Of the Monsters in Nightmares
Luna trotted slowly along the edge of a dark forest, the moon shining brightly overhead and casting a silvery haze on the earth below. The town a ways to her right was silent, the windows and doors closed, the streetlamps put out. The only motion seemed to be the stars twinkling against the backdrop of the clear night sky. It looked like any other warm summer’s night; tranquil, quiet, peaceful.
But Luna knew that nightmares never stayed peaceful for long.
The alicorn could feel something sinister in the still air. A knotted uneasiness stirred in her chest, right beneath her heart. She wouldn’t call it fear, not yet. The mare frowned. As long as she had been visiting dreams, she had never gotten used to the feel of nightmares. She doubted she ever would.
She paused, her ears and eyes alert and looking ahead as the silence was broken. Luna heard loud, ragged gasps a short distance ahead, coupled with the sound of hooves frantically rushing over the forest floor, snapping twigs as they went. In mere moments a shape emerged from the woods, unsteadily sprinting towards the town. Luna found herself gazing at an azure unicorn mare. Her face was rampant with terror, mouth drawn in a mortified grimace, pupils shrunken with fear.
The princess knew without a doubt that this was the dreamer. The alicorn’s muscles tensed as she prepared to run after the unfortunate mare. But the very first step she took was cut short. The ground quaked violently beneath Luna, knocking her from her hooves. Another tremor shook her the second she touched the ground, followed by another.
The princess looked back at the forest. She could see the tops of the trees shifting as an enormous shape made its way between them. Branches cracked in succession as it neared the forest’s edge. Luna’s eyes widened as she saw a lumbering blue beast, half-hidden behind the foliage, so huge the earth trembled with each step it took.
Trixie ran through the streets of Ponyville, her mane and tail trailing behind her like two ragged banners. They were riddled with burrs and leaves from her flight through the forest, pursued by that monstrous thing. Every time she blinked she saw its fiery red eyes blazing out from a snarling, hateful face. The magician cringed as she darted down an alleyway, knocking over trashcans as she turned the corner. For a few brief moments she ran without the aid of moonlight.
A sharp spike of fear shot up her spine as she heard a thunderous crunch. She stumbled and fell against the cobblestone street, wheezing as the air was knocked out of her lungs. Her chest fell and rose rapidly as she tried to regain her breath. As she lay against the cold, icy stone, she could feel the resounding vibrations of its steps against her ribs. Trixie struggled to get to her hooves, fighting pain and terror as she stood up.
The mare continued sprinting down the alleyway as she heard another deafening crash. Her heart beat wildly as sound of splintered boards clattering against the street reached her ears. This time there were screams. A stallion and a mare, both screeching in terror. By the time she reached the end of the alley, lights were flickering on in the windows. Doors opened, revealing confused and frightened ponies. Trixie froze as some of them spotted her entering the street. Their gaze seemed to fill her with as much fear as the thing that was chasing her.
The citizens turned as yet another crash sounded off. Trixie whirled around to see a gigantic form blocking the end of the alleyway. Her mouth fell open in a silent scream as the crimson eyes leered at her, the mouth turned up in a wicked crescent of gleaming teeth. The magician took a step back, so frightened she was barely able to stand.
The huge, horrible face began to move forward. Its body plowed through the alley, demolishing the walls as it went. Bricks and boards flew everywhere, fallen stones were crushed beneath the beast’s weight. A great cloud of mortar dust filled the air, obscuring the monster’s shape. An eternity seemed to pass before the cacophony of destruction came to a halt. Trixie fell back on her haunches as she stared at the towering shadow before her.
“Behold, my puny, pathetic little doubters,” came a booming, feminine voice, dripping with venomous contempt, “Feast your eyes upon The Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie!”
Trixie let out a horrified scream as the beast stepped out of the grainy cloud. Blue skin shone like silver in the moonlight, covering the form of an enormous equine. A pair of ratty wings grew from the shoulders, the feathers crooked and bent. A crinkled, platinum mane hung in a half-moon shape from the monstrosity’s head. Just above the burning red orbs of its eyes, a long, gnarled horn protruded out into the night, bathed in a flickering crimson aura.
But the one thing that terrified Trixie above all was its face. It was her own, distorted in a conceited sneer.
The mare’s scream died in her throat as the sneer twisted into a smile that oozed conceit and derision. Almost instantly the street erupted in a chorus of shrieks, all directed at the gargantuan beast. The creature looked up to gaze out at the crowd, its eyes filled with sadistic glee.
“The Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie assures you, though your tiny minds may not be capable of believing it, that her magic has grown in strength to surpass even Celestia herself.” Trixie crouched into a pitiful ball as a pillar-like leg passed over her. The creature stepped out into the street, its hooves carving huge gashes in the cobblestone.
