Reaching the dark side of the moon

by The Psychopath

First published 13th of May, 2012

A woman goes to Equestria in a form that isn't too well-seen.

Layda Hitcher is a twenty-two year old woman that has had quite a calm and quiet life. She had great parents, did well in school, heck, she even had relationships, but this all started to bore her. You can't be an Average Joe forever, right? As she sleeps in her parents' house as a temporary solution until she can finally go to her small little cottage-like place, she is awoken to see herself in an artist's rendition of autumn. Beautiful giant trees with magnificent colored leaves flowing everywhere, and verdoyant grass shining with the lively sun in the sky, occasionally being blocked by the silvery clouds. What will happen when a creature proposes a small adventure for her, with the only cost of taking said creature's form in this "other world"?

OC characters included.

Starry autumn

In an average house lived a woman with her parents. She had just turned twenty-two and finished some basic university studies. She had already gotten a job and decided to live at her parents' house until the arrangements for her apartment were complete. This woman was Layda Hitcher. She was your average carrot-top girl with standard looks and average love-stories throughout her life. Her parents...she had no troubles with them. Her family was like everything else. Love problems here, good parties there, the usual.

She was a single child, not knowing the possibilities of brothers and sisters. No one ever said "joys" of that situation. As she had heard from her friends, having brothers and sisters was quite annoying. However, this would have spiced up her life quite a bit. Layda Hatcher wasn't exactly "happy", but she was far from negative or sad. She was simply bored with her life. And travelling somewhere with her salary wasn't the best thing she could afford. Truly, the only thing keeping her out of a dull, gray world was a single season that only appeared once a year. That season was autumn. Where others saw the season as death, or the eventual arrival of the bitter coldness, Layda saw it as the birth of colors and the future of the plants, which would give the same amount of colors in springtime.

The woman would also frequently look into poetry. While most found it absurd, she appreciated most of the good sides to poetry. However, even she found that some were wierd. However, today, the parents were out, taking care of their own jobs while their daughter waited. The reason for her allowed waiting in the house is that she worked hard most of her life and university was no exception. That, and she was extremely polite and helpful around the house...and she was a better cook than her mother. Something Layda's dad liked to taunt her mother about.

This was another typical day. Get up, go to the bathroom, eat, watch T.V. , something...something...night...boring. Layda may have been one of the rather atypical people in the world, but she was tired of it. The day was cold and cloudy, and she preferred warm and sunny days, despite her adoration of autumn. She went into her room which was devoid of anything but a desk for her to work on, a comfortable bed, and little night-table where the lamp was. In the ceiling was a small window. Layda never understood why it was there in the first place. How was she ever supposed to reach something so high without a ladder? It mattered not, however, as she stared blatantly at the clear night sky from under her. Contemplating the stars as she sunk within the empty abyss of her tiny room.

"*sigh* I'm really bored. I just want to have an adventure. A SMALL adventure. Nothing more, nothing less...although, if it becomes a big adventure...*shrug* I won't be complaining...I'm talking to myself again. Hm. Whatever. Atleast the parents aren't here, so I can yap to myself ALLLLLLL I want! Pfff. Atleast the night sky will help me get some sleep. Who knows what marvels lie beyond and/or on them? Maybe those shows like Star trek or Star map or whatever those thousands of shows starting with "Star" are true? Who knows. I'd just like to have a good little adventure to spice my life up a bit. So much grey and green. Ugh. I HATE green.

It's always everywhere! During summer, during spring, even winter! If only I could see someplace that ISN'T drowned in green. Some new things to see...and I'm repeating my thoughts out loud again, in hopes that they will eventually come true. Durrr, have a magical space cake 'n waaagh to happy land! *SUPER SIGH* Time to sleep."

After her insane amount of bizarre gesturing and talking to herself, Layda fell asleep while whisking around her sheets. She just couldn't find a proper way to sleep, so Layda tired herself out. Needless to say, she was a hard sleeper.

Just a few minutes after her sudden snooze, something moved on the ceiling window. Looking closely, one would think that the night sky was trying to get away, but this was actually a small fabric of some sorts. As it slithered through the openings of the ceiling window, it fell down, nearly flopping hard against the floor, but it held itself aloft with extreme struggle. One could certainly hear cursing coming from it if they listened closely. It was obviously as tired as it was beautiful. It seemed like a colorful display of blue and purple, and the sparkling in it could have you dream of the cosmos for days-on-end.

Yet, this thing seemed in a hurry, and it had a right to be, as it seemed to be desintegrating gradually, albeit at an extremely slow pace. It finally flopped on the bed covers. This fabric seemed to be just a flicker away from death, and it could barely even move at all, let alone lament about how close it had gotten, and how far away its objective truly was. Yet, a stroke of luck happened. The woman in the bed turned around and let her left arm flop out of the covers. With the last bit of its strength, the tiny little fabric touched her hand. Almost immediately, the starry thing spread throughout the arm of Layda. The woman's arm almost immediately took the color and decoration of this fabric, only to slowly fade away and take back its original color. The woman started to squirm a bit, but quickly calmed down.

It was a beautiful scene! It was actually a comfortably warm autumn and the amount of colored leaves flying everywhere was beautiful. This place was an open forest, and it showed! The trees were as tall as they were powerful, and they seemed to let go of infinite numbers of orange, yellow, brown, red, and sometimes, even purple. The skies were bright and clean, yet some silvery-white clouds still passed overhead. Of course, they would cast small amounts of shadow whenever they passed in front of the sun, but that was just enough to give the best feeling one could ever have.

A feeling of comfort and satisfaction filled Layda as well as she decided to lie down in the ankle-high grass. The soft tickling of the what were supposed to be blades had her giggle a bit. This was her inner world, and noone else could reach it besides her. It was where she went when she needed some thinking time. It was the place she went when she wanted to have some fun. It was the place she needed when she wanted color. If truly was her own heaven, and she was sure that this is what her place in that after-life would look like.

However, breaking her from her smiles were the sounds of tree branches cracking under footsteps. She moaned while grabbing her head in annoyance and lazily sat up.

"Who's there? Lemme guess, you're here to turn this wonderful little dream into a nightmare? Yawn. Try something new. This is my dream world, and I control everything here."

A rather auspicious voice came from behind one of the trees:

"Do not worry. I am not here to do anything to this beautiful place." it said.

"Really? Then why dontcha get out here into the open where ah can see ya."

What looked like a horse or some sort of pony came out of from behind a tree. To Layda, this creature looked beautiful. Its coat was a magnificent dark blue and those wierd azure things she wore gave even better style and color to this creature. Its eyes were turquoise colored, something rare, but better yet, they were pretty much reptilian. Even more stunning was the apparent existence of both horns and wings. Layda couldn't help but stand up and get closer to this creature in aww. She even "pet" it. Much to her surprise, this creature was truly there, and she could really feel the silkiness of the coat.

"Wow. Who are you?"

"Me? My name is Ni-uhh..." the creature clenched her teeth and looked worringly from side to side in nervousness, then came up with a name "Cosmos Lune."

This name seemed farfetch'd, but Layda went with it, knowing that this was all just a dream, and continued to marvel in the feeling that this creature procured her.

"Well, my name is Layda Hitcher."

"Pleased to meet you. I would like it if you stopped touching me. That feeling is becoming irritating."

"Oops. Sorry." Layda said, laughing nervously. She retracted her arms as if they were just burnt, and walked to face this horse-thing directly. "So...what are you exactly?"

"I belong to a race of ponies, but more specifically, I'm an alicorn."

"Alicorn?"

"Yes. We are the ponies who inherit both wings and horns. We also have great magical powers." Cosmos said proudly with a hoof to the chest.

"Magic? Could you do some for me?"

"No."

"Than what's the point of you being here?" Layda complained with an irritated look.

"I'm too tired and weakened to do anything but one specific spell."

"Which is?"

"I overheard you talking about wanting to go on an adventure?"

The woman's eyes started to sparkle as she realized the possibility. This may have just been a dream, but she might as well use up everything.

"Yes."

"What if I told you that there is a world that you could go to where I once lived? How would you like to go there?"

"Would I? I'd love to! Are there dragons?"

"Yes there are. Heaps of them." Cosmos nodded with a smile

"I prefer to cut straight to the chase. Are there tons of mythological creatures there?"

"Yes! So, do you accept my proposal?"

"Of course! What's the catch?"

"You must take on my shape once you decide to go into my old world."

"If I do so, will I ever see you again?"

"Don't you fret. I'll be within your inner world, and I'll talk to you when the need arises. You can still talk to me too. Just enter this place."

"Okay!"

Layda jumped onto Cosmos and hugged her tightly. The alicorn looked at the human that was about her height, if only a few centimeters smaller. She blinked several times in confusion and stared at this creature before it faded away as it woke up, leaving behind her interior world.

"One more thing before you go! Stand in the moonlight."

The woman woke up in the night, slightly satisfied with her dream, only to see that everything was, like usual, just that. She was still in her room, and she decided that she needed a little leg stretching to go back to sleep. She had fatigue on her face, coupled with annoyance and irritation. The woman let her hand slide on her face just before she yawned loudly.

"Hm? The full moon is out." Layda stayed away from the light and stared at the moon, which had now taken a color similar to the "pony" in her dream "She did tell me to step in the light. Pff. Like it'll work. Hop!" Layda stayed in place in irritation as she noticed nothing happening "Pff. I knew it. Just a...my... my heart...agh! It's...beating too fast!"

Indeed. Hitcher's heart started to beat four times the normal rythm. Any normal creature's heart would have blown up by now, but she seemed to stay alive, and the pain was unbearable. Clutching her chest and trying to claw her way to the beating pain-tumor, Layda clenched her teeth as she felt her bones starting to rearrange themselves as well. She fell on her kness in unsustainable pains as her body began to distort and change in shape and size.

Her legs and back started to bend, her face started to push forward, and this all happened in the musical symphony of cracking, snaping, and grunts of pain. She even felt her hair changing composition, and taking on an otherworldly shape. Even the growth of the horn and wings pained her incredibly. Once the body was finished, she felt her eyes twist like if someone threw ten darts right into her pupils. She clenched her eye sockets in fury and screaming, until she felt her heart stop with a sudden "thump".

This is when she started to drag herself towards the door that would lead her out of her room and to the phone, but by the time she stretched her arm towards the white exit, she passed out. Just as everything seemed lost, Layda's heart started to beat again, and her body stood upright with no difficulty at all, although the occasional cracking kept occurring.

"Ha! This is perfect. I may not be able to hold this body for long, but it will be enough to create and open the portal. I would also need those armor pieces for proper style."

"Cosmos" took the sheets from the woman's bed and reshaped their entirety into the armors and "hoof-shoes" that only royalty wore. She looked exactly like she did in the dream, but she suddenly flinched as another crack tore through the newly transformed body.

"Ugh! Quickly!"

Her horn started to glow with the swirling of galaxies overhead, and quite quickly, a purple portal surrounded by a black line formed itself. It wouldn't last long, and the new body made another extremely loud snapping noise, causing the creature to almost fall over and pass out. Yet she held firm on her shaking and, with one last feat of strength, she tossed herself through the portal which dissappeared in whirring and popping.

Transportation and acquisition

Pain...that was all Layda felt. She couldn't open her eyes, and when the pain would dumb down, another "crack" or "snap" would bring it back in full force. She didn't know why, but she couldn't feel her body. At least, not in the same way as before. This was a dream. She was certain of it. Only, it was one of those dreams where your brain would actually simulate the pains in unknown ways. These were things she was definitely certain of. None of her dreams had ever come true, and she wouldn't let them take over her hopes of an adventure.
Pushing powerfully on her arms, Layda lift herself up slightly, only to fall back down on her stomach with a loud thumping.

"What's going on? I...I can't feel my fingers, or my feet for that matter..." *snap* " AGH! What is this? I couldn't have fallen down the stairs or something like that, could I? Hnngh. I'm...going...to...stand...UP!"

With a huge amount of strength, Layda pushed herself up, but, she couldn't move her legs, and her eyes remained shut.

"Come on you stupid eyes. Open up! Come on! Open!"

Layda started to clobber herself on the head, not paying attention to the apparent solidity of her hands. However, she did notice that there was some form of growth on her forehead.

"What the? What is this? A...a horn? Then..."

"Yes. That wasn't a dream. I keep my promises."

"Cosmos?"

"Perhaps I should help you with your new, magnificent eyes? Here we go."

"OWOWOWOWOW! Why does it hurt so much?"

"This is your new body. Of course its going to hurt. Now stop complaining and look around you."

At first, everything was a paining white to her eyes, but the surroundings started to take shape...even if it was just blurs at first. Layda wanted to rub her eyes to make the pain go away, but Cosmos wouldn't let her. As the images started to solidify, the woman found herself in a strange room. It was dark, and it seemed that there were signs of a small battle here. She was, if barely, standing on what seemed to be a slightly elevated podium. The windows around were mostly danged and turquoise in color. Vines stretched and crawled all along the walls and floors of this gray stone room. But, perhaps, the most disturbing part of it was the mark all around Layda. It seemed that there were black scorch marks that encircled her entirely.

She tapped them a few times, only to notice that her hands had turned into hooves within some type of silvery-blue armor. She had a sudden realization, and the sudden intake of air was met by her checking what she had become. She was now the pony resting within her inner world. She even had a tail! The only problem was her inability to properly move her hind-legs.

"You...you really did exist. And now I'm you? I must be the most beautiful creature in existence." Layda said in joy and awe.

The sound of Cosmos clearing her throat in certain embarrassment at this comment was soon followed by some words of counsel:

"Yes...well...I thank you for your generosity towards my looks."

"No problem. Everything I'm saying is true." The woman shouted proudly.
"Seeing as you were some sort of bipedal monkey, you must not have any true control on these new additions to your body."

"No. And don't call me a monkey again."

"My apologies. In the meantime, perhaps I should help you walk, then you can ask me some questions."

"I only have one, but please help me with these legs. It's annoying to see the hind ones just lying there like strings."

