Chapter 7

To most ponies, the night was a peaceful time. To a few of the denizens of Ponyville however, that wasn't quite the case. As they found themselves violently tossing and turning in their beds, their slumber tormented by an endless stream of nightmares. It was very strange too, normally a nightmare doesn't happen very frequently, even in Ponyville, but these nightmares were very different.

The nightmares were intense, filling every inch of their bodies with fear as they tossed and turned. The ponies that suffered, only wished they could wake up by this point as tears streamed down their face. They were even in a panic as they continued to struggle against the very dreams they were having. Try as they might though, no amount of struggling and no amount of tears would help them in their present situation as they were just simply lost within a sea of fear as a cloud of bluish-purple mist enveloped them.

The mist itself seemed to gently wrap itself around the bodies of the individual ponies as they continued to struggle against the nightmares. This mist only seemed to intensify the violent fits the ponies were having, causing them to sweat profusely as they continued to struggle. Even the tears seemed to intensify along with the fits, as they all cried and begged for it to be over. Unfortunately though, this was to no avail for them as they just seemed to grow weaker and weaker with each passing second they remained in the mist. Eventually reaching the point where their struggling just seemed to cease and they completely gave in. Once this happened the mist took its leave, quietly slipping through the cracked window.

A groan only followed this as the pony finally began to stir. She slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes to reveal her moderate cerise orbs. These orbs glanced around her room, shifting through the decorated walls of the inn. She had rather heavy looking bags beneath her eyes, even visible against her naturally white coat. The mare's eyes only remained open for a few seconds before a jolt of pain traveled up her spine. This in turn caused her to clutch her head as she felt the sheer agony all throughout her skull. The pain was very heavy, enough so to cause her to just fall back on the bed.

'Tavi was right...' she thought, the very moment she even bothered to think about it however, it only seemed to intensify the pain she felt. Causing it to travel all throughout every inch of her body. 'I really need to cut back on the sauce...it gives me nightmares.' For a couple of moments she just simply rubbed her temples in an attempt to dull the pain, before simply just returning to her slumber without another thought.

The mist only continued on its trek through the small town, traveling to house after house as it seemed to not only feed off of the nightmares, but actually cause them. The very moment it entered a building, it seemed to quickly envelop a pony. Bringing upon a series of fits and struggles once again. As it would do this, the cloud only seemed to grow larger and stronger. Each time the fits came along even faster than before and were even more violent as well. It was startling just how fast this cloud of mist could move and absolutely terrifying for the poor citizens of Ponyville. The strangest part of the mist however, was in how it moved.

It seemed to move in a very logical and direct pattern. Moving fast and efficently, it was able to move between the buildings within a matter of a few minutes. Able to even select its next victim in that short of a time. However, if you observed the mist very carefully, you would take true notice of the pattern. As it seemed to only remain on the far edges of the town, moving very carefully in a circle. Even going as far as to avoid particular buildings such as Carasoul Boutique and Golden Oaks Library. Which is what made it even stranger.

Eventually however, after it snaked its way out of another cracked window it began to swirl just outside said window. The mist quickly took shape as it swirled around, forming that of a pony. Not just any pony either; but that of Nightmare Moon. After taking her full form, she simply glanced into the window for a second. At which point she licked her lips with a malicious smile.

'Such delicious fear...' she thought, 'I think the taste of it has improved too...otherwise its just because I have my own body now.' She didn't know either way, but she did enjoy it. For the first time in over a thousand years, she could actually enjoy the fear of ponies and gather magical strength at the very same time. Unlike in the past though, she could even feel a hint of satisfaction with all the ponies she had preyed on so far. It was a very strange feeling, satisfaction. It was better than it had been before she had taken over Luna's body. Because back then, she didn't even feel a thing except a gnawing hunger for fear and while that hunger still remained a part of her; it didn't seem very significant compared to the other feelings. Especially the nausea that welled up within her for just a few seconds.

The sudden wave of nausea caused the mare to just cover her mouth as she fought against it. Thankfully this time it was easy to resist and much to her own relief she was able to keep a physical meal down this time. Even if it did leave a nasty taste in her mouth. She cringed at it, before turning her attention right down the street. 'More fear? Or should I grab actual food?' she debated inwardly, before trotting off, following the street and her nose.

