I yawned a little as I woke up the next morning and blinked a little. Something felt off about the room as I looked around. I didn’t have a lot of personal effects, but it looked to me like things were out of place. Heck the furniture didn’t look like they did yesterday, but maybe I just didn’t get a good look at it.

“Mmm, morning Firelight,” Neivi said with a yawn from next to me as she sat up and gently wrapped her forelegs around me and planted soft kisses along the back of my neck. “How’d you sleep last night?”

“Good, I guess,” I said as I turned back to look at Neivi who seemed happy as she closed her eyes. “How about you?”

“Mmm, very good,” Neivi said as she moved around and leaned in and gave me a kiss on the lips and started to run her hooves along my sides before they came to a rest on my flanks that she gave a light squeeze. “How about, we have a good morning too, if you know what I mean.”

I shivered a little as I felt her hooves squeeze my flanks lightly. The feeling of the Zebra mare’s hooves running along my body felt wonderful as she started to plant soft kisses down my neck, electricity ran up and down my spine as her hooves moved to my chest and started…

I blinked a little as something occurred to me as I looked down at Neivi. “Neivi, wait…”

“What?” Neivi asked as she looked up at me confused. “Don’t you want to do this?”

“Well, uh…” I said as my face started to turn red from embarrassment. “I’m sorry Neivi, but we talked about this before remember? I’m not ready for this yet.”

“Oh, right,” Neivi said and I blinked a little, that was a weird thing to say. She leaned up and gave me a soft kiss on my lips. “I’m sorry Firelight, I don’t know what came over me. I just wanted you so badly.”

“Its alright,” I said as I nuzzled her gently. “I promise, when I’m ready I’ll let you know, I love you so much Neivi.”

“I love you too,” Neivi said as she reached over and picked up her glasses as she put them on and adjusted them a little.

I smiled a little as I headed over to the dresser where I kept what few clothes I had. I looked back towards Neivi and flicked my tail a little before I opened the dressed and found my old Society robes.

“That’s weird,” I said as I levitated them out and looked around for the Stable jumpsuit. “I left this back in Nightingale, what’s it doing here?”

“What do you mean back in Nightingale?” Neivi asked as she slid on her coat and looked back at me. “We haven’t left Nightingale, you must have had one heck of a dream.”

“Yeah, one heck of a dream…” I said and shook my head as I slid on the armored robes, adjusting the wing slots a little to make sure they fit me. “Sorry, it’s probably nothing.”

“Come on, let’s meet the others for breakfast,” Neivi said as we headed out of the bedroom. I blinked a little, if we were back in Nightingale this should look familiar right? Something about this still felt wrong, the walls they weren’t the same even, they were more purple or lavender. “I don’t remember the walls being painted like this.”

“Really? They’ve always been like that,” Neivi said with a shrug. “I always thought it was tacky personally but it’s what its always been like.”

“Weird,” I said as I nearly tripped and steadied myself on the wall and backed off suddenly. There was a large slash on the wall as if something with four claws had cut along it, that definitely hadn’t been there. “What the… where did that come from?”

“Where did what come from?” Neivi asked as she turned around and looked at me confused.

“That claw mark on the…” I said as I turned and looked back at the wall where the strange claw mark had been only to find it was gone. “I swear it was right here.”

“Firelight, are you okay?” Neivi asked as she reached up and felt my forehead a little. “There hasn’t ever been any claw marks on that wall, heck there hasn’t been anything that’s big enough to do that that came this far.”

I looked back at the wall for a long moment, I was still confused. Was I going insane or had I just imagined they were there? I shook my head and looked back at Neivi with a soft smile on my face and gave her a nod.

“I’m sorry, I guess I was just imagining things,” I said with a shrug as we headed down the hall and into the dining room. “Where’s Dawn and her friends?”

“Oh Storm swung by earlier and picked them up for school,” Neivi said as she let out a small chuckle. “I think she’s still pining after me though. She’s cute but you’re the only mare for me.”

“Wait, what about Moonlight?” I asked and Neivi looked at me confused.

“Who’s Moonlight?”

“You know, our other friend who’s an Alicorn, a little shorter than me, can move through dreams,” I said as I looked at her confused. “She’s dating Storm Wrangler, you walked in on them in the middle of doing it on the clinic floor.”

“No, I think I’d remember that, you’re the only Alicorn who lives in Nightingale,” Neivi said as she leaned up and gave me a kiss. “Come on, we don’t want to keep our friends waiting do we?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said with a shrug as I looked a bit confused and looked back at her with a soft smile. “Yeah, lets go.”

We headed out of the house together and off towards the cafeteria area.

“Hey you two lovebirds,” Lemon said as we took a seat across from her and Storm as I picked at my food a little.

“Storm, Lemon,” Neivi said with a smile as she took a bite of her eggs. “How’s it going?”

“Oh, yah know, tha usual,” Storm said as she took a drink and looked over at me and gave me a wink. “How about yah Firelight? Did ya’ll have a good time last night?”

“What? Oh, uh…” I said and blushed a little as I shook my head. “We didn’t do anything like that. I just did some reading mostly, not really anything else to say.”

“Riiight,” Storm said with a chuckle as she took a bite of her breakfast.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I took a drink of water. Something about all of this was still weird, but what if it was true? What if I had just been dreaming everything that had happened so far and I was just living a normal life here in Nightingale with my friends?

Then why did my mind dream up Moonlight and everything that had happened in Canterbury? No, something about all of this was still bugging me, and I couldn’t put my hoof on exactly why.

“I’m just going to…” I started to say as I finished eating and picked up my plate and nearly dropped it when I saw the table under it. Carved into the table was two words “BAD WOLF” which hadn’t been there before. “What the… where did that come from?”