"...Well then. We shall begin. As you know, this is MY body, which I have now given to YOU. It is certainly...no...it IS the best of this world. Your soul and mind are not accustomed to it, so you must stop everything you are thinking of right now, and allow both mind and body to grab the "strings" of your new appendages and connect them to the rest of the cloth."

"That's a weird way of thinking." Layda said as she tried to look at her head.

"Just do it."

"Fine."

After an eye rolling, the new "Cosmos" closed her ocular organs once more and followed the true Cosmos' directions to the letter.

"Good. You are a natural at this. Now then, breathe calmly and slowly. Let the warmth of the moon-light reach into you and fill you with strength and power. Become a body within your body. Yes. Good. Now, stretch yourself. EVERYTHING! Let your whole body of old intertwine with your entire body of new. Grow your new wings and horn. Learn to walk as if you had returned to infancy. Let the starry mane and tail of your body flow freely in the night as you become one with the cosmos. Magnificent."

A little turquoise glow came from behind Layda's eyelids, and she quickly opened them to notice that she was standing up properly. She flexed her hind legs with a smile, and even flapped her wings a bit. The only thing she still couldn't control was her horn and...did Cosmos say her mane and tail?

"Hey. You said that your mane and tail were appendages?"

"No, but you are quite insightful. I will teach you how to control them...in time. Your horn as well, but, for now, you must learn how to fly."

"Fly?! I love flight! I'll be able to see everything from up there in the sky...I suddenly feel extremely warm. Is the sun out?"

"No. It is the moon. I am a being who takes her powers from that celestial object. You would do well to remember this, as it might aid you in the future."
"
Okay. So...how do I do this?"

Layda started to flap her wings crazily, expecting to lift off the ground and start flying like an expert. All she did was grunt and tire herself out. As she panted there, a facehoof could be heard.

"Not like that you foal! Spread your wings out, then keep them straight and flap once. Every time you start to fall, flap them again. When you must flap your wings again, bend them towards your body, then reach up and push them down once more. It is not that hard."

"Pff. Says you. You were born with these things. I wasn't. Humans aren't exactly "fly-worthy"." Layda complained as she worked with her wings.

"So I've seen. So? Are you lifting off yet?"

"There! Woah!"

The new Cosmos was flying, but barely. She couldn't exactly keep her balance and kept flying towards the walls and roof.

"Steady now! Your body is your control. If you tilt to the sides, you'll fall towards them. Think of your wings being a boat, and your body is the rudder."

"I did have a knack for driving boats...*shrug* into other boats and into walls."

"Ugh. I will take control of your wings for the time being. Just get out of this place. I do not like it here."

The woman crocked an eyebrow and tilted her head as she stared upwards again.

"Does it have something to do with the scorch marks over there?"

"Yes. Let's just say that they are the reason I no longer have a body." Cosmos seemed to emanate some anger at saying this, but Layda gave a smile and smacked her chest, giving off a metallic echo that bounced around the walls and finally traveled through the staircase in the distance.

"Don't worry. For what you have helped me with, you can stay within my inner world as long as you like. You have my trust and my body."

"T-thank you very much."

"Well then, let's go. I won't ask you about the scorch marks, but it would just be nice enough to see this new world from your perspective. Especially with these new eyes."

The true Cosmos chuckled, and Layda started to go down the steps of this place, occasionally tripping over but catching herself before imitating a slinky going down the circular stair-case. This place was in great ruin. Massive portions were taken over by nature, while others were just great holes which bore through walls and ceilings alike.

"Wow. This place has seen better days. So...are we there yet?"

"Just climb those set of steps over there and reach the roof. Be careful though. That roof is quite unstable and could easily break under your weight."

"You callin' me fat? 'Cause this IS your body after all." Layda spewed out while climbing up some more circular steps.

"Ugh. Just get up there, and I'll fly us towards the closest settlement."

"Are there other alicorns?"

"No. We are only four, as I have learned."

"OOO! So I'm a super rare kind. Awesome. Ah. We're here."

Indeed. Layda had finally reached the roof. It really was a mess. She kept tripping on some collapsing portions of it. This place was actually a castle in ruins, and all around it stood trees as far as the eye could see. Places where towers used to stand laid in broken ruins, as if something had snapped them off. Vines climbed all over their new territory like an invasion of an ants. Pieces of broken glass laid strewn about, victim of the foul powers of nature. This place truly was nothing but a ruined form of its true self. As Layda looked around this place while the bright white moon and its stars shone their pure light on the surface of this world, the woman heard flapping noises and noticed that she was starting to elevate ever higher into the air.

"Huh?"

"I've taken control of your wings. As long as the moon is out, I can help you fly until you are ready to do so."

"Oh...well thanks a lot. This still feels weird knowing that I'm not controlling a part of my body. That, and you gave me a heart-attack when I stepped in the moonlight."

"..."

"Yeah. Anyways, where are we going?"

"Somewhere. Look off into the distance."

It was very beautiful. It was autumn, and the trees were shedding their leaves. Of course, the nighttime didn't help them, so Layda couldn't see the colors properly. She still appreciated what little she saw, however. And the height she had gone to showed just how vast and varied this world was. Several mountains everywhere, someplace on mountains very far away that shone brightly. Even the clouds of this forest were quite beautiful. The woman couldn't help but smile like a little girl at these wonders. One little problem started, though. She had left the forest, and the moon suddenly and abruptly disappeared, leaving way for an empty sky that was just barely filling with light.

Suddenly, Layda's wings started to flap ever more slowly. She soon found herself beginning to fall, and tried her best to control these appendages, although she was now falling forwards at great speeds.

"H-hey! What gives?"

"I told you. My powers only work when there is moonlight. Now that the morning is rising, I don't have any control over your body. Just don't die here. You don't want your little adventure to truly BE little, do you?"

"No." Layda said in panic as the wind blew hard in her face.

"Good! Don't forget that your body is the rudder. Just try and land somewhere where damage will be a minimum."

"I'm not sure that will be of my choosing."

Layda really was clumsy with those wings. She found herself tilting randomly to the sides as she tried to balance herself. Evidently, Cosmos was going to be of no help as she gave out nothing but silence. The new Cosmos was going to have to deal with this on her own. She wasn't going to stay high in the air for long as she continued to tumble towards a tall hill.

"Great. So the last thing I'm going to see is a barn and an apple orchard...such VARIETY I've had here. Screw it. I'm not flying anymore. I'm pretty sure I can't die or be truly hurt here."

Layda crossed her forelegs and started to pout as she continuously spun and flipped towards the barn. Surprisingly for her, she had the reflex to put her wings in front of her body as she slammed through the roof of the red barn, falling through the second floor and bringing a huge amount of hay with her. She moaned loudly as it sounded like she had broken something...again.

"What was that?" shouted a voice from outside.

"It came from the barn. Ah'll go 'n check it out sis!"

"No Applebloom! Wait!"

Adorable little bow

"..."

Layda only had her horn and glowing draconic eyes that could still be seen in the pile of hay and destroyed wood. The steps were getting closer and louder the longer she waited within the yellow pile. As her heart started to race in excitement, a weak voice was heard:

"What are you doing? Hide!"

"Huh? So now you want to talk. You should've done so before." Layda pouted.

"Not so loud. Don't forget that I died here. If they see me, they will become insane, so just close your eyes and lay back so that my...*sigh*...YOUR horn can't be seen."

"Fine, but you better make it up to me later on."

Doing what she was told, the new Cosmos snuggled bakwards even deeper into this uncomfortable pile, as to only have her eyes free from the mess, and closed her glowing spectacles. Unfortunately, the horn was so long that a small portion of the tip still showed from the heap. Layda kept her eyes closed as she heard little hooves scampering on the ground. They suddenly stopped, stressing the new alicorn.

"Wuts that?" it asked.

It was obviously the sound of a little female. What was the name again? A filly, of course.

"Wow. Whatever that is, it sure done a good hole in the roof. Let's see if ah can grab it."

The little filly was obviously starting to climb the pile of debris, but was having some trouble climbing up. She stepped several times on Layda's forehooves. Only the armor that she wore protected her. Then again, the creature was too small to properly hurt her.

*poke*

"OW!"

Layda threw herself out of the heap while clutching the area of her left eye. The filly was thrown back in surprise and confusion after apparently poking the creature in the eye. She rolled on her flank and rubbed her head.

"Ah'm sorry. I didn't meant to...N-N-N-"
"Hm?"

Layda was quite frustrated and let her two legs stomp on the ground as she stared at the tiny thing before her. Mouth gaping open and eyes shaking. Cosmos' eyes widened as she saw the little thing. It was barely an apple high, and it had a vanilla-colored coat and a fluffy red mane and tail. But the thing that made Layda wince in overload was the giant bow and the those big sad eyes that the filly had.

"Hnnnngh!" Layda thought as she started to bite her hoof-armor and tried to avert eye-contact with the little thing.

"What's wrong with you? It's just a little filly. Get away while you can!"

"I can't...she's too adorable. I cannot resist the power of the adorable...hnnngh!"

"NO! Close your eyes and flee! Do not give...I can't believe I'm saying this. Do not give in to the cute...*facehoof*"

"I can't! Her eyes are starting to get watery! I'm...not...going...to..."

"Oh come one! You must be joking! You cannot be that susceptible?"

"Hnnnngh...I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

Layda lunged at the little filly with a the smile of a little girl and grabbed the little filly in her forelegs and started to rub her against her face and occasionally pull her back out to see the little thing staring at her in fear and confusion.

"Awwww! Lookityou! You're so small and CUTE."

She hugged the filly hard again.

"And that wittle bow in your mane is SOOOOOOOOO adorable!"

"Wha-"

"Hey! Let go of...Apple...bloom?"

"Hm?"

Layda was gleefully smiling as she looked at two other ponies in the entrance.

"Applejack! Big Mac! Make her let go of me. She's actin' wierd." Applebloom said as she tried to push her way out of the grasp of Cosmos.

"Horse apples. I didn't think you were this vulnerable. Hmm. I will have to take this into account in the future."

"Uhh...l-l-listen here. C-can ya let g-go of mah sis? Ya don't need ta hurt her or anythin'."

"Why would I hurt her. Here you go." Layda said as she lowered the little filly to the ground.

Applebloom scurried all the way behind Big Mac, who strongly stood tall and put a hoof to protect her. Applejack, on the other hoof, felt something wierd about this character whom she already knew all too well. She moved slowly forward while eyeing the alicorn top to bottom.

"Luna?"

"Who?"

"Wh...ya can't be Nightmare Moon. That's impossible."

"Whose Nightmare Moon? I'm..."

Layda paused as she wasn't sure what she could say. The real Cosmos began to talk to her again in reassurance:

"Just say Cosmos Lune."

"But they already know you."

The three ponies stared at Mare in the moon who started to talk to herself.

"Just do it!"

"Fine. Geez. My name is Cosmos Lune. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Cosmos Lune? Did ya bonk yer head on somethin'? Ya ain't that! Yer Nightmare Moon! You really let yerself go in trickery. I'll stop you right here!"

Applejack charged at the dark alicorn who just stared at her in a bored manner, only to yelp in pain and scare the three ponies after a swift buck to the chest.

"OW! Why would you do that? I didn't do anything to you! That hurts. That's some kick you got there. Quite impressive."

"Aw shucks. That's...hey! Don't try 'n go trickin' me with yer fancy hoof shinin'!"

"What? What's wrong with you all? I mean, sure. I smashed up your barn, but it's not like I did it on purpose. I still don't know how to control these beautiful wings."

"She doesn't know how ta control her own wings?" Big Mac said out loud.

"Ah told ya she's been acting wierd. Did ya see how she was huggin' me?" Applebloom yelled angrily from behind the protection of her big brother's legs.

"Why wouldn't I? You're adorable!"

"Hmmm. Ah'll go tell Twilight 'bout this. Lyra and Bon-Bon might have to cancel their appointment. And you...uh...what was yer name again?"

"Cosmos Luna."

"Yeaaaahh." AJ rolled her eyes." That. You stay here. Ah want you ta guard her Big Mac. Don't let her out. Go back ta the house Applebloom."

"Uhhh, Applejack? I have school taday."

"Oh.Heheh. Ah fergot 'bout that. Have a nice day at school then."

As AJ continued to smile nervously, the little filly sterned, then walked back to the house to get her things and to go to her learning center. However, the cowpony gave a serious look at Cosmos, who didn't care much, and soon walked towards Ponyville. A few minutes passed as Big Mac stayed in front of the only exit. His face stern and full of power. Layda rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"What are you doing? You aren't going to listen to that simpleton are you? Answer me in thought so that the red behemoth over there doesn't hear us."

"That cowpony told me not to move. I don't want to upset them."

"Yeah? Well I haven't told you about the ones who rule this place. They did not take kindly to me when I met them, and they certainly will not take kindly to you now that the backwater mare knows of your existence."

"I'll have you know that her southern accent is quite nice. It actually seems to fit these three quite well. I also thought that you had told me that you had died or something like that."

"Yes...well...don't you want to see something OTHER than a dumbed down castle and a broken barn?"

"YES! I don't want to stay here anymore! I want to see this place without causing any trouble."

A long moment of silence only interrupted by a cough from Big Mac flew through the atmosphere like stale air. Tasteless, but still there for survival.

"Well?"

"I'm...I'm afraid you have to use...seduction!"

"*gasp* You won't like that with your body, will you?"

"No. Make it quick. I'm embarassed enough as is. It's one thing to be elegant and beautiful, it's another to use it like some downtown alley peasant."

"Okey-dokey."

Layda gave Big Mac a very...persuasive look and fluttered her eyes gently as she slowly walked towards him. He stood firm, but his legs started to wobble. She stopped right next to him and turned slowly around, making sure to smack her etheral tail in his face. Big Mac already started to sweat.

"Now, what's a big, strong stallion like yourself doing here? Shouldn't you already have somebody special?"

"N-n-n-nope."

