Dreams of the Damned

Chapter 4

She stepped out into the cafeteria, and pretended not to notice how all eyes turned to her and the room hushed a bit at her entrance. She cast her eyes over the assembled crowd of prisoners with disgust, but also with pity. These ponies had lived a hellish life, and while most may be murderers, mutineers, and deserters, even they didn’t deserve living in this hellhole. But then again, she decided, maybe they did.

“Food line is over there on the left, it's edible, and will get you through the day, but don't expect it to taste good.” Nightmare by her side, Vessel walking slowly behind her. “But don’t worry about food, there is an underground black market we can go to later. You want it, they got it, for a price of course.”

While Luna did notice some wary glances being directed at her, she actually saw more glances at her ghostly partner, most scared. “You have a reputation here.” Luna said bluntly.

“Call me the Phantom, they do. Known for stalking and silently killing the enemies of Mobius. Don’t know who I actually am, of course, and even if they did know about Nightmare Moon I doubt they would make the connection. Some of them probably know who you are though.”

“Who or what is Mobius and why do you kill for them?” Luna asked, keeping all the emotion off her face, a tactic you needed to learn if you were to survive long in the royal courts.

“There are three main gangs here, the Stonebreakers, the Skulls, and the Wardogs.” She said, pointing out the respective areas where the gang members sat. A gesture pointed out a large dragon sitting in one corner of the room, looking over everybody.

“That's Mobius, leader of the Wardogs, the largest and most powerful gang here. He recruits anyone he deems powerful who enters this prison. That means you. I had no choice but to join him, or he would have his goons kill Vessel.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “If they killed Vessel, wouldn’t you be free?”

Nightmare shook her head. “They will just re-seal me in someone else. Vessel is actually the third pony who I have been contained in.”

Luna made the wise decision of not asking about the first two.

“Listen, the other two gangs will try and recruit you first, and they have some… aggressive “recruitment” tactics. Just be warned, I can't protect you without starting a gang war, and neither will the guards. They are here to keep us in, not safe.”

Luna nodded, but just as a large figure stepped out into the aisle in front of them, blocking their way. Luna had to look up to see the biggest Diamond Dog she had ever seen, slightly taller than her.

“Stonecracker.” Nightmare whispered.

“Hello there, your majesty.” The Dog smiled, showing rows of rotten sharp teeth. “Welcome to hell.”

“Yes, it's truly a wonderful place, great people and scenery and such, now if you will- urk!” Luna had started to walk past him, but suddenly found herself being held a few feet in the air by her neck.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t just kill you now.” He said, pushing a shiv against her ribcage.

“You should… be afraid.” Luna managed to say through her closed windpipe.

The Diamond Dog burst out laughing. “Your strength is pitiful, your magic is blocked, and you don’t have a weapon. Your only saving grace is your wings, but you can't fly forever.” He pressed the shiv harder. “Why should I be afraid of you?”

“Oh no, it's not me who you should be afraid of.” Luna said, grinning, looking over his shoulder at the group of nineteen ponies who had sneaked up behind him. “It's the full squad of pissed Royal Elite Lunar Guard behind you.”

The Diamond Dog froze, all the color draining from his face.

Luna smirked. “Sic ‘em boys.”

The unfortunate Diamond Dog didn’t have time to react to her statement, as he suddenly found himself flung across the room, smashing into the wall. The room froze.

Luna nodded in acknowledgement at her loyal troops, and then leaped on a nearby table. “ALRIGHT YOU ANIMALS, LISTEN UP!” Luna shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice, gazing over the crowd of amassed criminals.

“THESE PONIES DOWN HERE ARE MY GUARD!” She yelled, pointing to them. “THEY TAKE ORDERS FROM ME! THEY’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR YEARS TO PROTECT EQUESTRIA AND ITS PRINCESSES FROM ANY AND ALL DANGER! THAT INCLUDES YOU LOT!” She did a slow sweep of the room, glaring at each and every one.

“YOU HURT ME, INJURE ME IN ANY WAY, AND YOU’LL BE ANSWERING TO NINETEEN VERY PISSED PONIES! YOU HURT, INJURE, OR DAMAGE ANY OF THEM, AND YOU’LL BE ANSWERING TO ONE VERY PISSED PRINCESS PLUS EIGHTEEN! THAT CLEAR?”

The stunned silence gave her her answer.

Luna nodded, stepping off the table.

“Corporal Nightfleet, good to see you and your soldiers in one piece.” Luna said to the batpony captain, stepping down.

“Likewise, Princess.” Nightfleet saluted, along with the rest of the squad. “Orders, captain?”

“At ease men.” Luna responded.“Keep our men alive and well.”  She said to Nightfleet. “We won’t be in here long, only a few days at most. I left a letter to my sister detailing our exact location and status. If we can survive just a few days, then was shall be rescued.”

“Noted. Who’s the unicorn?” Nightfleet asked, gesturing to Vessel who was standing nearby.

