The Children of the Nightmare roamed the streets of Equestria’s capital city, and its citizens were none the wiser. Though there was not a Solar Guardspony in Canterlot that had not been blessed by Nightmare Moon, they continued as they had always continued: Patrolling the streets, taking reports, and of course, guarding the gates.

The southern gate and its singular southern gate guard were both, as far as both gates and guards went, unimpressive. Though it was one of the main thoroughfares into the city, it saw little traffic at night and, despite the overactive imagination of some foals, there had not been a plasmoid invasion in the entire 900 or so years that it had stood.

So, at night, a single posting was all it really needed. Someone to let in late travelers after the portcullises had come down, so to speak.

The singular southern gate guard shivered. The spell twisting around in his head had given him a new mistress and a new purpose. It hadn’t robbed him of his fear of the dark, or granted him with enough fortune to not replace the Lunar Guard that should have been out here in his stead.

But there weren’t many of those anymore. Something about a secret mission had been the reason or rumor behind their absence, at least according to his peers, and their unusual resistance to Nightmare Moon’s influence had made them ponies to be avoided, at least according to the orders of Spell Nexus.

So here he was, on the darkest and cloudiest night he’d seen in years, watching over nothing but nothing and—

And he swore he heard something move out there.

The gate guard paused, trying to make sense of the shadowy road beyond the bridge, then furrowed his brow in confusion. Fear of the dark aside, the queen’s blessing had naturally granted him the ability to at least see through it. So why couldn’t he—

He looked at the bright lantern next to him, which looked almost blinding to him. Oh, right. Putting it out would raise too much suspicion.

No helping it, then. Equestria may be awaiting a fresh change in leadership, but that didn’t mean it had a fresh change in night guard protocol.

“W-Who goes there?”

The darkness said nothing.

“By the grace of Ni- Princess Celestia, I order you to show yourself!” he shouted.

A pair of yellow eyes opened in the dark, followed by the familiar sound of hoofsteps as a pony came into the light.

“Evening, constable,” saluted the thestral before him. The guard blinked back, confusion mixing with recognition.

“Corporal Hemlock?” the guard raised an eyebrow. It looked to be a member of the Lunar Guard, but out of uniform. “I thought you and the rest of the tr— I thought you had moved out to Ponyville on a special assignment.”

“Oh, aye, aye. The wife, too,” nodded the other guard with the same casual attitude that could be conjured between mutual watchmen on a moment’s notice. “Just out here tonight for a party…”

“A… A party?” The guard looked at his former nightly counterpart with further confusion, trying to make sense of everything.

“Oh, haven't you heard? We’re having a rescue party.”

Behind Hemlock, a hundred glowing turquoise eyes opened, all of them blazing with fury.

“I’m the distraction.”

“You—” The gate guard suddenly felt a massive ringing in his head as something small and hard blasted out of the darkness, colliding with his helmet. Training taking over, he dove down, watching more of the strange bullets sail overhead.

Were those… gemstones? Did it matter? Her Majesty had to be warned!

“Traitors!” He shouted as hard as he could. “Traitors at the southern gate! Protect the queen! Protect Nightmare Moon!”

One final gem hit him square between the eyes, and he dropped.

A unicorn stepped out of the shadows, a few remaining gemstones orbiting around her, ready to be accelerated at a moment’s notice.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight! I have been working on my aim, but some of these ghastly guard helmets present such a problem.”

An alicorn landed in front of the guard, inspecting him.

“You did great, Rarity, the important thing is that he’s out cold.”

“Not fast enough, I’m afraid,” Rarity pointed up to the city beyond. Unfortunately, the unconscious guard had served his queen well. The sight of torches that served as rudimentary alarms and the sound of clamoring of bewitched guards graced the freed denizens of Ponyville.

“Aw, dang it!” Dash landed next to the other winged would-be rescuers. “There goes our option for a sneak attack. What now?”

The thestral beside her scratched his head. “The Solar Guard’s got about 400 members in Canterlot, give or take? We’ll have to assume each one of them’s been infected, or whatever we’re calling it.”

“What are your orders, princess?”

