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Twilight Manages to Screw Up More Than Usual

by Fire Gazer the Alchemist

Chapter 15: A Night With Nightmare

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“I still kinda feel bad.”

Twilight groaned and rolled her eyes. Lyra had been insisting for the past twenty minutes that she was sorry. Everypony else had stopped after their first apology, but Lyra had been more… persistent. At this point she was going to have to apologize to Twilight for annoying her with her constant apologies. And, knowing this mare, they’d quickly be trapped in an endless loop of saying “I’m sorry” and “it’s fine”, which she definitely looked forward too.

“I know Lyra, but really, it’s okay. I know you meant well and I’m not mad at you.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Please be done, please be done, please be done.

Lyra smiled. “Okay then.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “All right, now that that’s taken care of can we please focus on getting to the inn?”

Vinyl bounced into view. “Sure thing, Smart Mare, just point us in the right direction.”

She froze. “Uh…”

Her acquaintances all turned to look at her. Octavia was the first to show concern. “Don’t tell me you don’t know where this inn is.”

“Shining and Cadance were supposed to find it! I never learned where it is in town.” Twilight’s head darted from the edge of the cherry fields to the dusty buildings of Dodge. They all looked so similar. How was she supposed to know which one was the inn?

“It’s no big deal,” Bon Bon interjected. “Why don’t we just ask the pony who owns the orchard?”

Twilight blinked, thinking back to the cream-colored mare who’d ushered them into the farm when they’d arrived. “Yeah, she’ll probably have some idea.”

Turning, she faced the upscale estate that rested in the center of the cherry grove. “Come on, girls.”

She started trotting, the hoofsteps of the mares’ behind her following. Derpy spread her wings and flew ahead. Twilight, not wanting to be outdone, unconsciously quickened her pace.

When they arrived, they saw the owner of the orchards—it was safe to assume her name had “Cherry” somewhere in it, but Twilight wasn’t going to risk getting it wrong—frantically ordering her workers about. Her elaborate mane style was frazzled, sending red locks in every direction.

“Hurry up and get those cherries loaded into the carts!” she snapped at a few of her workers. They scrambled to several rows of cherry baskets and hoisted them onto one of a fleet of chariots. “Faster! We gotta get the heck outta Dodge!”

Twilight exchanged a few glances with her acquaintances. Based on the shrugs and raised eyebrows she got, none of them knew what all the fuss was about. She cleared her throat. “Uh… ma’am?”

“Eep!” She leapt back, close to cowering. Twilight flinched at the sudden reaction.

The owner turned to them and breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just y’all.”

“What was that about?” Vinyl asked.

“You mean you haven’t heard?” Six heads shook in sync. “Some sort of demonic alicorn has shown up in town! Anypony worth their salt is packing up and leaving.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, you mean Nightmare Moon.”

“It’s the Nightmare Moon?” The owner seemed to shrink before her. “Boys, work double time! We needed to leave yesterday!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Twilight watched as the workers quickened their already back-breaking pace. She hadn’t considered that the citizens of Dodge would react this way when she decided they’d stop here. A pang of guilt hit her now that she knew the trouble she was causing them.

“Uh, Miss…”

“Jubilee. Cherry Jubilee.”

“Miss Jubilee, you don’t need to panic like this. I can assure you that Nightmare is not going to be wreaking havoc on Dodge Junction anytime soon.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you.” She looked up into the sky, nervously biting her hoof. “I feel like any minute the moon is going to rise up to block out the sun.”

“Uh, that might be because it’s almost night time,” Vinyl piped up.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the remark. “Miss Jubilee, I promise you Nightmare Moon isn’t going to bring about the end of all existence while we’re in town.”

Cherry raised her eyebrow. “And how can you guarantee something like that?”

She opened her mouth to respond, but then realized that it might not be the best idea to tell the panicking cherry farmer that she was the reason Nightmare Moon was here in the first place. “Uh…”

Vinyl stepped forward, slinging her foreleg around Twilight’s neck. “She can guarantee it because she just so happens to be the most powerful unicorn in Equestria.”

Cherry Jubilee’s other eyebrow shot up. “Really?”

“Really really.” Vinyl grinned and tightened her hold on Twilight. “You know she took down an Ursa Major?”

“Uh… it was a Ursa Minor actually…” Twilight mumbled.

“And she’s the personal protege of Princess Celestia!” Derpy threw in.

“...Actually I don’t know if I’m still considered that after—”

Bon Bon stepped forward. “She’s even braved the Everfree and returned without a scratch.”

“Wha— I sprained my hoof! What are you talking about?”

Luckily for Twilight, Cherry Jubilee was more wrapped up in the tales her acquaintances were weaving rather than the truths she was spewing.

“Oh my, I hadn’t realized I was in the presence of such a hero.” Cherry finally turned to focus on Twilight again, her face wearing a reverent gaze. “Well, if you are who these ponies say you are, then I trust you.”

Twilight opened her mouth to set the record straight, but was interrupted by a nudge from Spike. Meeting his eyes, she got the message: Let’s just figure out where the inn is, okay?