“Uh Firelight, are you okay?” Neivi asked. “It looks like something’s spooked you.”

“I’m guessing you can’t see anything there either,” I said as I looked up at her and then pointed down at the table. “There are two words there, bad wolf, what does that even mean?”

“Firelight, you’re scaring me,” Neivi said and I looked down at the table to see that the words had vanished just like the claw marks on the wall. “Come on, just calm down and talk to me.”

“Yeah, what’s goin’ on here?” Storm asked.

“I, honestly don’t know,” I said and rubbed my eyes a little as I tried to figure out exactly what might have happened. “I thought I saw something there, and the claw marks before. And why doesnt’ Neivi remember Moonlight?”

“Who’s Moonlight?” Lemon asked as Storm looked just as confused. “Firelight, I think you just need to calm down. You’ve been under a lot of stress ever since you arrived in Nightingale and everything.”

“I, just need to go clear my head,” I said as I got to my hooves and gave Neivi a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you all later.”

I headed out of the eating area and back out into Nightingale. I had no idea what was going on, but I needed to get somewhere to clear my head.

I pulled myself up onto the platform that overlooked Nightingale and sighed a little as I laid back on the wooden floor and sighed. What was happening to me? Why did I keep seeing things that weren’t there?

Was I going insane or was something else going on here? I didn’t particularly want to think about either option. Maybe it was really all in my head like some, residual leftover from whatever was going on?

Was everything that had happened really a dream? Some sort of, second life that I had lived out in my dreams and this was actually reality? Everything seemed, fine, but something about all of this still bugged me.

So, what was I going to do now? If this was my real life, what was I going to do with it? Should I still hang onto the guilt of what I did to Moonlight if it never really happened? Was anything I remembered even real?

“I thought I’d find you up here,” a familiar voice said and I looked over to see Neivi climbing up the tree and pulling herself up onto the platform.

“I want to be alone right now,” I said with a sigh as I closed my eyes and leaned back.

“I know, but I still wanted to check on you,” Neivi said as I heard her sitting down next to me. “Firelight, we’re all worried about you. You’re seeing things that aren’t there and then you just, ran off without an explanation.”

“They were there,” I finally said as my eyes snapped open. “I don’t know why I’m the only one who can see them, but they were there. What’s next, am I going to start seeing holes that vanish too?”

“Firelight, I think this might be an after-effect of your time away from the Society,” Neivi said with a shake of her head. “We don’t know everything that they put you through there, and you may not even be completely aware of all of it. It’s possible that you’re suffering something similar to withdraw.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with a sigh. “But I’m not sure of anything anymore. The only thing I’m even sure of anymore is how I feel about you, but everything else here, it just feels wrong somehow.”

“I remember I once had a patient who got into an accident and was hurt but not too badly,” Neivi said. “When he woke up he was confused because he swore that in the time he was out ten years had passed and he had a wife and two foals with her. Is it possible that you imagined everything that happened?”

I paused a moment and thought about that before something occurred to me. There was something that had been nagging at the back of my mind this whole time and I had just now realized what it was.

“Neivi, how long have we been together?” I asked.

“What kind of question is that?” Neivi asked confused.

“Just answer me,” I said as I looked at her. “When did we first get together?”

“We, got together the day after you arrived in Nightingale,” Neivi said. “You swept me off my hooves and…”

“No I didn’t!” I said interrupting her. “Neivi, the day after I arrived I was still lying in the clinic recovering. In fact it wasn’t until after we dealt with the Mayor and the Enclave arrived that we even got together, which was all in my dream.”

“What are you saying?” Neivi asked confused.

I stood up and looked down at the wood of the platform. Scratched into it in big letters in front of me was the words “IT’S ME!”

A siren seemed to sound around me as the sky turned dark. I looked up to see that the moon was covering the sun above me as the whole world around me seemed to take on an, otherworldly glow.

“What the…” I said and turned to see that Neivi was gone. “Neivi? Anyone? What’s going on?”

I looked down at the town as I heard screams and realized that Nightingale was on fire. There were ponies in danger down there, and I needed to save them. I spread my wings and flew down into the town itself before landing near the clinic.

When I got there, something felt wrong. I could still hear the screams and see the flames, but they seemed, off somehow like everything else here. Then I realized that there was nopony around me, it was like the screams were coming from everywhere but nowhere at the same time.

“What’s going on here? Where is everypony?” I asked as I looked around confused.

“Firelight, Firelight, come down here and give a fight” a haunting voice said, followed by a giggle.

“Where are you? Who are you?” I demanded as I looked around again. “This isn’t funny!”

“Oh? It isn’t funny to you? What about to your friends? Or are they really your friends? Or just pawns to your game.” That voice replied.

“I don’t know what you mean, they’re my friends, they’re all my friends!” I said. “I’m not playing any game here…”

“Is that so?” The voice replied. “Was I your friend? Why would you lie to a friend? Why would you keep them from the family that loves them, from their true calling in the world?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked as I tried to find the source of that voice. “I never lied to any of them. I’ve never lied to any of my friends, I’ve been nothing but open with them!”

“You lied to me” the voice said, mirrors erupting from the ground around me, circling me in them, in my reflection I could see myself, and a figure standing behind me, hidden in shadows. “You told me that they were evil, that they would only want to use me, that I was nothing more than a tool to them.”

“Moonlight…” I said as tears started to well up in my eyes when I realized who it was that was here. “I spent six years in the Society! They were going to use me and they wanted your dream walking abilities. You know that I’m right, you’ve seen the outside world, does it look like a world that needs to be converted to you?”

“I didn’t understand before, and I believed your lies.” Moonlight said. “I had listened to you, followed your hoof steps, and where did it get me, dying, filled with toxins and lead. And when I needed my friends most, where did they send me? Not to be healed and saved from death’s cold doorstep, but to those they wished to watch me as I took my final breath, those who would suffer the most from my passing.”

