Nightmare Moon, Part 4

It was mid afternoon by the time the trio from Canterlot made their way out of Rarity’s boutique, Chains was dressed in the new outfit that the Unicorn had designed for him as way of apology. He did indeed look dashing in the night blue outfit. He left the vest open, and he had to admit, he felt kind of cool, Spike even commented on how cool he looked.

When he got out of the bath he had put his hair back into a ponytail, but while doing so was thinking of how girly it made him look and was thinking about asking the white Unicorn if she would cut it for him, but decided to leave it, knowing his Mistress was in a hurry.

As they made their way along the outskirts of town, Spike was still pining for the mare of his dreams. “Wasn’t she wonderful?” he dreamily asked as he sat on Twilight’s back.

Chains just smiled, though Twilight was getting tired of it, wanting to stay on task, “focus Casanova, what’s next on the list?” she asked.

The baby dragon sat up, and cleared his throat, and looked again at the checklist, “oh, uh, Music, it’s the last one,” he announced with a smile.

Twilight smiled as well as a faint sound began to reach their ears, after a moment of stopping and listening, they knew it to be birds singing, in a fairly organized method. The three went off the beaten path and drew closer to the source of the music, and saw on the other side of some bushes a yellow Pegasus with a pink tail and mane and a trio of butterflies as a cutie mark conducting for birds of all different species in singing a song.

Twilight and Chains drew closer as the music stopped, Spike had stayed behind to double check the checklist, because he knew Twilight would ask it of him later anyways, and the Pegasus flew to one bird in particular and talked to him in a quiet voice.

As the music was about to start up again, Twilight spoke up, “Hello,” she called.

This earned a startled yelp from the Pegasus and scattered the birds, “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten your birds,” she quickly apologized. “I’m just here to check up on the music and it’s sounding beautiful,” she said with a friendly smile, getting a bit more comfortable in socializing since their little stop at Rarity’s.

The yellow coated pony landed, and looked shyly at Twilight and then at Chains, and then looked down, timidly rubbing her hoof in the dirt.

Twilight tried to keep her smile and looked up to Chains, who also didn’t know what to make of the situation, “I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she introduced herself, trying to break the awkward tension. “What’s your name?”

The pony withdrew more into herself and said something very quietly.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Twilight asked, stepping closer.

The shy Pegasus somehow managed to talk even softer as she stepped back.

“Didn’t quite catch that.”

Then the Pegasus answered in a sound that likely only dogs could make out well enough.

Silence filled the air around them for a moment before the birds had flown back to the tree, and Twilight gave up trying to get the mare’s name, “well, it looks like your birds are back,” she said “so I guess everything is in order, keep up the good work.”

Another soft whimper from the yellow Pegasus.

“Oookay,” Twilight said awkwardly as she stepped back, about to turn around.

Chains looked down sadly; it must have been his fault she was acting so timidly. He stepped forward, “um, please, I’m sorry if I scare you, I can leave so you can talk with my Mistress,” he said softly.

The shy yellow Pegasus looked up at him, “oh, no, please, I’m the one who’s sorry, I didn’t mean for you to feel like you scared me,” she said.

“No, I should be sorry, I misunderstood you.”

“Don’t be sorry, I’m sorry that I wasn’t clearer.”

Twilight had stopped in her tracks when she heard Chains speak up and then watched as the two, possibly most timid creatures in all of Equestria, preformed what was possibly their version of a battle….. of apologies.

Spike came from behind the bushes, having finished double checking the checklist, and saw what had been going on, and stared at the epic confrontation before him.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be so difficult, you shouldn’t have to apologize so much.”

Spike looked to Twilight, “Did…. Did we find Chains’ clone or something?”

“Of course not, she’s a pony and female,” Twilight responded with a role of her eyes.

“Maybe we fell into an alternate dimension?” He suggested the possibility.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Spike, that’s a complete impossibility,” she said. “They’re just similar in a few ways.” She could say that, but it was still eerie, seeing her Human hold a conversation that was completely comprised of apologies was one thing, but the other half of the conversation being the same way was amazing.