She sighed, deciding that she’d complain about being called a hero later. “Ms. Jubilee, speaking of Nightmare Moon, where did you say she was spotted?”

“Just over by the local hostel.” She turned and pointed into town. “Go down main street and take a left by the saloon. Can’t miss it… or her.”

“Thank you.”

Vinyl released Twilight and they started moving again. Lyra turned around to wave good-bye, but unfortunately for her Cherry Jubilee was flinging herself back into her work, now ordering her confused farm hoofs to unpack everything.

“Did you really have to lie to her?” Twilight asked.

“Sorry, Element o’ Honesty. Guess I should’ve figured it’d be a big deal for you.” Vinyl shrugged. “Oh well, no harm done.” Twilight grunted.

“We did at least learn where the inn is,” Bon Bon threw in as they crossed from the farmland to the town. The rustic buildings cut into Twilight’s peripheral view and she turned her head to catch a glimpse of a nearby street sign.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Twilight nudged her head to the left. “Come on, it’s this way.”

They all turned, kicking up a small cloud of dust in the process. Spike was unfortunate enough to be caught on the receiving end of said cloud and let loose a fire-laced cough. Not wanting him to accidentally burn down Dodge, Twilight cast a quick levitation spell, putting him on her back.

“Thanks,” he said.

“No problem.”

The saloon that Cherry Jubilee had mentioned came up on their left. As they turned left, Vinyl came up on Twilight’s side. Just from the smile of feigned innocence she wore, Twilight could tell something was up. “What?”

Vinyl cleared her throat. “Oh, nothing. I just had a question about your brother…”

A groan leapt to the top of her throat and she didn’t bother to try and suppress it. “Yeah?”

Vinyl chuckled. “Love the enthusiasm, Smart Mare. But on a serious note, is he… you know, single?”

Twilight opened her mouth before she even had an answer ready. She really wanted to shoot down Vinyl’s hopes. Not in a mean way of course, but in a ew-please-don’t-mess-with-my-brother kind of way. Sadly, Twilight quickly came to the conclusion that she couldn’t do that. “I… don’t know,” she finally said. “He might be.”

“So I’ve got a chance is what you’re saying.” Vinyl grinned with set determination.

“Uh, a small chance. Microscopic, even.”

“That’s all I need.” Vinyl trotted forward as the inn came into view, a grin plastered on her face.

Even though he was on her back, Twilight could feel Spike roll his eyes. “Sheesh.”

“You said it,” she grumbled to the dusty ground.

“Don’t worry about it.” Twilight looked up to see Octavia sporting a knowing look. “She sometimes takes a liking to a colt, but rarely do her little crushes last more than a few days.”

“Really?” She lifted her head up. Any information about Vinyl dropping her desire for Twilight’s brother was relevant information.

“So you’re saying we should just stay out of her way until then?” Spike asked.

“Yes. Trying to tell her no is like trying to put out a fire with oil; you’ll make the opposite of progress.”

“Actually there are some chemicals that when added to oil could…” Twilight trailed off. Octavia’s partially raised eyebrow was enough to tell her that refuting her similes was unwelcomed. “So just don’t get in her way, you say?”

Octavia nodded. “Stay her friend long enough and you’ll pick up on all her habits.”

“Friend… yeah…” Twilight turned her attention back to walking.

The sun was setting as they approached the inn and Twilight paused to take in the sight before her. Not the inn itself, it wasn’t much to look at. In front of it, however, were Shining, Cadance and Nightmare Moon The reason she had to pause to take it in?

They weren’t bickering.

This was quite a shock. Not just Shining and Cadance—Twilight was willing to believe they’d give each other the silent treatment—but Nightmare Moon? The pony who loved hearing her own voice almost as much as she loved staging coups to overthrow Celestia was quietly glaring them down as they approached. Not even grumbling, just… quiet.

What happened?

“Twilight!” Shining and Cadance broke the silence simultaneously. As they paused to share a glance of annoyance with each other, Twilight took stock of their tones. Relief, exasperation and the tiniest bit of forebodance were all present. Yep, something bad had definitely happened.

Vinyl, a pace or two ahead of her, strolled right up. “Hey hot stuff, miss me any?”

Shining blinked. “Uh… the normal amount, I guess.”

“How normal?” Vinyl asked coquettishly, leaning in. Shining gave an uncomfortable smile.

“Down girl,” Lyra interjected when the rest of them caught up. “Give him room to breathe.”

Vinyl sighed, but mercifully backed away from Twilight’s brother. “Fine.”

“Did you enjoy the cherry fields?” Cadance asked through clenched teeth. It was a little too obvious that she was trying to ignore Vinyl’s… Vinyl-ness.

“Yeah it was… nice. Is everything okay?”

“Hardly.” Nightmare Moon’s raspy voice hit her ears. “The whelp who owns this hovel was of no use whatsoever. His stammering was incomprehensible and he had the gall to demand I sleep outside.” She shot a glance at Cadance. “You should have him executed.”

