Chisel Flint sat behind the counter of his small store in Ponyville, surrounded by stone statues of various sizes. He twirled a small hammer in his magic, seemingly bored as he rested his head on his hooves.
It had been a slow day at the shop, with few ponies coming in to make a purchase. He had been considering closing up shop early throughout the day, but something told him to stay open.
Soon, a small ringing in his ear brought him to attention. Chisel sat up straight, and watched as the Mayor herself walked into his store. Looking at the clock, it was about five minutes until closing time, but he figured he could keep the Mayor company past that time.
“Greetings, Mayor Mare, what can I do for you?” Chisel said, his low voice ringing through the shop. He got off his chair and stood behind the register.
The Mayor sighed and chuckled a little. “Well, I’m sure you know about Nightmare Night, right?” she asked, seemingly a humorous question.
Chisel stifled a laugh. “Of course I do, what about it?”
“Every year, the town hall gets hundreds of donations of candy, all addressed to Nightmare Moon,” she explained. “Well, this candy fills up our back room, and our staff ends up eating it all. We can’t have all this candy sitting around in a work environment, so we need a solution,” Mayor Mare continued.
“Why come to me?” Chisel asked, a confused expression on his face.
“Well, we need you to sculpt a statue of Nightmare Moon, so all the little ponies of Ponyville will go there to deposit their candy instead of sending it to the town hall,” Mayor Mare chuckled. “Do you think you can do that?”
Chisel’s ears perked up at the mention of sculpting a statue. He envisioned a large stone statue, which meant a huge payout from the city. Possibly even enough to put him back in business!
“And we know you are the most skilled sculptor in the region, so we trust you will be able to make this statue the best you can,” the Mayor added, smiling.
The sculptor blushed, taking the high praise to heart. “Of course, I can do that! Just send me some references to work off, and I’ll have it complete.”
The Mayor stopped a moment and sighed. “It’s been almost a thousand years since Nightmare Moon was defeated, so the only references we have are weak accounts from Celestia herself. You’ll have to make do with those.”
Chisel nodded his head, thinking to himself about the total price of this entire thing. It would have to be in the several thousands of bits, and the Mayor seemed to get his drift.
“Don’t worry, Chisel, we’ll make sure you’re properly paid for your work,” the Mayor said anxiously, wringing a hoof while she thought about the cost of the entire project.
With a sigh, Chisel went to the back of his shop, pulling out his toolset and gave a long, slow look at them. Brand new, perfect for sculpting. Even some brand-new power tools were there, but he wondered how he’d get an extension cord over to the statue site he had in mind.
“Chisel?” The Mayor called from the front of the store, a bit less anxious sounding. As Chisel walked in, he noticed a small piece of paper addressed to him, a check for $75,000 bits.
“This should cover the cost of building it. The Equestrian Bit hasn’t been doing too well, so hopefully this check accounts for inflation,” the Mayor added with a soft smile. “Thank you, Chisel!”
Chisel watched Mayor Mare walk out of the shop, the door once again ringing from the bells mounted above. Locking the shop up, he climbed the stairs to his bedroom, the whole time thinking about how he would sculpt Nightmare Moon.
The next morning Chisel woke up early, placing a note on his door that said he would not be at the shop that day, for he had information to gather. He strapped on a saddlebag and trotted down the dirt roads of outer Ponyville, making his way into the central square.
Finding his target, he spotted the brand-new railroad station, a shiny train sitting on the platform. Purchasing a ticket, he climbed aboard the new train, relaxing in a comfortable seat for his ride to Canterlot.
The ride seemed to whirl by in Chisel’s mind, and he sat comfortably as the scenery went by. A car attendant went around passing out drinks and food, providing Chisel with something to eat while he sat aboard the train.
Soon enough, Canterlot was in front of him, and as the train pulled away he was already planning his next move. Walking down the roads of the city, he passed by plenty of snooty-looking aristocrats, their noses tilted high.
Eventually, he reached the place he was looking for — the Canterlot Archives. Opening the door, he took a quick look around at the expansive room. Scrolls lined the walls, and each one was categorized perfectly. Navigating to “N”, Chisel took a few down listed under “Nightmare Moon” and brought them to a desk along a wall.