Nightmare's nose and stomach lead her down the streets and up to a small bakery. While the doors were closed, it wasn't much of a hassle for her to sneak in as all she had to do was revert her body back to her mist form. Carefully sliding her form in between the cracks of the door and into the building. What she was met with though, simply just made her drool.

She didn't know whether it was her own desire or the part of Luna that still lingered within her, but either way she rather loved what she saw. Sweets, delicious sweets. While the selection was fairly limited, given the shop was closed, she still had a few choices she could make. What made it all the better was the simple fact that she even had the downstairs to herself completely. It would require a bit of careful movement however as she was particularly aware of the fact that ponies lived upstairs.

The first problem came up almost instantly as she was met with the simple fact that just about everything was locked in cabinets. This upset Nightmare a bit, but with a bit of careful work, she was able to easily undo the few locks that she found. Still being mindful of not making a whole lot of noise. Once she had opened the display cases of interest, she proceeded to browse.

Even with the somewhat limited selection, she was still ecstatic about having the place to herself. This wasn't what made her freeze however, what made her freeze was the simple fact that she didn't quite feel right about doing this. While she did need food for survival, it didn't quite feel right to her to take the food that wasn't hers. However, that bit of hesitation didn't seem to last very long as she first took ahold of one of the leftover cupcakes with the assumption that they might've been tossed out anyhow.

As she took that bite, she felt an immediate sugary rush throughout her body. It was absolutely titillating the very moment she felt it. It was like a massive euphoria for her, even giving her quite a boost to take whatever else she found in the storage containers. Particularly though, Nightmare found herself focusing on gathering what she could of the pastries. Instead of just eating them outright and leaving a mess, she decided to take what she had with her. The list consisted of a couple coffee cakes, about six muffins and two additional cupcakes with a few slices of cake on top of that. Which she was very careful with as she made her way to the door.

Next came the very tricky part, that was until she took notice of a saddlebag sitting on a table. With a very wide grin on her face, she snatched it right up and stored all the pastries she possibly could into the bag. Being sure to store them just right with a thin layer of magic to keep them all in place before trotting very quietly out the door. That proved to be her biggest mistake of the night however, as it caused the bell above the door to ring. This in turn stirred the occupants on the floor above her, which made her just bolt straight out the door as fast as her hooves would carry her.

It didn't take the mare very long to travel a fair distance away, where she was left leaning ever so casually on a flag post near town hall. That had to be the fastest she had ever run in her presently-short existence until now. It left her feeling even more exhausted than it should have, it even came with another touch of nausea that had been working her nerves as of late. It wasn't like it was a dibilitating issue, just more of an annoyance as compared to everything else that had been going on. It wasn't very important however as she was forced to glance back in the direction she had come, hoping that she hadn't awoken the entire town by now.

'Good...still quiet...' she contemplated, 'Now...back to work...' with another sinister grin on her face, Nightmare's body slowly morphed into the mist once again, she was even able to do the same to the newly acquired saddlebag.

A chill traveled up Luna's spine as she set the orb on its pedestal. It had taken her another good hour to actually track the pedestal down within the castle, which only seemed to get on the mare's nerves to a greater extent. Now however, as a very disturbing feeling traveled up her body she had calmed down completely. She forgot her frustration and anger at the castle staff whom just wanted to assist her and even her lust for the very pony that now sat by her side in her room.

The sensation started at the very tip of her tail and traveled up throughout her body as she gazed into the blank pearl orb. As the feeling traveled up her spine however, her gaze averted from the orb. She could feel her wings beginning to quiver and even a few small vibrations in the base of her hooves. The longer she contemplated the sensation, the more intense it only became. It wasn't until she shifted her gaze out past her balcony door, looking through the glass and into the night sky she could see did she realize just what this feeling was.

Emerald grew concerned as he saw her mannerisms change relatively quickly. He hadn't been expecting something like this to happen nor did he even know what it meant as he watched Luna begin to quiver ever so slightly. His first thought was that it was a bit of fear traveling up her spine, along with a bit of doubt she had left in her being. The longer he watched her though, the less he seemed to think this particular scenario, especially when he remembered what happened the first couple of minutes after they had met. The Lunar Princess wasn't exactly the one for fear or even doubt anymore. She was just simply more of the one who took action. Luna's quivering only seemed to get worse for a few seconds before she turned to Emerald.