Twilight paused now. She had managed to remain calm on the way over, riding off the high of her own triumph over the spell in her head. But now it was starting to fade. This was her worst fear come to life. Nyx at the mercy of the cult, an entire city’s worth of guards against her. And what did she have? She looked towards the opening gates, at the sharp wings of the soldiers coming towards her, their eyes glowing as they dropped any pretense of Celestial loyalty.

The Elements of Harmony, her own magic, a few sore thestral guards…

And fifty of her friends.

She grinned. If Nightmare Moon wanted her daughter, she wouldn’t give her up without a fight.

The rest of the Children of the Nightmare? Well, they didn’t stand a chance.

“CHARGE!”

She shouted into the night.

Spell Nexus had been told to remain calm, to stay the course, to trust Nightmare Moon. This was getting increasingly difficult to do.

“Captain, must I be burdened with another report right now?” he eyed the golden-armored stallion that had trotted up to him, looking concerned.

“They’ve rushed through the outer canton, they’ve taken the southern wall and the western gate!”

“So fight back! Surely the famed Solar Guard can stand against a few angry farm ponies?!”

“One of them has a cannon.”

Nexus waved his hoof dismissively. “It’s a party cannon. At worst, you’ll be doused with something trite like bubblegum shampoo or-”

An explosion rocked the tower.

“No, sir, it is an actual cannon.”

Spell Nexus couldn’t feel a headache coming on. He was beyond headaches, beyond worry. He had found an island of stability in a sea of panic, and he was clinging to the lone palm tree of calm for dear life.

“Deal with it,” he hissed.

“Sir?”

“You’re a guard, are you not? Guard the castle.”

“But you—”

“I am not a guard. This is not my duty, and the ponies attacking our castle, the ponies that seek to destroy her majesty are not your friends. Do you understand?”

“I—”

“You have many, many orders that you could be following right now, so follow them.”

“Yes, sir!” the guard saluted, galloping away as he began to shout out hasty orders for a counterattack.

Another explosion came forth. How many cannonballs did that pink monstrosity even have? He rounded a corner, up another flight of stairs, then another, a brisk pace finally bringing him to the doors, through them, and into the ballroom.

The mirror sat there. Her mirror. It looked as calm as he wished he could be, and as he stepped closer and closer to it, he could feel his grip on the mental palm tree slipping. It wasn’t the Mistress in his head anymore, but his own fear, his own realizations.

An army wasbesieging Canterlot’s gates. An army was at the doorstep of his queen’s new sanctuary, on what should be her night of triumph. It was all coming apart, and it was all his fault. He deserved whatever wrath she’d bring.

“I’m sorry!” Nexus fell to his knees finally. “I’ve failed you again, mistress! I’ve tried, I’ve tried, but it’s been—”

To his surprise, Equestria’s true queen wasn’t angry. This entire night, she hadn’t been. Instead, Nightmare Moon emerged from the mirrored fog and shushed him, gently wrapping a hoof around his reflection.

“Did you not say that without the filly, our plans were useless?”

“I did, but—”

“And am I not confined to this castle, relatively speaking?”

“You are, but—”

The mare in the mirror smiled.

“This was the plan, Spell Nexus. My control over Twilight and her friends was always a risky element. But they were never meant to retrieve her. As you said yourself all those years ago, it’d be a fool’s errand to think they’d give her up.”

She motioned for the unicorn to come closer. In the mirror an image formed: A group of ponies, a tiny black filly among them, barreling along.

“But they could certainly terrify her. And Twilight’s dragon, in a panic and ever the wannabe protector, would send her to the one other place they thought she’d be safe. To Canterlot. To us. That Shining Armor would figure out a flaw in the blessing was a minor setback, and one that has been dealt with masterfully.”

“I don’t understand, Your Majesty. You’re pleased?”

“Truthfully? I am… disappointed. But in myself, mostly. You have been a faithful servant, one that I was… too slow to trust. Had I not kept you as a puppet, perhaps we would be in this situation sooner.”

“But that is just it. I don’t need you as a puppet, and I don’t need you as a servant. What I need now is myself.”

Smoke began to pour out of Nexus.

“All of myself. Every last piece of me.”

