Dusty groaned as he woke up. It wasn’t the first time that he’d slept in uncomfortable places, but that didn’t mean he got much rest from it. “Note to self: replace hardwood floors with carpet or clouds. Whichever one’s softer.” He blinked his eyes open and took in his surroundings, but instead of his home, he saw he was still in the buried temple. “This…is not my house. Why am I still here?”

“Because it’s my home.” A voice said behind him.

Dusty yelped as he jumped a few feet into the air. Spinning around, he faced the source of the voice, only to be frozen in a night blue aura of magic. His eyes widened as memories came rushing back before he was knocked out…because stallions don’t faint. At all. Ever. Totally was knocked out and could prove it if he could find the bump on his head. But that thought to a back seat as he processed the large ebony alicorn sitting in front of him. She was elegant like Celestia with an astral mane similar to Luna, but the draconic eyes, crescent moon cutie mark, and sharp fangs told exactly who she was.

“Nightmare Moon.” Dusty whispered. His mind raced with curses at himself and his luck.

“Yes, that’s me.” she replied in a low voice, “And who, pray tell, are you?” Her eyes trailed over his body, sizing him up. Dusty shivered slightly as he answered back.

“Dusty, Dusty Tomes.” He stammered out.

“Dusty, hmm?” The goddess echoed, “Not a bad name. Judging by your mark, I presume you are a historian of a sort, correct?”

The stallion nodded furiously, “M-More of an archaeologist.”

“I see.” Keeping Dusty aloft, Nightmare Moon started to circle around him, like a cat surrounding a mouse. “How did you find this place? There were many enchantments upon it so that only those with innocent intentions can discover it.”

Dusty thought about lying, but if there’s one thing he learned from history, it’s to never lie to a mare that can do unspeakable things to you. “Um, actually, somepony else found it. I was just told to come out here and see if there was anything for the museum.” He said, trying to keep his eyes on the circling mare, “Plus, I didn’t really sense much magic at the entrance, so that’s probably why.”

The Night Goddess paused for a moment as she swung her head towards the exit. A brief flash of the horn later, she spoke, “It seems my enchantments did not last as long as I had hoped. I should have refreshed them last time I was out.” She turned back to him, “Now I believe you said something about a museum? Were you planning on taking some of my prized texts and artifacts for your little study?”

“Um, maybe?” he gulped.

Nightmare chuckled, “Well, you’re quite bold as to think you could steal from me.”

Dusty’s eyes shot open, “I-uh, but, I wasn’t-” He was silenced by a hoof on his mouth as Nightmare leaned in.

“Oh I know what you’re intentions were.” She said with a smirk, “Besides, you’d make for a poor thief with all the racket you made, not to mention your other mistakes at thievery.”

“Thanks?” Dusty said, trying to decide if it was a compliment or insult. He settled for the former as the alicorn continued speaking.

“Regardless of your methods, I believe it’s time we get down to business.” She stepped back and asked, “What is your wish?”

Dusty was expecting a lot of things when she said ‘business’. This was not one of them. “Um, excuse me?”

“Did I stutter?” she said sternly.

Dusty shook his head, “No! No, no, no. It’s just… I wasn’t expecting… Um, what do you mean by ‘wish’?”

“Simple. I will grant you what you desire should it be within my power.” She gave a toothy grin, “And there’s a lot within my power. All you have to do is ask.”

“So you aren’t going to try to plunge Equestria into Eternal Night again?” he asked suspiciously.

Nightmare raised an eyebrow, “Is that your wish?”

“What!? No, no.” Dusty’s neck was starting to get tired from all the shaking. He stopped and took a deep breath to calm himself, “Let’s start over. First, can you please let go of me?” Her horn flashed and the aura disappeared, causing him to fall on the hard floor. “Ow. Alright, I’m confused. You’re Nightmare Moon, the Mare in the Moon, the one who tried to bring about Eternal Night. Why are you granting wishes?”