“Emerald...can you please stand guard outside the door?” she asked after two minutes of dead silence.

“W-why?” The stallion inquired, not exactly questioning the orders but more just wondering what they could possibly mean.

“Because...” she paused, taking a second to come up with a very clever lie. “The Moon Orb can be dangerous to ordinary ponies...and I don't want my favorite guard to get hurt.” a very soft and gentle smile appeared on her face. Emerald recognized the specific type of smile on her face instantly as one he had grown accustomed to seeing in his line of work. It wasn't a genuine smile that was on her face, but a fake smile. One that concealed the actual truth behind why she wanted him out of the room. He could feel it too, that it was extremely important for her.

“Understood, Princess!” he nodded, before quietly trotting to the door. “If you need me, just give a holler.” With that, the pony vanished behind said door, being sure to close it as he went.

'This is personal Emerald,' she thought, 'I'm sorry, but I can't have any interruptions...' As the door closed, Luna's horn lit up and her aura simply just turned the lock as to prevent unwanted entry into the room before she turned back to her precious orb.

Very slowly, Luna began to move her hooves around the orb. Not even touching the surface of the ball itself, but instead just gliding them over it. As she did, not only did her horn begin to glow but so did the very tips of her hooves as if she was channeling magic directly through them. The orb quickly responded to this magic with a glow of its own and she could feel it. The mystical energies flowed through the mare's body again and its glow seemed to surround her in a matter of seconds. It was a sensational feeling, one that she had come to enjoy back before Nightmare Moon came into play.

'Yes...yes!' she screamed in her mind as she felt the orb's magic invigorating her. The longer she continued to channel her own energy into it, the more energy she began to receive in feedback as the connection was made again. She could feel her body beginning to grow and visibly, even her coat seemed to grow a bit darker with each passing second she kneaded the magic. It was also a very gentle sensation, a calming effect that only seemed to excite her even further the longer she went at it.

The more magic she kneaded with the orb, the more invigorated she began to feel. Coupled with this sensation, came the sensation of her mane beginning to change as well. The magic quickly escalated to the point where it started from her head. Each and every strand of her hair began to change ever so slowly. The more the energy began to flow into her however, the faster the changes seemed to take place as her mane seemed to become more and more spectral and ethereal. Eventually reaching the point where her light blue mane was soon replaced with her ethereal mane. It even seemed to gain a new shine to it as she continued to mess around with the orb. The stars of her mane seeming to glisten and sparkle in the dim lights of the room.

Although a portion of her strength had finally returned to her, it was merely superficial. She could only feel a fourth of her strength back with her instead of all of it like she had counted on. Which is why under normal conditions she probably wouldn't attempt this, but the circumstances called for this. She could sense it now, as clear as day. She could sense the distress of the ponies in Equestria, on top of that they were fairly close.

'Probably in that nearby town...Ponyville was it?' she asked herself as the orb began to clear. As it did, the entire land of Equestria came into glorious view. 'Glad its almost a full moon...' she thought, 'Otherwise I couldn't see this well.' Luna inhaled slowly as she watched Equestria through the moon. She could see just about every detail of the land she presided over, even in the darkness of the night. It was absolutely beautiful for her. Even if she had little time to admire it.

“Vision of the Moon...show us the plight of our ponies. Show us the town of Ponyville and the trouble within!” Luna commanded and the orb simply obeyed. The vision within it focused sharply and in a second or two she could see the entire town from above. However, she was left baffled as she couldn't see very much going on in the town. Aside from the occasional pony or two wandering the streets. 'That's strange...' she considered, 'Very strange...I could've sworn that I sensed distress...' It only baffled her further as she watched on. Being cautious about what she decided to spy in on.

The longer Luna watched all of Ponyville; only focusing in on something when it seemed curious, the more bored she became. There wasn't very much happening even in the orb at first, but as she panned her sight around, closer to the residential areas of the town; she grinned. 'I knew it was you...' she contemplated as she saw a flying mass of mist flying in through a window. 'Looks like the Elements of Harmony weren't enough to take you down after all...'