“What?” I asked. “We sent you because we didn’t have the means to heal you in Canterbury. You were going to die if we didn’t get a cure for you and we felt that was the best option. You still had your memories, you could’ve broken free and made it back to us, that’s what we wanted!”

“You didn’t count on them saving me, why else would you have sent me.” Moonlight said, stepping forward and letting me see her in the reflections, I could still see the wounds where she had been shot. “You sent me to them, not as a friend, but as a parting gift. You tried to take the world away from me, a world rightfully gifted to me by the goddess herself, just like you tried to take my true family from me, the only ponies that understand, or care.”

“What about Storm?” I said as I saw the familiar flames starting to creep up in my vision. “She cares about you, she loves you! She was furious for what we did to you, but we told her that we’d save you, that you’d make it out of there somehow. You’re not like them Moonlight, you’re not their pawn. You’re a kind, loving, and friendly pony who would never let the Society lie to her like this!”

“The only pony here that is a liar, is you, Firebrand.” Her voice turning colder, darker, more sinister. “I wished only to remind you, your dreams are my realm, and your world my pawn. Gaze upon greatness, for before you stands your goddess.”

She started to laugh, her laugh twisting more and more the longer it went. I watched as her coat changed from white to black, mane starting to billow and shimmer like the night sky itself. When she finally stopped laughing, standing before me in that reflection was no longer my friend, but the Nightmare she became.

“No… Moonlight, snap out of it, you’re not her… you’re not Nightmare Moon,” I said as tears streamed down my face. “You’re Moonlight, you’re my friend, you’re all our friend. We’re not your enemy!”

“No, You are not.” Moonlight said, glaring at me. “You tried to take what was rightfully mine from me, you lied to me and twisted my reality so I would follow your hoof steps and become something I am not. The High priestess opened my eyes to your lies, and let me know of the love, the adoration my family has for me, the only true heir to the throne, the only one rightful to bear the burden the Goddess left behind. You will watch as your world comes down around you, and you will know the fury of those why betray her might.”

“This isn’t over, I’ll stop you! I’ll stop all of you!” I shouted. “Moonlight, I’m going to save you from the Society one way or another! This isn’t who you are, and I’m going to make you remember that!”

“Silence, Whelp!” Moonlight shouted, the mirrors around me dropping revealing Nightingale around me ablaze, bodies lying everywhere. “Bow before your goddess and know your place, or fall silent with all the non believers.”

“NO!” I said in a loud voice that boomed across the burning town, I could feel the flames around me, licking at the edges of my vision as the flames of the burning town around me started to grow stronger, but they didn’t even bother me as I screamed in a voice that was not my own. “I WILL NEVER BOW BEFORE YOU AGAIN, YOU WILL BURN, YOUR TEMPLE WILL BURN, THE ENTIRE SOCIETY WILL BURN BEFORE MY POWER!”

I let out a laugh, but I wasn’t controlling my actions as I stepped forward, smiling wickedly at the figure of Nightmare Moon.

“You do not know true fear, not until you face my flames,” I continued. “I am the Firebrand, the burning light that will bring you and your followers to their knees!”

“You have no power here.” Moonlight said, and with a wave of her hoof my flames disappeared. “Only the power I wish to grant.”

Dropping her wings I could see behind her, the bodies of my friends laying broken and bleeding on the ground.

“They will die first, as punishment for your impudence, I do hope you can see the error of your ways, the break of day will not bring the light you wish.” She said with a smirk. “The night will last eternal, Firebrand, rejoice in my mercy as I offer you one last chance, stand beside me, or die with them.”

“Never…” I said through gritted teeth, my voice finally my own again. “I will never join you again.”

“So be it.” Moonlight said, glaring down at me. “I hope you enjoyed your dream, Firebrand. It will be the last you will have.”

With that, the world around me faded away and I found myself waking up in the middle of Canterbury, my friends standing around looking just as dazed and perplexed as me.

“What in Tartarus just happened?” Lemon asked as she looked at me confused.

“Did ya’ll just have dreams about Moonlight turnin’ into Nightmare Moon?” Storm asked and we all nodded. “That ain’t right…”

“Tell me about it,” Neivi said with a sigh as she looked back at me. “What are we going to do now?”

“I, honestly have no idea,” I admitted as I looked down at my hooves.

What had I done? This was all my fault and I knew it, now it was just a matter of figuring out what to do about it.

We sat around the table in silence for awhile as we thought about what had happened last night. We had compared notes, it seemed our dreams hadn’t been that different (other than me temporarily losing control of my own body but I wasn’t worried about that right now). So, what were we going to do now?

“She talked about her family,” Neivi said finally as she looked at Storm for a moment. “She sounded like she has had issues with family before, did you know anything about that?”

“No, she didn’t exactly talk much about her family or life back in Stable 27,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “Ah’m sorry…”

I was about to speak, when there was a gentle tapping at the door, gently opening it and pushing her head through I could see a pale colored earth mare, looking at the group of us before her eyes settled on me. Softly she spoke. “Firebrand, we have to talk.”

I blinked a moment as I looked at her. “Wait… you’re that Changeling, the one from the Society aren’t you? She’s the only one outside the Society or my friends that know that stupid title. What are you doing here?”

“I’m sure you already know.” She said softly, nodding a little. “There is much to talk about, come with me please.”

“If you want to talk to me about anything, you can say it in front of my friends,” I said, not getting up.

“This is of utmost importance Firebrand, please, If I speak it infront of outsiders you know what the high priestess will do to me when I return.” She said. “You know me, the stories I told you, how I watched you in the nursery as you grew up, You have no reason to be so distrustful of me.”