Big Mac started shaking heavily and was biting his lower lip as he stared at Cosmos in a waterfall of sweat. It didn't help as this character closened to his face ever so slowly, still adorning those eyes. She slowly moved forward, forcing the bright-red stallion to push his head back in pure stress.

"What's the matter? Can't stand the prescence of a Mare other than your sisters? Awww. Poor little guy."

*flop*

"Nnah!"

Layda jumped back in terror, shielding her face with her hoof. She saw that the stallion had fallen over, still bright red. She walked curiously towards the body and kicked it lightly.

"What'd you do?"

"I just used my way of getting what I want from my boyfriends. I still have my pride." she said snobbishly with her muzzle in the air." But, man. Even Thomas wasn't this fragile. These stallions aren't as tough as I thought they would be. Pff."

"Only on your boyfriends? Then why did you do it to him?"

"Because you told me it was the only way."

"Well, yeah but...never mind. Let's just continue our way. I don't want to remember this."

"Hahaha!"

"What?"

"He's got a silly smile on his face."

"...I will kill you with my own hooves if you don't get a move on."

"Yeah. I'd like to see you try." Layda said with crossed forelegs.

"Please. Your dream is my nightmare. Please just get going."

"Awww. What's the matter? Thought I was going to abuse of this gift? Like I said before, you have my trust and my body. I won't spoil what has been offered so generously to me."

Layda exited the barn, quickly looking left and right for any signs of anything that might be troublesome. Only the breeze of fresh, apple-pie scented air and the greenest of grass. The apple trees were all shades of orange, red, and brown. Even in the distance, there was nothing but leaves flying and...ponies?

"Pegasi? Cool. I guess that makes sense seeing as I have wings."

"I'm very tired here. So if you could reach someplace where we could sleep."

"But it's day! I really can't sleep during the day!"

"*sigh*. Will you be able to handle while I rest?"

"Hopefully."

"That doesn't reassure me. At. All."

"You worry too much. Besides, now that they know of me...err...you...us? Whatever. Now that they know, word will certainly spread throughout this place that you have returned. They'll certainly be happier than those three."

"Yes...happy. I hope you are right.. I must rest now. Do whatever you want, but make sure it doesn't infuriate me when I awake."

"I'm quivering."

Cosmos didn't answer, so Layda decided that she would go see that "school" that Appleflower, or whatever her name was again, mentioned earlier. But which direction to take? Oh well. A random choice wouldn't hurt her here.

It followed me

It was still early in the morning, the rays of orange sunlight trying their best to illuminate the world which they layed themselves upon. The shadows of the night still claimed most territories as their own, but eventually, the sun would prove triumphant, and the chilly breezes flowing and chaffing Layda's body and fce would be replaced by a comforting warmth. Surprisingly, there was noone walking along the paths of the farm. It was just Layda, the dirt path, and the dewy grassy hills nearby. As she feared, a fork presented itself in her past.

"Hmm." she moaned sadly." How am I supposed to reach the school...and what does it even look like? Heh. I bet they don't even know what giant schools look like, so they have some sort of western styled schools. Gotta git 'er ta da new town fer da gold rush!" she mocked as she stook her teeth out and crossed her eyes. Something not too "royalty" in anypony's opinion. "What do you think Cosmos? .....Oh...right. Well, let's see...A path on the right that seems to go really close to that forest I came from, and the one that looks like it's going towards civilization...no contest here. To civilization!"

It took awhile, but the sight of a town started to come into view more properly then earlier. Even the sight of pegasi flying about everywhere made Layda stress and laugh in excitement. However, she heard someponies talking, and jumped into a very large bush that just happenned to be near her. No. It wasn't big enough to hide her entirely, but it was enough for her to hide behind. The passing ponies, luckily, didn't notice Layda flank passing through the bushes, and continued their way while gossiping obout a "Pinkie Pie" or something like that.

"Lucky me." Cosmos said as she poked her head out of the bushes. "Hm? You've gotta be kidding me."

At the bottom of the hill Layda was on, sat a little school. It was really old fashioned. The typical church-like appearance with the bell hanging in a mini-tower at the front, just waiting to ring to let the kids out, but not doing so for extended pleasure of torture. Layda frowned at the appearance of this place.

"Pff. I called it. I feel lonely without Cosmos talking to me...and I feel wierd talking to myself. Ugh. Let's go in for a closer look."

It would appear that, the closer Layda got to the school, the more the little ponies in it would shiver. It wasn't that cold, and it would seem that the draconic eyes of Cosmos gave her an amazing sight. She could actually see what they were...writing from so far away.

"How are they even writing? They don't have fingers! I'll have to ask Cosmos once the day is done."

The new Cosmos had finally reached the school, and poked her head up from under the windows. Of course, not being used to this body, she forgot about her very long horn, which scraped slightly against the window, causing everypony inside to stare at her creepy eyes. Most of them lashed back, but two of them had a unique reaction. It was Applebloom, who flung out of her chair and hid behind Scootaloo, and Pip, who looks so happy that he yelled "Princess Luna!" so loud that Layda heard it from outside.

The Rasberry purple mare looked astonished at the sight and quickly galopped to the door, to open it on an unsuspecting alicorn. She was...strange. Her mane and tail were similar in style to Applebloom's. They stopped into little lumps of fur as the majority of the mane and tail were of a pinkish hue, save for the middle of the mane which had more of a whiteish appearance. On her flank were three daisies. This confused Layda. She was sure she didn't see these earlier with the other three ponies.

"Come right in, princess. I don't know what this sudden arrival is for, and I don't know why you took on that frightening appearance when it isn't nightmare night, but I am pleased that you have come."

"But I-"

"It's quite alright. Please. Do come in."

Layda was forced into the room despite her efforts to stay out of the school by using her hooves as anchors. Being pushed to the front of the class was causing the floor boards to bend and break as that teacher pushed the new Cosmos to the front. Layda never had much trouble with being in classes, but going to the front was another thing. That being said, she was still in the prescence of several little colts and fillies. Her heart started to beat wildly as she started to have a cuteness overload. Even the filly from before was here.

"This is princess Luna in Nightmare Moon's shape."

"I-"

"Can anypony tell me something you would to say to her while she is like this? Yes, Diamond Tiara?"

The little filly of purple and white stood up with a smug look on her face and her tiara shining brightly as if looking over the petty commoner. Layda found her adorable, but there was just something about her that she couldn't stand.

"Yes. I would like you to know that, like, my dad is the richest pony in Ponyville. So, that like, makes me reaaaaaly important. Much more important than these ponies who spend their days in the mud."

Everypony in the class, except for her friend Silverspoon, gave her a eath glare. This failed to impress her as she looked at the giant standing right next to a surprisingly small Cheerilee. "Luna" did not seem pleased at all.

"Hmph."

"What?"

"A true superior character does not boast about it loudly. Some...pony of importance does not say that they have an excessive amount of money and yell the amount on the roofs for everyone to hear. A true leader listens to its people and, through this, learns of humility and righteousness. It is not by possessing shiny trinkets that you are more important than anybody else.
If you learn this, than you will be allowed to boast, but will you really want to?"

As stumped by this sentence as everypony was, Diamond Tiara was the one who was the most shocked. She had always wanted to say this to a princess, and now that she proclaimed her obvious superiority, she had been yelled at and verbally disciplined. She was sure that the princess would have agreed and taken her to the castle as "royalty" . With disgusted astonishment and an open jaw, she sat back down.

"Um...so...anypony else?"

"Oh! Me!"

"Yes, Pip?"

"Can I hug the princess? I know she's Nightmare Moon here, but can I still hug her?"

"Uhhhh."

Cheerilee looked up in confusion at the princess, who didn't seem to mind at all.

"Sure." Layda replied "Why not."

"Yay!"

The little puppy-sized colt galopped all the way to the front of the class and grabbed Cosmo's leg. Layda was so enamored by how adorable he looked that she didn't pay attentin to what he had called her. He just looked like a tiny dog with all his spots and his little head. He even looked up to her with big eyes full of joy. She couldn't help but pick him up and hug him in return.
This was truly a great moment for the little guy. He pushed himself off slightly and asked Layda:

"Um. Could you go back to yourself now? I like you like this, but I think it's much better whenyou are normal."

"I am normal..."

"No you aren't. You're Nightmare Moon right now." he said with a smile.

"Who?"

"What are you-" Cheerilee started, only to be interrupted by Applebloom.

"That isn't princess Luna. That's really Nightmare Moon!"

"I don't get it. Is 'Nightmare Moon' some joke or prank? I'm Cosmos Luna, not Nightmare Moon."

Everypony in the room started to panic at the sight of Cosmos' eyes started to fill with a similarity or anger.

"P-princess. You're joking right? Surely, you are just messing around?" Cheerilee started to panic.

"Okay, let's get things straight. I do not know what a 'Nightmare Moon' is, nor who this 'Luna' character is. Now STOP calling me that!" She yelled furiously with a stomp after putting Pip back on the ground.

Unfortunately, one of the fillies yelled:

"NIGHTMARE MOON IS BACK! RUN!"

Naturally, the only scenario that could follow was a massive panic as everypony ran out of the school screaming and kicking. Layda was utterly destroyed by how they reacted to her. She was sure that this was her own adventure, one that wouldn't bother her and be her own good little dream. Instead, it was turning into a nightmare. She may have been the most elegant and beautiful of "alicorns" and ponies by her tastes, but the others didn't exactly seem to like her. Someone had alot of explaining to do when they woke up.

Getting out of the school in frustration, Cosmos walked towards the town, thinking that this was just an overreaction. Many mistakes were learnt from here, and, hopefully, this problem certainly wouldn't happen again.

The strings of candy

Walking down the same path that the colts and fillies took yielded the same results with everypony who was on it. They ran away screaming and yelling. Pouting, Layda thought to herself:

"Pfff. Some 'dream'. How am I supposed to have fun or see dragons or something like that. Maybe even a creature that I've never seen back on Earth. Hmph. Instead, I get adorable little things that run away once they see me. What did Cosmos ever do that could have scared everyone so badly? Heheh. I bet that she tied to give an 'eternal night'. Ha! That would be ridiculous, although it would kill everything off after quite awhile."

Layda shrugged her thoughts off and marched towards the little town of Ponyville, not noticing the similarity of darkness that seemed to surround her despite the friendly smile crossing her face.

In the town everypony was busy buying things at the markets. It was the market rush, where beings from near and far would travel from town to town to sell a wide assortment of wares and foods. As negotiations were being made and objects were being packaged, a strong gust of cold wind blew through their collecive spines. Turning around nervously, everypony started to gasp as they saw little fillies and colts running wildly through the streets yelling:

"Nightmare Moon is back! Run!"

They all stared at these little children running towards their houses or running to the parents who were apparently shopping at the markets. As some started to watch the children be recomforted and others continued to tend with their shoppingn thinking that the previous shout-out was just the kids making a prank. Although some of them wondered why they weren't in school. These thoughts gave fruit when the appearance of a giant black alicorn wearing blueish armor stomped its presence near the entrance of the town. Layda was happy to see such a huge community full of somewhat strangely colored creatures. The second she took a step forward, panic began.

The new Cosmos' mood dropped to a decimated point as everyone started to run for their houses, destroying everything in the way. She had to stop this, and started to gallop towards the panicking scene.

"Wait! What's wrong? I didn't do anything. Stop running away. Huh?"

Some of the ponies had erected a weird barrier with the market stands and were hiding behind it, only letting the tops of their heads and their eyes stay visible. There was a single cheese colored staliion with carrot-colored mane and tail and what looked like weird lazy-eyes that was standing on it.

This wierd guy had a slice of cheese as a cutie mark. The most remarkable characteristic about this guy was his eyes. Layda just couldn't figure them out. Sure, they were golden, but they seemed to flop and spin randomly and wildly. How did he even see?

He suddenly roared out in a booming voice:

"Throw the CHEEEESE!"

Surely enough, the new Cosmos was getting cheese of all sorts thrown at her. Despite her protests, they continued.

Meanwhile, Applejack was walking with Twilight, Lyra, and Bon-Bon towards the market square in order to reach the Apple farm. The cowpony had to show her friend who she had found, and the two mares accompagnying them were going to leave Twilight at the markets. It was going to take a bit of buying to make the new foods the librarian lent them.

"-and so ah left 'er at mah barn. Hopefully, Big Macintosh is enough ta keep 'er at bay."

"Applejack, I seriously doubt that it could be Nightmare Moon. Luna WAS the mare in the moon, remember?"

"Yeah, but ah can't help but think that-

"Ya know, we can hear you quite well." Bon-Bon said in her rather elegant voice.

"That's okay. We're not exactly trying to keep something so ridiculous a se-" Twilight stopped abruptly.

Looking up front, one could see that crazy stallion Mangellis throwing cheese at Nightmare Moon. It's not just that that cretin was using dairy products as a weapon, but that Nightmare Moon, despite the impossibility of her being there, wasn't even fighting back using her magic.

"Is that...is that N-N-Nightmare Moon?!" Lyra screamed as she stood behind Bon-Bon.

"Yeah. See? What'd ah tell ya Twi? Isn't that proof enou..." AJ suddenly facehoofed. " What was Big Mac doin'? What'd she do ta him?"

"I don't think that's truly Nightmare Moon." Twilight said as she looked at the scene in a questioning way.

"Whadda ya mean?"

"Look. She isn't using her magic. And now that her tail has moved away...she has no cutie mark." Twilight was squinting.

"Huh? Yer right, but wasn't that the princesses' cutie mark?"

"Maybe, but this just gives further proof that it can't be the true Nightmare Moon."

"Then what is she? Maybe we should help her." Bon-Bon proposed.

Applejack averted her face from the alicorn who was becoming a cheesy mess. Eventually, she was being taken by remorse. She hated Nightmare Moon in her entirety, and although a large portion of her was telling Applejack to leave the alicorn to her cheesy dilemma, another portion was telling her that Twilight was right.

"*sigh* Fine. Let's go help 'er."