“Because that is my purpose.” She replied, “I am to grant the wishes of those who control me and right now, you hold power over me, ergo I grant your wishes.”

Dusty’s inner historian was throwing a hissy fit at how all his knowledge about her contradicted her words. His common sense took the opportunity to brush up on his history before asking Dusty’s next question. “What’s the catch?”

Nightmare gave him a confused look, “The catch?”

“Yes. I study history and every creature who’s ever said they give out wishes always has a catch.” Dusty said, standing a little taller as he doled out his knowledge, “Am I going to be some host for you? Do I have to sacrifice foals for wishes? Will I have to choose on an ultimatum? Will your wishes corrupt me? You know, that stuff?”

Nightmare blinked, “You have a very…creative imagination.” She shook her head, “And to answer your question, no I don’t have a ‘catch’, especially something like that. I only have limitations on what you can wish for. I can grant many wishes, but I have many constraints to these wishes. Of course, I suggest you be clear about your desires, since I can provide my own interpretation if you don’t.”

“Really?” Now that he knew there was no catch like he described, most of his fear was being replaced by curiosity, “What kind of constraints?”

“A lot of the basics, really. I can’t kill, can’t bring back the dead, can’t make ponies fall in love, etc. I think I have a rule book somewhere that has it all.”

“Huh, well then,” Dusty scanned his mind for anything he could possibly wish for right now, “I wish for a caramel apple.” A second later, his requested desert appeared before him in a dark blue aura. “Sweet.” He pulled it out of her magic with a hoof and started to chow down. Halfway through his first bite, he stopped and asked, “Ya want one?”

Nightmare paused for a second, “No, thank you. As a spirit, I don’t need to eat to live.”

“You sure?”

“Quite.”

Dusty shrugged, thinking nothing more of it, “Well, alright then. More for me.” He resumed finishing up his apple. He pondered many questions that needed to be answered, if not for his own curiosity, but for documenting history. Once done and all the caramel licked away from his face, he asked, “So what exactly is this place?”

Nightmare swung a foreleg around the room, “This is my sanctuary, the Temple of the Night. It is, or rather, was a place for ponies to come worship me or ask for wishes.”

“How come I’ve never heard about it?” Dusty asked.

“Most likely because only thestrals frequented this place, before Luna’s banishment.” She explained, “Since I could not return from the moon on my own, I couldn’t be here to grant wishes, and thus this place was sealed forever and faded from memory. I wouldn’t be surprised if the thestrals forgot about this place to hide their shame for inadvertently causing their beloved Princess to be banished. Not to mention that a lack of wish granting spirits tends to make ponies lose interest rather quickly.” She added with a stab of irritation.

“Thestrals?” Dusty vaguely remembered something about them in one of his history lessons, but it was purely anecdotal and he forgot about it.

“The formal name for the bat pony race.” She explained.

“Oh, right. I should have remembered that.” While Nightmare spoke, Dusty had pulled out his notepad and began jotting down notes, “You said your purpose was to grant wishes, right?” He received a nod in reply. “Since when? All entries I’ve read about Nightmare Moon were how Luna lost control due to her jealousy, and thus became you. The last we ever hear of you is when the Elements of Harmony defeated you a few years ago.”

“I’ve been granting wishes for a very long time.” Nightmare had a reminiscing look in her eyes, “Yes, it’s true that Luna became Nightmare Moon, but that was when my container was latched onto her armor.” She tapped the amulet on the pedestal, “Some thestral had the bright idea that a night spirit would be a perfect augment for the Night Princess. Needless to say, I was under her command then, though she just thought of me as a well of power, which is precisely what the thestral told her. When she wished to gain the respect of her subjects, she didn’t exactly specify how, so…well, you know what happened next.”

“But why?” Dusty asked, “I mean, why did you try to gain respect through fear? It just seems counterproductive, not to mention you wouldn’t get far with that kind of respect.”

Nightmare sighed, as if she had been explaining the same thing repeatedly, “Because there is only so much that I can do with these limits and rules, plus Luna was a bit impatient.” She frowned, “To be honest, I tried talking her out of it, but she would have none of it and I had to obey her commands.”