The first scroll was just a general synopsis on her, and as Chisel read he found himself growing rather intrigued on the entire Nightmare Moon debacle. Unlike what he had been told as a foal, there had been no mentions of her eating foals and being appeased with candy. Her true story was far more bleak and far more sad than it was made out to be in his history classes back in elementary school.
“Sweet Celestia…” Chisel gasped as he finished the scroll. “No wonder they kept this story from us as foals, this is awful.”
Rolling up the scroll, Chisel moved on to Celestia’s personal account of Nightmare Moon, describing her as a “rather tall, menacing mare, with fangs and a magical mane”. At least, that’s what he could gather from the text. His old Ponish was not too good.
As he rolled up the second scroll, he heard the tapping of hooves behind him, slowly moving towards him. Turning his head, Chisel noticed an unfamiliar unicorn walking towards him. The unicorn picked up the scroll he was reading.
“Having trouble with the old Ponish?” She asked politely.
“Yeah, it’s rather difficult to understand. Mine isn’t the best,” Chisel replied, a bit of a goofy expression on his face.
The unicorn nodded. “Well, you’re in luck,” she added, beginning to read through the paper. Soon after, she looked back up at Chisel.
“Why are you researching Nightmare Moon?” she questioned, giving Chisel a bewildered look. “I find it hard to understand why, seeing as she was banished for all of eternity. There’s no point in doing so,” The unicorn put the scroll back down and sighed. “I can still translate it for you regardless. Why do you need it translated?”
Chisel chuckled a little. “In my hometown of Ponyville, the mayor paid me seventy-five grand to sculpt a statue of Nightmare Moon for the annual Nightmare Night festivities,” he paused when he noticed the odd look on the other unicorn’s face. “Trust me, it sounds weird, but the candy the fillies and colts would deliver ended up filling up the town hall, and now the Mayor wants a dedicated place to go pay tribute, to supposedly uphold the old legend.
The unicorn gave him a quizzical look, then burst out into laughter. “That is the most hilarious thing I’ve ever heard. Don’t you know the entire Nightmare Night Tradition is built off a stupid lie?” She chuckled, smiling a bit.
“Well, duh,” Chisel said, a bit of snark in his voice. “I read another scroll that told me the real tale.”
“Ah, so you aren’t a complete idiot,” the unicorn responded. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, by the way. I’m Princess Celestia’s personal student,” she boasted, the last sentence overemphasized to boost a seemingly large ego.
Chisel nodded, chuckling. “I’m Chisel Flint, a sculptor from Ponyville. I suppose my background is less impressive than your own, Twilight.”
She gave a curt nod, before sitting down beside him. “I was actually tasked with researching Nightmare Moon. Do you know who told me to do that?” She asked, a wide grin on her face.
“Nope.”
“I did!” Twilight said with a smug grin. “That way, Princess Celestia will see how good of a student I am, and will give me more books to read! I plan on sending a report in, but I’ve got a few more books to read on the old Mare in the Moon.”
Chisel chuckled a bit. “Impressive,” he said, but internally he was cringing at her egotistical nature.
Twilight beamed. “Still want me to translate those scrolls?” She asked
Chisel sighed. “No, I think I’ll be fine, I got all the information I needed.”
And with that, Chisel stood up, took his notes, and walked away from the Archives, wanting to get as far away from Twilight as he could.
His next destination was another library within Canterlot. From what the locals had told him, the library was said to contain paintings of legendary ponies, painted hundreds of years ago.
Upon walking in, he trotted to where the paintings were kept, slowly looking through them all. Priceless paintings of Chrysalis, Sombra, Celestia, Tirek, Discord, and many others were present here, and in marvelous quality to boot. Near the end were a few canvasses out of sight, so Chisel migrated to the end of the gallery.
Against the wall hung two paintings, one of a mysterious dark blue mare with a flowing, starry mane, and a darker mare with a similar mane, seemingly more wild than the other’s. The caption read “Portrait of Nightmare Moon”, and a small disclaimer below read “based on eyewitness accounts”. What he was looking at may not have been the most accurate painting of the Mare in the Moon, but it could work.
Pulling out a lump of molding clay from his saddlebag, Chisel began to use his magic to form the clay into a small model of the statue he was to build, taking into great consideration the perspective and pose he wanted the statue to be in.