“This time The Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie will prove her words to Ponyville,” continued the beast as the crimson surrounding its horn crackled and sparked, “So as to show you once and for all that she is without a doubt the most magnificent, most glorious, most powerful being to ever grace Equestria!”
Trixie looked up in time to see jagged beams of sizzling ruby energy shoot from the tip of the monster’s horn, striking out at the shops and houses. The resulting noise overpowered the screams of horrified onlookers as their homes exploded in violent bursts. The timbers cracked and splintered, bricks disintegrated into clouds of dark red dust, glass shattered into thousands of deadly shards. The streets jumped to life as hundreds of panicking ponies, running and dodging to avoid being struck by the debris.
A horrid laugh escaped the maw of the giant alicorn as it watched the destruction. Trixie stared out at what the beast had done, her eyes and mouth agape with shock. More than a dozen homes now lay in haphazard piles, so horribly ruined that they didn’t look as if they’d ever been houses. Ponies wailed in fear and despair, now beginning to flee before the malicious behemoth.
“That was but a taste of The Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie’s might,” sneered the creature, “But is it enough to match the oh-so-wonderful Twilight Sparkle?” The earth shook again as the alicorn whirled around, chuckling as it shouldered the clock tower. The structure toppled over onto the street, collapsing inward as it hit. The creature’s horn continued to blaze as it used its magic to cast ponies over rooftops and into the next street.
Countless alarms went off in Trixie’s mind as she watched the monster thunder towards a large tree in the town square. The look on the thing’s face--her face--was one of unspeakable loathing; hatred incarnate. And it was focused on the home of one of the few ponies who had forgiven her.
“S-…Stop…” The single word that had come out of her mouth barely qualified as a whisper. Even if by some miracle the creature had heard it, it didn’t react. It continued to lope up to the house, its spire-like horn sparking dangerously as it took aim. What came next was a light so bright that it stung Trixie’s eyes. They snapped shut, and the world was suddenly filled with an incessant roaring.
When the unicorn finally opened her eyes, she saw the giant standing next to an enormous fire, the flames blazing an unnatural red. Leaves crackled and shrunk as they turned into ash and cinders, the heated air carrying them up to the stars. The creature bore a satisfied smirk as it loomed over its handiwork. There was a sudden motion from the ground as something stumbled out before its hooves, just as the fire closed in around what had been the library’s doorway.
Trixie watched the form of Twilight Sparkle fall before the creature. In another moment her body glowed red as the alicorn picked her up in its telekinetic grasp. The purple mare was shaken until she dropped the small dragon she carried in her forelegs.
“How about it, Sparkle?” snarled the creature, “Do you think The Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie stands a chance against Celestia’s personal student?”
“Stop!” cried Trixie, her voice hoarse and stiff. She wanted to intervene, to do something, but her body wouldn’t move. Fear had her in its grasp, and it wasn’t letting go. The magic enveloping Twilight’s body grew brighter as the mare was lifted up into the sky. There was another flash, not quite as bright as the first one, and where the unicorn had been was the end of a long, glowing trail that streaked up into the night sky, stretching out towards Canterlot.
“Give my regards to Celestia!” the creature called out after the distant missile.
A small blue form suddenly shot out of the clouds and struck against the monster’s head. It didn’t even flinch, not even when the rainbow-maned Pegasus flew around for another hit.
“You…The Greatest and Most Powerful Trixie remembers you,” it said, its voice and face darkening as it made a shield of magic appear before the Pegasus. Trixie winced as the mare struck it head on, bouncing off onto a rooftop.
“Rainbow Crash, wasn’t it?” the alicorn snorted, “The worst flyer in all of Equestria?” The giant loomed over the fallen Pegasus, its scowl melting into a frightening smile. Trixie watched the beast’s chest expand as it drew in a deep breath. The inevitable exhale came out as an icy gale, tearing the Pegasus away from the roof and sending her into the air. The mare’s body spun wildly out of control as the wind was channeled into a cone, growing larger by the second. The cyclone touched down to the ground, first sucking up dirt and debris, then moving on to the carts and stalls of the marketplace.
Trixie found her legs again as the howling tempest pulled at her mane. She stood up unsteadily, wind rushing past her towards the twisting tower. The mare’s tears were ripped from her face and carried into the hungry column, which had grown so thick and dark that Rainbow Dash could no longer be seen. It began to zigzag across the town, tearing apart the buildings that still stood, snatching them up timber by timber, brick by brick. Ponies ran in every direction, their screams unable to rise over the shrieking storm.