“Absolutely not!” Cadance shot her a look of appallment, which Nightmare scoffed off.

Spike glanced from them to Shining. “So, if Nightmare’s gonna sleep outside, then what’re we doing?”

“We’ve got a room,” Shining replied. He levitated a few sets of keys into view. “But there’s a catch.”

“You mean besides you?” Vinyl gave him a wink.

Twilight saw her brother fight back the urge to shiver. “Like I was saying,” he continued. “We’ll need to keep an eye on her at night.”

“So… sleeping shifts?” Bon Bon pieced together.

“Exactly.” Shining glanced at the demonic alicorn to his left. “We’ll divide up into three groups of two and one group of three, that way everypony will only have to stay up for two hours apiece.”

Lyra frowned. “Wait, so that means you and Cadance won’t stay up all night? Not that I don’t want you guys to sleep or anything, but what if Nightmare tries to escape while both of you are out?”

“Well, she shouldn’t.” Shining shot her a look, which Nightmare responded to with a wry grin. “But if she tries, she won’t be getting too far. I’m a light sleeper, so just yell to wake me up and I’ll bubble her.”

Nightmare rolled her eyes. “Ah yes, your oh-so-adorable pink prison. I look forward to that.”

“Light magenta,” Shining corrected, annoyance slipping into his tone. “Anyway, we should decide the groups now with the few minutes of daylight we still have.”

“Cool. In that case…” Vinyl waltzed over the Shining and hooked her foreleg around his. “I call dibs on you.”

“Uh, I, er—Spike!” Shining glanced to the small dragon residing on Twilight’s back. “Sorry, I was going to partner up with him, actually.”

“Well,” Spike slid off Twilight’s back, sporting a sly smile. “You did say we need a group of three.”

“...Dude, not cool.”

Spike shrugged as he walked over to them. He gave Octavia a brief nod. “Sorry, Shining, but I’ve heard it’s best not to get in her way.”

“Darn right.” Vinyl grinned as her hold tightened.

Shining groaned softly.

Cadance was doing her best to look away. She walked up to Twilight with her back to Shining Armor. “Care to partner up with me?”

Twilight smiled. “Sure.” Spending a few hours with Cadance sounded like a great idea. They had a lot to catch up on, including the reason for the fallout between her and Shining.

All I need is a little time to pick her brain.

“Hey Lyra.” Twilight turned her head when she heard Octavia’s voice. “Do you want to watch over Nightmare Moon together? It’ll give us time to practice.”

Lyra gulped and her leg unconsciously drifted to her saddlebags, which likely held her instrument. “Uh, I guess so.”

“Great!”

“I guess that leaves the two of us,” Bon Bon said, turning to Derpy.

Derpy tapped her chin. “Hmm… you brought the muffins, right?” Bon Bon grinned and tapped her own saddlebags. Derpy hoof pumped the air. “Yes!”

“All right, then it’s—” Shining tried to step forward only to jut to a stop. He turned to Vinyl. “Can you give me my leg back now?” She uncoiled her foreleg from his body. “It’s settled.”

Nightmare Moon sighed, her body radiating sarcasm. “Hoo-ray.”


Shining stripped off the outer layers of his armor twenty minutes later. The heat had been killing him since they’d arrived at Dodge, but with the night rolling in and the temperature dropping he saw the perfect opportunity to cool down.

He shot a glance at Nightmare Moon, who was watching the moon rise with a disapproving glare. “She’s not even doing it right,” she snarled.

“What are you going on about?” Shining asked as he dropped his helmet on the ground. “It’s in the sky, isn’t it?”

She scoffed. “You talk as if moving the celestial bodies is like politics.”

Shining rolled his eyes and turned away, just in time to see Spike and Vinyl return with some chopped firewood.

“The innkeeper was pretty cooperative,” Vinyl said as her blue magic snapped off and dropped the logs in front of them.

“You threatened to sick Nightmare Moon on him if he didn’t have any firewood.” Spike tossed his supply onto the pile.

“Oh come on, it was a joke!”

“Do not speak of me as if I am some common pet!” Nightmare scowled.

“You sure about that?” Vinyl looked her over. “I mean, you’re sleeping outside and you’ve got a collar on…”

Nightmare Moon tugged at the metal chain around her throat and emitted a low growl. Even with all the restraints on her, Shining couldn’t help but back away to feel safe.

“Maybe you shouldn’t antagonize her,” he suggested.

“Psh.” Vinyl shrugged. “Not much she can do about it.”

“That doesn’t make it a good idea.”

She merely rolled her eyes, but thankfully didn’t provoke Nightmare anymore. Vinyl did, however, pull her shades off. “Geeze, it’s getting dark.”

Spike put a claw to his chest. “Allow me to fix that.” Taking a deep breath he spat a green blaze onto the wood pile. It caught instantly and a campfire burst into existence.

“Dude, nice.” Vinyl held up her hoof and Spike proudly bumped his fist against it.

“It’s what I do.”

