Suffocating.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see. He was falling deeper and deeper into an endless darkness from which there was absolutely no escape. He was being swallowed whole, crushed by a pressure he'd never felt before. Somewhere deep beneath his terror, Shining vaguely wondered if this was what it was like to be dragged to the bottom of the ocean—body impossibly heavy and flailing helplessly as he was pulled beneath the turbulent waves and into the unexplored depths.

That he couldn't breathe or see brought the colt intense panic to be sure, but the true terror came from not knowing if he would ever reach the bottom of this black abyss. If his life wasn't being squeezed out of him by the suffocating darkness, would he just continue to sink forever? Never knowing the warmth of another embrace? Never having accomplished anything? Would he simply die alone and afraid like the little colt that he was? Would he die a failure? Could he look his mother or his father in the eye once he made it to those Elysian Fields? Could he face his sister? Did he even have the right?

And what of Celestia? If he were to fade away now, he'd never the get the chance to—

"And I thought myself the melodramatic one... I didn't peg you as the sort to display such theatrics, little colt..."

The cold voice poured over Shining like a bucket of ice.

The sensation of sinking like a stone vanished and all the air that was crushed out of him seemed to come rushing back into his lungs. The pain of suffocation completely disappeared as if it had never been. Though the all-encompassing darkness remained, it no longer felt like the earth had given way beneath him. Now he simply sat there in that black abyss, dazed and confused and blinking stupidly as he looked around him.

"H-Hello?"

Shining called out tentatively, simultaneously hoping for and dreading a response. His voice sounded horribly off—distorted and hard to understand in his own ears. For a brief moment, the only answer he received was the absolute silence following his oddly echoing voice, but then—

"Behind you, fool."

The surprised colt started before whipping around to find the source of the exasperated voice staring back at him. Even if he'd only seen simplified artistic renditions, there was no mistaking those icy blue eyes, that ethereal mane that shined like the night sky, and the pale silver-blue armor adorned upon an equine form with a coat so dark as to be almost entirely indistinguishable from the pitch-black void that surrounded them both.

Nightmare Moon.

In complete contrast to Shining's shocked and horrified expression, the mare answered the colt with a look that might've been boredom or perhaps simple disinterest. In fact, she seemed entirely at ease, reclined on her stomach with one foreleg idly placed atop the other as though the empty abyss were her own abode and this was a leisurely meeting between two acquaintances. Shining opened his mouth but found himself quite literally at a loss for words.

The sheer amount of questions tearing through his mind had jammed his thought process and all he could do was stare silently in utter disbelief. Nightmare Moon scoffed at his lack of response.

"Come now, surely you must have realized that Celestia's little trinket would hardly be enough to keep me at bay forever?" she turned away as though lost in thought, a small smirk tugging at her lips, "it would be one thing if she had cast such a spell on you directly, but crystal enchantments are most certainly not her area of expertise."

Desperate to get his mind back under control, the colt latched on to Nightmare's comment like a lifeline. He took a step back, closed his eyes, and took a few breaths to calm himself. With some grueling effort, he wrestled his terror back down and tried to focus on the facts—the first and perhaps most important fact being that this was in all likelihood a dream.

Once he realized that and taking Nightmare Moon's words into account, everything else quickly fell into place; Nightmare Moon had managed to break through the mental barrier Celestia's enchanted crystal had provided, though the dark mare had implied that there was a flaw in Celestia's enchantments that allowed her to slip through.

At this thought, Shining opened his eyes and saw that Nightmare Moon was observing him with a passive frown. The colt got the impression that the mare was waiting for something—maybe for him to realize the full extent of what was going on? Whatever her intentions, Shining deduced that as she was now, Nightmare Moon wouldn't suddenly attack, so he focused on his surroundings instead.

It was too soon—far sooner than he thought it would ever be—but this is more or less what he'd trained for. Despite the tension and underlying unease he still felt at his predicament, he couldn't help but feel a small bit of excitement at the idea that he'd be able to put his research into practice so quickly. Nightmare Moon chuckled lightly, bringing Shining's attention back to the mare. She shook her head gave him a small condescending smirk.

"Oh, don't mind me, whelp. By all means, continue your little investigation."

He frowned at Nightmare's tone and fully turned to face her, the fear from earlier waning as he remembered why he'd decided to confront Nightmare Moon in the first place. It was far earlier than he was expecting and he was hardly prepared, but even so, she was here, and she didn't seem to want to fight or otherwise torment him. Of course, that said—and after some observations of his own—Shining understood that there was most likely a reason for Nightmare Moon's surprising lack of hostility...

"Actually, I think I've more or less figured it out," Shining replied, his voice clearer, but still somewhat warbled, "this is all you can do, right? You've slipped through Celestia's enchantment, but only just."

"Oh?"

"I thought this was a dream, but that's not the case," Shining continued, ignoring Nightmare's mock surprise, "this is my subconscious mind sans the dream. What I felt earlier—that horrible drowning sensation—that was you trying to pull me here, wasn't it?"

Nightmare Moon gave no reply to the question, instead maintaining her silence. Although Shining could've sworn the mare's expression had changed into something resembling amusement. His frown deepened, but he pressed on with his deduction nevertheless.