“You sound pretty scared to me,” Lemon said as she looked at the disguised Changeling with a frown. “Look, we’re all Firelight’s friends, if she wants to talk to you in private okay, but she trusts us and we won’t betray that trust.”

“There are but a few things that changelings fear, and the High Priestess knows them all.” She said softly. “She does not take lightly on those with… how you say, Loose lips.”

“Alright, I’ll hear you out,” I said with a sigh as I looked at my friends and leaned in and gave Neivi a soft kiss before whispering an I love you. “I don’t want anything to happen to you anymore than my friends. Let’s go talk in private.”

“We must talk about the one that is with the moon.” She said, smiling to me a little. “She has, created quite the stir in the society. There are already talks of schisms forming between the ranks, those who follow her, or those who follow the priestess.”

I nodded as we headed into another room. My horn glowed a little as did the walls and door. “There, we should be able to talk in private now.”

“Her use of power last night, was not… permitted.” She quickly said. “The priestesses tried to stop her, however they all woke up the next day injured, even the high priestess herself couldn’t remove the artifact.”

“What artifact are you talking about?” I asked with a tilt of my head, I couldn’t think of any artifacts that could do something like that. “I mean, Moonlight can already dreamwalk but its always been a limited range, and we’re too far away.”

“Remember the breastplate adorned upon the bust in the main hall?” She asked.

“Yeah, I was always told it belonged to…” I said and my eyes went wide when I remembered that. “Nightmare Moon herself.”

“That much is a lie.” She said, with a sigh. “However it was crafted with a material descended from the moon itself, and embedded within a gift of the goddess, an amulet of untold power.”

“Wait, when we were in the tunnels Moonlight briefly reacted to something nearby,” I said as I thought back to that moment. “That’s bad, are you saying that is what caused her to become, well, that?”

“Indeed it is Firebrand.” She said with a sad nod. “She is your friend, and her fire still burns brightly within, it is just masked with hatred and lies, I was there when she appeared and heard what the Society told her, they have turned her against you but I believe there is enough of her within that she can still be brought back.”

“So, you want me to go back to the Temple and convince her?” I asked. “How do I know they won’t grab me and shoot me?”

“She does not heed the teachings of the priestess, you do not need to go to her, she will come to you, you just need to call her to the place she calls home.” She said. “She is bound by her own moral code, she will stick with her family, all you need to do is show her, that her family is not there, but here.”

“Okay, how to do that…” I said with a shake of my head. “I tried to appeal to that last night but it didn’t do any good. Storm didn’t do much better and they’re in a relationship together.”

“You confronted her, you did not attempt to appeal to her.” She said. “She told us of your arrogance in the great hall. Do not lift your arms and attempt to force her to stop, that will only make her stronger, you need to get to her through kindness, I can feel that in her, much like I felt something similar in you.”

“Kindness…” I said with a sigh. “That’s easier said than done, but how to do that…”

“Do you remember the tales, of how Nightmare Moon was destroyed?” She said. Sitting down and holding her hoof out to me. “Perhaps, it is by that brilliant light described, that you can cast away the darkness and reclaim the soul within?”

I gently took her hoof and sighed a little. “The Elements of Harmony, but we don’t have them. How are we supposed to do that? Use what virtues or elements we resonate with us and hope it gets to her?”

“I see before me, all the harmony.” She said with a chuckle. “You do not need the elements, nor anything to stand in for them, because what they are, is in your heart. Firebrand, you need to just, trust in yourself, and in your friends, and let their lights combine.”

I paused a moment and then smiled. “We’ll try, thank you so much, I just hope it’s going to work. Still, it, kinda feels like we’re missing something.”

“She talked of a mare, one from a concrete tomb.” She said with a nod. “She ranted about how much she loved this mare, this one mare over all, and how she would never be allowed to hold her again, how she would never see the smile on their foal’s face as she grew up, perhaps that is a place to start.”

“Citrus!” I said as I jumped up. “Her friend and mate from Stable 27! She was pregnant with Moonlight’s foal but they had to part ways when Moonlight was turned into an Alicorn! She fits what you described to a T.”

“Your path may sound clear, but there is more to it then you know Firebrand.” She said with a smile. “I know only what I have overheard, however it sounds like this, stable, is a place to start.”

“We’ll definitely start there,” I said with a nod and a soft smile. “And, it’s Firelight, I don’t use that title here. Honestly I never liked it very much.”

“Why use Firelight? That is not your name as much as Firebrand is not.” She said with a smile. “I still remember the first night I spent with you, Ember.”

I sighed a little and looked down at my hooves. “I don’t even remember Ember very much. I guess I just go by Firelight because it’s the only name I remember.”

“You remembered Ember well the first night, You were different than the others.” She said with a soft smile. “You remembered more of who you were then any others, it was through all the training you were given and all the lessons they had you learn that fully hid away that scared little filly. Maybe you don’t remember her, because you wish to protect her, and fear if you remember her she’ll be hurt once more.”

“I…” I said and sighed a little. “You’re probably right, but its been so long I don’t even know how to anymore.”

“Her light will shine through in due time.” the changeling said “Your friend, she who is one with the moon, she will need that light more than ever when you get her back.”

“Thank you…” I said and paused a moment. “You know, you’d think all these years I’d ask you for your name.”

“I do not have one.” She said softly. “I am just, The Changeling, No pony decided I needed more.”

“Well, I think you do,” I said with a soft smile. “Would you like a name?”

“I, never considered myself worthy of a title. The Society only keeps me around because I can go places Alicorns cannot.” She said, smiling a little back. “All they offer, is a roof of my head and unrestricted access to food… but, they never really considered how I felt, or what I thought.”