It was in this moment where the mare closed her eyes and pressed her hoof onto the orb very gently. In a second she could feel her consciousness beginning to fade from her body and from her position in Canterlot. This was a very old spell that her father had taught her, one she had actually perfected while on the moon. It wasn't like just any old spell either, it was a spell that only the sisters actually knew about at this present day in age. It was known as Astral Projection. Upon employing the almost-forgotten spell, Luna found herself feeling weightless as she stood just outside the window. She took just a moment to take in her surroundings before her gaze shifted to the window again and what she saw inside simply horrified her.

A poor, unfortunate stallion squirming atop his bed. Struggling needlessly with tears and sweat all over his body. The moment she saw it, it hurt her inside. She knew exactly what he was enduring and could very well sympathize with it as she had gone through the same torment before becoming Nightmare Moon. This sight started off as pain, but quickly grew to unimaginable anger as she just walked straight through the wall to face the cloud of mist.

“Nightmare! Cease your torment of this stallion now!” Luna's voice echoed, only audible to the cloud of mist that was swirling around the stallion. It was at this point where the Lunar Princess was met with a moment of utter terror, causing her to have to take a step back.

“You want me to stop? I dare you to come and try,” the mist cooed in a voice suspiciously similar to her own. It was an unexpected turn of events, one she wished she had seen coming. Then perhaps she might actually be prepared to face this parasitic creature down.

“You know very well I have the means to destroy you!” Luna warned in an attempts to hide the actual truth from the Nightmare.

“Then why haven't you yet?” Nightmare inquired, “Is it because...unlike me, you haven't fully recovered yet?” That was where Luna snapped, before she leapt right at the mist. At which point she took ahold of it with her hooves and mouth before proceeding to simply pull it from the stallion. At first, it was working as she took several steps back, even going as far as to pass right through the wall to carry the mist out.

What occurred next though was not to Luna's plans, as the mist seemed to act like a rubberband. Springing back to the stallion the instant it slipped right out of her clutches. This in turn also caused the stallion to let out a shriek in agony. 'Damn it!' she cursed, charging right back into the building. 'I can't hurt the stallion...then how am I...?' she paused, before it clicked in her mind and a grin appeared on her face. Nightmare was caught off guard by what Luna did next. Instead of taking ahold of her mist form again, instead she charged even faster at her before making a complete dive right into the stallion's body. That actually proved to be a great move for Luna as she found herself transported into the stallion's dreamscape.

“So...that's how you want to handle it?” Nightmare asked as confident as ever, “Inside the dreams of another pony?” The remark was indeed well founded, mostly on fear as it was troubling to fight within a dream. However, said comment also brought a smirk to Luna's face as she had already begun formulating a plan to handle this situation.

'Just as long as we don't cause any damage...' she noted, 'Then at best he should be just extremely tired in the morning. If everything goes according to plan...' It was only when she met Nightmare Moon's intimidating gaze did she realize that her idea might actually be a foolish one. As she was faced with something she had only seen in her own mind instead of somepony else's. “Oh...horsefeathers...” Luna cursed.

“Surprised, are you?” Nightmare asked as she approached her counterpart. To say the least, Luna was fairly shocked at what she was now looking at. A full physical form for Nightmare instead of the typical mass of magic she had originally been. “Well, so was I when I awoke in the old castle,” she answered, “The Elements of Harmony granted me a body! And the best part? Its our old body! With a few improvements of course.”

“I don't care if you have your own cake! I'm still going to defeat you!” Luna proclaimed, earning a chuckle from her darker half as she walked right by her side.

“Oh dear Luna...” she cooed, “We shared a body for over a thousand years...and I can tell when you're bluffing...” Before Luna even knew it, she found herself hurdling through the dreamscape of the stallion and crashing right into the ground rather hard. The crash had left a skid mark on the earth, tearing apart the grass and ground as she made impact. Even as an astral projection, that had hurt. On top of that, it had also affected the stallion they were both inside of, even if very little for the moment.

