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Nightmare Night and Nyx

by RealityCheck

Chapter 29: epilogue

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epilogue

The night sky swirled with lightning and black, angry clouds. Nyx cowered on the cracked earth as Nightmare Moon, bigger than life, towered over her. Talon-fingered imps danced around her hooves, pointing at Nyx and taunting her. Nightmare Moon's wings spread out, blotting out the sky. "Hah! The little phony pony. You're nothing anymore. I'M the real one!"

The alicorn turned and showed her flank to Nyx. "See? Now I have your Cutie Mark, you're not real anymore!" She shook her rump, taunting Nyx in sing-song. "I have your Cutie Mark, I have your Cutie Mark... and I'm gonna gobble you up cause I have your cutieEEAIAIIOWWW!!!"

Nightmare Moon's taunts came to a rather sudden end, when Nyx launched herself at the evil alicorn and bit her right on the rump! Nightmare Moon fell to the ground, a big cartoony bite missing from her flank, and began bawling and whining like Diamond Tiara had the day she'd fallen in a mud puddle. In fact now that Nyx was looking at her, she was starting to look like Diamond Tiara, with Diamond Tiara's tacky little crown and pug-nosed, pouty face.

Nyx stood splay-footed, facing the whimpering apparition with all the defiance her racing little heart could muster. "NO you WON'T!" she shouted. "I'm the real one!" She pointed at her Soul. "See that? That mean's I'm the real one, YOU'RE the nothing! Now go away or I'll gobble YOU up!"

"Waaaah!" Nightmare Moon said.

Nyx woke. She blinked owlishly, confused, her pillow obstructing her vision. She was back home, in her own bed, the curtains drawn to keep the morning light out. Her first coherent thought was:

"Nightmare butt tastes like licorice?"

It wasn't until she looked down and saw the gnawed licorice whip in the crook of her hoof that she realized what had happened. Sometime in her sleep she'd reached down over the side of her bed, fished out a stick of licorice and gnawed on it a bit before konking out again.

Now there was sticky drool on her pillow and a weird taste in her mouth. Bleah. Black licorice; not the best flavor in the world to wake up to, she decided.

Something was wrong.

No... something was different. She couldn't put her hoof on it. Carefully, she got out of bed and looked around her room. Everything was the same here; her same old slightly disheveled room, posters on the wall, along with a new, signed poster of Sapphire Shores over her bed. The clock ticked on her dresser, counting away the hours of the night--- of the day, she mentally corrected herself; she could see early morning sunshine sneaking its way in around the edges of her curtains.

She felt the urge to be quiet, and so sneaked on tip-hoof out her bedroom door and down the stairs. It was so quiet. She paused on the landing that led to Twilight's room and peeked in.

Nopony there.

She made her way through the library room by room that way; the bathroom, the kitchen (stopping long enough to get a breakfast muffin, to get the taste of licorice breath out of her mouth), the pantry... nothing.

She found Twilight and Spike down in the main room of the library. Spike was curled up in his little bed, tummy bulging from all the sweets he'd eaten, first place ribbon from the costume contest clutched proudly in his claw. I guess they really liked his brain, Nyx thought to herself with a giggle. Peewee was perched on the little dragon's head, puffed out in a ball and sleeping contentedly. Owlowiscious was there too, drowsing on his perch.

Twilight was sprawled out in the big overstuffed chair in the corner of the room, sound asleep, some dusty old book or other still open on her belly. Nyx found a note under her mother's hoof:

Dear Nyx

Library's closed. Decided to let everyone sleep in today. Breakfast muffins in the kitchen. Don't eat too much candy!

Love you,

Mom.

A quill and bottle of ink were on the lampstand next to her. She had obviously scribbled it out while sitting there, and then dozed off before she remembered to put it up in Nyx's room. Nyx gently pulled the note out from under her mother's hoof and tucked it away in her vest pocket; she'd pretend she got it later.

Everything was fine. Still, she couldn't place her hoof on what was different... till she finally realized it.

She wasn't afraid.

She hadn't woken up frightened by her nightmares. No tears, no cries of fear. The lingering pall of unhappy dreams hadn't followed her around the house; just peace and contentment of a still autumn morning. Something had changed last night, and somehow she knew deep down that her old fears wouldn't torment her anymore. She'd be afraid again someday, of other things, of problems and dangers she probably couldn't imagine... but never again would they rule her.

Smiling, Nyx curled up on the throw rug next to her mother's chair and drifted off to sleep. And this time she dreamed, of rainbow skies and white mountains and seas sweet as wine, of her and her friends Crusading through a world that grew more wondrous with every horizon, of love and friendship and all the amazing things yet to come....

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