With a spell, he fired the model and placed it in his bag, turning to leave the gallery, before one more painting caught his eye.
The same painting across from Nightmare Moon’s, the one of the dark blue mare, had drawn his attention once more. Below it, a caption read: “Princess Luna”.
“Who in Equus is Princess Luna?” he thought. “Surely she wasn’t the same Luna who became Nightmare Moon, right?”
Chisel tried to justify his claim within his head, coming to the conclusion that Luna had been taken over by the malignant Nightmare. It was a sad fate, but Chisel passed it off. He had bigger things to worry about.
The train ride home was uneventful, taking about the same amount of time as it took to get to Canterlot. When Chisel Flint stepped off the train in Ponyville, he was greeted by an overly enthusiastic pink mare.
“Hi there Chisel!” she exclaimed as she bounced up to him. “What were you doing? Where’d you come from?”
Chisel chuckled and smiled, always happy to talk to Pinkie Pie. “Just got back from Canterlot after doing some research,” he says as he reaches into his bag and pulls out the small clay model.
“Ooh! What’s that?”
“A clay model of what I’m going to sculpt. Mayor Mare commissioned it a day or two ago.”
Pinkie Pie nodded as she carefully took the small model, examining it closely. “Is that…uh…who is that?” she tilted her head to one side, and her eyes seemed to pop out of her head as she got a close look at it.
“Some old legendary figure named Nightmare Moon, you know, the one that-” Chisel started, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie as she bounced happily.
“Nightmare Moon!? Wow! I love Nightmare Night! I get to go around collecting candy and scaring ponies! And then I donate my candy to her so that she won’t eat our fOoOaAalS!” she exclaimed, emphasizing the last part to make it extra spooky, for some reason. “Well Chisel, have fun with your project!” she added, bouncing off in her typical fashion.
As Chisel watched Pinkie Pie bounce away, he noticed a small gray object fly from her hooves and fall to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Immediately, Chisel ran over to inspect the object, and found that it was in fact his little sculpture he’d made to use as a point of reference. Enraged, he took a good look around for any sign of Pinkie Pie, but came up with nothing.
“Damn you, Pinkie…” he swore, picking up the small pieces and stuffing them into the trash. Chisel was not about to take the train back to Canterlot, so he made do with what he had: memories.
Returning to his small cottage he grabbed a quill and paper, writing down what he had remembered. “So…she was tall…” Chisel mused aloud, writing that down on the piece of paper. “And she was an alicorn,” he added, also documenting that. Upon writing down the basic facts, Chisel drew a blank.
“Do I even have time to return to Canterlot to make a new model?” he asked himself, looking at the calendar hanging behind his shop table. It was the middle of July, and if he was to even finish the sculpture by Nightmare Night he’d have to start within the week.
“This is going to be fun,” he wrote on the piece of paper, before rolling it up and binding it with a piece of ribbon. Looking at the check left in the register, he smiled.
With the check safely deposited into his bank and some cash in his saddle bags, he took a walk down to the local stone mason’s shop for a big block of stone. Entering the quaint shop on the edge of town, he greeted the businesspony at the desk; an earth pony simply known as Cobble. The two conversed for a while, before getting down to business.
“So Cobble, I need a favor from you,” Chisel said with a sigh. “You wouldn’t happen to have a big-ass piece of limestone, right? Maybe like five feet by ten feet, about fifteen high?”
Cobble looked towards Chisel, astonished. “You want a slab that big?” he exclaimed.
“I do,” Chisel chuckled. “The Mayor contracted me to make a statue of none other than Nightmare Moon.”
“Nightmare Moon, eh? Big deal,” the other stallion chuckled, smiling. “I’ve got something that big around here somewhere…” he said, trotting outside to have a look. Chisel followed behind, intrigued.
“Ah, here we are!” Cobble proclaimed. “This oughta do you good.”
Chisel looked up at the hulking piece of stone. It easily dwarfed him by ten or so feet, and he chuckled as he envisioned his future sculpture. He eyed Cobble, as if trying to read his mind for the price.
“Gonna be real expensive, Chisel,” Cobble warned, chuckling. He eyed the bulging saddlebags and smiled. “And I think you came prepared. That block there will set you back about thirty-seven thousand bits, my friend.”