This battle had to end however, and the Pegasus was taking her turn, “I’m sorry…” she started, before looking past Chains and seeing the purple and green reptile, and springing upwards with newfound excitement, “A baby dragon!” she said her voice much louder than she had yet spoken in, zooming past the human and unintentionally knocking Twilight to the side. “Oh, I’ve never seen a baby dragon before, he’s so cute,” she gushed over him.

“Well well well,” Spike said smugly, crossing his arms as he enjoyed the attention he was getting.

“Oh my, he talks, I didn’t know Dragons could talk,” she said with wonder, “That’s just so incredibly wonderful, I, I just don’t even know what to say,” she joyfully expressed by taking flight and hovering in place for a moment or two.

Twilight, wanting to hurry along, quickly grabbed up Spike with her magic, and placed him on her back, “well in that case we’d better be going,” she said quickly, moving to leave. “Come on Chains,” she called to her human, who quickly to walk just behind her.

“Wait, wait,” the Pegasus called, as the unicorn was joined in stride with the human, “what’s his name?” she asked.

“I’m Spike,” the dragon answered, happy to speak to the shy pony.

“Hi Spike, I’m Fluttershy,” the pony introduced herself, “wow, a talking dragon,” she said excitedly. “And um, what do dragons talk about?”

“Well,” the dragon started, “what do you want to know?” He smiled, more than happy to talk about his species, or due to a lack of knowledge of his species, about himself.

“Absolutely everything,” the now named Fluttershy said with wide eyes.

This brought forth a groan from Twilight as she continued to trudge towards the side of town the library was at. And though his Mistress was in dismay at what promised to be a longwinded story of the life of a baby dragon, he was smiling, and somewhat hopeful that Twilight would cheer up and join in the conversation.

………………

What was likely an hour later, though to Twilight it felt like a day in of itself, the group had reached the library just as Spike finished telling Fluttershy of what happened the week before when he and Chains had a cake eating contest resulting in them both getting sick until well into the next day.

Spike claims victory for it, though the real loser was Twilight who had to care for both of them.

The Purple Unicorn in question remained silent as they finally reached their destination.

“And that’s the story of my whole entire life,” Spike announced, “well, up until today,” he admitted, “do you want to hear about today?”

“Oh yes, please,” Fluttershy said, still enthralled in the fact she was speaking to a dragon.

Before Spike could talk about the day, Twilight had turned around “I am so sorry, how did we get here so fast?” She said, trying to avoid any more delays as she inched closer to the library door. This is where I’m staying while in Ponyville, and my poor baby dragon needs his sleep,” she said quickly, trying to break the conversation to get inside fast.

Spike tried to protest “no I do….wah!” He started, but was interrupted as Twilight bucked him off of her back and onto the ground beside her.

“Aww, wook at that, he’s so sweepy he can’t even keep his wittle bawance,” she baby talked, both to hurry them along and to spite the baby dragon who gave her a dirty look.

Chains smiled, and moved to the door, opening it for his Mistress and Spike, giving a polite bow to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded, with some concern, “oh the poor thing, you simply must get him to bed,” she said, moving forward to assist, though she was stopped by Twilight.

“Yes, yes, we’ll get right on that,” she said, “well goodnight,” she said before rushing inside, levitating Spike. “Come on in Chains,” she called to the young man.

The human looked again at Fluttershy, who looked a little sad at not being allowed to assist in taking care of the cute baby dragon. “I apologize, my Mistress has a lot on her mind,” he said, bowing again, and following inside, closing the door softly. He noted it was dark inside as Spike reprimanded Twilight for being rude.

“I’m sorry Spike, but I have to convince the Princess the Nightmare Moon is coming and we’re running out of time,” she tried to argue. “I just need to be alone so I can study without a bunch of crazy ponies trying to make friends all the time,” she said, before looking around, “Now where is the light?”

In that instance the light turned on, revealing the entire library filled with ponies who all yelled “surprise” as balloons and confetti fell from above.