Luna froze. How was she going to explain this? “She’s… well, you see…”

She sighed. “Captain, bring your squad to sector 4, that's where my cell is located. I will explain who this newcomer is and reveal some disturbing information that I have uncovered. Captain, try and get your men equipped with weapons, anything you can find. Make some if you need to. Dismissed.”

And with that, she turned and walked out the cafeteria, all eyes on her.

“So, let me get this straight…” A Pegasus stallion named Hard Wind asked, looking at Vessel, or rather, the spirit who inhabited the body. They were all assembled in a room that was once used as a service passageway, and fortunately it was large enough for them to all fit. It even had a little table. Of course, they had to access it through a hole in the wall, but still, it was a place.

‘So… your Nightmare Moon?”

“In all since, yes.”

“How do we know you're not evil?”

“Because I have had multiple occasions where I could have killed you ever since we met, and yet I haven't. Plus, I saw Divine Wind over there cast a magic influence spell on me, and the fact that she hasn’t said anything yet says it came off clean.”

Divine Wind, Nightfleet’s second-in-command and also a batpony, nodded, confirming her statement.

“But still, how do we know we can trust you?”

“How do you know if you can trust some random pony you come across on the street?”

“Because they don’t have a history of trying to destroy Equestria.”

“How would you know if the pony you came across on the street did?”

“Alright, stop.” Luna spoke up. “This isn’t getting anywhere, and we still need to make a plan to last in this place. Simply “Survive” isn’t good enough.”

“Well, I've been thinking.” Nightmare said. “So, obviously, these guys want to invade Equestria. However, they needed time to prepare, so that's why they built this base. But it's clear they they were nowhere close to finishing their preparations, but now that Luna has discovered their base they will be forced to speed up their preparations. Luna is a very public figure, the public will begin to notice she’s missing soon enough, so they can’t keep her here forever, unless they are willing to invade with their plans half complete.”

“So you're saying that they’re going to release her?” Divine Wind asked. “How?”

“They would wipe our minds. A majority of the people manning this base are Horses, meaning they have no magical ability whatsoever, however, they DO have a unicorn who is trained enough to perform the spell.”

“Horses? What are Horses?” One of Luna’s soldiers asked.

“Don’t worry about that, it will be explained in the sequel. Now, in the case that Celestia fails to free us, we should still come up with a plan to escape.”

“Wait, what did you say about a Sequel?” Luna turned to her counterpart.

“Hmm?”

“You, you said something about-”

“No.”

“I... what? I could have sworn you said-”

“Nope.”

“But I thought-”

“You thought wrong.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Ok then…”  

They looked at each other for a few awkward moments, before Nightmare turned back to the table they were all assembled around. She grabbed a roll of paper from one of the shelves and unfurled it across the table.

“Now, as I have been here a long time, I have managed to map out a good portion of the base. It's not much, but it should help us out a bit if we need it. There is only one way out of this base for us, and that's through the was we came in, up the elevator shaft connected to the fake cabin in the forest.”  

“Wow, this is very detailed.” Another soldier remarked, a unicorn mare named Evelin.

“We’ll, I’ve had a lot of time. Now, this is where we are currently located.”  Nightmare pointed to the room on the map. “Now, we can pretty much move around on this level without hassle, but problems arise when we try to travel to other floors.” She pointed to a square on the map, seemingly outside of the walls of the prison. “This is an unused elevator shaft. It used to go to all floors, but since people kept trying to escape through it, they closed it off, and now it's behind a wall of concrete. If we can break through that, we have full reign of the building. Now, here’s the plan…”

She stood alone in the middle of the street, a few snowflakes fluttering down. She was once again standing in the middle of the square in front of the Crystal Palace, gazing up at the light radiating off it. Hearth’s Warming was only a few weeks away now, decorations lining the outside of the houses. Nopony was on the streets, leaving her alone with her memories.

“Goodbye, my Princess.” Sombra kissed her, causing her to blush.

“Oh, stop it you.” She giggled. “Now go already, the chariot is waiting.”

“I would never leave you.” He kissed her again.

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that.” She rubbed her stomach. “Now seriously, go. They’re getting impatient.”

“Oh, those politicians know nothing about love.” He stayed in her embrace a few moments longer, before pulling himself away. “Now, I promise i’ll be back for Hearth's Warming, because if I don’t you’ll have my head.”

“You better believe it. And you better get me a good present this year, or the marriage is off!”

“Sheesh, alright.” Sombra put up his hooves defensively, backing out the door. “Now, I believe I have a ride to catch…”

“Just leave already!” She rolled her eyes and pushed him out the large front door of the palace.

“See you!” He waved, before being surrounded by a regiment of the guard.

She waved back, and continued waving until his chariot was out of sight, disappearing into the grey winter clouds covering the sky.

She turned and walked back into the palace.

She stared up at it now, looking exactly the same as it did a thousand years ago, besides the new banners hanging from the balconies. The entire city looked like it did when she was last here, but bits and pieces of modern technology here and there.

“A whole city, untouched by time…” A familiar voice said behind her.

“Well, if you recall, it was cursed by Sombra.” Luna said, not turning around.