And as the smoke, Nightmare Moon’s own essence, went, so did everything else. Nightmare Moon’s blessing, Nightmare Moon’s love. That comforting shadow that kept the knowledge of his actions from weighing him down.

“Please! My queen, Your Majesty! I served you faithfully. You said it yourself! You can’t— You can’t—”

“I’ve only ever tried to do what was best for you!” he sobbed.

The corners of Nightmare Moon’s mouth twitched. Not an evil smile, not yet.

“I know, dearest Nexus. That is why I am letting you live.”

“Down!” yelled Shining Armor, as the group collectively ducked. Luna bowed her head, revealing the filly perched atop her back, horn glowing and face strained.

Nyx’s magic was immature, uncontrolled, and absurdly over the top. She was too young to aim any sort of blast and it’d be a danger trying to control it, but, as Spike pointed out, they were already surrounded.

And the good thing about being outnumbered and surrounded was that it made your foes a lot easier to hit.

A shotgun of arcane energy loosed forth from her horn, streaking over Luna’s head and barreling over the bewitched guards like a thaumic freight train. Those fast enough to get out of the way soon found themselves introduced to an oncoming rolling pin or frying pan, their helmets ringing and their bodies crumpling. With a few rushed apologies, the resistance stepped over the bodies, galloping along the halls.

“Hang left here!” Shining Armor pointed, around another pillar, up another flight of stairs.

“No guards ahead,” said the cook, confused. “They appear to have given up the chase.” There was a rumbling. Dust and bits of plaster fell around them as the castle shook violently. “Evidently, there are more pressing matters.”

“I still don’t understand, where is Celestia?” Spike looked around. The castle shook again. “What’s even going on?”

“Perhaps the good ponies of this city have learned what is transpiring and are fighting back. Perhaps my Lunar Guard is putting up a rousing fight!” Luna glared, glancing about as the sounds of battle echoed around us. “It does not matter. Canterlot is not safe at the moment.”

“I’m working on it!” cried Shining Armor. They had finally reached a large pair of double doors. There were a lot of them in the castle.

“What, are we hiding in another unused storage room?” Spike said, exhausted.

“What?” Warm Milk looked down at him “There’s a secret exit in this tower, it’s down in the basement and—”

“The basement we were climbing stairs to reach?”

Shining Armor paused, blinking as he began to retrace his steps.

“Are you SURE you two are completely free of her influence?” asked Spike. “What if this ‘blessing’ does more than just magic away someone’s feelings?”

“It’s a piece of her in my head, doing one simple thing. I told you, I already overcame that trick, the worst I’ll get is a migraine.” Shining Armor frowned.

“So it’s just barely affecting you,” Spike concluded.

The two bewitched stallions looked at each other. Why would the guards have stopped chasing them? Why would they take the stairs to go up? Shining Armor knew the castle like the back of his hoof, he KNEW he knew, and if he was going the wrong way, then—

They opened the door before them. There was no basement beyond it, but what looked like a dark abandoned ballroom.

And there was no other way out.

“Son of a bi—”

“Captain, there are children present.”

“Son of a nag. Sorry, ma’am.”

Spike looked around, panicking. “Okay, so Shining Armor’s judgment is compromised; he’s not evil but we can’t trust his directions. Maybe we do the opposite of what he says?”

“There is the entirety of the castle guard out behind that door, and only one staircase down. We’re trapped.”

Shining Armor paused, as if he was trying to listen to a voice only he could hear.

“This… I don’t think this was meant to be a way to trap us. The directions in my head, they don’t make any sense. Not… not in that way? I think the blessing wanted us to go here. For…”

“For something else?”

A groaning noise came from across the room. The ragtag rebellion jumped, Shining Armor’s horn alight. Maybe he couldn’t trust his mind completely, but he’d go down fighting against whatever was there. He inched closer, trying to make sense of what was in the darkness. It looked like a unicorn. Robbed, ragged, he was crouched in a fetal position and sobbing.

It was Spell Nexus.

“It’s your court advisor! The one who gave that melodramatic speech in the throne room!” gasped Shining Armor.

“Spell Nexus. He is Celestia’s headmaster,” Luna frowned. “But I was under the impression he was the leader of the Children of the Nightmare to begin with.”