Chisel nodded, producing the money in the form of large bills, something new that Equestria had introduced in the last couple of years. “Should be thirty-seven thousand, right there,” he said, placing the bills within an envelope and handing it to Cobble.
“Now…how the hell am I gonna get this home?” he said.
Cobble chuckled and gave Chisel a smile. “With hard work, that’s what. Besides, you’ve got that fancy horn of yours. Why don’t-cha use it?
Chisel nodded his head and the two picked up the stone, beginning to carry it through town. Ponies stood and watched as the two carried the stone, one using magic and the other his raw strength.
As Chisel’s home came into view, the two breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that their journey would end. The faint moonlight in the sky lit the road ahead for the last few hundred feet.
Cobble and Chisel grunted loudly as the stone came to rest in Chisel’s backyard. By the time the two of them got it to Chisel’s home the sun had set, replaced with the bright yet ominous moon, still bearing the scar of Nightmare Moon upon its surface.
“Shit…” Chisel swore, breathing heavily. “That…was a lot of work…”
Cobble nodded and wiped his brow with a hoof. “Damn straight.”
Chisel took a long look at the moon, then turned to Cobble. “You know…that Nightmare Moon…is returning in a bit…bit less than a year?” he said, out of breath.
Cobble shook his head. “I didn’t. I always thought she was banished for good. That’s what Maw and Paw told me,anyway,” he chuckled, his country drawl coming out in the sentence. “How do you even know this?”
Chisel sighed. “I went to Canterlot this morning and got some information about her, there’s a loose prophecy that she’ll return on the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. Who knows if that’s even true or not.”
A soft chuckle came from Cobble’s muzzle as he looked at Chisel. “Guess we’ll find out, huh?” he replied, pushing the stone into position. “Glad we could come to a deal as always. This is a good stone, you know. Mined in the Crystal Empire, so you might find some little crystals in there if you look hard enough,” he added.
“I suppose that could look quite nice, especially considering the subject I’m sculpting.”
“Definitely. Let me know if you need any help or anything, alright? See ya, Chisel,” Cobble said, walking out of Chisel’s backyard and down the road, back to his shop.
“Well, now I have this stone, and a sculpture to make,” Chisel thought, groggily opening the door and slipping into his modest home. “But,” he yawned. “That’s a project for future Chisel…”
He climbed the stairs and slid under the covers into his bed, falling into a deserved deep sleep.
It had been about a month since Chisel acquired his stone. The middle of August was long and hot, but he used the time to his advantage, carving away diligently with his magic throughout the evening and night. With the base of the statue done as well as the basic body shape, he began to move up to the legs, chipping away diligently at the crude sculpture.
As Chisel began to carve out the details of the upper leg, the hoof he was using to brace himself against the statue slipped, and his hammer fell upon his hoof. Recoiling, he tried to suppress the volley of curses that came from his mouth, but to no avail.
“F-FFUCK!”
He slumped against the base of the statue and nursed his throbbing hoof, a decent-sized welt forming on the tissue. The full moon provided a little light for him to see the damage. Taking his carving tools and dropping them from his magic, he took deep breaths as he waited for the throbbing to subside.
“Chisel…”
The unicorn’s ears perked up at the sound. It was a low voice, one that seemed to spook Chisel. The eerie way it said his name resonated in his mind for a moment, but it wasn’t long before he heard it again.
“Chisel~…”
There it was again. The voice, whoever it was, held his name out for a little longer. It was still the low, sweet tone he had heard before, but was discernibly feminine. A tone like this was rarely heard by anypony, much less a simple sculptor from Ponyville. It reminded him a lot of a royal, regal figure, like a member of the nobility, but the voice was still alien to him.
A cold, tingling feeling fell over him as he realized the voice was near. Not ‘whispering in your ear’ near, but still within the general vicinity of his statue. Temporarily ignoring his injured hoof, he stood up and immediately was reminded of his accident with the hammer. “Ow!” he exclaimed, lifting the hoof off the ground but still remaining upright.
“Injured, I take it?” the voice said, now a little closer sounding.
Whipping around, Chisel attempted to find the source of the voice, but to no avail. Sucking in a deep breath, he took a gamble.
“H-hello?” he called out.
A soft chuckling was heard behind him as the voice spoke again. “Ah, Chisel, you finally acknowledged my presence.”