Chains fell to the floor as he was taken as aback as his Mistress was. A Pink pony immediately yelled surprise at Twilight again, and began asking her questions, as a couple of nearby ponies looked to him.

“Oh, the poor thing was startled,” one with a soft voice said.

He looked up. He didn’t recognize these ponies, but they laughed lightly, “Its pretty cute, I guess this pony is from a pretty wealthy family to own one like this, do you see its eyes?” the other asked her friend.

They continued to talk about him, as if he were just a conversation piece. He quickly stood up, a blush on his cheeks and he bowed to them lightly before running to his Mistress’s side in case she needed him for anything, and to get out of earshot of the two ponies talking about him.

He came in what seemed to be the middle of a conversation, “….. I know everypony and I mean everypony in Ponyville, and if you’re new, then you hadn’t met anyone yet, and if you hadn’t met anyone yet then you must not have any friends, and if you don’t have any friends, then you must be so lonely……” Chains could only stare at the Pink pony as she continued on as his Mistress poured herself a drink.

He noted what she was pouring into the goblet as being hot sauce, and was about to warn her, when he stopped himself, if he warned her about it being hot sauce then the pink pony would probably figure out he could read, and that could get them in trouble.

All of a sudden the ponies that they had been meeting through the day had gathered close, “and now you have lots and lots of friends,” the Pink pony said happily just as Twilight started to drink her goblet of hot sauce.

“Mistress….” Chains started, about to stop her, but it was too late as her eyes bugged out when she realized what she did.

“Are you alright Sugar Cube?” Applejack asked as Twilight tried to contain the heat in her mouth.

The Unicorn leaped into the air and sped up to the upper loft which was to serve as her bedroom, tears in her eyes from the burning of her tongue and gums.

“Aww, she’s so happy she’s crying,” the Pink pony said obliviously.

Spike looked at the bottle Twilight had poured into her drink, “hot sauce,” he read allowed for all to hear, when a pink hoof pushed his claw to a cupcake, causing him to pour some onto it before the Pink pony ate it whole.

Everypony, human and dragon nearby, looked at her and she replied with her mouth full, “what? It’s good.”

Chains looked at her, somewhat perplexed before he looked to where Twilight had retreated. He started to walk towards it, before a wall of pink appeared in front of him, and two blue eyes stared into his mismatched ones. “Hi!”

“Wah!” was the Humans response as he fell backwards and onto his rear.

The Pink pony giggled, “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” she asked.

The human stared up at the now named Pink Pony, “C-chains,” he replied softly.

Pinkie giggled again, “Chains, wow, that’s a weird name,” she started. “I’d have thought you were a Gary, or Stu, or Tommy, those names would suit you better I think, but hey, I didn’t get to name you, but Chains, really? That just sounds weird, kinda kinky too if you think about it, I mean seriously, who would name a kid Chains if they didn’t have naughty thoughts on their mind? It sounds like a name for a bad porn protagonist.”

The pink pony continued on for a solid minute, as a blush grew on the poor human’s face. Fluttershy was blushing too, while Rainbow Dash was laughing on the floor, and Applejack was hiding her face behind her hat, either hiding a blush herself or trying to keep herself from bursting out laughing along with the Rainbow maned Pegasus. And Rarity was looking away with pink tinted cheeks, trying to ignore the flow of words coming from Pinkie Pie.

“But hey, if you’re named Chains it must be for a good reason, maybe you’re a dangerous criminal thug or something and you fight with a chain and have a dozen or so mare friends in a secret hideout….”

Chains wasn’t sure what she was talking about anymore, and he was starting to think that neither did she.

“…..and then you’d leave a big C on the wall and vanish into the night……”

He was almost certain.

“Though I guess you would know better than anypony else, so why are you named Chains?” she asked, suddenly ceasing her speaking and staring Chains straight in the eye from where he still sat on the floor. He became aware now that all the mares were listening close, at least somewhat interested as to where he got his name from, either having come up with their own theories, or wondering if Pinkie was close with any of her theories.

After what seemed like a few minutes of silence, he spoke up, “w-well, when I was first given to Mistress Twilight, I had chain marks on my wrists, so she named me after those,” he said simply.