“He looks hurt. Do you think whatever’s attacking the castle outside got to him first and he fled here?”

Startled by the noise, Spell Nexus turned over, staring at the party with a look of absolute terror on his face.

They weren’t the eyes of a cultist anymore.

“You shouldn’t have come, it—”

“Don’t fall for it,” said Spike. “They can hide their eyes! It’s a trick to make us let our guard down. He was Nightmare Moon’s #1 lackey, he’s faking it!”

Spell Nexus groaned again, clutching his head as tears streamed down his eyes.

“You don’t understand. You never understood. She took it all from me, she didn’t need me anymore. I’m just—”

“I’m n-not even bait. She already found a way to get you right where she needs you.”

The door slammed shut. Fog began to fill the room. Dark, thick, broiling with an unnatural life. Despite the clouds outside, the mirror began to glow.

“And now she’s here.”

Phantom laughter echoed across the ballroom. It bounced around, ethereal and almost triumphant, carrying a soft voice with it.

“Come here…”

The group looked around wildly, the fog obscuring things, darkness creeping in, separating them. Only the mirror at the center of the room was visible.

“Come to me…”

The fog swirled around Nyx, vague shapes motioning her forward, towards the end of the room, towards the mirror.

“Nyx… Come here to me. Come and see…”

She looked back for her friends, but for some reason, the mirror didn’t scare her. The voice, the room, everything felt weirdly… familiar.

She stepped forward, closer and closer to the mirror.

“Nyx, wait, that’s—” Spike cried out as he saw the outline of the filly against the silver, but the fog pushed him away again.

Finally reaching the mirror, she stepped up to it. Out of the fog, another pony came forward. She was tall, black-coated like Nyx, and with the same eyes. But where Nyx’s mane was a shade of purple, hers sparkled like the cold backdrop of space.

Startled, Nyx looked behind her, only to find nothing but darkness. She looked back at the mirror, reaching out to try and touch the mare behind her, feeling nothing.

Somehow, this strange pony only existed in the mirror.

“Don’t be afraid, little filly. I would never hurt you…” the reflection grinned at her.

“Who… Ae you the one making ponies bad?” Nyx frowned up at the alicorn before her. She seemed to be expecting something from the filly.

“Don’t you remember me, little one? Don’t you remember everything we did together? Everything that happened before Twilight Sparkle hurt you? Before she stripped you away?”

“Twilight…” Nyx was confused. “Momma? Momma would never hurt me. Momma loves me! Momma cuts the crusts off my sandwiches and reads to me, and—”

“Momma is the reason you’re stuck like that, child. Momma is stopping you from reaching your true potential.”

“My… true potential?” Nyx knew the word, but something didn’t feel right here. Why did the mare in the mirror look like her?

“You could be bigger, you could be stronger, you could be smarter.” The alicorn pointed to herself, eyes sparkling with self-pride. “And do you know how that would happen?”

Nyx shook her head.

“All it takes is a spell…” the reflection grinned.

“A… A spell?” Nyx couldn’t help but be interested. Momma had promised to teach her more spells, something beyond the chaotic shotgun blasts she could barely pull off, and those had been tiring her out. But this pony also said that Momma had hurt her, which made her suspicious.

“Indeed, a spell. A simple spell that will make us one. A spell that just needs you to agree to it.”

“But…” Nyx looked around confused. “I don’t want to be you.”

“You don’t want to be me? You want to be stuck as…” Nightmare Moon motioned to the filly’s body. “That? A mewling foal?”

“What’s wrong with being a foal?” Nyx pouted. “I bet you’re too old to trick-or-treat on Nightmare Night!”

“That’s your concern? Of all the things in the world, that’s your concern.”

“Too old! Old and mean!” Nyx stuck out her tongue.

“You’re not even potty-trained!”

“Am too! You don’t even know how old I am!” Nyx stuck out her tongue further. “Old, mean, and stupid!”

“You are denying who you are! You are denying what you could truly be!”

“I don’t know you!”

“I am you!” roared Nightmare Moon back at her. But the filly stood her ground.

“No, I’m not! You’re scary! You’re bad! You’re making ponies do bad things! I don’t want ponies to be bad, and I’m not bad! You’re just… You’re just a weird pony in a mirror!”