“So, now we can get this watch duty started.” Vinyl plopped down on the ground and looked at Shining. “What do we do?”

He tilted his head at Nightmare Moon. “We watch her.”

“For two hours?”

“Yup.”

“Ugh.” She flopped on her back. “But that’s so boring! I thought we’d be like, chasing her down, toying with her as we let her think she has the tiniest chance of escape before Zwoop! You stick her with another bubble.”

“That does sound kinda fun,” Spike admitted.

“Well we’re not doing that.” Shining took a seat in front of the fire, keeping Nightmare Moon in his peripheral view. “The point is to watch her, not almost let her escape for fun.”

“You know what would be even more fun though?” Nightmare grinned wickedly. “Letting me escape.”

“Yeah, not happening. I’m not an idiot.”

“Really?”

This time it was Shining’s turn to growl lowly.

“Whelp.” Vinyl sat up. “If we're not going to toy with her how about we just talk a little. Suggestive joking aside, I really would like to get to know you.”

He bit his lip. “Uh yeah, before that can I ask you to knock off the all the… playing around? I’m trying be professional here and that’s not easy when you act like I’m nothing but eye candy.”

Vinyl tossed her head back and snickered. “I don’t think so. It’s kinda fun to watch you squirm sometimes.”

Shining groaned.

“Just live with it,” Spike suggested. “Seriously, it’s not going to stop either way.”

“Fine. So, what did you want to talk about then, Vinyl?”

“Hmm…” Looking down, she tapped her chin in thought. “Actually, there is a question that’s been poking my curiosity.”

“Okay, shoot.”

She pointed at him. “You and Cadenza… were you two an item?”

Shining took a long, slow sigh. So somepony finally figured it out. “Yes. How’d you know?”

Vinyl smirked. “The way you two act around each other, there’s definitely some ‘lovers scorned’ crap going on. What happened?”

“Yeah, I’ve kinda been wondering that too,” Spike chimed in. Both he and Vinyl leaned in, eager to hear some juicy details.

“How about we talk about anything else,” Shining suggested.

“How about we talk about freeing the Night!” Nightmare Moon interjected.

“How about we talk about anything else,” Shining repeated.

“You’re really not going to tell us, huh?” Vinyl pouted a bit.

“Nope.”

“Aww, but how am I supposed to know what not to do when I’m dating you?”

Shining flinched. “I— you jus— don’t— gah!” He smacked his hoof to his face as both Vinyl and Spike broke out into a chuckle.

“Sorry to get you so flustered.” Vinyl wiped away tears of laughter. “But seriously, you aren’t dating Cadenza now, I’m guessing?”

“No.” He’d recovered from his stammering fit.

“Great.” Her face turned sultry. “‘Cuz I’m not dating anypony either.”

Oh boy. He took a deep breath; there was no point in leading her on. “Look, Vinyl, you’re cute, but you’re really not my type.”

Vinyl pinched her lips together. “Is it because I look like a smaller, female-ier version of you?”

“What? No!” Though now that she’s mentioned it… “That’s not it. I just prefer the more mature type is all.”

“Ah.” Vinyl thumped a hoof against her chest and reacted as though she’d been shot. “Ooh! The one thing I can never be.” She overdramatically outstretched her hoof toward Shining. “It appears our love was not meant to last.” With a fake dying groan, Vinyl flopped on the ground. Spike snorted while Shining rolled his eyes.

“Please tell me she is dead,” Nightmare Moon said. Shining shook his head.

“Sorry to disappoint.” Vinyl pulled herself back up. “Though, now that you’ve spoken again, how about we discuss your problems.”

“I have no problems.”

“You mean, besides the inferiority complex?”

What?”

A chill ran down Shining Armor’s spine at that brutality behind the word. “Uh, Vinyl maybe you should drop it—”

“No,” Nightmare commanded. “No, I want to hear about this… inferiority complex that I supposedly have.” Spike scooted further away, despite being on the opposite side of the campfire.

“Nothing ‘supposedly’ about it.” Vinyl snickered. “I mean, everypony knows your legend. You got a little huffy because the moon was smaller than the sun, or something.”

Nightmare snorted derisively. “Foolish mortal. I rebelled because no pony appreciated the majesty of my moon.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Sounds like you lived in a time before nightclubs were invented.”

Nightmare Moon blinked. “What are… night clubs?”

Vinyl nearly did a double-take. And then nearly did a quadruple-take. “Wait, they seriously didn’t have nightclubs a thousand years ago?”

Nightmare finally sat down, her chains rattling at the sudden motion. She bored into Vinyl with her slitted eyes. “Explain, peasant. What are these clubs of the night? A weapon of some sort?”

“Not even.” Vinyl snickered. “They're like, these places ponies go to have fun and listen to awesome music.”

“And these ponies… they do this at night?” Vinyl nodded. “Willingly?”

“Of course, willingly. Heck, night time is party time nowadays.”