Pinkie smiled brightly, “I knew it!” she announced, though Chains couldn’t remember that being any of the theories she was listing off.

Rainbow Dash sighed, seemingly disappointed, “aw, I was hoping it was something cool, like that Thug theory,” she said.

Applejack looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, “now what in tarnation about this boy here comes across as thug-like?” she asked.

“Well I was hoping for something more romantic,” Rarity admitted.

Fluttershy quietly added her two bits “um, I think Chains is a nice name.”

The human blushed light, “um, can I please….”

“Of course you can have a cupcake,” Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically and all but shoved one of the sugary pastries into his mouth.

He swallowed what was forced down his throat but turned his head away, “b-but I need to see to my Mistress,” he said.

“Oh come on Chainsy, don’t be a fuddy duddy, come and join the party for a while, let’s dance” she said, pulling him up off the floor with her hooves.

Chains protested as best he could, but Pinkie danced with him for a few moments.

“Come on Sugar Cube, let the poor kid go, Twilight did drink a lot of hot sauce, he should make sure she’s okay,” Applejack tried to argue for the human.

Pinkie thought for a moment and smiled and nodded, “alright, he should make sure she’s okay,” she said, letting go. “We should dance again,” she said, before trotting off merrily into the party.

Spike helped Chains up, and the human gave a quick bow to Applejack in thanks, and whispered the same to the baby dragon, before running up the stairs to check out Twilight.

…………………

The Unicorn named Twilight had calmed down from the hot sauce and used it as an excuse to not rejoin the party. She sat in her room, and was paging through what few books were actually available in the alcove, hoping that one of them held what she was looking for. So far the search was fruitless.

She heard a gentle knock on the door, but ignored it, trying to focus on her reading, before a quiet voice spoke up, “M-mistress, are you okay?” came the timid voice of Chains.

Twilight looked to the door and set aside her book. She stood up and went to the door and opened it with her magic. She looked around behind Chains, to make sure nopony had followed him. She looked at him with a bit of a scowl. “Were you having fun at the party?” she asked, seeing the frosting from the cupcake.

Chains quickly wiped his face, “I’m sorry Mistress, I tried to get away as soon as I could to check on you,” he said.

Twilight looked down and sighed, berating herself for being cross with him when he hadn’t done anything wrong. This whole situation was frustrating.

“No, I’m sorry, please, come in,” she said, inviting him into her room. It was actually a nice room, or would be once Chains helped her clean up all the books she had scattered about. “I can’t find anything on Nightmare Moon in here, but I can’t go into the main library without getting caught up in that party again, which would be even more of a waste of time,” she said aggravated as she threw herself on the bed, grabbing up another book to skim through.

Chains looked at her with great concern, “Mistress, aren’t you taking this too far?” he asked her.

She shot a glare at him before looking back into the book, “I know I’m right, I feel it in my gut, something bad is going to happen,” she said, growling to herself as she threw the book aside and grabbed up another one in her magic.

Chains looked down, “then, I’ll help you look,” he said, picking up another one. These were new books, if nothing else, it was something new for him to read and memorize. “If finding something will help you, then I’ll look all night,” he promised her.

This earned him a faint smile, and a silent thank you as the two began to read through all the books in the small room, looking for even a hint of Nightmare Moon or the Elements of Harmony.

……..

Hours passed and the party went on, but Twilight and Chains ran out of books long ago, and Twilight was now laying on her bed with her pillow over her head trying to block out the music.

Chains gently rubbed her back. They hadn’t found anything and Twilight just wanted to sleep but couldn’t due to all the noise.

The human sighed as he tried to sooth his Mistress as best he could. All of a sudden the door opened and both Chains and Twilight looked up startled at the door.

It was only Spike with a lampshade on his head, he lifted it and addressed his fellow Canterlot natives, “Hey Twilight, Chains, Pinkie Pie is starting Pin the Tail on the Pony,” he announced, “Wanna play?” he asked them.

Twilight answered hastily and angrily, “No, all the ponies in this town are crazy,” she said, “Do you know what time it is?”