One moment Trixie was staring at the destruction. The next she was running blindly through the chaos to an unknown destination. Dirt and pebbles on a direct course to join with the storm grazed past her skin, stinging and biting like insects. She galloped past ponies, touching shoulders with them as they nudged past. Their faces were the very definition of fear and woe. Stallions, mares, foals, young and old; Trixie saw them all. Their mouths were open, but all she could hear was the wind howling in her ears.
That’s you…
The thought sliced through the fog of panic surrounding Trixie’s mind and plunged deep into her heart. Her body kept moving, but her muscles lost all feeling, becoming cold and numb.
You did this…You wanted it to happen…
Trixie was vaguely aware she had stopped running. Ponies around her seemed to move faster, growing more distant with each moment that passed. Her mind screamed at her legs to move and follow them. But she no longer had control.
You turned into that…
It was there right in front of her, a sickeningly smug grin stretched from ear to ear as it leered down from its tremendous height. There was no denying that its face was her own. Trixie could even remember seeing that same expression in her mirror. Now, after so long of admiring her continence, the unicorn was utterly disgusted by it.
Her legs went weak with feverish terror. Sweat poured in rivers down her freezing form, her mane and tail saturated. She couldn’t bear to look at the creature another second. Out of revulsion she broke through the dullness that had overtaken her body and ducked to the ground in a cowering lump, wrapping her forelegs across her eyes and ears. But the beast was there in her mind, its cold, cruel eyes still trained on her, its laugh echoing over and over again in her skull.
Trixie flinched violently as she felt a hoof touch the back of her head, curling up even tighter as she drew away. The hoof touched a second time, tugging at her foreleg. Trixie’s tearful eyes were suddenly looking up at an alicorn. It wasn’t the towering colossus she had expected to see, but a tall, graceful creature, its coat a deep indigo.
One glance at the starry, ethereal mane that wavered in the now static air told her who it was. Trixie knew that this pony was a protector of Equestria, a friend to all subjects. But her fear lingered. The princess had seen everything; the creature and the destruction it caused. The unicorn glanced down at her hooves. Trixie couldn’t bring herself to look the princess in the eyes. She was afraid of what she would find. Hatred? Disgust? Fear, even?
“Trixie Lulamoon…”
The princess’s voice surprised the magician. It did not sound harsh or wrathful. She slowly looked up at the alicorn, not knowing what to expect. Trixie saw a face that looked almost as sorrowful as her own.
“…I’m sorry…” whispered the magician, tears seeping out of the corners of her eyes, “I’m so sorry…” The alicorn closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath.
“Calm yourself,” the princess murmured, “You needn’t worry any longer. It’s gone, Trixie.” The unicorn turned away from her, her body heaving with each muffled sob. She didn’t notice the indigo mare trying to hold back her own tears.
“No,” she sniffled, “It’s not…” She felt the alicorn gently put a hoof to her back.
“That wasn’t you,” breathed the princess. Trixie let out a mournful whimper.
“Yes it was…I-I was so horrible,” choked the mare, “I turned into that…I never thought I could…” She trailed off. The alicorn quietly moved alongside her.
“I know…” sighed the princess, “Trixie, I know exactly how you feel.”
Trixie fell silent. She looked out at the town. All the buildings stood quietly, once again intact. But she could still see the damage the creature had done. It would be in her mind forever.
“I never want to be like that again,” said the unicorn, “But I’m still afraid of--of--”
“…Of becoming a monster?” finished the princess. Trixie slowly nodded. Now it was the alicorn’s turn to be silent. There was a distant look in her eyes as she glanced up at the moon.
“Trixie,” she said, “We all do things that we regret. I would like nothing more than to forget what I did all those years ago.” The princess paused, biting her lip. “But as painful as it is to remember, when I look back at the pony I was…It only strengthens my resolve to never be her again.”
The unicorn sniffled, finding truth in the princess’s words. The more she had seen the creature, the more she had witnessed its deeds, the stronger her desire became to change. Trixie rubbed her eyes with a hoof and turned to the alicorn.
“I…I think I understand,” she murmured. A small smile appeared on the princess’s somber muzzle.
“I thought you would,” said the alicorn, “You’re a good pony, Trixie Lulamoon.”
The words echoed in the unicorn’s ears as everything grew hazy. In another moment there was a bright flash of light, and then darkness.
Trixie’s eyes fluttered open to see at the ceiling of her cart. The first few rays of sunlight crept in through the small window to the east, casting a warm, golden glow about the wagon’s interior. A new day had arrived. Trixie sat up, gazing into the mirror that hung on the wall. She looked at the reflection. It was the face of a blue unicorn, small bits of crust around her eyes, a smudge of makeup on her cheek, her mane in a wild mess. Her mouth was drawn in a small smile.
“I’m a good pony…”