“Really?” Nightmare looked at the ground. “Imagine that…” For a moment, it looked to Shining like she was about to smile. Not even an evil smile either, but an actual, genuine smile. But instead, she snorted derisively. “Took those peons long enough to appreciate my work.”

A quip about how it was technically Celestia’s work now jumped to the tip of Shining’s tongue, but he decided against voicing it.

Nightmare glanced up at Vinyl again. “Tell me more about these… nightclubs.”

Vinyl grinned. “Get comfy, it’s going to be a long two hours.”


Thud.

Twilight’s text on the Elements of Harmony kicked up some dirt as she dropped it on the ground. With a purple flick her magic pushed the cover open, revealing the Table of Contents. She’d already read this book twice over, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Princess Cadance sat beside her, politely looking over her shoulder in honest curiosity. Her knowledge of the Elements paled in comparison to Twilight’s and considering they were the whole reason for this quest it was probably for the best that she was willing to learn about them.

Across from them was Nightmare Moon. Her black coat and ethereal mane were bathed in the golden glow of the campfire. She watched the two of them study, but whether it was with malice or curiosity of her own was hard to tell. With a face like Nightmare’s, nothing was certain.

Twilight kept her mouth shut about it, though, and Cadance didn’t call attention to it either. They sat in silence, save the crackling of the fire and the occasional flip of the pages.

Then: “Have either of you ever been to a night club?”

Both their heads bobbed up from the book at the same time, but it was Cadance who spoke first. “What?”

“Have either of you ever been to a night club? I thought it was a rather simple question, but if the two of you really require me to dumb it down…”

“I understand the question, just… what?”

Twilight was with Cadence on the matter. The question seemed to come out of nowhere.

“I’m just asking,” Nightmare responded.

“I have.” Twilight finally spoke up.

With a rattle of chains all of Nightmare’s attention was on Twilight. “How was it?”

For a moment, Twilight allowed herself to drift back to the time when her acquaintances had dragged her to a rave. The bright, violent lights, the pounding music, the musky stench of sweaty ponies. She shuddered at the memory. “You would love it there.”

Nightmare smiled, her sharpened teeth flashing. “This is good news. I will have to visit one soon.”

Twilight closed her book, doubting she’d be able to research anymore now that the ice was officially broken. “You mean after your reformation.”

“Pfft.” Nightmare turned her head to the side. “You cannot reform pure evil.”

“No, but we can reform you.”

Nightmare Moon hissed angrily at her, clearly not appreciating the sass.

Twilight slid the book back inside her saddlebags and looked to Cadance. She had yet to say a word and had taken to staring off into space. Most likely she hadn’t even been following the conversation.

“Cadance?”

The word slapped her back to reality. “Huh? Yes?”

“Are you doing all right?”

She blinked and offered a weak smile. “Yeah. I was just thinking about… things.”

Nightmare scoffed. “You can think?”

Cadance’s features compressed into an annoyed glare. “Would you just be quiet?”

With a grin, Nightmare chuckled. “Muzzle me.”

Cadance glared at her. “Anyway, did you want something Twilight?”

“Uh… yeah, actually.” Now was as good a time as any to ask. “I was actually kind of curious about something.”

Cadance cocked her head to the side. “Okay, shoot.”

Twilight paused, unsure of how to phrase her question. “What exactly… happened between you and my brother.”

As if the magic switch had been flipped, Cadance’s mood soured. She turned away, frowning. “How about we talk about anything else.”

“The last one already tried that,” Nightmare commented.

Cadance gave her a look but said nothing. Twilight sighed. “Look, I really don’t know what happened, but whatever it was it’s got you two at each other’s throats. We’re about to all go into the Everfree Forest together, so if there’s a problem we should solve it before it becomes a hazard when we’re all already in mortal danger, Okay?”

Biting her lip, Cadance turned to face her. “I understand, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

She sniffled. “I really screwed up, Twilight.”

That caught her off guard. Twilight blinked uncomprehendingly. “...What happened?”

“It’s a long story… I don’t… I can’t…”

“Just condense it,” Twilight pressed. She had to know what was going on.

Cadance looked like she wanted to protest, even getting as far as shaking her head, but she paused. “I… I guess you do deserve to know what happened.”

Twilight fought down the urge to smile. Relentless curiosity had once again come through for her. “Okay, start from the beginning.”

Her mouth curled into a frown. “Well… Shining and I used to date.”

Twilight had to pause as her brain short-circuited. It was just the first detail of the story and already she was being sucker-punched. Repeatedly. “W-When did this happen?”

Cadance managed a brief smile, as if she was recalling fonder, sweeter memories. Her mouth quickly lapsed back to a frown, however. “That’s a story of its own. But like I was saying, we used to date and… we were pretty happy too. He used to sneak off work a little early to see me and… gosh I must’ve put off dozens of meetings to spend time with him.”

Her frown deepened. “But we weren’t the perfect couple. We had… fights. Not even that, really, just arguments about small things: where to eat, what to do, and all that. But you know me, I hate when couples argue, even if I was a part of it. Especially if I was a part of it. So I just…” Cadance trailed off, waving her hoof as the wheels turned in her head to find the best way to describe her actions. Eventually she just gave up and lit her horn, producing a small red heart just past the tip.