The cold feeling once again creeped up on Chisel, and he slowly turned around to face his statue, putting his back to the full moon that hung high overhead. Looking at the statue, he noticed a faint blue mist around it, littered with stars. The mist seemed to move as Chisel spotted it, and the voice spoke once more.
“You finally found me, Chisel…”
Bewildered, Chisel extended a hoof to the mist, waving it to try and disperse the mist. When it did not disappear, he took a few steps back. “What are you…?”
The mist chuckled, then flew about and around the statue. “This is a nice statue you have created, I understand you are not finished?” it asked, disregarding Chisel’s pointed question.
“Yes, but you didn’t answer my questio-”
The mist extended itself and shushed him. “Quiet,” it said authoritatively. “All will be revealed some other night.”
The soft, velvety touch of the mist against his muzzle felt almost like a kiss, and for a split second Chisel blushed, but it rapidly disappeared off his face as the mist snapped at him. “O-of course,” he mumbled, gently rubbing his aching hoof.
The mist seemed to plop itself down on the base of the statue, getting comfortable as it talked to Chisel. “I have been watching you since you brought this stone to your home,” it said. “Why I have watched you I do not know, but you intrigue me nonetheless.”
Nodding slowly, Chisel sighed. “Is it something about me or the statue that intrigues you?”
“Not so much you or the sculpture itself, more the purpose of its construction,” it replied. “I can tell you have spent a decent quantity of money on this, money only the richest of the rich had back in my time.”
The mist seemed to grow a bit anxious, and Chisel watched it float about around the statue’s head, seemingly waiting for something.
“Back in your time?” Chisel repeated. “Are you some kind of ghost?”
The mist seemed visibly disgusted at the comment. “I am no ghost, foal! I am merely the lesser form of a greater power that-” it snapped, but was cut off as it began to disintegrate. “No! I’m not done! Curse you Celestia!” it yelled out as it disappeared.
Chisel stood in front of the statue, jaw agape as he was left staring into the blank face of his sculpture. Surely he was hallucinating. “Or maybe, this was real,” he thought. Letting out a groan he limped back to his house, done for the night.
“Back in my time.”
“You intrigue me nonetheless.”
“All will be revealed some other night.”
“Curse you Celestia!”
Those four lines stuck out to Chisel like the bump on his hoof, which had healed nicely over the past few weeks. It was September now and Chisel was again at work on the statue, chipping away at the basic head structure. After long, agonizing hours, he had completed the legs and the armor that went with it. It probably wasn’t fully accurate, but it was to his best memory. Chisel had also done the basis of the breastplate, but his memory failed him and he could not remember the details of it.
“What did the mist mean by ‘back in my time’?” Chisel thought.
As he carved away at an ear, the familiar icy tingling ran up and down his back. Stopping, he slowly turned around to find the mist floating over him. Chisel chuckled shakily and gave a weak smile. “H-hi again, mist…” he spluttered out.
The mist wasn’t so blob-shaped anymore, instead it had taken on distinct features, a clear head visible atop a warbling body and legs. The head freaked Chisel out, but he resisted the urge to screech. He knew the mist was harmless, and was simply intrigued in what he was doing.
“Greetings, Chisel,” it said in greeting. “How goes your statue?”
Chisel slowly nodded, letting out a soft sigh as he recognized the familiar deep, feminine voice. “Going well, I finished quite a bit,” he said confidently.
The mist flew around the statue a bit, inspecting every little detail. Suddenly, it stopped after a quick inspection of the hoof armor. “Is…is this statue of…me?” it asked, seemingly in shock. “You intend to honor…me? Of all ponies?”
Chisel froze, connecting the dots instantly. Was it truly Nightmare Moon he had been talking to? The memories flooded back; the mystical mane and tail being the most prominent, alongside the long horn that protruded from the mist’s head. However, Chisel didn’t have much time to think as the mist got right up in his face.
“How dare you make this statue so inaccurate!” it snapped. “Your armor patterns are completely off,” she exclaimed, ‘pointing’ at the breastplate and shoes. “The horn is misshapen,” it motioned to the long but crooked spire extending from the head of the statue. “And where are my wings?” it asked, seemingly very mad.
Chisel watched the mist flit about, clearly angry. “I store up all this energy to temporarily return to this blasted planet to watch your progress on this statue, just to be disrespected! Don’t you know who I am?”