"You were able to come here and bring me here too, but that's it," he said, gesturing to the emptiness around him, "you say Celestia isn't good at enchanting crystals, but her spell is still enough to stop me from dreaming and stop you from doing any more than keeping me trapped here in my own mind," gathering the courage he'd been building up, he turned and looked Nightmare Moon in the eye, "my biggest question now is why? Why bring me here if you can't do anything to me? Why now?"

"You're making quite a few assumptions, whelp but it seems you really have done your homework, so I will forgive a bit of hubris on your part," she paused and cracked her neck a few times before rising to her hooves in one graceful, fluid motion, "yes, you are right that I hold almost none of the power I normally have at my disposal while that infernal crystal is active, but if you believe I lack the ability to make you suffer, you'd best rid yourself of that notion now, little colt."

Nightmare Moon fixed her frosty blue eyes on Shining and sneered, causing the colt to back away slightly. The unease and uncertainty he'd felt from earlier rose back to the surface and just as he was beginning to second guess himself, the mare spoke again.

"Oneiromancy is my talent and the moon bows to my overwhelming magical prowess," she explained as she leisurely closed the distance between herself and Shining, "but make no mistake, little colt, my true power lies within my affinity for dark magic as a whole. I don't need absolute control over your dreams to make you writhe in agony."

"But... but Celestia sealed you in the moon almost a thousand years ago," Shining pointed out uncertainly, his eyes following Nightmare's every move as she circled around him, "there's only so much you should be able to do... and dark magic shouldn't be—"

"Ah, but that's just it," Nightmare interjected with a small smirk, "as time passes the seal grows weaker. As the seal grows weaker, more of my power becomes available to me," she made one round and stopped in front of the colt, "the day of my return is drawing very near and the seal is weaker now than it's ever been, thus our previous and current meeting."

Her smirk fell into a serious frown and she lowered her head until she and Shining Armor were at eye level. Her next words were slow and deliberate, carrying a deadly weight and an air of finality.

"Do you understand, Shining Armor? As things are now, it is well within my ability to cause you harm, with or without Celestia's countermeasure in place."

Though it was not his real body, the colt could still feel his throat go dry at Nightmare Moon's grim tone. Her voice and the icy stare that pinned him where he was told Shining that Nightmare's words were no mere bluff. Before the pressure became too great to bear, however, Nightmare Moon raised her head and turned away with a dismissive huff.

"That said, I did not force my way into your mind to do or discuss such things," she continued in a somewhat lighter tone. As she spoke, she once again took up the same position in the same spot as before, reclining a short distance away with the same disinterested expression, "rather, I believe you had something to discuss with me, so I've come here to answer your questions."

Shining blinked in surprise.

"You... w-wait, you did? Really?" he sputtered, completely caught off guard once again, "I mean, y-yeah. I wanted to talk to you about... well... a lot of things, but I didn't think—I didn't expect to... how did you—"

"Oh spare me the confusion, whelp," Nightmare cut in with a roll of her eyes, "though we've not seen each other in some time, I am well aware of your research into oneiromancy and its purpose," another small smirk crossed her face, "even had I no knowledge of yours and my sister's endeavors, your intentions are written clear upon your face. There is much you're dying to know of the time before I was sealed away, no? And besides, I have a few questions of my own, so why not sit and talk awhile?"

Shining was silent for a moment.

Celestia had told him a fair amount about her sister and their life together, there was no mystery there. Still, one thing the colt had noticed about the stories his adoptive mother had told him—one thing that had bothered him about the way they were told—was that they'd all been centered around Celestia's point of view. It stood to reason that if she was the one telling the story she would focus on her own experiences, certainly, but to Shining, that wasn't good enough.

There were two sides to the story, and though Celestia understood the role she had played in the tragedy that had driven a wedge between the two sisters, he still felt as though there was a lack of deeper understanding where Luna was concerned. Through those stories, Shining had some idea of what Luna had been like before she fell to darkness, and in some ways could see why she had, but it felt like there was something missing—some piece of the puzzle that Celestia simply didn't have.

That was why he wanted to talk to Luna herself—to Nightmare Moon. That she was willing to answer his question here and now was more than he could've ever hoped for, but even so...

"...Why would you bother talking to me about anything?" Shining couldn't help but ask, "don't get me wrong, I do have questions, but what do you get out of this?"

Ignoring the fact that Nightmare Moon had somehow known about him and Celestia, and most likely had for some time—possibly even since their first meeting—he voiced his suspicions.

"Me? I get to pass the time," came Nightmare Moon's simple reply, "there was a time when my consciousness was sealed along with the rest of me, but that time has long since passed and I feel I'm long overdue for some... amusement, don't you think?"

"That can't be all, can it?" Shining pressed, taking a step forward, "you... you have some sort of plan, right?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the mare answered, idly examining a shadowy hoof, "either way, this conversation would benefit us both, would it not? Go on, ask your questions, little colt. You may have some understanding of our past, but I'm sure there is much Celestia has yet to tell you," she smiled a mysterious smile, "allow me to fill in the blanks—to give you a... different perspective, as it were."

Sorry, for the long wait, folks. I mentioned in a blog that a new (old) character would appear, but then I got writer's block and came up with this chapter instead. Now that I'm done with it I have some more ideas so the arrival of a certain somepony will happen in the next Shining chapter. Also for those who are curious about Celestia and Luna's past, that'll be revealed in a later chapter at some point. Eventually.

Here's hoping my writer's block is gone for the foreseeable future...