Twilight and Bon-Bon nodded. The three quickly galopped towards the scene, leaving Lyra to float in the air like she was still lying down on Bon-Bon's back. Barely a second later and she was on the floor, coughing with the dust everywhere. She stood back up and, with a look of worry on her face, hurried towards the three others.

Finally in place, Lyra could see Applejack and Twilight arguing with Mangellis, whose eyes kept flopping and spinning wildly. Bon-Bon was trying her best to get the cheese off Cosmos with a rather long stick she found, but all it did was just get entangled.

"Ah hate ta say it, but ah don't think that's Nightmare." AJ said as she pointed towards the cheese alicorn.

"That's not true. Iz got ta be 'er. Look! She's Nightmare Moon!"

"No! You all know that only Princess Luna was Nightmare Moon, and that we helped her become herself again. Whoever this is, she has some strange appearance similarities that I'd need to check up on."

"No! Iz the mare in the moon! It's-ooooooh!"

Applejack was holding some mozarella in her hoof and was swaying it in front of Mangellis' face. The idiotic cheese -making stallion just stared at the pieces of white that had flown to the floor during the fight.

"Ya see the cheese? Go GET the cheese!" Applejack said as she threw the mozarella against a buildin's wall.

"I GOT *THUMP*."

After seeing the idiot smack into a wall and pass out, the group that was following Mangellis simultaneously groaned and facehoofed. They apologized and walked away while still giving menacing glares towards Cosmos. Applejack snorted in disgust, but walked towards the cheese-drenched alicorn.

"Oh. It's you." Cosmos said half-heartedly.

"Yeah. Sorry 'bout bickin' ya earlier."

"Thank you for apologizing, but I should also apologize. I'm not used to flying, and I crashed through your barn's roof."

"N-n-not used to flying? B-but you're an alicorn! You should know how to fly!" Lyra nervously stuttered.

"Well, this isn't exactly...never mind."

"Isn't exactly what?" Bon-Bon tried to say while pulling on some hardening cheese.

"Nothing. Let's leave it at that."

"Do you have anyplace to stay?" Twilight stared curiously at the now free face of Nightmare Moon "And do you have a name?"

"To answer your questions in order, no. And my name is Cosmos Lune."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Twilight Sparkle. My friend here is Applejack."

"Howdy.

"And I'm Bon-Bon. My scared friend there is Lyra. She's a harpist."

The turquoise colored pony was trying to shrink down as much as possible

"So...where is she going to stay?" Bon-Bon asked.

Everypony stared at Applejack.

"Oh no. She still destroyed mah barn. Ah ain't got room fer a giant like her anyways. No offense."

"None taken."

"And my library is too small for her."

The two mares stared at the others cleaning Cosmos up.

"What? No!" Lyra protested.

"Well, you're the only ones whose house is big enough for her."

"Yeah. Great." Lyra frowned and stared angrily at the ground. Bon-Bon tapped her on the back.

"Sure. We'll do that. She can stay with us until things are sorted out. AND we can help her with some...errr...social problems."

"What social problems."

Bon-Bon stared awkwardly at the situation. Luckily, Twilight broke the silence:

"Well then, I can see that you've had a bad day. So, I'll let the girls take care of you while I send a report to princess Luna."

"OH! By the way. Who is princess Luna? And who is Nightmare Moon?"

Everypony that heard stuck their heads out cautiously to stare at Cosmos. Even Applejack and Twilight were shocked.

"Wait...so...you don't remember anything?" Twilight asked.

"What am I supposed to remember exactly? This is the first time I've come here."

"Mhmm. Applejack" Twilight whispered "I think that this really isn't the mare in the moon. Perhaps some time with those will help things out, and I can get to the bottom of things."

"Yeah. Let's just go." Applejack stopped being secretive and hollered with a smile "Well. We best be gettin' going. See y'all later then."

"Buh bye." Lyra shouted as her friend gave a more distinguished method of farewell giving.

"You already forgot about our guest?" Bon-Bon said with a sarcastic smile. Lyra's pupils shrunk. as her foreleg lowered slowly down.

"Oh...right.

The raging Nightmare

Luna was sitting upon the throne of Canterlot, the night having taken its shift on the world and drenching it in the soothing moonlight of the princess' moon. However, despite the night having come, Celestia was still up. Her sister had awoken in a cold sweat, and this worried the sun princess. The dream?

Luna was in her room, repositioning some stars like an artist painting a canvas. Everypony was in the Canterlot castle grounds to watch how the princess did such a splendid thing, and, once she was done, cheering echoed wildly throughout the land. Smiling as she took the approval of her subjects, she closed the door to her balcony and turned around to go see her sister. Problem is, she didn't notice everything being engulfed in an astral cloud of darkness and dead stars. As she called out to her sister, she heard some sort of whispering echoing around her room, and everything started to dissappear into darkness. Panicking, and calling for her sister, Luna started to back up while her eyes darted around the room as the whispers became louder and louder. She was stopped after hearing a bump, and turned to face a mirror.

Leaning closer to it in curiosity, Luna saw her reflection starting to change. Her eyes became turquoise and draconic, giving her curiosity away for panic and stress. She started to sweat and her heart began to race as she saw an angry image of Nightmare Moon in the mirror. The astral mane and tail of the mare in the moon started to seep out of the edges of the mirror and began to attach themselves to the moon princess. It felt like a parasite crawling underneath her skin and trying to feed onto her mind.

"You separated us, Luna. I won't let that happen again. This time, I'm staying with you, and you will not cast me off like some insect's molted skin. I WILL take my old body back."

Luna tried to speak, but nothing except black fumes left her mouth. She turned tail and ran towards the darkness, trying to yell out for her sister, but nothing came out. The blackness around converged onto her all at once. Feeling herself becoming Nightmare Moon once again, Luna began to tear the blackness off of her coat. Fury began to well inside of her as she saw Celestia at a distance. She smiled happily as she was reaching her sister. Unfortunately, an evil laugh echoed throughout the room, and Luna tripped and fell over. She reached for her sister, only to see this one turn around and gasp in horror.

"Oh no! Nightmare Moon! I'm sorry Luna, but this time the elements will not be able to save you. I must banish you back into the moon forever."

Celestia closed her eyes as her horn started to glow. Luna was crying out that she wasn't her evil counter-part, yet, something wierd happened. Celestia herself began to transform into some flaming version of herself.

"Too bad Luna. With you gone, I can corrupt your sister and I won't have any issues with destroying everything. See you never."

Luna felt several spears piering her body as she was once again cast into the moon. She tried to scream, but ther was nothing but void around her. This time, her sister would not be there.

Just thinking about that dream caused the princess to shudder. She still didn't tell her sister about it either. However, Celestia did notice something wrong happening earlier with lifting the moon. Despite Luna using the same amount of magic as she has always done, the moon just didn't seem to want to climb. Something was terribly wrong, and the sun princess did not like that.

Walking closer to her sister, Celestia asked:

"What's wrong Luna? Surely, you could tell me."

"It...it's nothing. I do not wish to bother you with my insignificant bad dreams."

"Tell me Luna. I know that it will only eat you up from the inside if you don't tell me."

The moon princess sighed and told the dream to Celestia, who seemed shocked and disgusted and terrified by such a thought. What kind of madness was transpiring? Surely, Nightmare Moon could not "infect" her, nor could it still live as it was simply Luna's jealousy.

"Luna, that was only a dream. You don't need to worry about it. "

"I know, but I can feel the nightmare out there. It is still very much alive."

"But it has been so long! The elements of harmony detroyed it."

"Sister!" Luna yelled with a face of firm conviction "It was once a part of me, and I created it. I can feel her out there. Yet..."

"Yet what?"

"She is tremendously weakened, even if her power is steadily rising. There is another entity in her way. I...I can't figure out what it is." Luna moaned as she put a hoof to her head and closed her eyes for a better concentration.

"Do you feel evil coming from it?"

"No. It feels more like naive good."

"Naive good?"

"Yes. The creature aiding does not know the nightmare's true form, but is still aiding it out of a good will."

"That is strange. Perhaps I should inform the elements of harmony?"

"No. Just in-case this is all just a trick from my senses. We shouldn't alert anypony."

"Fine. But I will keep a high alert on the whereabouts of the nightmare."

"Thank you, Celestia."

"Goodnight Luna."

The moon princess nodded to her sister, who went down the steps of the throne and towards the giant doors that granted one entry or sortie of the gigantic room.

Layda was standing in a rather small room with two beds slid against eachother. It wasn't anything special, and the beds pretty much filled the room in its entirety. The new Cosmos had removed her armor, allowing Lyra to clean it, despite the turquoise mare's protests and fears. Bon-Bon was the one to get Cosmos to her new room.

"Here you go Cosmos. This should fit you just right."

Layda looked around, then hopped on her bed. She chuckled a bit as the things started to bounce somewhat.

"I don't know what to say. You're housing me and I don't have anything to pay you off with."

"Well, I don't know what you really are capable of, but I'm sure it'll come in handy later on. And you look much prettier without that metal all over you."

"Really?" Cosmos said as she looked over herself.

"Yup. Well, it's pretty late, why not go to sleep?"

"Sure. Whatever. It feels like I haven't slept for two days."

"Oooo. Goodnight then."

"Have a nice sleep."

Bon-Bon closed the door, leaving the small window to send in barely enough moonlight to brighten the place up. The light was reaching the end of the second bed, so Layda flipped the covers and the pillows to the other side in order to recieve all the moonlight.

"There we go. Now to...wait...how am I supposed to sleep? Um...err...like this? No. Like this...not that either. What the f..."

It took about fifteen minutes before Layda gave up and just fell to her side.

"This should work. Time to go see Cosmos."

Layda was herself again within the autumn world of her soul. Cosmos Lune was standing right in front of her.

"Hi Cosmos." she said after giving the mare a hug.

"Yes, yes. Now then, where are we?"

"Inthe house of Bon-Bon and Lyra."

"That's good. We won't-what did you just say?"

"You heard me."

"GRGH."

"You okay?" Layda asked after seeing Cosmos twitch.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'M NOT!"

"What's wrong with this situation?"

"I suppose you also met Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes."

Cosmos looked like her head was about to pop.

"Great. GREAT! She's going to send a message to the princesses and get us both killed."

"What do you mean?"

"Who do you THINK destroyed my body?"

"...oh."

"Exactly!"

"That Twilight Sparkle and her friends were the main reason. Hopefully, they haven't tried to kill you yet."

"No. They actually seem kinda friendly, although they were confusing me with a 'Nightmare Moon'. Do you know who that is?"

"Not the slightest. You should start learning how to control the magic in your body as well as learn how to fly."

"*GASP* Magic? When do we start?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"What?" Layda said as her excitement gave way to annoyance.

"This can only be done while awake, just like with your wings. Now go into your dream world while I absorb the moonlight that you placed yourself in."

"Okay. See you in the morning."

As Layda slowly faded away, Nightmare Moon became extremely irritated.

"I left for five monutes and now we're already in this situation. Idiot."

Catastrophic magical attempts

The morning was given a new birth by the first rays of sunlight that shone brightly in Layda's sleeping eyes. She slammed her hooves to her eyes and screamed:

"AAAAAH! Lazers in my eyes!"

Before falling off the bed. She looked around in confusion as her eyes squinted from the amount of light managing to flash through the small window.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Cosmos roared within Layda's head.

"Well excuse me for dreaming. I didn't know that that was sunlight. You really are head-strung today."

"Whatever. Your 'pals' are at the door."

Bon-Bon opened the door in a panic, only to see Cosmos on the floor with the comforter underneath her.

"What...what happened here?" the elegant pony asked.

"Uhhh...I fell off the bed."

"Who were you talking to?"

"Just mumbling in my sleep."

"Uh-huh." she said with an eye squint. "Why not come downstairs? I have breakfast ready."

"Really? I thought I was going to make my own breakfast."

"No. You're a guest here. Therefore, we must make you a good way to wake up."

"Thanks alot."

The two left the room to reach the kitchen downstairs. The house was pretty big but also very plain. Some decorations over here, a picture frame there. It was too big for them to fill up on their own, so many parts of the wooden pieces were left as they were. The place was pretty bare, but it was homely. The table in the big kitchen was covered in muffins of diverse compositions, toast, cereal, and so on.

"Wow. This looks delicious!" Layda started to foam at her mouth from the pure excitement. Come to think of it, she hadn't eaten in several days.

"Well, you should thank Lyra for this. She's a great cook."

The turquoise mare seemed a bit jittery. She tried to blush, but was too scared of the Nightmare in front of her.

"Thank you very much. Umm...I think I'll sit on the floor. I'm a bit too big for these chairs."

"What do you mean 'too big'?"

"These ponies are one third your size! Don't you think we're a bit big for their furniture?"

"...That would be logical. My grandeur can only be held within so much."

"Yes. Because you're so special."

"You okay?" Bon-Bon asked.

"Hm? Yes. I tend to mutter to myself while thinking."

"I see..."Bon-Bon replied while sitting at the table to eat.

"Well, can we get to eating?"

"S-sure." Lyra stuttered.

A few minutes later, the whole group was satisfied, but Lyra had barely eaten anything but toast, as she kept her eyes on Cosmos the entire time.

"Well, Cosmos, if you want, we can show you around Ponyville. Perhaps, with us, everypony will be less scared of you." Bon-Bon said with a crocked eyebrow.

Layda scratched the back of her head in nervousness.

"No. We must work on your flying and magic control. Decline the proposal."

"Fine. Sorry, but I have things to do. Sorry again."

"That's okay. Just don't go too far, or you'll get in trouble."

"Will do."

Once Cosmos left the house, Lyra turned to Bon-Bon and started to speak in panic:

"What went through your mind when you brought her to our house? That's Nightmare Moon!"

"No...it isn't...I can feel it. That's her body, but there is something else."

"So you're saying she has a spark of kindness?" Lyra mocked as she pranced around.

"No. I just don't think that it's the Mare in the moon that we saw before. She's much kinder and different...and weird."

"Weird? What's weirder than being part of somepony, then getting separated and getting your own body?"

"The way you sit?"

"I...You win this round."