Twilight’s eyes widened; she understood immediately. “You… You used your magic on him?”

Cadance’s signature power, the only high-level spell she’d ever bothered to master since becoming an alicorn, was not something to be taken lightly. As a filly, Twilight had dubbed it the “love reset” after seeing it displayed many times, but really all it did was alter the dopamine and serotonin levels of ponies. The perfect weapon to take to the battlefield if one had a personal war on lover’s quarrels.

Sniffling again, Cadance wiped her eyes and the spell dissipated. “I… I always used this spell to help ponies resolve their problems and realize their true feelings for each other. I didn’t think it would be wrong to use it for my own relationship, but… all it did was kick all our problems down the road.

“They just became this… overwhelming shadow that always loomed over us. Pretty soon anything and everything sent us into another argument until…” She put her face in her hooves. “Until my spell wasn’t enough.”

Twilight moved closer as Cadance dissolved into sobs. “We got into a huge fight. I don’t even know what started it but everything just blew up. I tried my spell but… it didn’t work. I was frustrated, he was angry and it just failed. When he saw the spell though it didn’t take him long to put two and two together. He accused me of trying to brainwash him and then… he just ended it.” Cadance sobbed. “That was two months ago. We hadn’t spoken to each other all that time until Auntie Celestia asked us to help you.”

Tears ran down her face and Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her.

For a little while, it was quiet. Then…

“BWHUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Nightmare Moon cackled, fell back, became ensnared in her own chains, and cackled some more.

Twilight shot her a dirty look, but it was an exercise in futility. Nightmare had no concern for sparing Cadance’s feelings.

“That is the funniest thing I’ve heard in over a thousand years!” She howled in between laughs. “The fake-alicorn of love—haha—can’t even keep a coltfriend! Ahahaha!”

“Don’t listen to her,” Twilight said.

Cadance winced at the assault on their eardrums. “That’s going to be a little hard.”

Twilight nodded and waited a little bit, hoping Nightmare would eventually calm down.

She didn’t.

Sighing, Twilight continued. “Look, Cadance, I know you had good intentions.”

“Did I?” She pulled away from Twilight’s attempts to comfort her. “I could have… should have tried to talk out our problems, but I took the easy way out and now…” She nearly choked on the words. “...Shining hates me.”

“Hey, come on, Shining doesn’t hate you.” Twilight moved back into comforting range. “He doesn’t hate anypony.” She shot a brief glance at the still laughing Nightmare Moon. “Almost anypony.”

“Are you sure?” Cadance peeked out from under her hooves.

“Positive. Once we’ve fixed the Elements, I promise I’ll sit you both down and work this out. I’m great at solving problems now, just ask the girls.”

Cadance didn’t even try to muster up a smile, but there was a spark in her eyes that looked rather hope-like. “Thank you, Twilight.” She chuckled, which ended up becoming a sniffle halfway through. “You know, it’s kinda funny. I took care of you for years and now here you are taking care of me.”

“Yeah, times certainly have changed.” Sensing that she really needed one, Twilight gave Cadance a hug. “Don’t worry, everything will work out in the end.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Her hoof unconsciously drifted to her saddlebags and pressed against them, eliciting a clink from its contents. “Everything will be just fine.”

I hope.


Lyra was tuning her lyre when a yawn ambushed her. Her jaw was pushed down while her eyes slammed shut; it lasted only five seconds, but it was a pretty good indicator of her current state.

Having your sleep interrupted was never a fun thing. Having your sleep interrupted and then being expected to watch over the evilest creature in Equestria right after was even worse.

“We should’ve taken the first shift,” Lyra mumbled. Octavia nodded her agreement, fighting back yawns of her own.

They’d only been up for five minutes, so hopefully their exhaustion would abate just enough so that they wouldn’t be miserable, but not so much that they wouldn’t be able to get a nap in once their shift ended.

But, even in their current state Octavia wasn’t letting Lyra off the hook. She delicately plucked the string of her lyre, ear flicked up to make sure it was the right note. As a gentle twung rang out, Lyra smiled.

Perfect.

Unfortunately this was a bad thing. Now that her instrument was fully tuned, Octavia would expect her to… actually play something!

“All right,” Octavia said, smiling. Blast her ear for music, she knew Lyra was ready the moment she let go of the string. “Let’s start with the first song of the set then.”

“Uh…” Lyra glanced over to the side. Right across the dimming firelight was the glowing face of Nightmare Moon. She hadn’t said anything to them yet and had merely been staring off into space with a wide smile on her face, as if she’d heard something hilarious a while ago and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Somehow it was more terrifying than anything else she had ever done. “You mean you want me to play now?”

She could barely hit a note when she was surrounded by ponies she considered friends and now Octavia was asking her to play an entire song in front of the most spiteful pony to ever exist.

“Yes,” Octavia said with a nod.

And she was being so casual about it!