Dusty’s quill scribbled with the practiced ease from long semesters with fast talking teachers who didn’t repeat themselves. Soon, he had a few pages of notes and questions, finishing with a quick sketch of the amulet. “Interesting.” He glanced up at her, “Out of curiousity, did you get out often? I-I mean, were you able to see any of the events of Equestria before the banishment?” His face was lit up as if he had struck gold, which he did in a historical sense. Another entity aside from the Princesses and Discord who lived through the past, and he found her first! Definitely worth a doctorate.

“Not as much as you’d think, as I can only leave my container when the master summons me.” Nightmare said with an almost noticeable huff. Upon seeing Dusty’s downcast look at the information, she added, “I did happen to see some major, at the time, events come to pass, as I happened to be nearby or involved.”

Dusty nodded, “I suppose I can work with that.” He had a thought. “Speaking of which, what time is it?” Factoring in his assumed time unconscious, it should probably be late eve-

“I believe it’s close to midnight, if not already past.”

“Buck!” Dusty scrambled to get his supplies together, muttering, “Gotta get home, gonna take a while, probably not going to get much sleep. Boss is gonna flay me for this…” Once his items were all on his back, he turned to Nightmare, “Look, I gotta go, but I’ll probably be back soon, since I still need to document this place.” He started to trot, only to find himself walking on air as he was dragged back to the podium.

“Might I make a suggestion, Master Dusty?” Nightmare offered, “I can simply take you home instantly should you wish it.”

Dusty felt really odd when she called him ‘Master’, but he ignored that as he focused on the opportunity before him. “Oh, right. *Ahem* I wish to appear back in my apartment.”

“Your wish is my command.” She said before enveloping them both in her magic. In a flash, Dusty landed on the familiar hardwood floors of his flat. “Huh, so it actually SWEET CELESTIA!” His cause for alarm was the familiar black alicorn laying on his bed. “What are you doing here?!” he hissed.

She gave him a bemused look, “What do you mean?”

“Why did you follow me?” Dusty asked as he began putting his items away.

“How else am I to grant your wishes if I am not around?” she explained, “I exist to serve and I cannot fulfill that duty from a musty cave.”

Dusty tilted his head, “I thought you were bound to your amulet, and I didn’t even pick it up.” To which, Nightmare answered by pointing at his neck. “What the-”

“As I granted your wish, I placed my receptacle around your neck in order for me to remain near you.” She explained, “You may take it off if you wish, but I cannot grant wishes if you do not summon me, nor if I am not nearby.”

“Uh-huh.” Dusty said, then sighed, “Well, at least it saves me the trouble of going back up to that cave if I can just wish myself there.” He took off the amulet and tossed it onto his nightstand. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to use my bed to sleep.”

“As you wish, Master.” She gracefully stepped off, “Would you like to wish for a more comfy, or luxurious bed? I can summon the most relaxing mattress you can think of for your rest.”

“Um, no? My bed is fine enough.” Dusty said dismissively. He flopped onto the covers and rolled them around his body.

Nightmare gave him a bemused look as he fluffed his pillow, “Well, how about a pillow filled with the softest down? Or a warm, comforter made from the finest threads?”

Dusty facehooved and stared at her with one eye, “Nightmare, the only thing I need right now is to sleep. Just go back in the amulet until morning.”

“Hmm… If that is what you wish.” Nightmare’s body slowly turned to vapor and flowed into the amulet like a vacuum. Before she disappeared completely, she said, “Goodnight, Master Dusty.”

“’Night.” He replied half-heartedly. He crawled onto his bed and snuggled into his comforter. Reflecting back on his day, Dusty couldn’t help but feel his life was going to get very interesting soon. He wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing. His last thought before falling asleep was, ‘Meh, I’ll deal with it in the morning.’

Author's Notes:

Special Thanks to Thardoc for editing and stuff

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