Bon-Bon smirked at her friend's remark.

Meanwhile, Layda had gone to the outskirts of the city while being careful not to go too far, as asked. She sat down and started to knock on her head.

"Hey. Cosmos. Helooooo. We're here."

"Hm? So we are. Apologies. I was...doing something."

"That's great. Can we get to the training? I'm eager to know how to use magic."

"Fine. But first we...where's my armor?"

"I guess I forgot to put it on."

Layda couldn't see her, but she knew that Cosmos was raging and trying to destroy everything around her before slowly calming down.

"Fine. You need a feeling to control your magic and concentrate it through the horn. Let me show you. You see that rock in front of us? I'll turn it into gold temporarily."

Layda scrunched her face as her horn began to glow quite brightly. Fom it burst a black ray with white sparkles within it. It struck the rock, which turned from its granite grey, to a glorious gold. The new Cosmos hunched over it and "oooed" at its appearance.

"Wow. That was pretty cool. That tickled and felt like...something else."

"Yes. Well, let's start then. Try and recreate the feeling. You don't need to do what I just did. Just try and recreate the feeling. Use your mind, and feel the horn. It is a simple extension of your body. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Okay. Here goes."

Layda began to concentrate without forcing herself too much. As time passed, her horn started to hum and glow with powerful magic, albeit too much magic. She opened her eyes to see that the magic swirling around her horn looked like a galaxy.

"That's beautiful."

"NO YOU FOAL! DON'T LOSE CONCENTRATION!"

"Uh-oh."

All of a sudden, Cosmos was thrust about, and the galaxy around her horn flung away like a disc into the ground, digging through the earth and spitting up dirt. Layda got back up, difficultly, and moaned.

"Ow. What happened?"

"You've summoned some shard scorpions, that's what happened!"

"Some what?"

The floor began to rumble, and from where the disc cut through, two gigantic black scorpions erupted. They had several portions of their bodies covered in a glowing green jewel, but that wasn't easily noticeable with the sun being out. The creatures snapped their pincers before starting to move towards Ponyville.

"Woops."

"HEY!" a voice yelled.

Layda looked around to try and locate the source, but she was hit by something charging into her and flopping onto the ground.

"Oh no. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm- *gasp* Nightmare Moon! So you released those monsters?" spoke Rainbow Dash.

"I didn't do it on purpose! And who is Nightmare Moon? Why are you all calling me that?"

"Huh?"

"No matter. We need to stop those things."

"Right. I'm watching you, though. Do anything funny and I'll tackle you."

"Because that worked so well before?"

"I...Whatever."

The two quickly ran towards the town to see that the scorpions were climbing on buildings and destroying everything in sight, although they seemed to put pieces of food on their backs. This food stayed glued thanks to a sticky mucus secreted by the shard scorpions. There were a few ponies who were throwing things at them, but it didn't do much besides annoy them, as suggested by the strikes they perfirmed with their tails towards the source.

"Use your magic to get rid of them! You're still an alicorn." RAinbow pressed.

"But I don't know how to use magic."

"What? Then atleast hit them from the sky!"

"I..."

"You don't know how to fly either? That settles it. You aren't Nightmare Moon."

"Duh?"

"Whatever. We've got to lure them out of here somehow. Um...we need Twilight or...Fluttershy! Distract them until I get back."

Before Layda could protest, Rainbow Dash was already gone.

"Well...crap...how am I supposed to distract them?"

"*sigh* I can help, but I won't be able to talk to you for the rest of the day."

"Mmmm. I'll deal with this myself. Now let's see."

Looking around at the catastrophy, Layda noticed a bunch of wood that had now caught on fire, and a hairspray can dropped on the floor. Layda put on a bland expression and, somehow, managed to concentrate her magic in lifting the flaming plank and the can.

"Hm."

She used her make-shift flame-thrower and blasted the scorpions with the tempest. The beasts turned around to face their agressor, and were about to continue with their activities, until they noticed that the food they had collected was burnt to a crisp. At this sudden realization, they trampled after Cosmos, who turned tail and ran like hell. Everypony around left their hiding places to see the Nightmare Moon look-alike running away towards the spot said monsters escaped. When Layda reached the spot, she shouted:

"Okay, beast. I've got a flamethrower. Stay where you are and nobody gets hurt."

There was a moment of silence, but the scorpions gestured that they were looking at eachother, before roaring once more and charging towards Layda, that is, until a vanilla colored pegasus landed gently in front of them.

"Hey. What's wrong? Why are you attacking everypony?" It was Fluttershy.

The scorpions, although hesitant, started to mumble. It sounded like scraping rocks and hissing at the same time.

"Really?" Fluttershy turned towards Layda, who averted her gaze. "N-N-N-Nightmare Moon?!" she stuttered.

"Easy, Fluttershy. She only looks like her. She isn't her."

"O...kay. If you say so. Why did you wake them up?"

"What?"

"They said you woke them up and that they had to search for food now."

"I didn't do it on purpose." Layda mumbled as she started to kick the dirt."I was trying to control magic, and it backfired. I ended up sending a disc into the ground. I didn't hurt them, did I?"

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were disturbed by the Nightmare acted. Was she being sincere? Was she mocking them? They just couldn't tell.

"No. Y-you just woke them up. Now, go back home. She won't hurt you anymore. Go back to sleep."

The giant scorpions grumbled one last time, leaving Layda to her thoughts.

"Well, that was fun...I think."

"You insensitive foal! You could have destroyed my future sla-friends."

"Insensitive? That was your fault for not giving me more instructions!"

"True, but you should have known the dangers of magic."

"Because the humans have lots of magicians. Yes. Totally."

"Fine. There is a way for me to accelerate your adaptation to this body, but I'll need to parasite you."

"What?"

"It'll be like possession, but I won't steal your body. I'll just enhance your abilities. Nothing bad can come from this. We're friends after all. Right?"

"True. Fine. But do it when I fall asleep."

"Okay. Whatever you wish."

"Excuse me, but, um...If you can't fly, maybe you should ask Rainbow Dash? She is the best flyer in Equestria."

"Stop it, Fluttershy. Although it IS true." RAinbow flaunted.

"Oh great. She's egocentric too."

"Would you? I mean, we just met, and you seem to be confusing me with someone bad."

"Yeah. You can't fly, you can't use magic, and you don't talk like her."

"Don't be mean, Rainbow."

"What? I'm just telling the truth. So, you wanna learn from me or not?"

"Sure." Layda shrugged.

"Okay! FOLLOW ME! YOU TOO, FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the vanilla pegasus trying to sneak away."

"EEP!"

"This parasiting definately won't have any side-effects. Hahahaha!"

Hiatus(This chapter is now invalid)

I'm keeping this for the comments value. What? I like to look back.

Sorry but, like The Empire of Blood, I've lost interest in this story. I don't know why, but I think that whatever was inspiring me died out. This must be why I've been making those mini-stories. So, as painful as this is, I prefer not to rush to the ending until my inspiration comes back. I'd prefer that you all keep a good taste of this story in your mouth (ew) until I can find enough in me to finish this. (although seeing how long it has been since I last did the Empire of Blood, don't get your hopes up. Just a warning to your dissappointment.) Until then, I'll be making more stories.

Sorry in advance for this great deception that I've caused you. To make it up to you, I've got a BIG story planned. Hopefully, it will be as epic as I have imagined it. WORSHIP ME!

Luna's mind

The Moon princess was sitting on her bed, thinking deeply. It had only been a few minutes, but she felt something slithering through her body as if there was a parasite within her. She felt like a plant had reached within her body and was rooting itself. Why? The last time she felt this, it was welcome. However, now, there was nothing. It wasn't in her body, but it felt like it was. A familiar sentiment of a serpent crawling through her veins, gnawing at her mind. Was it happening again? No. There was something blocking the roots from reaching her mind. Something kind. Naive. Something strnge and new. It was pleasant and strange as well. But what was it. As Luna started to reach deeper in her mind to find the source of this feeling, she was met with two turquoise eyes that she recognized all too well. The body looked like the stars and the space they sat within, but as soon as the moon princess began to panic, something else appeared. It was as tall as the familiar being, but her hair was a radiant orange that flowed in the air somehow. It grabbed the being with the turquoise eyes and smiled as it led its arm hang on the other side of its face. Luna's fear gave place for confusion as the being she was sure she knew rolled its eyes in annoyance.

"Princess Luna? PRINCESS LUNA!"

"WHAT?!"

The princess fell onto the floor. It was still day. Why was she awakened by one of her own guards?

"Ow. Why do you awaken me, Cereberos?"

"You seem to be uncomfortable. I can feel it. Do not forget that you appointed me as your personal guard amongst the other retinue of the night."

Cereberos was slightly thinner than the other night guards. He also wasn't anymore special in many physical domains, but he did have were dark orange crests and tattoes that were painted all over his body, as per an ancient tradition of his family. That, and his affinity with submission magic. He was sent along with other unicorns into the Everfree forest to capture the best creatures they could in order to become Luna's personal amongst the personal guards. A few came with manticores, one with an alpha timberwolf, but the most impressive was the one who came with a Scorpio, one of the astral monsters. However, after waiting when everypony was there, Cereberos hadn't arrived yet. They assumed he had died and laughed him off, much to the fury of the captain. That is, until the small stallion came through the forest with a dragon under his influence. He was standing proudly as his horn glew with black and green, making it look murky and toxic. That was when he became Luna's personal personal. A type of chief amongst bodyguards. Although, he cannot command the others, so his position has been questioned amongst many others.

"Yes. However, why is it that you are awake?"

"Your grievances trouble me. I could not sleep."

"You are very loyal. It is quite admirable, but I must object. You require your sleep, as do the other night guards."

"Perhaps, but it has been several nights that I have not seen the day. The same could be said for you. You may be the misstress of the night, but you still need sunlight just as your sister requires moonlight."

"True." Luna said as she scratched the bottom of her chin. "Then I shall pass a black day. Let us meet our sister. Where is she? I have matters to speak to her about."

"Your sister is in the throne room, attending the audiences."

"Hm. I will interrupt them, then."

"I will accompany you."

The two left the room of Luna, which would take much too much time to describe the starry beauty it witheld. The two walked along the corridors, passing Celestia's own guards. Everytime Luna passed, they would bow. While the princess appreciated the politeness, she felt that it seemed out of place. Climbing down the stairs, Luna could see that the audiences were already almost over, as it was lunch time for most during the day. Just for that, she waited patiently. The last pony finally left, leaving the moon princess to be able to talk to her sister while Cereberos waited outside the throne room, allowing the giant doors to close on their own.

Celestia was sighing. This was a tiring audience. So many ponies having problems since the changelings attacked and since there was a sighting of a Vesuvius Vulcan in the area near Canterlot, Ponyville, and Tilly.

"Atleast it's not a Gigantis Vesuvius Vulcan." Celestia thought to herself as she rubbed her forehead.

"Troubling matters, sister?"

"Luna? What are you doing up so...early? I'm still not used to that."

"Quite. In other matters, I've needed to talk to you about something."

"What is it?"

"I've been having...dreams. Very disturbing ones."

"Oh? It's okay. They're just dreams, Luna. Nothing will hurt you again. I'll make sure of it."

"Yes, well, that 'thing' is returning. I can feel it. And she wants to take possession of your body."

"What?!" Celestia nearly slammed her head against the ceiling by pure shock, and seeing how high it was, that was a feat.

"But...there's something else. Lately, I've been dreaming of a bipedal with orange hair as bright as fire and who always blocks her. They seem to be...friends."

"Please. Luna. If I am to understand the circumstances, you must tell me more about your dreams."

"Okay. Well, here I go."

*An hour later*

"This is quite troubling. You've been having these dreams for two weeks, yet is has only been two days since you've been seeing this 'orange haired bipedal'?"

"Yes."

"We should investigate this matter. Perhaps I have received news from Twilight relegating to anything that could be linked to your dreams."

Celestia teleported into her room for a short moment, leaving Luna to wait for a brief time, before her sister returned.

"Nope. She hasn't sent me anything."

"Strange. I suppose we should start looking for some information regarding the biped?"

"Yup."

"Of course you aren't getting anything from her, you dumb foal. I'm intercepting them."

"What did you say?" Layda asked out loud.

"I told you to keep flapping your wings! You too Fluttershy!" Rainbow yelled at the top of her lungs.

Both were utterly exhausted, but due to her delicate constitution, Fluttershy tired out faster than she should have.

"Just continue listening to her."

"Right."

The true Cosmos turned around within the internal world of Layda, and started to speak to herself:

"Dadada. When I have completely parasited this body, that's when I'll let the messages pass through. Until then, I just hope that this creature knows what she's doing."

Layda attempted to fly at high speeds, but ended up crashing into the floor and moaning in pain.

"This is going to take awhile, but it will all be worth it."

Twilight's suspicions

Twilight and Spike had been observing Layda for some time. The one calling herself Cosmos was definately Nightmare Moon. She had the appearance, the energy, even her aura reflected the same, ominous feeling as that evil mare. Yet, several things didn't add up. First, how she was calling herself. It could just be a way to use the cliched "amnesia" story with no real reason to it. Then, there's her personality. Even if she was faking it, she should be showing signs, like face twitching and so forth. Many who perform the opposite of what they are do it wth a great dis-taste, and this one showed absolutely none. She even seemed to be enjoying...somewhat, her lessons of flying paired up with Fluttershy. Even if. Even if she had amnesia, flying comes natural to pegasi, and so did magic with unicorns. Granted, training was required for everything to be perfect, but it still came naturally. Cosmos seemed to not only have no control over her magic, as demonstrated earlier, but she even had no knowledge on flight. How? While Luna and Nightmare Moon were supposed to be one and the same, did the elements of harmony separate them completely afterwards? Did they become two different entities altogether with the mare in the moon having her personality reset? What was it that seemed to be latching onto this creature that felt orange?