I thought about it for a moment and sighed. “Well, what about out in the world? Do you go by a name when you’re meeting with ponies or do you have any you like? I’m not saying you have to take a name, but, well, you’ve always done so much for me…”

“As one with many faces, I do not think a singular title is fitting.” She said with a shake of her head. “I usually go by what I am called, nothing more, then again I rarely make contact with the outside world anymore… the high priestess accused me of being treasonous and spreading lies with my stories and forbid me from doing more than the mission I was given… Which is why I am here, she sent me to you, to ask you for help.”

“I’ll help with Moonlight,” I said with a nod. “But not for the High Priestess, I’m doing this because she’s my friend. Spin that for her however you like. And, think about the name thing, you don’t have to tell the Society or even me, just pick a name and make it your own if you want.”

“Moonlight is, destructive to everything the High Priestess worked for.” She said with a sigh. “She believed if the Goddess appeared, it would bring validity to her statements and strengthen the cause, but all it has done is cause questions and fighting, questions of who to follow have arisen, who is the truth and who is lies, The society is coming apart at the seams all because of one free radical in the system.”

“And since I’m already a renegade to the Society, if I save her it’ll discredit her message, right?” I asked.

“Correct… and, as was said, the artifact, as long as she has it she is unstoppable, even to the strongest elites of the Society, any attempt to stand in her way has already been met with violence, and there is fear that if not stopped soon, deaths may occur. Even with her mind full of lies, she still trusts you, she is just, in pain, and unsure of where she stands in life, she needs that light you’ve always given.”

“Like I said, I’ll save her because she’s my friend not for the High Priestess, even if it means doing what the High Priestess wants, this one time,” I said with a sigh as I bowed my head a little. “If I don’t do this, then she’s going to destroy Nightingale and other settlements and kill who knows how many ponies in the process.”

“Believe me in this child.” The changeling said, before pulling me into a hug and softly running a hoof through my mane. “Her bark is much worse than her bite, she only wishes to scare you and have you fall in line because she doesn’t want to hurt you.”

“So what do you suggest? Should I let her stay as Nightmare Moon?” I asked. “That’s not a great option either.”

“It is not that I suggest you should leave her as she is, but I wanted you to know she is like a cornered animal, she is scared and lashing out, hoping to frighten you and make you stand in line.” She said softly. “I wished for you to know that, so when she and you do meet again, you know to treat her as such - you do not reach for a frightened animal, you convince it that it’s safe and to come to you.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind and we’ll come up with a plan,” I said with a nod. “Thank you again.”

“Your welcome.” She said softly. “It was nice seeing you again.”

I hugged her tight. “It was good seeing you again too, I’d like to see you again someday.”

“Hopefully one day you will.” She said with a smile and nod. “You should return to your friends, I am sure they are worried.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to tell them everything you know,” I said with a sigh. “If we’re going to do anything they’ll need to be told everything.”

“Remind them, Moonlight is not gone, she is only hidden behind a cloak of magic and shadow.” Smiling warmly and getting to her hooves, giving me one more hug before she’d disappear in a flash.

“I just hope that we can do this,” I said with a sigh as I removed the soundproofing spell and headed back to the kitchen.

“Who was that?” Storm asked as I came back. “What did she want?”

“She’s, it’s kind of a long story,” I said with a sigh as I brushed my mane back a little. “She was in charge of taking care of the young Alicorns when they joined the Society including me. I, don’t really know what you’d call her, protector, caretaker…”

“Nanny?” Lemon suggested.

“Yeah, I guess that works,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve got a lot to tell you, and we’re going to have to come up with a plan on exactly how to execute it. And we’re going to need help from Citrus.”

They listened as I told them everything the Changeling had told me. It was admittedly a long shot and I could see it on their faces that they weren’t sure if we were going to be able to do this, but it was at least a start.

“Do, you really think this’ll work?” Lemon finally asked. “I was around when the original Element Bearers were still alive. I know how this kind of plan usually goes, but it doesn’t always go that way in the Wasteland.”

“Then we hope that it will,” I said. “This is our best chance at getting Moonlight back and we can use it to strike a blow against the Society. They’re already being weakened because of the schism that’s formed in the Society, and if we can somehow get her to trust us and keep rallying the troops on her side, we’ll have an advantage in this fight. Moonlight is not gone, we just have to get through to her.”

“Alright, so how are we going to do that?” Storm asked and we all paused a moment.

“Like I said, we need to talk to Citrus,” I said as I looked at all of them. “Which means we need to get back to Nightingale.”

“So, then what do we do with the fillies?” Neivi pointed out.

“If the Paxis is still there or we have some friends in town they can watch them, or if one of us stays behind,” I said with a sigh.

“I’ll stay,” Lemon said. “I don’t want to put anypony in the Stable at risk because of my radiation.”

“Alright,” I said. “We’ll get Citrus and hope that she can help us come up with a plan. Right now it’s our best option, probably our only option. So let’s do this.”

The others nodded and Neivi spoke up. “I need time to talk with Diala to tell her we have to leave. We should be able to go soon though.”

We nodded and went to get our stuff together. It was time to get back home to Nightingale, and then Stable 27.

I stood in front of the cave that would lead down into Stable 27 and sighed a little. We had dropped the fillies and Lemon off in town and here we were, standing outside the entrance to the one place that we hoped would help.

“So, how do we get in?” I asked as I looked at my friends. “I mean, I doubt they just left the front door open.”

“Well, Stable 27 has had contact with the outside world right?” Neivi asked and I nodded a little. “Well, maybe we should try, you know, knocking.”

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Storm said with a shrug. “If Ah was in charge Ah’d put at least some guards by tha front door. Ah’ll bet there’s an intercom or somethin’ we can use.”

I nodded as we headed into the cave. The large gear shaped Stable door was in the cave wall with the number 27 slightly faded on it. There was a terminal off to the side with a few buttons and speakers.