Anxiety boiled in the pit of Lyra’s stomach. Sweat droplets rolled down her brow and her hooves felt clammy. She couldn’t do this, there was no way.

“Lyra?” Octavia knew the signs of one of her panic attacks very well by this point. She put a hoof on her shoulder. “Just breathe, okay?”

“Kay…” Her voice was shaky, but she managed to suck in air.

At this point, Nightmare Moon had snapped out of her happy-trance and observed the new situation. “Is she going to pass out?”

“No,” Octavia snapped. “She’s going to play her lyre.”

“Urgh. I would prefer it greatly if she lost consciousness.”

Lyra clenched her teeth. This was a bad, bad idea. “Octavia, maybe I should—”

“Don’t give up so easily, Lyra.” Octavia looked her in the eye. “Look, if you can play a song for a heinous mistress of darkness, then you’ll be able to play in Music-ade without a problem.”

“You… you really think so?”

“Yeah, sure, play a song.” Nightmare grumbled. “And when my ears start bleeding you better find a doctor.”

Lyra frowned, tightening her hold on her lyre.

Octavia didn’t give up though. “Don’t worry, Lyra, I believe in you.”

“I believe you’ll fail,” Nightmare added.

Lyra gritted her teeth. The stress of having to play for an audience was bad enough, but at this point Nightmare Moon was just being evil.

Er… eviler, I guess I should say.

“Hey, Lyra.”

She turned to Octavia. “Yeah?”

“Prove her wrong.” There was no sarcasm in her voice.

Lyra looked back at Nightmare Moon. A smirk was waiting for her. Lyra ground her teeth together, but less out of anxiety and more from determination.

“Okay.”

Raising her lyre and igniting her horn, Lyra took a deep breath. She closed her eyes, waited until her surroundings got as quiet as they could and then she started to play.

She choose a soft, slow melody. While there wasn’t any real reason behind her choice, Lyra did hope that it would put Nightmare Moon to sleep, if only to shut her up.

With each pluck of the strings, she could feel her inner anxiety grow. Even with only two ponies watching—one of whom she counted as a friend—it was hard to keep going. Not helping was the possibility that Nightmare might begin jeering at any moment.

Despite this, she pressed on. Her magic plucked the strings of her lyre in rapid succession now, anxious to be done. She realized she couldn’t remember the last time she breathed, but that wasn’t really a primary concern at this point.

When her song was completed she opened her eyes and finally took a breath. Octavia was beaming.

Nightmare was… not looking bored, at least.

“That was wonderful, Lyra!” Octavia gave her a hug, nearly knocking away her instrument in the process. Lyra groaned at the sudden pressure that suddenly squeezed her lungs. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Hmmph. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, it was adequate.” Nightmare tossed her head to the side. Unconsciously, Lyra’s lips tightened.

“You hear that?” Octavia released her. “The evilest creature in existence couldn’t bring herself to hate your music.”

“Heh, I guess you’re right.” Lyra allowed herself to smile. Maybe, just maybe, she’d be ready to play

Ha! Yeah, right. We’ve got a better chance of Twilight accepting our friendship than me conquering my fears.

Even so, it was nice to at least make some progress. Lyra took a little comfort in that fact.

“So, can we hear another?” Octavia asked.

“Haha… no.”


Bon Bon was freezing, alone with Nightmare Moon, and unable to decide which was worse.

Probably the latter.

“Do you have any idea how powerful I could make you if you just freed me now?” Nightmare’s eyes drilled into Bon Bon. “The answer is not at all. But if you do then maybe I won’t kill you after my hostile takeover of Equestria.”

Definitely the latter.

Her teeth chattered as she rubbed her hooves together. The dwindling flames in front of her were offering little warmth and she found herself praying that Derpy would return with the extra firewood soon.

“Stop ignoring me,” Nightmare demanded.

“No,” Bon Bon curtly replied.

Nightmare snorted. “And the pink one thinks I’m childish.”

Bon Bon clenched her teeth, torn between wanting to respond and wanting to punch Nightmare in her face. She didn’t get the chance to do either, however, as Derpy returned at that moment with firewood in her grasp.

“I’m baaaack!” she sang.

“Thank Celestia.”

Nightmare scowled at the remark.

Bon Bon ignored her and stood up to lend Derpy a hoof. She’d only brought a couple of logs with her, but each were cumbersome enough to give her hoofs trouble. After taking a few, Bon Bon tossed them onto the campfire. The flames greedily hopped onto the new kindling and burned brighter and warmer than before.

Sighing in content, Bon Bon took a seat. Derpy followed suit, setting aside the few remaining logs in case of emergency.

“So, any good conversation while I was away?” Derpy asked.

“No,” Bon Bon and Nightmare Moon chorused.

“Oh.” Derpy poked at the dirt a little as silence descended upon them. “Oh! Bon Bon, the muffins!”

The sudden burst of enthusiasm forced a smile onto Bon Bon’s face. “I got ‘em right here, Derpy.” She reached into her saddlebags and withdrew a bin. The contents shuffled around inside as Bon Bon pried the lid off, revealing a dozen muffins.