That didn't seem right. Orange? How could something FEEL a color? There was something else within this creature. A...another being? Impossible. That would suggest a possible posession, but that is completely illogical. Even if, the creature would have had to accept this of their own will, and the mare in the moon would have easily taken over they're,ahem,THEIR mind and body like with Princess Luna. Yet, there was this..."orange" thing that kept blocking her from going further into analysis. It was like a comfortable, sweet barrier proteting its bitter middle. What was it?

"KAMIKAZE!" yelled a voice that caught Twilight by surprise.

"What was-TWILIGHT! Watch out!" Spike screamed as he pointed at a gigantic black object coming towards them at incredible speeds.

It was too fast, so Twilight didn't have time to avoid it, and simply clutched her head, until she felt a massive gust of wind blow by her face and giggling. She looked up to see Cosmos laughing at her.

"Do you like it? Rainbow taught that to me."

"W-what?!" Twilight stuttered

"Scared you didn't I?" Cosmos laughed.

"Are you crazy?! You could've hurt me and Spike!"

"Spike?"

"Right here." a purple dragon said in great fear.

"..."

Cosmos was pretty much surprised to see that little thing in front of her. What was it? Was it an iguana? A lizard? A komodo dragon or however that's spelled.

"What are you supposed to be?" Cosmos asked, unaware of her scary look.

"I-I-I-I'm a dr-dr-dragon." he stuttered as he began to shrink away into nothing.

"A dragon? COOOOL! Can you breath fire?"

Spike looked at the alicorn questioningly and with great confusion."Uh. Yeah. I can."

"How much? Like, a huge tower of fire or a big explosion or-"

"I'm still a young dragon. So I can't really breathe much. Just a little bit." the dragon gestured with his fingers to indicate a small size. Cosmos' mood dropped immediately.

"Awww. Oh well. It's okay. Eventually you'll be able to blow out great towers of fire. Imagine. A gigantic, invincible dragon that can burn everything in seconds." Layda said while gesturing towards the air, showing wideness.

"Yeahhh. That'd be pretty co-" Spike found himself pushed aside by a certain lavender unicorn.

"That's enough of that. No need to rile him up." Twilight crushed her teeth in anger."We already had enough trouble last time."

"I...What? No. No. I'm not doing that." Cosmos crossed her forelegs and looked upwards towards her forehead.. "So what? He's a little dragon. I thought you were a nice person...pony...whatever."

Twilight and Spike looked at eachother in confusion and fear. Spike twirled a claw around the side of his head.

"Who are you talking to?" Spike asked.

"Oh. Sorry. I just like to think out loud is all. Sorry if it makes me look crazy."

"Riiiight. So...why did you come towards us like that? You just wanted to scare us?"

"No. I finished my lessons with Rainbow, for now, and I was hoping you could teach me how to control magic."

"W-what? You don't know how?"

"No. It's a bit hard to explain."

"Well...I'm not sure. I don't really trust you."

"Why? Is it because I 'talk to myself'? Just ask Bon-Bon. I haven't done anything. Come to think of it, where could they be?"

"That's not important right now. I'm still not going to train you."

"Hmm. She seems like the type who loves to learn. Perhaps you could present yourself as a student?" the true Cosmos proposed.

"That's a great idea! Hey, Twilight. Think of me as a type of student of yours. Wouldn't that work?"

Twilight tried to say something, but she immediately closed her mouth and smiled widely. Her eyes literally started to sparkle, scaring both Cosmos and Spike.

"Oh no. Why did you have to say that?" Spike moaned as he put a hand to his face.

"That's a great idea! I'll teach you everything I know in magic control. There are several types, so we'll see what you are best in."

The two started to walk away while Spike moaned in annoyance.

"Great. One more to deal with."

Meanwhile, the true Cosmos had found ways to stock Lunar rays. She used one of Layda's soul trees and converted it into a gigantic mastodonte with branches arching and twisting everywhere and glowing a bright white. The leaves were many and think, and had the various shapes a moon would take during its orbit. The Cosmos from before never truly had a proper form, per-se. It was actually a manipulation of Layda Hitcher's mind that gave her a previous shape. This was also why she didn't have her cutie mark. Layda was in another body, but it was still her's technically, meaning that the mark was not transferred as it is linked to the soul. No. This Cosmos still had an appearance similar to the little blot of stellar paint that entered the woman's body. There were only bits and pieces, such as the left eye and patches of the body, that had regained a somewhat solid appearance.

Even if, the lunar tree would be used once everything was at max capacity, and when the energy reaches its "apogée", then the true Cosmos would begin her plan. For now, the stellar entity walking within Layda's mind turned its head and grinned while twisting its right fore-leg.

"OW!" Cosmos yelled as she fell down.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, lowering a book.

"I...I don't know. My leg suddenly twisted. It hurts. Alot."

"Let me see that...How?"

"What?"

"It looks like you broke it. But how? You were just standing here. " Twilight looked at Spike, who threw his hands up in defence.

"I didn't see her do anything. She really was waiting for you to get the book down."

"Weird. Hmm. It doesn't seem too bad. I think I can fix this."

"Thanks." Cosmos smiled as the purple unicorn envelopped her leg with healing magic.

The true Cosmos watched the scene and silently laughed before turning back around to stare at her lunar construct.

A blemish gone(Not a real chapter)

As you can all see now, I got rid of that horrid final chapter. Instead, I want to see what you readers want to see afterwards in the story so I can base that chapter of the story around your choices. That final chapter was gnawing at my brain screaming: "Psycho! Your imagination isn't so terrible! Fix this up, or I'll stop working to make your heart beat."

Who wouldn't bend at that kind of threat coming from your brain? If there are choices that are similar in structure, then I'll base the next chapter around that.

EXCELSIOR!

Cosmos had a cast layed upon her leg by a doctor who, unsurprisingly, was scared to death. He had heard rumors about the nightmare returning, but he just brushed them off as rumors. Even when she layed there smiling, he couldn't help but feel some sort of malice in that being, and it wasn't a nice thing to feel. The two were in Bon-Bon and Lyra's house, in Cosmos' room to be specific.

"S-so. I believe that she should rest a bit. Her leg was in an...awful state. How did she get it like that?" the Doctor turned to Twilight.

"I...I don't know. She was just walking around and then she yelled. Her leg was suddenly broken."

The Doctor rubbed his chin and looked at the slumbering horror. His thoughts were now clouded.

"Hmmm. I wonder...May I speak with you outside? She might be faking her slumber to get some answers."

Both Twilight and the doctor immediately tilted to look at the comfettor going up and down by the sound of gentle breathing. There was nothing to note here. The conversation could be taken outside without danger. Twiilght's magic had actually managed to sow Cosmos Lune's leg back to its original state, but she couldn't heal the tinier hair-line cracks. Those were going to require a cast and some careful movement. But, thanks to this, Layda could talk with her friend once more, her naive thought pattern sticking to the real Cosmos like gum to a shoe.

Back into her mind, Layda was given a sight to behold. The true Cosmos wasn't expecting her to arrive during the day, so she could not hide the moon tree. The only thing that gave Hitcher's arrival away were the sounds of dead leaves crackling underneath her feet. The alicorn bounced up and slowly turned to see her host's eyes looking at this strange, lonely tree with aww.

"L-Layda? What are you doing here already? This early too."

"I broke my leg, so I was given some medicine. I think I passed out or fell asleep or something."

"Yes. 'Broke'. That is unfortunate." Cosmos turned to look back at her tree glowing steadily. It still only had a few leaves, but it was getting more powerful as time went by.

"So what's that?"

"It's a recipient for the lunar energy that you have been absorbing. I took into account the loss of its energy every day, so, instead, I have created this tree in your inner world that will take in the energy and reproduce it through its leaves."

"Tea?"

"...Yes."

"Could I try it afterwards, when it's ready?"

Cosmos shrugged. At this point, it would be best to act friendly and lull Layda into a false sense of friendship.

"I believe I can do that. Don't forget that this is for me and my recovery, however."

"Yes. I know."

There was a long, awkward silence. The two looked at eachother for a long time. There really wasn't much to say so far. Just a few aerial tricks that Cosmos was already aware of, and the spells back-firing more than once, but that was also already available to the alicorn spirit. Suddenly, Layda remembered:

"Oh yeah! Are you able to heal the fractures in my leg?"

"I...I believe so. It will take a few hours in the moonlight to do it correctly. You WILL most certainly hear snapping and popping, but that is simply because I will be stretching the cells of your bones."

"Wonderful! Can you still teach me about magic?"

"I told you that I can't. You need Twilight Sparkle for that."

"I know...especially after that scorpion incident."

"You think? I didn't have a clue as to why I told you to rely on a physically present creature for lessons. Hmmm..."Cosmos' sarcasm ran across her eyes which were forced into two different directions.

"Hey! Don't mock me. It's your fault that I didn't know the dangers. I only assumed a small, harmless explosion would have happened."

"I...True, but you should have still kept your concentration."

"Can you teach me to FEEL the magic and not make spells?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't feel your magic correctly because, obviously, it's yours, not mine. It would be a great help if you could just, you know, let me get that feeling that you had talked about before."

"Wha- didn't you get it when you accidentally summoned those creatures?" Cosmos was baffled.

"N-no. I actually felt something surging up...like vomit."

"Ew. That is disgusting."

"Not my fault."

"Hardly. Fine. Sit down. We'll try meditation."

"How about we sit near your tree? It's full of lunar energies, and I've seen some cultures who meditate near trees as a way to take in the energies of nature. Maybe that'll work here too?"

"I...I...Fine. Go to the tree and get into whatever meditative position your species goes into for...meditation."

Layda hurried along the leaf-ridden ground to swing herself at the base of the tree. She placed herself directly against its trunk and closed her eyes as she sat down and crossed her legs, letting her hands rest on her lap. A few calm inhales, and she was ready.

"Right. Lunar Magic is much different from any other magic. It's only cousin, Solar Magic, uses similar properties of control and functioning. Lunar Magic requires you to keep a stem of it around all of your joints."

"Why?"

"Ever heard of werewolves?"

"Yeah?"

"What changes first? The skin or their bones?"

"...Ah."

"Exactly. Now reach deep into your soul. We are in your inner-world, so it should be easier for you. Reach deep, then grab that orb and split it amongst your joints. Every movement afterwards will allow perfected reaction times and, later on, many other good things that would be spoiled if I told them to you now." Cosmos' face glared with an evil grin.

Layda continued to concentrate, and, somehow, it was working. The Moon Tree and even the autumn trees around all began to glow; their lights flickering on and off. It was quick, but a small moon appeared above the tree to symbolize the synching that Hitcher finally managed with her newfound magic.

"Did I do it? I feel something flowing through my body. It's cold."

"Yes. Quite nicely t-OW! What the?"

"OW! Ohahow. What was that?"

"Ya! Something poked me in the AIE!"

"Why are we both getting hurt? OW!"

"WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!"

The true Cosmos' voice faded into nothing as Layda plummetted into darkness. She moped around in her bed the yiped in pain. She stood up immediately to see that Lyra was on the other side of the door poking her with a very long stick.

"What are you doing? Seriously."

"I...uh..." the turquoise unicorn dropped the stick and looked around nervously."You weren't breathing. I thought you were dead."

"Uh-huuuuuh. Maybe you should get Bon-Bon. I need to see Twilight."

"Okay."

The mare raced down the stairs, or rather, she tripped and rolled down like a slinky, the last flop finishing with a groan of pain.

"Everyone knows a slinky. Everyone loves a slinky. Eheheheh." Layda laughed to herself. This was going to be a good day.

Author's Notes:

Yes. I started it again. The fact that I didn't finish it pained me. If anyone cares again, I'll be finishing this, but not with that godawful chapter that a few of you saw before I BALEETED it.

Unexpected arrival

The next day, Cosmos had awoken to a sore leg. This time, she had a wonderful sleep, and nothing had happened during her rest. She didn't fly out of bed, nor did she destroy anything either. This was a great surprise to her. She felt even more empowered than before, and her body felt light and subtle, as if it were really her own from the very beginning. She carefully hopped out of the bed, making sure the cast on her leg would not prove to her that she was still wounded. Looking at it with a face of reprieval, certain that it would hurt if she tried to move it too roughly. There was a moment of silence, but, the alicorn took in a deep breath and started to move her foreleg faster and faster until she flicked it too hard and the cast broke off. A wide smile came to her face and she began to hop around with the joy of a small filly getting to go to an amusement park.

What she hadn't noticed was that Lyra and Bon-Bon were peeking at her through the crevice created by the slightly open door. Her behavior and the way she acted was estranging to even the most hardy of ponies.

"See, Lyra? She isn't evil, atleast, not anymore."

The turquoise pony was suddenly filled with guilt despite her constant fear. Even if she was by herself, she wouldn't be acting like this. An evil alicorn would still present herself as a hauty and well educated mare. Perhaps...she could give her a chance? Yes. She would try, but she would still be cautious.

"*sigh* Okay. I'll give her a chance. For real this time. I'll just..."Lyra gulped powerfully"Go to her. And tell her that Twilight is waiting."

The mare did as she told, and the door creaked open to reveal a turquoise coat and a nervous but smiling face. Lyra opened her mouth and was about to speak, but Cosmos grabbed her from underneath her forelegs and swung her around in the air.

"Look! My wounds are gone! I can walk around again! I didn't even need to wait a few months like the doctor said."

"What? I didn't even notice that. I forgot you had a wound. Can you please let me down? I'm getting sick." Lyra's face had turned green and she held back a portion of stomach acids.

"Oh! Eheh. Sorry."

"It's...it's alright. I just wanted to tell you that Twilight called for you. She has a few things to show you AND breakfast give you."

"So I won't be able to taste your good cooking?" Cosmos asked with a sad expression.

Lyra blushed and scratched the back of her head in embarassment."I guess not."

"Should I go now?"

"Yes. It would be a good idea. She has always been the impatient one. Just a minute off and she explodes in nervousness."