“It’s your plan Firelight, you talk to them,” Neivi said and gave me a nod.

“Okay,” I said and took a deep breath as I pressed the button marked intercom. “Uh, hello this is Firelight and company. We’re here to talk to Citrus.”

“How do we know you’re really her?” The mare’s voice said on the other end. “We’ve been told about you but not much else. Can you prove who you are? What do you know about Citrus?”

“Security ponies, very paranoid,” Storm said and I couldn’t help but chuckle at that a little bit.

“It’s about Moonlight,” I said. “She’s in danger and we’re going to need Citrus’ help if we’re going to save her. Please, just let us in so we can talk to her and hopefully work this all out.”

“Alright, she’s currently in the clinic but we’ll talk to her and see if she wants to see you,” the security mare’s voice said on the other end.

“Why’s she in the clinic?” Neivi asked and there was a brief pause. “I’m a Doctor, if there’s anything wrong…”

“She went into labor earlier than expected, she’s fine and her daughter is going to be fine,” the security mare said with a sigh. “Anyway, if there’s nothing else I’ll go talk to her now.”

“No, go ahead,” I said as the intercom shut off.

A few minutes later there was a scraping sound of metal against metal as the Stable 27 door started to open. It finally opened fully and an Earth Pony mare dressed in Stable 27 Security barding with black fur and a white mane.

“Nopony mentioned you were an Alicorn,” the security mare said as she looked up at me confused for a moment.

“Long story, don’t worry I can be trusted,” I said with a nod and gave her a soft smile. “Just give me a chance to talk to Citrus and it’ll be okay.”

“Alright, well she trusts you enough to let you in, so come with me,” the security mare said and lead us into the Stable.

It’s kind of funny, in all my time in the Jungle I had had never really thought about this, but I hadn’t ever really been anywhere like the Society in one regard. Nightingale, Canterbury, even the boat on the river all had a mix of mares and stallions, it had taken some getting used to but I barely even noticed anymore.

So as we walked through Stable 27 which was entirely made up of mares I had a hard time acclimating again. I don’t know, maybe it was because of what I had gotten used to in my time in the jungle but at the same time it was, kind of nice.

We went past a few mares and fillies who looked at me and Neivi curiously. They probably weren’t used to seeing Zebras and Alicorns. I gave some of them a smile as we made our way towards the clinic.

“An entire Stable filled with mares, sounds like yer dream come true Neivi,” Storm said with a chuckle as Neivi rolled her eyes a little. “Don’t say yah wouldn’t mind a harem or somethin’.”

“I only need Firelight,” Neivi said with a shake of her head as she nuzzled me gently. “I can live without a harem.”

“Too bad, I wouldn’t mind,” I said jokingly as we reached the clinic. The security mare gave me a nod. “Thank you, uh…”

“Charcoal, I know it’s not an original name,” Charcoal said with a chuckle as she gestured towards the clinic door. “I hope she’ll be able to help you with whatever you need her for.”

“Me too,” I said as we headed into the clinic.

Citrus was laying on a medical bed while a filly was in a nearby chamber. She looked tired but she smiled a little as she looked up to see us.

“Hey, its been awhile,” she said with a soft smile. “How’s Moonlight doing? Charcoal said it was about her.”

“It’s, complicated,” I said with a soft sigh. “She was shot and nearly killed by a robot programmed to kill Princess Luna and thought she was her for some reason. Unfortunately, to cure her of the poison that was in the bullets we had to send her to the Society.”

“You what?” Citrus said as she snapped up and looked at me in shock. “Why would you do something like that?”

“It seemed like the only option at the time,” Neivi said with a sigh as she adjusted her glasses a little. “We were in a difficult position to say the least. We had hoped that because she retained her memories after the IMP process she would be able to break free.”

“Obviously, that didn’t work,” Storm said with a roll of her eyes.

“And now she’s been exposed to some dangerous artifacts that have turned her into Nightmare Moon,” I finished as Citrus frowned a little. “She’s in trouble Citrus, and we need to get through to her so we can help her.”

“Okay, but why me?” Citrus asked. “We basically resigned ourselves to not being able to see each other again after what happened. And it sounds to me like she’s found somepony else in the outside world.”

“Look, Ah’m sorry if Ah stole yer mate from yah,” Storm said with a shake of her head. “Moonlight, she’s somethin’ special ta me though. Ah’ve never really had anypony like her before and… well, Ah guess Ah can understand what yah must see in her.”

“She also talked a lot about family,” I said as I looked at her. “She feels betrayed by us and like the Society is her one true family. According to my old caretaker from the Society, she talked about how she’d never get to see you or her daughter. Does, any of this mean anything?”

Citrus paused a moment before she looked over at the sleeping filly. She looked like she was deep in thought before she finally sighed and looked at me. “Which daughter?”

“Wait, there’s more than one?” I asked.

“Moonlight isn’t the first mare to exhibit some of Luna’s abilities in Stable 27, but she has probably the strongest connection to them,” Citrus said with a sigh as she looked at me. “She had these abilities while she was young, even while she was still in the womb. The Overmare believed that this-”

“That will be enough out of you, you need to rest.” A nearby doctor said looking to me and my friends. “If you wish to know more, you may come with me and I will explain in detail, however I must insist that my patient be allowed to rest.”

“Alright,” I said with a sigh as I gave Citrus a soft smile. “You have a beautiful daughter, I hope she’ll be okay.”

“Thanks, and me too,” Citrus said as she laid back on the bed.

I turned back to the doctor. “Alright, lead the way.”

Following the doctor out the room, as soon as the door was closed she turned to face us. “You three have a lot of nerve, do you even begin to understand how stressful and traumatic premature labor is?”

