Nocturne

Nocturne
Chapter 3
A new Nightmare

Half past 10; Twilight can’t sleep. Every pony else fell asleep almost immediately. Spike was still up making preparations for the next day as if tomorrow will be a normal day.

“Spike… Spike…!” Twilight called out silently.

“Yes, Twilight?” he quietly responded from the door way.

“Do you really think that we can do this?” Twilight said doubting herself. She knew that though she has saved every pony alongside with her best friends she had ever had, she knew that the fate of all of Equestria was at risk again. This time though, Nightmare Moon is even stronger than Celestia. How do you fight something that is stronger than the strongest being in the entire world?

“Twilight, you have saved the world before; what makes you think you can’t do it again?”
Spike said with great confidence in his lifelong care holder and friend, he had more faith in her than she did in herself.

“Celestia is afraid that the Elements have been scattered all over the world. She doesn’t even know where to start.” She hastily replied in anguish.

“Twilight, I have faith in you, we all have faith in you; I would be surprised if you couldn't do it!” Spike said.

“Thank you Spike…” as he said smiling, drifting off to sleep, feeling better after conversing with her lifelong friend.

“Hey, what took you so long?” a familiar voice said in a playful tone.

Twilight felt very tired. Opening her eyes she saw that she was surrounded in a mist. Looking up, she saw a full Moon; odd because the Moon is at most half full and waning. Standing up and feeling more aware, she saw that she and her friends were standing in an empty grass field. She tried to look past the mist, but all she saw was the night sky. It was almost as if they were standing on a flat, grassy mountain top.

“Where are we?” Twilight said with a yawn. She shook what seemed like morning drowsiness away from her like water from her mane.

“We think this is a dream; that’s what we came to.” Rarity said.

“Are you ok Twi’?” Apple Jack said walking over. “We all felt like that when we woke up here.” Fluttershy said. “Yeah, I’m ok girls… Has Luna arrived yet?”

“No, I think she was waiting for all of us to be here, and I’ll ask again, what took you so long?” Rainbow Dash asked again.

“I was talking with Spike.” She replied quickly, not wanting to tell them what, feeling slightly ashamed in doubting in herself and all of them. “Well, I’m sure she’ll be here soon.” said Apple Jack.

Shortly after, the mist cleared, they could see that it was a never ending field, the Moon was right above them, and there were no stars in the sky above them. The Princess of the Night walked out of the remaining mist towards them, in her full power.

“Hello Twilight and friends.” Luna greeted them simply. Though she had almost completely re-assimilated back into the world that she had left for a thousand years, she still had an unintended detached tone.

“So, where exactly are we Princess?” Twilight had asked.

“Well, technically, you are all back in Pony Ville and I am in Canterlot. But if you asking about this realm, this is a dream.” A good enough answer if any.

“Do you have any idea why Nightmare has returned?” Apple Jack said with haste as if she thought that they didn’t have a lot of time.

“All I know is that when you defeated her the first time, all you did really was delay her in returning. She wasn’t completely destroyed; her energy had diffused through the world and it finally is reforming.” Answering that question, she looked at their faces. They were thinking of how that was possible.

“The Elements do not harm anything. They only change the state of things, be them evil or chaotic.” Luna said shortly after her first reply, answering the unspoken question.

“How are we supposed to beat Nightmare Moon now if the Elements don’t harm?” Rainbow Dash had stated. “If Discord could break from stone, what makes us think that Nightmare Moon can’t?”

“You say that as if you want to kill her.” Luna said half shocked but half understanding.

“Well, I really don’t think we have much of a choice this time around.” Rainbow replied almost shamed to say it.

“Rainbow!” Rarity cried out in disgust. “How could you say that?”

“No, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow is right. This time, Nightmare Moon cannot simply be banished. She must be taken care of permanently.”

The looks of all of their faces showed that they now saw the harsh reality of this.

“She deserves it!” Rainbow cried out in the darkness. Every pony’s gaze struck Rainbow, shocked. “Look, she tried to cover the world in darkness twice, now a third. Do you think that banishment could stop her?”

“I agree, but how could we destroy someone with the Elements?” Twilight said. “You can’t.” Luna replied. “You need to destroy Nightmare Moon, but there is something else.”

“What would that be?” Apple Jack asked.

“There is a piece of me within her and a piece of her within me.” Said in short reply by the Princess. “I believe this because when I slept a few nights ago, I dreamt that I was Nightmare Moon, newly reformed, ready for vengeance, just it was more like looking through a window, not exactly controlling.” No pony could comprehend what she had just said.

“Does that mean that if you can look in her, does that mean that she can look within you?” Rainbow asked, hoping that the answer was no.

“I am not entirely sure. But sadly, that is the most logical outcome.” As if on cue, thunder stuck the ground between the Princess and the six, leaving a large crater. The Moon darkened and a silhouette of the Mare in the Moon became the face and dark clouds shrouded the sky. Out of the crater arose Nightmare Moon.

“Do you really think you could conspire in my realm?” the Nightmare spoke in a large, echoing voice. Nightmare’s view caught the six friends. “You!” Rage and vengeance filled the creature. She turned into an angry mist and flew at the insignificant creatures of the day that had once torn her apart. “You need to wake up!” Luna desperately commanded as she jumped in the way of the dark mist.

“Twilight…” Every pony heard the voice echo through the realm. It was familiar. It had a concerned tone to it.

“Twilight… Twilight!” Spike commanded trying to get Twilight free from whatever locked her in the state. She woke with a start, springing form the bed and nearly landing on Spike.

“What is it Spike?” Twilight asked as if nothing was wrong.

“It looked like you were having a nightmare. You were running and you were talking…” Spike trailed off.

“What was I saying?” Twilight asked. “It sounded like you were saying ‘No, I can’t do this…’” Spike looked up at Twilight, worried. She was looking out at the window.

“What was going on Twilight?” asked Spike. The concern steadily grew in his words as they have started talking.

“We were talking with Princess Luna… She was answering our questions… But then… The others!” Twilight sprinted down the stairs and saw that every pony was awaking steadily.

“Well… That was eventful.” Rainbow Dash said.

“And scary…” Fluttershy added, still shuddering.

“What are we going to do…?” Twilight thought to herself looking out the window at the painted dawn that the sky had created as the sun chased away the Moon.