I'm a Nightmare!

“YOU DEMON! YOU BROUGHT THESE EVIL DOERS UPON US! YOU SUPPORT THEM! I TOLD CELESTIA NOT TO LET YOU LIVE, BUT SHE DID NOT LISTEN, AND NOW YOU HAVE BROUGHT RUIN TO OUR NATION! NO, TO OUR WORLD! AND NOW MY SISTER AND FRIEND ARE GONE! WHERE ARE THEY? TELL ME NOW!”

With each word Luna stepped closer towards me, backing me  into a wall. Even though I was taller than her, I still felt as though she was grinding me beneath her hoof. I wanted nothing more than to melt into the wall against my back. To disappear from the world completely, and hopefully find myself  in my old world. I wanted to find that this was all a terrible dream, and that I can continue to live my life as a normal human girl. My torture didn’t end like that though.

“Auntie!” came a quiet, yet commanding voice. Cadence walked up next to me and sat down, glaring into Luna’s eyes. Luna glared back. “I think you should attend to the wounded. I will speak with Shadow.”

Luna stared at her with shock and anger warring upon her face, until she said, “What gives you that authority, Niece?”

“The fact that you will rip her to shreds if left alone. I need more evidence before I begin to accuse her of something she may not have had any idea about.” replied Cadence, keeping her face calm but her eyes hard. Luna stood her ground for a moment longer before snorting and walking away.

“Shadow,” Cadence didn’t even turn to look at me, “Please come with me.” She stood and walked away, I went along right behind her not wanting to risk another bout of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“What do you know, Shadow?” she asked, turning around to glare at me. Somehow that was worse than getting yelled at by Luna. I quickly looked down at my hooves and took a quivering breath.

“Not much.” I replied. “They contacted me last night though. Left a note on my balcony. I was going to tell Princess Celestia, but she left before I could.” I sniffed as I tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to slide down  my face. “It’s all my fault really, I should have tried harder. I-I was just afraid. A-afraid of what would h-happen t-to all of y-you.” I couldn’t help it, I broke down right there. The recent events had caught up to me and weighed themselves down on my chest, squeezing out air and tears alike. I don’t know how long I sat there like that, but at some point Cadence wrapped her hooves around me and began to comfort me. She whispered that everything was going to be all right, that it wasn’t my fault, and such things as that. I finally slowed down, though I had developed a small case of the hiccups.

“Shadow, I have one more question for you.” Cadence said softly, sitting by me while I sat there in the hall.

“Yes?” I asked her, waiting to hear the question.

“Where is the note they left you?” she asked, giving me a soft look.

“On my bedside table, next to the plate from last night.” I replied.

“Thank you. While I go to look for it, why don’t you go to the infirmary and try to relax a little.” She called up one of the guards and asked him to escort me to the infirmary.

The infirmary was actually quite large, more like a medical wing in a hospital than a nurses office. I stared at the white wall of my room, simply trying to keep myself from thinking. I had been like that for nearly two hours, when a guard came into the room and requested my assistance with something. We walked down the hall in silence, until my curiosity overcame it.

“So, where are you taking me again?” I asked, looking down at the guard.

“We are having some problems interrogating the cult members. We thought that since they seem to worship you that it would be easier to gain information from them if you interrogated them.” He replied. I paused for a moment due to the shock, then shook myself out of it and resumed walking.

“You honestly think this is a good idea?” I asked, trying to remove images of my self terrorising the ponies who had brought the chaos that seemed to inhabit the castle (besides the chaos that was already there due to Discord).

“Yes.” was his simple answer, and we went on in silence.

The area where they were keeping the cult was literally crawling with guards, there was at least three by every door. The room where I was to do the interrogating had, by my count, nearly twenty stallions with spears standing by it. One half faced the door and the other faced the hall, both groups seemed ready to fight at a moments notice. Right behind that door was the supposed leader of the attack, and I was about to go in there and basically scare information out of him. As I walked passed the guards I was once again aware of how much smaller they were compared to me. I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped through.

The room was small and bright, with a small table in the middle and a mare sitting at it. She was breathing deeply with her visible eye closed, the other was covered by a bandage. She sat like that a moment longer, and then she spoke.

“You and your sun scum can torture me all you want, I will not reveal our plans to you.” Her voice was drenched in venom, but her face remained calm and her eye remained closed. I wasn’t surprised by what she said, though if she had seen who was in the room with her she would probably have been more respectful. So I decided to have some fun with her.

“For a pony who seems to worship my every move, you are not very nice.” I said, smirking a little. She opened her eye quizzically, then seemed to jolt as though she had been shocked. Falling from her chair she assumed a deep bow.

“M-my Queen! I apologize, I did not know whom I was speaking to. She stammered, visibly shaking. I winced a little inside at the sight, but I need information and the way she was acting would let me access  it very easily.

“Stop your shaking and stand, foal.” I said, trying to sound like the Nightmare Moon from the show. She immediately sprang up from the floor, but kept her head down in respect and fear. “Now tell me, servant. What is the name of your group? The one that was able to remove Celestia and bring me one step closer to my rightful throne.” I felt bad to be speaking like this about the Princess, but I had to keep up appearances.

“We call ourselves Night Wing your highness, we hope to spread your shroud of night over all the land.” She replied. That explained the note from last night at least.

“Good.” I allowed myself a small smile. “And what is your name?” I asked her. She gasped a little, as though she didn’t expect that I would ask her name.

"N-Night Song, your Majesty.” and true to pony nature, her cutie mark matched her name. A black crescent moon made up of small musical notes that sat against her white coat, and matching in color to her black mane and tail.

“Remind me to thank you later, Night Song.I have one more question for you.” I said, coming to the end of the questions I was told to ask her.

“Ask anything of me, your Majesty.”

“Where are the two that you kidnapped?” She visibly deflated when I asked the question sinking to the floor and shaking.

“T-they didn’t tell me that. I-I was j-just supposed to lead the a-attack, n-nothing more.” Silence reigned for a few seconds.

“Thank you.” I said, then I walked out the door.