her usually bundled mane had been set free and blew in the whispering winds. Most odd was the lack of her trademark Stetson. Despite the small differences, she still wore the same smile.
Coconut giggled with delight. He had planned this moment for years, this was when he would woo Applejack with his well crafted pick-up lines. Opening his mouth he let loose one of these infallible lines.
"Hey baby did you fall out of heaven? Cause I swear your an angel." he said with the dopiest grin conceived. His grin diminished the second his eyes clicked off Applejack.
Around them the world was a mixture of grays and drab browns. Mountains of rubble littered the landscape. Any structures that did exist were broken and dilapidated. In the ruins large reptilian beasts with massive claws, horns, and teeth slapped about the stones, stumbling about and doing nothing of real importance. Parasprites with bulging eyes, drooling mouths, and bloated bodies, fluttered past the couple. Every trace of life in this barren land seemed to be mutated and grotesque. The only semi-normal creature seemed to be a pegasus flying above them, but it was covered from head to hoof in dirty armor and had what appeared to be cannons on its sides.
"No, Ah'm th' furthest thang from an angel, lover-boy." Applejack said with an amused chortle.
"Wh-where am I?" the stallion's eyes darted about, visually exploring this strange new land. However, the longer his eyes explored, the greater his horror grew.
"Fallout Equestria, well, a perjection of it. Ya'll seemed to like th' book series so ah whipped up this here lil illusion t' sate ya. Tell th' truth, yer Fallout Equestria books are a lot differ'nt than the real one. Seem to stick closer to the real Fallout world than th' ponyverse of it. Course neither had Celestia as a survivor an' reclaimin' the wasteland neither, only yer lil books have that. Aw shucks ah'm ramblin'."
"What are you-" his pin-sized pupils promptly returned to Applejack, who wore an unnervingly calm smile.
"Ah'm gunna put it bluntly here, sugarcube. Ah ain't Applejack. Ah'm Nigh'thu-magh, the thang ya'll ponies tell lil fillies 'bout t' scare em. Ah jus' used th' mare's looks an' voice to keep ya'll from wiggin' out on me...that plus mah real form would make yer head 'splode."
"This is a dream, a really weird dream." Coconut assured himself, going so far as to bite his foreleg to escape. In response to his denial, one of "Applejack's" locks twisted itself up to form a tendril. It quickly slapped itself atop his forehead.
"Sortah." the farmer look-a-like said with an eye roll.
Thousands of different memories flooded into Coconut's consciousness. A whirlwind of emotions overcame him. In microseconds he went from happy to mad to suicidal to love struck then back to happy. He didn't remember doing any of the events in these flashes nor did he know half the ponies that were presented in them, yet he still felt every emotion.
Outside the dream, the stallion's heart began to speed. It beat against his chest faster and faster until it sounded akin to the pounding of a war drum. Inside the dream he felt the effects of his raging organ. Pain surged throughout his chest for a few seconds, stopping only when the tendril detached.
"Rest of this is a dream. Ah'm real. Now b'fore ya ask, ah did that t' shut ya up and show ya ah'm real. Made ya see moment's in th' lives of parallel versions of yerself and nearly made yer ticker pop. An' that was th' nice version, cross me an' ah'l make ya see an' feel a thousand differ'nt versions of yer death. Ah won't even have t' do nothin' to ya, after that ya'll just kill yerself in depression. Sheeyoot, ah'm ramblin' again." Dream Applejack rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"Why did you come to me?" Coconut choked out, trying not to stutter his words.
"Cause ya called me in that lil altar prayer of yers. That's th' only reason ah c'n even be in yer dreams, talk an' touch ya, or hurt ya. Cause ya called me. Ya asked me t' give ya 'strength' so ya could do yer eternal night thang."
"S-so you're here to help me?"
"Nah. Ah already did tha'. Gave ya th' 'strength', well somethin' strong, ya asked fer." The fake Applejack said, tapping the cultist's belly with her hair tendril. "Ah'm jus' here t' tell ya, ya gotta go t' townhall tommorah night t' git it t' work."
"Why tomorrow?"
"Cause them stars is ripe fer magic tommorah."
"B-but why me?"
"Don't be askin' why nomore! Ah gave ya th' help ya asked for! Now git and go t' Townhall tommorah night! Or ah'll do thangs to ya, thangs ya can't even comprehend..." Light enveloped the world around them, temporarily blinding the stallion. The thing was gone, leaving only a heap of dust behind. Fallout Equestria had ceased to be, a apple field in it's place.
For the rest of his slumber Coconut engaged in his fantasies of heroism and valor. Applejack, pleasantly not a monster this time, latched her hooves around his waist and declared her love. Everything he wanted came true within this dreamland, just as it would every time he dreamed of the farmer, but he was still disturbed. What did that thing want and why did it care about him?
Back at Twilight's library, Nightmare plucked her head from the apple pie and shifted her eyes about the room. Nothing was there besides her and a torn-up pie, yet she couldn't shake the feeling something, somewhere, was watching her.