'I have to move this fight...' Luna considered as she pulled herself up from the ground. Slowly shifting her gaze back up to the Nightmaric version of herself. She was worried, not for herself though. But for the stallion that now had host to them. She couldn't fight at full knowing it could cause untold amounts of damage to the psyche of any of her people. Which is why she launched herself off the ground at full force.

It had felt like an explosion to both Nightmare and Luna as the latter launched herself into the air. Nightmare didn't even have time to react to it either, she just felt a strike to her torso. It wasn't necessarily a strong blow, but the speed winded her as the two came flying from the dream and into the grand dreamscape.

“As d-direct as ever...” Nightmare gasped, even with the force on her body however, she quickly took ahold of Luna's sides as best as she could. This caused a bit of an imbalance in her body, the tightness against her astral form made it even more uncomfortable to fly at such a high speed. Which ended up resulting in her releasing the mare.

While Luna was able to land gracefully on a surface she had manifested with her own thoughts, Nightmare on the other hand couldn't really do much of anything. Upon her being released, she just simply continued to travel upward for a few seconds before she was able to stop herself with her wings and land just as gracefully as her counterpart. The landing only lasted half a second as she galloped right at Luna to take a mighty swing with her hoof.

It struck rather hard, sending her spiraling right across the dreamscape before she skidded to a halt with her hooves. Luna then made her own dash right at Nightmare, using her wings to further her momentum. However, just before she could land the strike she couldn't help but spot the smirk out of the corner of her eye before her vision lit up in a brilliant purple explosion.

It was a powerful blast of magic, this time sending her barreling backward before crashing hard into a wall. She could feel white, hot pain burning through every inch of her body as she thrust herself right off the wall and again at Nightmare. This time however, she had been prepared for a magical blast, quickly arching to the left just slightly to let it blaze right under her left wing. This was instantly followed by Luna's own blast of dark blue magic.

It was already too late for Nightmare to react to the blast. She couldn't dodge, she didn't even have the time to bring up a barrier. So instead she just stood in place and took the blast. Unlike her own however, this blast didn't really seem to affect her as badly as she had thought. In fact, it felt a bit more like a tickling spell instead of like a blast of magic. There hadn't been a single bit of pain and the tickle had barely even registered which in turn caused her just to laugh.

“Really...?” she asked, her tone growing even more confident. “Is THAT the best you've got, Luna? You should just go back to Canterlot! Because then...you may have survived!”

'Not good...' Luna scolded, 'Spells are useless...' In the very moment she had scolded herself, Nightmare had made her move. She wasn't worried anymore about Luna's present strength, given she had just recently been feeding off of fear. This meant her magic had gained quite a bit of potency as compared to Luna's.

“Say...when I take over Equestria...” Nightmare started, now holding Luna by the throat against an invisible surface of the dreamscape. “Should I keep you and your sister around to be my servants?”

“E-even i-if you d-defeat me...!” Luna choked, “Y-you can't b-beat Celestia!”

“Ohohoho...” she laughed, before tossing Luna aside, giving her a few moments to breath at the very least. “I wonder...” she continued, delivering powerful kick to the Princess' stomach. This kick was enough to fling Luna again, causing her to roll along the ground. “How Celestia would feel...” It was soon followed by a second, even more painful kick. Which in turn caused her to cry out in sheer agony. “If she woke up and found her sister dead!” That was the last thing Luna heard from Nightmare before her vision was clouded by a bright flash of light.

The next thing Luna knew she was surrounded by a very warm and fuzzy sensation. It was pure bliss, but at the same time she was also fearful of actually opening her eyes to learn the source. She was relieved though when she did open them as she found herself in the very tight embrace of Emerald. Which is also where she learned just how strong of a unicorn he really was, considering his front legs were tightly wrapped around her stomach.

“Its okay Princess...” he whispered, “You're safe now...”

“E-Emerald?” Luna questioned, a bit frazzled and sore from her earlier experience. “But I thought I--” the unicorn only laughed very softly at her confusion as he gently ran his hoof through her mane. That simple action seemed to bring her a bit of comfort, especially as he repeated the very same movement.

“I'm a better bodyguard than that, Luna...” he smirked as she glanced up at him. “I made a copy of your room key.”

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy this chapter. I apologize if the fight scene seems kinda blah.