“It’s the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration,” Spike stated quickly, “Everypony has to stay up or they’ll miss the Princess raising of the Sun,” he told her. “You really should lighten up Twilight, it’s a party, you and Chains should really join in,” he said as he dropped the lampshade back on his head and went back to join it himself.

Twilight mumbled in a mocking way as Chains tried to give her an encouraging smile. She just huffed and flipped onto her back, “Here I thought I’d have time to learn more about the Elements of Harmony, but silly me, all this silly friend making has kept me from it,” she turned onto her side, and looked out the window at the Moon with a mare shaped shadow.

She got up and walked from Chains who stayed on the bed, “Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she’ll bring about everlasting night,” she recited from the book she read back in the Canterlot Library.

She looked to Chains, worry evident on her face, “I hope the Princess was right, I hope it really is just an old pony tail,” she said.

Chains realized at this time that she wasn’t just obsessed with being right about this; she was genuinely scared that it might happen. “Mistress….” He wasn’t sure what to say. He stood up and went to her side, he knelt down and hugged her, “I’m sure that whatever happens, things will turn out okay,” he said to her, trying to give her a smile, if only to comfort her.

She wearily smiled back and gave him a soft hug in return, “I hope you’re right,” she said. She held him in her hooves for a moment before shaking her head, and letting him go. They shared a quiet moment together, both wanting to say something more, but before either of them could muster the courage, the door opened once more, and Spike interrupted.

“Come on guys,” Spike said. “Its time to watch the sunrise.”

They both shared a nervous smile and nodded, and moved to go with the dragon.

What they had to say can wait.

………..

All the ponies, most of whom had been at the party for Twilight, were packed into the Town Hall. Some of the Pegasi had taken flight and were waiting for their Princess to appear.

Twilight and Spike had gotten to the front, Chains being there with them. They ignored some of the whispers they heard around them, which were mostly compliments on how Chains looked, either ‘pretty’ or ‘cute’.

Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared close to Twilight, “Isn’t this exciting?” she asked. “Are you excited cause I’m excited, I’ve never been so excited. Well, except for that time I saw you walking into town and I went *gasp* but I mean really, who could top that?” she asked, turning her attention to the Mayor who was now standing on a stage as Fluttershy conducted her birds to sing fanfare.

She spoke at length about announcing the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration. It didn’t last too long however as she knew who the real star of the evening was, and began to build up the introduction. “And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land,” she began. “The very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria, Princess Celestia!” She announced as Rarity pulled back the curtain, and a spotlight fell to where the Princess was to be.

Only she wasn’t there.

Ponies around the town hall began to get unsettled and murmured.

“This can’t be good,” Twilight said, earning a look of concern from Chains, who was beginning to look around, getting very antsy himself as the Mayor tried to keep the townsponies calm.

Pinkie bounced where she stood, “oh oh, I love guessing games, is she hiding?” she asked, looking around and even under herself.

Rarity returned and said, “She’s gone,” in a shocked tone that seemed to border on denial. There was a gasp from the crowd.

Pinkie still smiled, “Oh, she’s good,” she said, admiring the Princess’s ability to hide.

It didn’t last long, as she let out a startled scream, as she was the first to notice a gathering darkness on the balcony where Rarity had stood earlier but had since come down from. It spread, and then suddenly burst forth, revealing an Alicorn with a midnight coat and cold blue armor.

“Oh no,” Twilight whispered in fear, “Nightmare Moon.”

Spike fainted and fell off the Unicorn’s back.

The entire hall fell silent as fear gripped the hearts of every pony.

Chains stared up and his legs shook.

A poetic historian who was present at the affair would later write;

The Dark Princess had come,

Her voice filled us with Fright,

She had trapped our beloved Sun,

And promised us eternal Night.

Nightmare Moon looked out to the crowd with a smile that was somehow as gentle as it was threatening, and she spoke, “Oh My beloved subjects, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen your precious little sun loving faces.”

Author's Note

AN: AAAAAHHHHH!!!!! Finally! Next one should be soon