Nodding slowly, Chisel gulped. “Y-yes…”
“Tell me, foal…who am I?” it growled.
“Nightmare Moon…” Chisel croaked, backing away. He found a misty tendril wrapped around his forelegs, preventing him from moving.
“Do not walk away from me,” she snapped. “Tell me, do you believe that silly legend of Nightmare Night fame?”
Chisel shook his head. “Of course not, no pony would seriously come back every year to eat foals…”
For once, the mist seemed pleased. The tendril retracted from Chisel’s body and returned to her misty form. “Finally, a pony who has common sense. Maybe I will help you with this statue, as a reward for being smarter than most. I am bored, with nothing to do on this silly planet, so I may as well.”
A small smile broke onto Chisel’s muzzle, and he nodded. “That would be really appreciated, yes.”
The mist nodded. “And yes, to answer any lingering questions, I am in fact who you say I am,” she said. “My time on the moon is almost over, and soon I shall return.”
Chisel nodded, but then raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Then how are you here now?”
Nightmare Moon sighed. “As time went on, Celestia’s spell grew weaker. I do not know if she intended to banish me for one thousand years or not, but every year the spell grew weaker. Only recently I have been able to return to Equus, but only in this blasted mist form,” she explained. “As it is, I can barely do anything besides talk to you.”
Visibly in thought, Chisel sat down upon the soft grass around the statue. As he did this Nightmare Moon hovered around the statue, looking closer at the inaccuracies she had pointed out earlier. After a few moments, she spoke up again. “You forgot to carve my cutie mark,” she said. “Are you really this incompetent?”
Groaning, the stallion stood up and turned to face the mist cloud. “Look, Nightmare Moon, there are absolutely zero photos and few portraits of you. You existed for at most ten minutes.”
Nightmare Moon scoffed and picked up Chisel’s carving tool, hammering it into the statue’s flank. With a few strikes of the hammer she had etched a crescent moon into the stone. She threw the tool onto the ground and seemingly sunk back, the action having expended a lot of her energy.
“Was it really that hard, Chisel?” she chuckled.
Looking at the carving, Chisel shook his head and sighed. “I suppose not, but I could’ve done that.”
Laughing quietly, Nightmare Moon tilted Chisel’s chin upwards with a magical tendril. “No, you couldn’t have. You told me that you could not. Do not lie.”
“Damn you…”
“Talk like that to me and it will be your silhouette etched into the moon, not mine.”
Chisel awkwardly nodded his head. “Of course, my apologies,” he tried to say, but was cut off as Nightmare Moon began to disintegrate.
“No! Fuck you Celestia! Fuck this banishment spell!” Nightmare Moon screeched as she disappeared into a small black ball, which then popped out of existence. The moon shone brighter for a moment, before returning to normal.
Shaken from the experience, Chisel warily picked up his tools and copied the carving Nightmare Moon had done on the statue’s flank to the other one, being meticulous with his carving. He then moved to the horn she had complained about and attempted to straighten it by removing material from it, which went reasonably well. Satisfied with his work, Chisel went back inside to rest up, tired from the endless carving and the stressful conversation with Nightmare Moon, who he still wasn’t even sure was telling the truth. Her threats were working though.
“Didn’t know alicorns swore that much,” he thought.
“So, Cobble, I’ve been working every night to get this thing done, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got it finished now,” Chisel spoke as he led his faithful friend to the statue. “And here it is!” he exclaimed, pointing at the expertly-carved stone sculpture of Nightmare Moon.
Cobble smirked and nodded. “You did a fine job there, Chisel,” he said, running a hoof along it. “Can’t believe you did all this without references.”
Chisel stopped a moment, lost in thought. He did use references, just unconventionally. Nightmare Moon had returned to guide him once a week or so, detailing the different armor pieces and smaller details only she would know about, but he decided it would be better to not tell Cobble about that.
“Yeah, I had a clay model around here, but it broke a while ago. Thankfully I could pretty much finish the statue without it,” Chisel responded, half-lying. He did have a clay model, but Pinkie Pie had broken it three months earlier. The pieces were probably in some dragon den thousands of miles away.
“Chisel, are you sure you’ll have the statue done by Nightmare Night? It’s only about two weeks away,” Cobble asked, leaning against a leg of the statue.