Derpy’s face lit up in anticipation. “Yes!” She hoof pumped the air.

“Now, they’re a little cold, but—” She didn’t get to finish the sentence. Derpy ripped a muffin free of its confinements and shoved it in her mouth.

“Hmmm…” She all but melted as the treat hit her tastebuds. “So good.”

Bon Bon blushed. “Aww come on, they aren’t that good.”

Derpy shook her head. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.” She looked over to Nightmare Moon, who was watching with a raised eyebrow. “You want one?”

Nightmare scoffed. “No.” She turned away, but her eyes betrayed her. They darted back to the muffins almost immediately. “Unless, of course, you have… blueberry?”

Bon Bon looked down at the tin of muffins, even though she didn’t need confirmation. The specks of blue were plainly visible in the rekindled firelight.

“Yep,” Derpy answered. “Do ya want one?”

“...Maybe.”

Before Bon Bon could even interject with her opinion, Derpy scooped up a new muffin and tossed it over to Nightmare Moon. She fumbled to catch it, sending the clink of her chains through the night air. Eventually her hoof steadied and she stared at the treat.

Tentatively, Nightmare Moon took a bite. Bon Bon’s lip found its way in her mouth. The last thing her self-esteem needed was to be bombarded by a tirade from evil incarnate.

Nightmare eventually swallowed. She stared at the muffin for a moment before looking back up at the two mares. “Which one of you is responsible for this again?”

“Uh… me?” Bon Bon hated how timid her voice sounded.

Nightmare fixed her with a stare that made her want to shrink into nothingness. “When I take over Equestria and enslave all of ponykind, you shall be the Royal Head Chef.” She took another bite of her muffin, this time making sure to savor the flavor.

“T-Thanks?” Bon Bon would have been flattered by the offer if it wasn’t a total impossibility. How delusional is Nightmare Moon?

As Nightmare continued to chew on her muffin, Bon Bon turned to Derpy and lowered her voice. “Hey, can I ask you a question real quick?”

“Sure.” Derpy swallowed the rest of her food. “What’s up?”

“Why did you really take off Nightmare Moon’s muzzle?”

Blinking, Derpy’s eyes darted to the left. “I… don’t know what you mean.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh come on. ‘It’s just so mean to keep a muzzle on her’? I didn’t buy that for a minute. Seriously, what’s up?”

Derpy sighed. “Okay, fine. The truth is I… I want to befriend her.”

“You what?” Bon Bon squeaked at a pitch she was sure only dogs could hear.

“I know it sounds silly—”

“Silly? No, no, no, that’s far too weak of a word. Ridiculous is more like it. Or crazy. Insane even.”

Derpy’s ears flopped down. “I know, but… look, when we reform Nightmare Moon she’s going to be stuck in a world that’s terrified of her. I just don’t want her to be so lonely. I figured why not try and befriend her now, so she knows where to start when she’s not so… nightmare-ish.”

Bon Bon sucked in air through her teeth. She wanted to believe Derpy’s idea could work, but… “Do you honestly think you can become friends with her.”

“Maybe, maybe not, but it couldn’t hurt to try, right?”

“You, gray one.” Both their attention turned to Nightmare Moon. Her lips were decorated with crumbs and an empty muffin wrapper could be seen at her hooves. “Provide me with another, immediately!”

Derpy smiled. “Sure thing.” Her hoof went to the tin, but Bon Bon blocked it. Confused, Derpy looked up. “Uh…”

“If you’re going to make an attempt to be friendly, then so is she,” Bon Bon said. She looked at Nightmare Moon. “What’s the magic word?”

Nightmare glared at her.

“It’s 'please'.” Bon Bon held up a blueberry muffin to tantalize her into compliance. “You are capable of saying please, right?”

“I can spit out the word without choking, if that’s what you mean.”

The muffin swayed back and forth. “Well, go on then.”

Nightmare’s expression of distaste tightened. She stood up suddenly, rattling her chains. With short, sharp steps she stalked up to her. Bon Bon felt unease grip her as Nightmare approached. Eventually, she towered over Bon Bon.

Bending down, Nightmare glared right into her face, her reptilian eyes chilling her to the bone. With bared teeth, she hissed out, “Please, may I have another muffin?”

Bon Bon’s heart pounded and she realized she wasn’t breathing. Letting out a nervous laugh she forced a smile. “There, was that so hard?” She offered up the muffin, only to have it swiped from her grasp.

“You have guts.” Nightmare sunk her fangs into the muffin. “You’ll make an excellent Head Chef.”

Bon Bon swallowed.

Nightmare didn’t bother walking back over to her previous seat, opting instead to plant her butt next to Bon Bon. After putting a few inches between them, she caught Derpy smile.

“Thanks for trying,” she said.

“No problem,” Bon Bon lied.

They each took a muffin of their own, perfectly comfortable with spending the rest of their shift in delicious silence.

Next Chapter: Change Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 52 Minutes
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