“Yes, and I see it has returned.” Nightmare said, standing next to her. “Those banners, I do not recognize them. That is not Equestria’s emblem, is it?”

Luna shook her head. “No, that's the emblem of the current ruler, Princess Cadence, and her husband, Shining Armor.”

“The names are familiar, but I don’t know the ponies behind them.” Nightmare said, with a hint of sadness.

“Well, Cadence is sisters niece, and Shining Armor is the brother of Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic and former captain of the royal guard.”

“Impressive.” Nightmare said, shifting her attention from the castle to Luna. “So, what's the story here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you said, The Crystal Empire was sealed away by Sombra…” She winced. “...yet here we are, standing inside it. So what's the story of its return?”

“Ah, I see.” Luna proceeded to tell her the story of how The Elements of Harmony had saved the empire from takeover by their evil king by finding the crystal heart, and about the couple Celestia had given control of the empire to.

“Sombra…” Nightmare got a far away look in her eye, and seemed on the verge of crying. Luna said nothing, but draped her hoof over her shoulder.

“I know, I felt the same way when I heard the news. But, I had already lost him once, and the pony who came back was not my Sombra, this was an imposter. But still, I wanted to do something, to confront him, but sister refused it.” She shook her head. “I still feel bad about it.”

“What about…” She gulped. “What about… Silver Star?”

Luna hung her head. “...No sign of him.”

They stood there silently for a long moment, before Nightmare Spoke up.

“Shining and Cadence seem like very nice ponies.” Nightmare turned her attention to the palace once again. “Shall we pay them a visit?”

“Sounds like a good idea, then I can introduce you to the Elements of Harmony.”

They passed the Crystal Heart, Nightmare glancing warily at it, before moving on.

As they walked down the many halls, Nightmare seemed to be trying and failing to contain her emotions, sometimes completely zoning out in random places. Luna draped a hoof over her.

“Look, I know what you're going through. Every time I come here I struggle to suppress my emotions, and it not easy. Feel free to cry if you need to.”

She stood there for a moment, and shook her head. “No, i'm… i'm fine. It's ok.”

“If you say so, now come on, let's get moving.”

They walked down more halls, before stopping in front of a door guarded by two guards.

“I’m guessing this is where they are?” Nightmare asked.

Luna nodded, and they phased through the door.

“So that's Shining Armor, and on the left is Princess Cadence.” Luna informed. “And, of course, in the middle is Flurry Heart.”

The little family were all sitting on the bed together, the parents playing with their child, and Flurry Heart enjoying every second of it.

Flurry Heart glanced up, and looked directly at them, a moment of recognition crossed her face, before something distracted her and she looked away.

“She noticed us.” Nightmare said, surprised.

“We’ll she is the first baby Alicorn ever, so it would make since if she had some… strange powers. And babies are actually more influenced by magic, so  it would make since if could see concentrated masses of magic such as ourselves.”

Nightmare stood their for a long while, just watching the family, tears in her eyes. “I’ll ...leave you.” Luna said, turning to walk away, and this time Nightmare didn’t object.

She walked up the the top of the palace, once again looking over the entire city, and the frozen north beyond. She had always liked it up here, even if it did get a bit cold and windy.

“Alright, I…” Nightmare wiped her eyes, coming up behind her. “...I think i'm good.”

“You need a minute?” Luna asked. There was clear evidence she had been crying, as her eyes were all puffy and there were visible tear tracks down her face.

“...No, i'm fine. Let's continue, shall we?”

They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Luna finally spoke. “...Alright then, let's go.”

They leaped off the balcony, and flew out over Equestria, flying low over the forests and lakes, quickly approaching Ponyville. They set down in front of the town hall, Nightmare gazing in awe at the buildings. “It's all so… different.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever come outside the prison? You could leave anytime when you entered the dreamscape.”

Nightmare hung her head. “I’ve thought about it, but I decided against it. I could never leave the prison with my normal body, so I purposefully contained myself within the confines of the prison… because I didn’t want to see it as a spirit, but in my normal body.” She sighed and looked at her leg. “Or, well, as my normal spirit self.”

“Do you miss having a body?” Luna asked, walking toward their first destination, Nightmare following.

“Yea, I guess. Being a spirit is nice and all, because you get to mess with people and pass through walls and stuff, but being able to touch stuff and actually talk to people is nice too…” She sighed. “I envy you, I guess…”

“Well, here is our first stop.” Luna stopped in front of a large blue crystal-tree looking castle, looking much like the crystal palace they had just left.

Nightmare gave a confused look at the castle. “...How did I miss this last time I was here?”

“Oh, its new.”

“How? It would have taken years to build something like this, and last time I was here there was nothing here. Unless I have been away for longer that I though…”

Luna chuckled. “No, this Castle was created by the Tree of Harmony for something or other, I don’t think anyone really knows. But Twilight Sparkle lives in it now after her house got destroyed.”

“How did that happen?”

“Giant laser.”

“Bad baddie?”

“Yep.”

“Must have been an epic fight.”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there.”

They walked into the castle.