“You could be a queen!” Nightmare Moon said. “You could have the entire world at your beck and call, you could know everything there is to be known!”

Nyx paused.

“Yes, your infamous curiosity is well known to me, young filly.” She leaned down, her reflection level with the foal’s. “Imagine it. Nightmare Moon, queen of knowledge.”

But Nyx frowned again.

“I don’t want to be a queen. I don’t even want to be princess!”

“It’s your destiny!”

“I don’t know what that means! If knowing a bunch of things makes me mean like you, I don’t even want that!”

“You can—”

“Stop being mean! I don’t want to be a queen! I want to go home! I want momma to stop being scary! I want momma!”

“You will not—”

“I want my momma!” screamed Nyx again, finally fed up and slamming her hoofs against the mirror. “Give me momma back! Give her back!” Another slam, the room shaking as her wings flared and horn glowed, the darkness around them seeming to pull back.

“I! Want! To! Go! Home! To! Momma!”

She sat back down, glaring at the alicorn that glared back in reflection. Spike rushed forward, fighting through the fog that had seemingly relaxed, pulling his baby sister back. Nyx still hadn’t taken her eyes off Nightmare Moon.

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” he declared.

Finally, the reflected alicorn sighed.

“You know, I should have expected this. Let it be known that I wanted to give you a chance, and wanted to give the rest of you mercy.”

“But I have waited far too long to be denied my destiny. Equestria is my kingdom, Equestria’s throne is MY throne, and if I need to, I will take the body I need to sit in it!”

The reflection’s wings flared, lightning crackling in the background of whatever mirror world it was trapped in. The room began to shake, the mirror began to glow, and the fog began to shift, taking different shapes. Sharper shapes, monstrous shapes.

“Remember this, my little ponies. You chose this.”

And all at once, the fog attacked.

In the center of a ballroom, a group of ponies battled a nightmare. Shadowy manticores, serpents, and spiky alicorns made of fog descended upon the group, who met it with magic, bucking legs, claws, and kitchen implements.

With each roiling cloud monster that was kicked away, another took its place. True to her word, Nightmare Moon’s foggy self was barely physical, but it was physical all the same. Spells shoved them this way and that, threatening to rip Nyx from the grip of safety. Monster and magic traded blows, darkness fading the room in and out as illusions and constructs alike swirled over the ballroom floor.

Bit by bit, the resistance was losing ground and losing steam. Luna whirled about, trying to find any advantage. With each blast of light from Shining Armor’s horn or the sparking clang as Warm Milk’s frying pan made contact with a barely-there beast, she noticed them edging further and further away from the balcony. It was almost as if Nightmare Moon was herding the group, moving them away, driving them back from—

“The mirror!” Luna screamed, realizing the spectral alicorn’s strategy. “Hit the mirror!”

Whirling, Shining Armor’s horn lit with the last bits of effort he could muster, a blast of pink magic lancing through the air, cutting through shadowy tentacles and formless monsters alike, speeding towards the glowing mirror.

And it bounced right off of a golden shield of magic that flew up around it. There was a flurry of wings, as a white alicorn landed in front of it.

Nyx let out a cry of joy, rushing up to her auntie before shying back. They were saved! They were—

“Nyx!”

Spike grabbed her, pulling her back.

“Lemme go, it’s—”

“It’s not her, Nyx!”

Luna looked on in horror, Shining Armor and Warm Milk too, having figured it out. When it finally dawned on Nyx, her expression, and with it, her hope, broke.

And Nightmare Moon laughed. She laughed and laughed and laughed and it wasn’t her mouth that the laughter came out of.

They thought that Twilight had been a thrall? Twilight had never been her puppet. Blessed with a copy of herself and twisted to her purposes a bit more than usual, yes. But she was only ever a pawn. A pawn far too distant to be controlled.

It was always a matter of distances, she realized. So long as they were close enough, Nightmare Moon could take a queen.

Whimpering, Nyx looked up in horror at Celestia.

The princess’ turquoise eyes glared back at her.

Author's Note

One more chapter and an epilogue to go, strap in buckaroos.

Thanks to Toonwriter for the proofread.