“I’m a doctor, I’m very much aware of this,” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses a little. “But we are in the middle of a crisis and Citrus may be the best chance we have at resolving it. Given the time constraint and the fact that we were unaware she had given birth until we had gotten here we didn’t have a lot of options.”

The Doctor took a deep breath and sighed. “Right, ‘doctor’...” She said, shaking her head. “Anyway, what is it you are after, Moonlight has been a very sore subject around here ever since she left.”

We gave the Doctor a quick rundown of what had happened and what we knew. As we talked though, something started to nag at the back of my mind. Citrus had said that Moonlight had other foals in the Stable, she had only ever really talked about Citrus before.

“Look, Ah know this is all hard ta take in,” Storm said. “But based on what Firelight told us our best chance is Citrus or, some other pony in this Stable that she was with. We need anythin’ yah can tell us.”

“Let’s start with family.” The doctor said, “By the way, My name is Orange Blossom, you can call me blossom or orange, but please not both. But family for Moonlight, has always been a very complex and, regulated thing.”

“Exactly how many foals as she…” Neivi said and paused a moment as she tried to figure out the right word. “Conceived in this Stable?”

“Counting the one Citrus just had?” Blossom said, stopping to think for a moment. “Half a dozen, maybe one or two more. It’s hard to remember, it’s been quite a while since the last one. Don’t get me wrong, Moonlight is a wonderful mare, but sometimes I think her taste in others is… flawed, at best.”

“Flawed taste? She ain’t got no flawed taste!” Storm snapped at the Doctor. “Ah should know, she and Ah have been involved fer awhile up top!”

“Storm, calm down…” Neivi said.

“Calm down? Mah marefriend has been turned into tha avatar of one of tha most evil ponies of all time and Ah’m bein’ insulted by some Stable Doctor who don’t know what she’s talkin’ about!” Storm snapped at her and glared at Blossom.

“Perhaps you misunderstood me.” Blossom said with a deep breath. “Moonlight has always been rebellious, she refused to adhere to some of the basic rules down here in the stable. For one, she has been special since before birth, and that sculpted her education and should of influenced her choice in mate, however she seems to have rejected everything and kept trying to… settle down, with other mares. She is the latest in a very important side project we have been working on and she was trying to throw it all away, and when she didn’t get what she wanted she ran away like a spoiled filly.”

“Ah’ve gotten less bullcrap from actual bulls,” Storm said as she narrowed her eyes at Orange Blossom. “Moonlight is one of tha nicest mares Ah’ve ever known. If anythin’ yah say is true Ah’m sure she has very good reasons. Yah can’t try and regulate a pony’s life like that, they need freedom and tha ability ta make decisions fer themselves.”

“Would you shut your mouth and let me speak.” Blossom snapped back at Storm. “Your daughter did not just give premature birth to the foal of a mare who abandoned everything that has been worked for over generations.”

“Wait, you’re telling me you have a what, selective breeding program with ponies that have abilities like Moonlight?” Neivi asked. “Exactly what purpose does that serve?”

“We have seen the surface, we opened our doors shortly after the bombs fell and we saw what the world had become, we knew that no pony, no princess survived that.” Blossom said with a sigh. “When the first ponies down here started to show signs that they had powers like Princess Luna, the overmare was quick to try and see if we could combine those abilities and figure out how to make them stronger, to see if one day we could bring Luna back by just calling enough of her magic to us.”

“That’s insane, even if there was a chance that it would work you can’t bring her fully back unless you had part of her consciousness or something,” I said.

“It may of been insane, but it was working.” Blossom said, looking to me. “Every generation was stronger than the last, there were a few offshoots here and there but they got rolled into the program and soon we were getting reliably powerful offspring. Moonlight was the first to exhibit dreamwalking, a major step forward, and she did it with ease as though it was second nature to her, There was rumors of a piece of Luna in the dreamscape that has been trapped there, and with Moonlight able to go there, we could get that piece back.”

“Fates, if tha Society got wind of…” Storm started to say and then paused as she looked at me and Neivi and then back at Blossom. “Yah don’t think that they somehow got wind of this experiment do yah?”

“The Alicorns? No, they had no way of knowing unless somepony broke silence and told them, or if Moonlight was stupid enough to actually reveal her power to them.” Blossom said. “Back on the topic however, Moonlight kept trying to settle down, but the overmare and her administration kept getting in the way, once Moonlight and her mate decided to have a foal, they ensured that Moonlight would be the father, loose terming there, and would separate them after conception.”

“But when we, yah know… she never wanted ta be in charge!” Storm said.

“Well, that’s nice to know she moved on so quickly.” Blossom said with a huff. “Either way, the traits are only passed down from father to foal, if they mother a foal the traits get lost. She had to be what we required her to be in order for the project to not be entirely lost.”

“Wait,” Neivi said as she looked confused. “You said she fathered six foals right? What’s the problem, if its passed down from Moonlight to her foals, shouldn’t the ones you have already be exhibiting those abilities?”

“That’s the problem, she has fathered six foals, and none of them have showed any signs of even a fragment of the power the first generation had.” Blossom said with a sigh. “There are talks, that the power must be used up, and the project was doomed from the beginning, no more can be born with fragments of her power if there is none of her power left in the aether.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Neivi said as she adjusted her glasses and shook her head a little. “If there’s not any more ponies being born with these abilities, what’s the harm in letting Moonlight live a normal life? The more foals she conceives in this Stable the more you’ll risk having an inbreeding problem with the next generation. It was a valiant experiment, but in my medical opinion continuing to attempt it will cause nothing but trouble for Stable 27.”

Blossom paused and looked at us for a moment before she sighed and motioned to follow her over to a nearby panel on the wall. Pushing against it lightly with her hoof opened up a passage. Following her for a moment we came to a large central round shaped room. She pointed to the diagram on the floor.