Chisel nodded. “Should be done by then. Then I’ll have to move it up to the hill where I want it. Shouldn’t be too hard to do, if I’m being entirely honest.”
Cobble smiled. “Well, I’m no sculptor, so I’ll leave you to your work. Have fun, Chisel,” he said, trotting off to his home on the other side of town.
The moment Cobble left, the familiar sight of magical blue mist appeared near him, coalescing into a very distinctively mare-shaped form. Chisel watched as the mist stared him down, now able to stand and walk on the ground like a normal pony. He was also surprised when the mist’s eyes opened.
“Uh…hi, Nightmare,” Chisel spoke, his voice trembling a little. He was not used to the far more corporeal form she had taken, and he backed up a few paces.
“Greetings, Chisel,” she said, her mouth actually moving now.
“You’re a lot more…real,” Chisel replied, a bit fearful.
Nightmare Moon chuckled, her ‘mouth’ curling into a small smile. “Yes, I am. My power grows rapidly once I am able to latch onto it, but I do not have enough to break away from the moon yet, that will come another night.”
An awkward silence filled the nighttime air as Chisel looked over the misty form before him. He slowly opened his mouth to speak to attempt to divert the conversation, pointing at the statue. “I-if you wouldn’t mind looking at the sculpture, I think I’ve finished it,” he spluttered out.
Nightmare Moon sighed and turned around, inspecting the statue.
Watching anxiously, Chisel held his breath as the misty mare eyed the stone sculpture in great detail.
After about five minutes, the mare returned to Chisel. “Hmph…it is satisfactory,” she muttered.
Chisel wiped his brow of sweat, thankful she didn’t berate him for missing one little detail. Not bothering to say much, he just watched the ethereal mare look over his creation as he sunk down into the soft grass.
“Tell me, Chisel,” Nightmare Moon began moments later, snapping him out of his tired state. “Why build a monument to me? I have instructed you for almost a month now and you have not yet bothered to tell me.”
“Long story short,” Chisel explained, his voice tired and soft, “The Mayor handed me a check for seventy-five thousand bits and told me to make a statue of you for all the fillies and colts of Ponyville to pay tribute to on Nightmare Night. The town hall kept getting filled with candy every time the holiday was celebrated, and the Mayor wanted a solution.”
A look of curiosity on the mare’s face was soon replaced with one of laughter, and she began to cackle at the story. Not that she didn’t believe it, but that it was so absurd that she couldn’t resist. “You mean to tell me…” she started, chuckling softly as she spoke. “Those ponies donate so much candy to me just to ward me off?”
Chisel nodded his head awkwardly and laughed along with Nightmare Moon. “Yes, they do.”
Calming herself, Nightmare Moon seemed to take a few deep breaths, settling down onto the ground beside the statue. “Odd…but I suppose it holds up to the legends of old.”
Eyeing the tall grass beside the ethereal alicorn, Chisel moved over to sit beside Nightmare Moon, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “How…do you know the legend?” Chisel asked, curious as to how a mare stuck in the moon would know about a legend created on Equus.
Exhaling a long, forlorn sigh, Nightmare Moon turned her misty head towards Chisel. “My time on the moon has been long and depressing, a punishment no pony–not even one of evil–should face,” she spoke, her voice soft and fragile in the moment. “Luna, my predecessor, had the ability to dreamwalk as she slept, and thankfully this ability was not lost when I came into being. I was free to roam the Dreamscape as I pleased, which allowed me to learn more about Equus as it grew.”
Chisel slowly nodded his head, listening closely to Nightmare Moon. “I assume through this…Dreamscape, you learned of the legend?” He asked, turning his head to meet what was supposedly Nightmare Moon’s ‘eyes’.
“All I know is that ponies believe that I eat foals on a day they dub Nightmare Night,” she replied.
“Which is in a few days,” Chisel added.
“Yes, it happens to coincide with how my power ebbs and flows. I am nearing the height of my power as we speak.”
The two sat for a moment longer, before another question bubbled over in Chisel’s mind.
“Are you actually going to appear on this coming Nightmare Night?”
Nightmare Moon shook her head. “Like all years, I cannot and will not. Even my mere presence talking to you saps energy. I would much rather save it for the day I can bend the stars to my will.”