Bon-Bon secretly sighed in agony as she remembered the incident with that ugly doll. Cosmos took no time to rush out of the door and speed to Twilight's library, much to the distress of the passer-bys. Today was a particular sunny day, yet the true Cosmos felt something ominous floating about. It was as if millions of sparkling particles were jolting about everywhere and directing what they saw to some unknown source. It was a good thing that Layda now had a perfect synchronisation with her lunar magic, allowing a steady and well-enriched amount of energy for the lunar tree, and for the true Cosmos.

She was about to slam the door to the library open, but the dark alicorn suddenly remembered to regain her composure, which she promptly did, along with clearing her throat and knocking correctly on the door with her forehoof.

"Yeah?" said a familiar voice.

"It's me, Spike." Cosmos answered with a smile unviewable from her side.

There was a little wincing and groaning, but the door finally opened to show a nervous, cross-legged Spike who stared up nervously at the dark alicorn looming overhead. She had her armor back on.

"I decided to wear my armor again. How do I look? Better or worse?"

The poor little dragon still couldn't adapt to what had happened recently, but he needed to confirm his initial suspicions like all the others. Hesitantly, he invited her in and into the kitchen. There was a thick smell of blueberries in the air, along with some form of tea riding along the fruity current. Cosmos' eyes fluttered as she inhaled the sweet scent.

"What smells so good?" she asked, her mouth already watering.

"My...blueberry pancakes."

"Blueberry pancakes? I've never even tasted normal pancakes. Can I have some?"

"You've never...Sure. Twilight is waiting for you in the kitchen. It's over there." Spike pointed towards the left, showing a large gap between bookshelves.

"Thanks alot, Spike. I can't wait to taste them."

The fact that what was once Princess Luna had never tasted something so common as pancakes came along as weird to Spike. After all, the princess of the night had a softspot for the fluffy dough delicacies. Even if they were "separated", how is it that she didn't remember anything? Then, it suddenly hit Spike. She was cleansed of all her memories as Nightmare Moon. Yes! It was so obvious. Such a thing would be fantastic.

The purple dragon rushed over to the kitchen to see that the alicorn had made a mountain of pancakes, flooded them with maple syrup, and had begun to gobble everything like she hadn't eaten for weeks. Weren't Bon-Bon and Lyra feeding and housing her? The excited little dragon still tugged on Twilight's mane, the lavender pony staring agape at the hungry hungry alicorn.

"W-what is it Spike?"

"I've got something great to tell you."

"Really?"

"Yeah! C'mon into the library."

"Okay. Uh, Cosmos?"

"Ya?" she answered with a full mouth.

"I've got to check some books with Spike. You can keep eating here and, when I'm done, we'll get to trying to concentrate on your magics before performing spells."

"Okay!"

Twilight was urgently pulled from the chair and dragged into the library where Spike hopped up and down in place, eager to share his findings.

"So? What is it?"

"I think I know why Nightmare Moon is acting so weird. Why she doesn't remember anything."

"You do? So tll me then, what have you come up with?" Twilight was encouraging the dragon, but thre was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Remember when you and the others hit Princess Luna with the elements?"

"Yeah?"

"I think that you didn't destroy Nightmare Moon, you just separated her and--"

"She was reborn." Twilight finished.

"Exactly!"

There was a long moment of silence between the two, but gleeming lights appeared within Twilight's eyes.

"If I could reform her, then Princess Celestia would certainly be very happy! Spike, you're a genius!" the mare shouted as she grabbed her assistant and lifted him up into the air.

"I know."

"Spike. Be modest." Twilight frowned.

"Sorry."

"That's alright. I've never even taken that idea into account. How did you come up with it?"

"From several of your books talking about myths."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"I didn't know you were so into books now."

"I've always been reading some of your books, although, I only read a few." Spike blushed.

"As long as you're reading. Say, how many pancakes did you make?"

"A few hundred."

Twilight stared surprised at her assistant who simply looked questioningly back.

"What? Every time I make blueberry pancakes, Pinkie Pie pops up."

"Oh Ye--" Twilight's face when from happiness to a 'sterile' face, to one of fear.

The two ran quickly into the kitchen to see that Cosmos was wiping her mouth of a red liquid while Pinkie was lying on the floor, mouth open and more of that liquid in her mouth and on her neck. The alicorn suddenly noticed the two and said:

"Hey! I met this mare here, and she said she wanted to challenge me to a pancake eating contest."

"Y-y-y-you did? D-did you lose?" Twilight's knees were clattering against eachother.

"No, silly. She actually beat me to a blueberry-pancake-covered-in-strawberry-syrup contest. Ugh." inkie moaned on the ground.

The two sighed in relief.

"Wait. You ATE Pinkie Pie under the table with SWEETS?!" Spike blurted out.

Pinkie tried to reply, but just grumbled in agony.

"That isn't possible."

"Well...it could be. After all, Cosmos is an alicorn, and alicorns have different bodies than regular ponies."

"Wait...so you're saying I cheated?" Cosmos looked down in horror and face-hoofed."Awww. That's a mood killer."

"You're *burp*. You're telling me. Why don't we do this again some time?" Pinkie asked with a smile as she suddenly stood on all fours as if nothing happened.

"Uhhh. Sure."

"I'll train real hard this time to beat you in the next blueberry pancake eating contest!"

"That won't happen, m'am. I'm the best at it!" Cosmos stood firmly.

The two began to have a friendly pancake rivalry between eachother, but the atmosphere suddenly broke off once Twilight asked her pink friend:

"What are you doing her anyways, Pinkie? The library doesn't open until two more hours."

"I was here to pick up Mr Cake's book on chocolate recipes."

Twilight's brain took its time, but the nerves finally connected and she jumped up after the memory returned.

"Oh yeah! Here. Let me go get it for you."

The lavender mare hurried into the main room while Pinkie just hopped along, her smile still creeping Spike out.

"I take it that she is always so...bizarre?" Cosmos cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

Twilight walked back inside with satisfaction. Pinkie didn't do anything too out of the ordinary today, and Cosmos didn't show any signs of hostility. Better yet, she showed signs of friendship, and rather quickly at that too. Before the two could return to Cosmos and begin to talk together, a knocking came on the door. It felt ominous. It was both soothing and stressing to Twilight, yet she didn't know why.

"I'll get it." the mare happily announced.

It just took a second, but her face full of happiness was immediately grabbed by the unhappy goblin and tossed through a glass window. It was Princess Celestia and her sister.

"Twilight Sparkle. It is good to see you."

"P-P-Princess?! Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I came to see how my pupil's studies were going. May I come in?"

Twilight stared at her teacher for a moment, prying said alicorn's worry. Celestia shook a hoof in front of her student's face, retrieving her mind from whatever pit it fell into.

"Oh! Sorry. I was just thinking about something. Come in."

"Thank you."

"Thank you." Luna responded."Uhhh. Have a seat here. I'll get a table and some tea ready." Twilight suggested before bolting quickly into the kitchen.

Luna and Celestia just looked at eachother and shrugged.

"I suppose we should have warned her." Celestia frowned.

"Tis' nothing. Besides, we are in a library. There are oh so many modern sources of literature I have yet to read. I will take a book while we wait."

In the kitchen, however, Twilight was having a panic attack as she paced back and forth. She had already whispered to Spike what was in the main room of the library, but Cosmos just stared at her as said alicorn put her dirty dishes into the sink.

"Well, why don't we go outside and start the training? I think I have my magic control managed." Cosmos trotted towards the door to leave the kitchen, but both Twilight and Spike blocked the way.

"Uhhh. You don't wanna go in there." Spike quickly threw in.

"Yeah. There's...uhhh...a sudden rat infestation."

"Rats? I love rats! They're all fluffy and have those funny whip-tails."

"You...LIKE rats? Ewwww." Twilight shuddered at such a thought of holding those disgusting beasts.

"Why?"

"Umm. They're actually giant rats." she smiled sheepishly.

Spike followed with a violent nodding.

"Uh-huuuuh. Just. Let me go!"

"No!"

"Will you just--"

"We can't!"

"C'mo- OH SHI-"

Trying to push her way through, the alicorn tripped over Spike who was trying to pull her back by the tail. The result was a tumble that unhinged the doorway and created a massive ball of pony and dragon. Spike was moaning as he rubbed his head in pain. He was lying on Cosmos' stomach, while Twilight was underneath the alicorn. Celestia had just looked at the scene with confusion and widened eyes while Luna, lying against a bookshelf, just lowered her piece of literature to see what the source of the commotion was.

"Ow. My head. O. Hi there." Cosmos said as she looked at a now sparking burning Celestia.

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the late update. Too many things to deal with at school right now. No. Not elementary or some stupid thing like that. Harder-than-diamonds Belgian school.

To banishment

The outside was pretty calm as everypony just minded their own business, carrying along with their daily doing-nothings. (...I had to link this. I feel awful now)
This calm was shattered as the entire top of Twilight's tree exploded into a vast cloud of fire and smoke, the impending shockwave knocking everypony down. From this billowing cloud flung out some sort of black ball. It was Cosmos. Her face was stricken with panic while Celestia chased after her in the air with wings folded outwards like thin blades. Her eyes sparked with a thundering flame. The white alicorn concentrated some more magic along her wings and flung it at the opposing alicorn, who barely had any time to react and block the blast with her own wings. The strike proved too powerful, and Cosmos still found herself flung further away into the open plains between Ponyville and the Everfree forest.

"Princess, wait!" Twilight begged as she galopped towards the scene of combat.

"STOP this instant, Twilight Sparkle."

The unicorn did just that, but she suddenly shrunk to the size of a mouse, and her chest began to crush her lungs, straining her breathing. Luna had a very stern look that showed a mixture of anger and worry. The alicorn placed herself right in front of the lavender pony and stared her down, her own eyes mere centimeters away from the shying Twilight Sparkle.

"What is the meaning of this? You recreated Nightmare Moon?" she asked as she backed away, widening the gap."Did she come back to life?"

"I...I can't remember if she told me or not. She has been acting strangely ever since we found her in Ponyville."

Luna cocked an eyebrow.

"It's true! She didn't know how to fly nor how to use magic. She didn't even know who she was. She keeps calling herself 'Cosmos Lune' and keeps talking to herself."

The alicorn's mouth opened in astonishment, yet, despite her wanting to say something, nothing came out.
However, putting a hoof to her chin for deep thinking, she realized something very important.

"If what you say is true, then, perhaps...We must find them before my sister tries to eliminate Nightm-Erm...Cosmos Lune."

As Luna finished her sentence, another explosion occured on the outskirts of the city, although this one looked a like a spinning tower of flame. However, some sort of glowing blue wave rose up from behind some of the houses and smashed it down, extinguising it and bringing forth an immense cloud of smoke. The two raced to the scene while ponies all around began to seep their heads out of their hiding places. Spike was told to stay behind and tend to the house. He pouted and crossed his arms, but did as told.

"W-wait! GAH!" Cosmos screamed as she dodged some sort of bolt.

Said projectile zipped past the mare's head and melted a small patch of ground it touched. The entire plains were shaking at the anger and power being employed. Celestia's rage was seething, and her eyes were as white as the hottest of fires. The ailcorn started to fire her bolts off in quick succession, and Cosmos began to panic as she yelled with every dodge she made. The dark alicorn had to get into bizarre positions to avoid each and every projectile fired at her, her panic beginning to well up little by little.

"Kill that wench already! She aggressed us without reason! That's reason enough to het rid of her." the true Cosmos enforced.

"No! I can't kill. That's very bad. One isn't allowed to take the life of another without reason."

"She's trying to ill you! That's reason enough."

"No it isn't. I won't lower myself to such tactics. AH!"

The white alicorn had formed some type of spikey shield in front of her and used it to charge into the opposing foe, but missed. As a counter, Celestia found herself tossed away by a wave of ice. The blast was strong enough to send her darting towards the ground and slide along it, ruining the landscape and filling the princess' mouth with grass. Still dazed by this sudden strike of power, the alicorn lift her head to show a rather comedic show of sideways eyes and a mouth full of grass.

"Gentlemen." Comos thought to herself as she began to laugh loudly.

This comedy was short lived, as Celestia had already reganed herself and began to spin her head around while her horn began to glow brighter and brighter.

"Wh-what's she doing?"

"She's summoning a tornado. Stop her! Fire off a moon bolt or something."

"Ooookaaaay."

Cosmos abided, but she tried to aim for the ground underneath Celestia. As she fired off, her head involuntarily inched upwards, allowing the strike to smack the alicorn right in the chest. Her cry of pain screeched in Layda's ears.

"Oh no!" she teared"What did I do?!"

"You prevented her from performing that could kill you. Doesn't it feel good." the true Cosmos finished with a syllable of pleasure.

"NO! I don't like killing!"Cosmos clenched her head and began to shake it in refusal of having possibly killed someone.

This mental torture was short-lived as everything suddenly went white. Cosmos felt drowzy, groaning in pain as she tried to get back up. Her returning view allowed her to discover that she was now on her back with Celestia standing on her while being accompanied by several blades of magic aimed at her throat. The dark alicorn simply whimpered.

"I don't know how you returned, Nightmare, but you won't stay for long. I'll finish you, and this time, you won't have my sister to hide behind."

Celestia pulled the blades back. Her teeth gritting, her heart racing, and her sweat running, she was about to give a strike, but stopped suddenly. Her whitened eyes suddenly went back to normal, and her whole being was stricken with confusion. The dreaded and feared Nightmare Moon started to tear and sniffle. She had succumbed to the inevitable fear of death. She had actually started to cry. The only time that happened was when she was still more Luna than Nightmare.

"PRINCESS, WAIT!" Twilight shouted suddenly.

"Yes. Sister, do not execute Cosmos Lune!"

The two were galopping as fast as they could, the sudden panic causing Luna to forget the existence of her wings. Celestia just stared at both with as much confusion as before.

"Cosmos?" the white alicorn whispered under her breath.

"Yes. Princess...I...I'm out...out of breath." Twilight panted heavily.

She was almost panting like a dog. Luna, on the other hoof, kept her proud and elegant composture.

"I trust you have something to explain for THIS?!"

"AH!" Cosmos yelped, a sword getting a hair away from her throat.