“Stable 27 does not have an inbreeding problem, and while structured breeding is a project we handled here, we have a large source of genetic material that allows us to keep genetics diverse by switching foals from side to side.” Blossom said, pointing to one side of a trefoil design on the floor. “This is the Stable 27 you were just in, affectionately called Stable 27b. We are now in Stable 27c, up there is A and over there is D. Three sides to the same stable, all with their own independent projects.”

“I see,” Neivi said with a slight frown. “This explains a lot, but how do you explain foals appearing out of nowhere? I’m guessing based on the way the entrance was hidden this isn’t common knowledge.”

“All three sides of the stable have had contact with the surface for quite some time now, when we need to switch foals around we claim that orphans are being brought in, and unfortunately, the part I hate most, we tell the parents that their foals have passed so they move on and forget about them.” Blossom said, her ears folding flat. “I am from Stable 27d, it’s a control stable, where most of the switching in and out comes from because there is no control of who ponies can and cannot be with. Stable 27b and 27a are both controlled breeding, one is with equal parts stallion and mare, the other entirely mare.”

“Yeah, we kinda noticed tha second one,” Storm said with a snort.

“Well, that’s certainly one way to avoid the inbreeding issue of Stables,” Neivi commented. “But I still believe what is best for Moonlight is to be allowed to stay in relationships with whoever she wants.”

“You said Citrus was your daughter right?” I asked. “Citrus clearly has feelings for Moonlight, would you do that to your own daughter? Or let your granddaughter not be able to know one or even both of her parents? I was put through a similar situation thanks to the Society, and I don’t like it.”

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Blossom said with a sigh. “As much as it would pain me, yes, I would do that to Citrus, and her newborn foal. Because Equestria needs a leader to pull it out of these dark times, and if we give up on the program then all will be lost for good.”

“And what if there’s no way to continue the program?” I pointed out. “What if Moonlight is the last pony who will ever get that power? I don’t know a lot about the process, but you’d think at least one of the six fillies would’ve shown signs.”

Blossom sighed and looked back to me. “Cryogenics. We were working on bringing a stasis pod out of storage and we were going to put Moonlight in it before she left. All we needed to do was wait till enough from the previous generations had died that there was power in the aether to be grasped at, and then try again.”

“Ah ain’t gonna let yah do that ta Moonlight!” Storm snapped at Blossom. “She deserves better than that, she deserves ta have a happy life and not be used as some, breedin’ mare!”

“That’s the problem with wastelanders like you, you are too selfish to see past the nose on your face. To realize when something is for the greater good.” Blossom said with a groan. “Do you think I want to have my daughter deal with a broken heart? Or see another foal grow up with only one parent? But it isn’t what I want anymore, what I want is irrelevant to what is best for the stable, and the stable is trying to do what is best for Equestria. And like it or not, Equestria needs its princesses back, we have been unable to call on any of Celestia, but our success on calling on Luna has only made us even more sure.”

My anger was starting to rise, they were legitimizing using Moonlight, one of the nicest ponies I had ever met as breeding stock for their experiments. Neivi and the others stepped back suddenly as the familiar warm sensation came over me, the flames licking at the edge of my vision.

“You will not use Moonlight like that ever again!” I said with malice in my voice as I set my eyes on Blossom. “She is our friend, and its bad enough that the Society wants to use her, but this is her home! This is where she comes from, where she has her family and friends, and you want to use her to further some experiment that may not even work? I will not let you lay a hoof on her or make her do something she doesn’t want to do, DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?”

“You good? Done getting it out of your system? Blossom said, unfazed. “You can cease your illusionary display, I am not some foal that is easily frightened by loud noises and bright lights.”

I blinked as the illusion flames started to dissipate from around me.

“Let me make myself clear, Alicorn.” Blossom said, glaring at me. “Have you ever had to whisk a foal away in the middle of the night because some higher power demanded you to? Have you ever had to talk to the grieving parents in one breath and help them feel better about the foal you know is alive but you’re being forced to tell them is dead, and then in the next breath be talking to their foal telling them about their so called parents, how they were junkie raiders or caravan merchants that simply forgot them? No? I didn’t think so. You can bring your nightmare magic in front of me, but it doesn’t bother me, because every breath I breathe is a Nightmare. Every day I live is a Nightmare, you want to harm me, I welcome it, take me out of my misery.”

“I… I’m sorry…” I said softly as I looked down at my hooves. “Sometimes when I’m angry it feels like something takes me over.”

“Look, Moonlight is our friend, we’re trying to help her, it’s why we came here,” Neivi said with a sigh. “If there’s anything we can do to help Stable 27 in exchange for her freedom, we’ll do it.”

“She’s already free, she left, remember? She’s gone, and she isn’t coming back.” Blossom said with a sigh. “She took our only hope with her, she took the only light in the dark, All the nightmares we had to endure to get where we are, all taken away in a moment…” Pausing for a moment before she’d gasp and her eyes would go wide. “We must get back, immediately.”

“What?” I asked. “What’s going on?”

Blossom had already taken off running with us in tow, shouting back “Moonlight has never missed the birth of her foals, and if she is as you claim, then her appearing here could have grave consequences.”

We exchanged a long look as we ran back into Stable 27b together. We hadn’t considered that possibility, I just hoped that we weren’t already too late.

LEVEL UP!

Perk Received: Dream Warrior.

Details: You’ve crossed paths with the dark ruler of the dream realm, and have come out alive, for good or for ill. You gain a boost to perception while you’re in the dreamscape and can recognize dreams easier.

Author's Notes:

The characters of Orange Blossom and of course Moonlight and Nightmare Moon were written by TheLittlestofPips who is always amazing.