Chisel nodded his head and sighed, his brain spinning. “The prophecy is true, I must tell Celestia,” he momentarily thought, but another thought stopped him. “You wouldn’t betray a friend, would you?”
“Friend?” he said aloud before covering his muzzle with a hoof, having realized his mistake a bit too late.
Nightmare Moon’s head snapped up, and she gave Chisel an odd look. “Friend?” she repeated, confused. “Don’t tell me you consider me a friend,” the mare quipped.
Chisel groaned and face-hoofed. “I was just thinking, that's all. One half of my mind tells me to go tell Celestia of your presence…but the other stops me, asking if I would betray a friend.”
Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes and sighed. “I would rather not be thought of as a friend. I am no loving, kind soul. I have a duty to do, and that is it.”
Chisel nodded his head and stood up. “I understand, but I won’t betray you either. I can’t…it’s just not right.”
The comment hit a bit too close for comfort for Nightmare Moon. “Yet I did, I betrayed my sister for my own gain. It most certainly is not right, yet I did it anyway, and I do not care anymore. What is done is done.”
“Would you betray me?” Chisel asked.
Nightmare Moon smirked. “Are you disregarding my existence for my sister? Do you dislike my night? If no, then no.”
Chisel nodded his head, and watched Nightmare Moon slowly begin to disintegrate. “It’s been a real pleasure, getting to talk with you like this…” he started
Standing up, Nightmare Moon watched as particles of mist floated off her body and made their way back to the moon. “Of course,” she muttered.
“Happy Nightmare Night, I guess,” Chisel chuckled.
The little goodbye hit Nightmare Moon in a way that she hadn’t been before, and she turned back to the unicorn with a soft smile.
“You as well, Chisel.”
And with that, she was gone. The last particle dissipated into the night, and all that was left were memories, and a complete statue of course.
Chisel Flint sat behind the counter of his small store in Ponyville, surrounded by stone statues of various sizes. He twirled a small hammer in his magic, seemingly bored as he rested his head on his hooves. “Only one more day until Nightmare Night.” he thought.
Soon, a small ringing in his ear brought him to attention. The Mayor entered his store, almost four months after she had first talked to him about building the statue.
“Greetings, Chisel!” the Mayor said, a wide smile on her muzzle. “How has the statue come along?”
Chisel grinned and pointed a hoof outside. “Follow me, I put it in a spot I think you’ll like.”
The two exited the quaint shop and ventured down the road, talking amongst each other as they walked.
“So how hard was it to construct?” the Mayor asked.
“Not too bad, just exhausting. I spent a lot of my nights building it,” Chisel responded.
“Did the check cover the cost of the stone?” the Mayor again asked.
“It did, quite easily. I was able to use the rest of the check to pay bills and feed myself, so I’m quite thankful for the payment, Your Honor,” he replied.
After about twenty minutes, the two reached the hill the statue was placed upon. It wasn’t too terribly steep, and was reasonably clear of trees and grass, perfect for a statue.
“Here it is, Your Honor. Nightmare Moon herself, depicted in statue form,” Chisel announced proudly.
The Mayor smiled and walked up to it, inspecting every detail. “I’m very surprised you managed to do this in just four months, this is wonderful!”
Chisel smiled, letting the Mayor marvel at his craftsmanship. “It was hard, but her help was very useful in the fine-tuning of the shape,” he proclaimed.
The Mayor turned back to Chisel. “Her?” she asked, a quizzical expression on her face.
“Oh, uh…a friend of mine who knows a lot about history. She was able to help with obtaining resources on Nightmare Moon,” he lied, nodding his head with a smile. Thankfully, the Mayor bought it and no further questions were asked.
As the Mayor left the site of the statue, he let out a sigh and sat down in front of the statue, looking into the menacing eyes of his sculpture. “Finally…done.” he groaned, sinking into the damp grass at the base of the statue..
238,900 miles away, a dark and armored alicorn chuckled. “Good work, my friend,” she uttered, smiling.
Author's Note
This story sprouted from a simple idea: "Where'd the Nightmare Moon statue in the Everfree come from?"
Obviously, somepony had to have built it, right? And surely it could've been before Nightmare Moon returned, right? And what if the sculptor had a run-in or two with Nightmare Moon herself?
And thus, this story was born.