"Wait! I can explain everything...or...atleast as much as I know about her." Twilight begged.

There was a long moment of silence where Celestia first stared at her student, then at the cowering Nightmare behind her. The princess looked up to the shining sky, then sighed out of irritation.

"Fine. I will do this, but she will be brought to the dungeons first. If anything indicates anything that could prove that this is all a little game, then she will be banished, and this time, it will be forever!" she glared at Cosmos, who immediately shrunk a little lower into the ground."Now get up!"

The alicorn scampered up to her hooves and lowered her head as she continued to sniffle and tear. Luna and Twilight both looked at her with pity, but a sun-ray shone over her face and created some form of mirage that could only be qualified as terrifying. Creating some form of over-lapping mirror effect, another face appeared. It looked like the original Nightmare's face smiling evily at this outcome. It was a brief glimpse, but this made both Twilight and Luna look at eachother in both fear, confusion, and curiousity. The trip to the castle would be a quick one. Teleporting wasn't too hard, especially for Celestia preferring to teleport everypony to Canterlot herself. This would be a good way to keep watch on "Cosmos Lune".

"Heheh. It is nearing completion." the true Cosmos thought.

Not your mind

Cosmos sobbed in her dungeon cell. She was chained up like an animal...a less intelligent animal than the one she already was. One ring with eight chains placed around her neck and plastered into the walls. Several more of these rings went around her ankles and had the same amount of chains attached to the walls. It was very dark here, and the heavily armored guards outside weren't helping the situation. They were as silent as they were immobile, and the only thing being heard was the occasional gasp for air coming from Layda. She didn't understand what was going on. Did she do something wrong? How? She's been learning things from everyone around, she's made friends, and she's hugged adorable tiny ponies with bows in their manes.

Upstairs, Twilight had been explaining things with Princess Celestia. She even brought her friends who knew more about this bizarre Nightmare than the rest, namely Rainbow Dash, who had been applauding her ability to learn flying. Yet, something about the princess' face immediately showed that she wouldn't accept anything said here. Her mind was made up. The solution was clear.

Meanwhile, in the dripping stone dungeon where Cosmos resided, Layda had returned to her inner world. The night had fallen since she was taken to the dungeons, and her cell was full of moonlight. Due to this, the lunar tree has grown immensely. It was nearly the size of a sequoia. Learning to channel her magic allowed a more proper intake of lunar energies and growth developpement. The surrounding forest had grown week because of this parasite's energy consumption. Layda hadn't noticed, but little by little, she was losing her new body...and her mind along with it.

Standing in front of the blindingly bright tree stood an unusually tall Cosmos Lune. She was looking up at the plant, and hr body's stars glowed along with it. In fact, Luna had nearly become nothing but stellar dust and a black goop that seemed to be floating and breaking upwards. The little white dots in her body continued to glow, until a few converged towards Layda's direction. The woman was very afraid, but not because of her "friend".

"Layda?"

"Y-yes."

"What is the matter?" the alicorn asked, still staring at her tree.

"Why are they all calling me a threat? Why am I being put in jail?! Why is the princess trying to execute? WHY ARE ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENING TO ME?!"

"Hmhmhm." Cosmos chuckled."BECAUSE I AM NIGHTMARE MOON! I USED you to keep me alive and create a new body for me!"

"NO!"

The woman fell to the floor as the giant alicorn began stomping towards her.

"YES! You are all a pawn that I wished to use. You were but a mould for my broken body, and now that it has reformed completely, I have no more need for you. This is now MY body!"

Layda's world suddenly began to become shrouded in a wide mould of darkness as the Nightmare's only aspects left showing were her bright white teeth and glowing eyes. The woman was trapped in darkness. She was slowig being engulfed within the darkness as well. Nightmare was slowly gaining full control of this new body.

In the real world, Cosmos' cell began to glow brightly, attracting the attention of the guards watching her.

"Hey! Stop that! There's no point in using magic. You can't get out from...what's happening to your leg?"

Cosmos was shaking as if she had an extremely devastating flu, and her left foreleg was like a painted version of the night sky, and it seemed to be ebbing its way upwards like a crack in a wall.

"Stop!" the guard shouted.

The last thing he saw was an evil grin shining from Nightmare's face.

In the throne room, Celestia stood atop her throne whilst Luna, looking disheartened, stood by her side. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, as well as Lyra and Bon-Bon, stood at the foot of the royal seat.

"I have no real proof besides your verbal witnesses, Twilight Sparkle. I understand what you are trying to do, but I cannot forgive her for the tyranny she performed in the past. She separated me from my sister for a thousand years!" Celestia shouted at Twilight.

"And who's fault was it?!"

Everypony turned around to see Nightmare Moon staring at them. She was literally fuming, especially at the foreleg. Her takeover was incomplete, but it would soon be as Layda was crushed underneath all the darkness. Aftera all, garbage must be disposed of.

"What are you doing outside of the dungeon?!" Twilight whimpered.

"Twilight Sparkle. I never liked you, and your teachings were sub-par compared to what Pinkie Pie could have taught me." the Nightmare mocked.

"Wh-what?"

"She taught you magic, and you buff her joy away in an instant?" Celestia snapped.

"Tch. So?" Nightmare spun her eyes.

"What's wrong with you?"Rainbow dropped down in front of the dark alicorn and stared her in the eyes."What just happened? Is it because you were nearly killed and placed in a dungeon that you're like this now?"

"No, but that does add to it. Now step aside."

"Unf!"

The strength that Nightmare currently possessed was unfathomable. She simply swiped the pegasus aside and closened towards Celestia.

"What about us?" Bon-Bon plead."Are you going to forget us? We sheltered you, Cosmos!"

"Cosmos? No longer. I am Nightmare Moon again! I'll engulf Luna into my shadows to be whole again. This is WHY I'M HERE!"

Nightmare Moon bolted into Celestia, tackling her and passing through several walls of the castle. Twilight and Lyra helped up their friend, while Luna simply stared at the hole.

"I don't get it. Why would she do this? She was so kind before." Lyra sniffled as she helped Rainbow Dash to her hooves.

"That is not Cosmos."Luna spoke serenely.

"I know! She is downright mean and rude! I'll know what to do when she is asking me for help afterwards. Hmph!" Bon-Bon growled.

"No. The orange is fading."

"What orange." Rainbow wondered as she rubbed her head.

"The orange that I've been sensing within her the whole time we have been in view."

"You noticed too?" Twilight added as she stepped next to the alicorn.

"Yes. There was another soul in that body. A kindred spirit. It only wished for discovery."

"What are you talking about? It was definately Nightmare Moon. I'm going to sock her...when I get to her." Rainbow roared at the top of her lungs.

"No. You four will try and capture her. Hold her down. There are three unicorns and one pegasus. You should be able to tackle her with your speed, Rainbow Dash, while you three hold her down with your magic after she is stunned."

"What are you planning, Princess?" Twilight asked.

"I will go into the confines of the orange one's mind and pull her out. It is up to her what to do with the remainder of Nightmare Moon's essence. No more questions. My sister is in danger. Let us go at once!"

"Right!"

Although it had only been a few minutes, the entrance hall was completely destroyed. The stairs were torn to bits, the windows destroyed with small bits of glass lingering for dear life as they threatened to fall, and several pieces of the surrounding pillars and white walls were covered in black scorch marks. On the floor, Celestia struggled for freedom as an angered Nightmare Moon held her down. While the white alicorn was covered in bruises and burns, the dark alicorn's body was covered with holes emitting a bright white light. She was furious.

"This, dear sister, is what happens when you anger me. Luna may have not been able to do it, but now I'm free from her nauseating influences and free to terminate you as I see fit. Now, bid farewell to--"

The alicorn was tossed off her feet as a metallic echo spread through the air. Rainbow Dash had been given a guard's helmet, and this allowed for maximum effect as the nightmare found herself on the floor, ibcapable of proper movement. As she began to recover, the three unicorns held her down with their magic. Rainbow quickly retrieved her senses and tried to help Celestia back up. The wounded pony looked to see her sister walking towards the paralyzed evil, a face of stern determination painted across her visage.

"L-Luna! What are you doing?!"

"Something I must!"

"No! Don't go in there!"

It was too late. Luna's horn had already reached Nightmare's head, and both froze in place as a gentle hum emanated from the younger sister's horn.

Luna was finally inside. Judging from where she had landed, this place was once a strong and verdant world of autumn beauty. Now it was just a shadow of its former self as a dark muk covered everything. Tall trees had withered and died, and the dry leaves on the once green ground had lost all color but gray and a faint brown. Luna could sense that orange, but she would have to hurry. It was growing fainter and fainter as time passed. So, without a minute to spare, the mare rushed out into the dark fog.

Every step, and she felt like she was sinking into the muk. Nightmare Moon was nowhere to be found, but this was normal, in a way. She was more concentrated on killing Celestia than anything. It was only a matter of time before she sensed Luna and kicked her out.

"I can feel you." Luna whispered. "I can feel you in this fog. Don't let yourself be consumed. This isn't what you need! Did you not come here for friends?!" Luna shouted once more into the open.

A faint voice groaned in response:"Yes."

"Than why are you letting yourself decay? Grow once more!"

"I can't. How can I after she betrayed me? If my first friend for this world is gone, what else do I have?"

"You just said it yourself. Your first friend. You have others. Who harbored you into their home? Who taught you flight when you could naught but budge your wings? Who helped you control magic and perform spells when magic was a foreign subject to you? You have friends. You were just so dependant on one for guidance that you let yourself be consumed by naivety. It is not your fault. Free yourself from her grasp, and I...no. WE, shall be your friends and guide you through this world. You are not alone. We will even help you return to your own world when you wish it."

There was a long silence, but the voice answered:

"Really?"

"Yes. It is a promise."

"HOW DARE YOU ENTER MY MIND! OUT!"

"I WILL NOT LEAVE, NIGHTMARE MOON!"

"Oh hoho. Yes you will. And you will do it like this." the voice echoed.

The world rumbled a little, then Luna was literally ejected from her position and thrown outwards into a nearby wall, while the three unicorns simply screamed in pain as their horns were hit by a magical backlash. Nightmare Moon wasn't joking with her threats.

"Luna! Are you alright?!" Celestia struggled to shout as she scampered to her hooves.

"Yes. It is now up to the orange one to free herself or not."

"You don't need to listen to her. You have me! You need nopony else." a smile was hinted at the end of this sentence.

"Hmph. In my family, back to our Gaelic ancestors, we have a creed by which we follow. We never betray, or we punish those who have done so. You betrayed me. My friend dared to hurt me emotionally. For that, you must be punished."

"Wh-what are you doing?! STOP!"

"I'm taking my body back. And, you know what? I'm going to change it."

"You wouldn't dare."

"WATCH ME!"

The whole inner world began to shake as the darkness began to recede, and life was brought back into the plant life and sky. Layda's soul was glowing a bright Autumn orange, and Nightmare Moon began to yell as she tried to fight against this anger and need for friendship. In the real world, the glowing goop began to shrink back into the left foreleg, where it began to concentrate at the hoof. As it shrunk away, orange, yellow, brown, and red replaced the colors of night. As Layda retook control, the Lunar tree within her, unexpectedly, simply glowed brighter.

"The Harvest Moon?" she thought to herself.

Finally, after several minutes of screaming, Layda's world was now free, and the nightmare rested firmly on the surface of her left hoof. Her body was changed. While it retained the general form of Nightmare Moon, her armor had now turned into autumn leaves of similar shape. Her eyes were a bright yellow while her mane and tail were a bright orange striped with several misty images of leaves flowing in them. Brown, yellow, and even red crossed through these extensions. Her coat itself was a mixture of yellow and green, yet, she had no cutie mark this time. Everypony stared at her for a moment before approaching. She was smiling evily at a trembling blob on her hoof. It seemed to be wanting to hide from the gaze of this furious alicorn.

"What are you going to do with her now?" Luna asked.

"You should destroy her, like that, she doesn't bother us anymore!" Rainbow yelled in the air.

"No. That's too extreme, Rainbow Dash. Maybe banishing would be enough."

"That didn't help last time. Maybe--" Bon-Bon was quickly interrupted by Lyra.

"We can put her in a jar and keep her like a fish or something!"

Everypony just stared at her in disbelief of what they just heard.

"What?"

"Enough! The decision is hers."Celestia said.

There was a long silence, but Layda finally spoke.

"I'll turn her into a fairy who will be forced to do what I say when I say it."

"A fairy. You mean a flutterpony?" Lyra wondered.

"That's what they're called her? Than that's it. Stand back."

The group did as told. What they didn't know was that guards and the other servants of the castle had been watching the whole time. Channeling the lunar tree's might, Layda fired off a beam at the glob, illuminating it, and after several moments, it flashed brightly. Nightmare Moon was flying about with butterfly wings. She was horrified by what her punishment was, and decided to start yelling at Layda and threaten her, yet the new alicorn didn't care.

"Quite a cute addition. What shall we be calling you now?" Celestia asked.

"Hmmm. How about...Harvest Moon?"

"Hmmm. Yes. It traces to both your origins and your appearance. It is a good name." Luna smiled.

"I think I have much tutoring to do with you and my friends if I am to learn how to live in this world and eventually return to mine." Harvest smiled in return.

"Alright! I have tons of things to teach you now that you're an alicorn."

"You'll be staying with us though, right?" Lyra asked.

"Don't be silly. She can't anymore. She's a totally different pony." the turquoise mare's friend replied.

As the five moved forward, talking with eachoher, Twilight just sat back and looked at a pouting Nightmare fairy with a face of adoration and pity. The flutterpony caught sight of this and asked:

"What are you looking at?!"

"You're just so cute now!"

Twilight screamed like a little filly and grabbed the fairy in her forelegs and rubbed her head against her several times. Nightmare Moon was annoyed.

"Ugh. I will be having a tough life after this. I can already picture myself trying to commit suicide."

Author's Notes:

I hope this didn't feel rushed. I have a slight fear of endings, so they always feel rushed to me.