Nightmare trotted over to the stallion that was stone a moment ago and shoved him over onto his back. A few taps to his cheek elicited a pained groan.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," Nightmare grinned. He responded by giving her a pained squint. He then tried to rise, but was forced back down by Nightmare’s hoof. “Don’t try to get up, you’re going to need a little while to recover.”

He responded again with nothing other than a pained groan before attempting to roll over. His movements were jerky and sluggish, and his breathing labored.

‘What’s wrong with him?’ Trixie asked.

‘Nothing’s wrong with him,’ Nightmare replied internally. ‘I just hit him with a rather nasty stunning spell before I knocked him out and turned him to stone.’

‘And you did this to your ‘friend’?’ Trixie questioned.

‘It’s complicated. . .’ Nightmare answered, killing Trixie’s hope for an explanation.

With her magic, Nightmare Moon lifted the stallion onto one of the restored beds. He laid there for at least half an hour, letting out another groan or two while he waited for the pain in his body to recede.  Nightmare Moon occasionally cast a spell or two every few minutes, to ‘speed up’ his recovery.

Eventually he was able to sit up.

“Oi, what n’ tha bloody blazes happ’d ta me?” Irish accent . . . Why? Maybe it goes with the beard. Taking a few moments to observe the room, he redirected his gaze at Trixie/Nightmare Moon. “And what does a pretty little lass like you tink she’s doing in a place such as dis?”

“I revived you, Starswirl.” Nightmare replied. Though with the new host, and the new cutie mark, the stallion had yet to recognize her.

“And o’course I tank ya fer dat.” He tried getting up again, only to be forced back down by Nightmare’s magic. “What was dat fer?” He protested.

“Stay in bed,” Nightmare ordered. “The disorientation can’t have passed yet. The last thing I need is for you to trip over your own hooves and smash your head in.”

“I don’ tink ya exactly understand who ya’ve revived, lass.” He replied before attempting to stand again. “What makes ya tink your the boss here?”

Nightmare simply responded by walking over and looking him in the eye before using her magic to force him down again. He replied by shooting her a glare, but after a few moments his expression turned to a smug grin.

“O’course,” He began with a suggestive tone as he sat up. “Dere might be another reason why a pretty mare like yer’self would want ta keep a stallion in a bed?”

‘Did he just?’ Trixie began in shock. Her jaw would have dropped had she been in control.

‘He did. . .’ Nightmare Moon replied ominously. Trixie could feel a surge of annoyance flare up in Nightmare Moon. That and a sense of indignation.

A sudden bolt of electricity from Trixie’s horn prompted a pained howl from the stallion as he fell back onto the bed.

“Ah. . . Ah’d be taken that as a no. . .” He replied with a new bout of pained breathing. He was about to say something else when a dagger, one that Nightmare Moon had retrieved from under the bed, sunk into the mattress a few inches from Starswirls nose.

Stabbing straight through his beard.

“Now dat’s just not polite.” He replied in his accent, obviously not intimidated yet.

Nightmare Moon seized him in her magical grasp and pulled him to eye level, a portion of his beard being ripped away by the dagger still stabbed into the mattress.

“Don’t you remember what I told you the last time you hit on me?” Her words were harsh now. Starswirl face contorted into a mixture of anger (over his beard) and confusion. “That I’d teach you the dictionary definition of the world ‘gelding,’ if you ever made a pass at me again, even if it was in jest?” She withdrew the blade and brought it up to eye level.

It took a few moments for Starswirl to process what she said, but the dramatic shift in his expression showed that he realized exactly who said it . . .

“Yer Highness!?!” Starswirl shouted in surprise. Nightmare Moon nodded. “Well, ah . . . Ah didn’t tink it was you yer highness! Honest! I thought ya looked familiar but . . . but. . .” He just finished with a gulp before putting on a pathetic and almost pleading frown.

“Oh don’t worry, Starswirl. I’m not goint to punish you.” Nightmare put the dagger down. “The circumstances are punishment enough.”

“Yer Highness?” He asked, most of his fear gone. A little uncertainty lingered.

“Well. . . do you remember our last conversation? You know, When you decided to unwisely make yourself an obstacle to my plans and I stunned you.” Nightmare Moon began.  

“Aye, I remember. Ya stunned me twice!” He confirmed.

“Yes well, that should teach you a lesson about getting in my way.” Nightmare remarked before continuing. “That little ‘disagreement’ of ours occurred about a thousand years ago.”

“What?” He asked in confusion. He rubbed his ears before pointing it back toward the mare.  

“You heard me correctly, It has been a thousand years since I put you to sleep and turned you to stone.” Nightmare Moon spelled out.

“A THOUSAN BLEED’N YEARS?!?” He shot up from the bed, only to lose his balance and fall onto the floor. But that didn’t stop his outburst. “WHY DID’N YAH WAKE MEH TILL NOW?”

“Well,” Nightmare began as she used her magic to hoist him back onto the bed. “I was . . . unavailable during the intervening millennium.”

“an what in tha hay does that mean?” He asked, still hysterical.

“It means . . . you were right, Starswirl.” Nightmare Moon answered with what Trixie could swear was regret. Maybe shame? “There was another way, I just didn’t see it.”

The stallion didn’t respond. A look of shock still plastered to his face. Though Trixie didn’t know his shock was from finding out that he had missed a thousand years of birthday parties, or the fact that Nightmare Moon had just admitted to being wrong about something. The two sat in silence for a few moments before Starswirl decided respond.

“Ah, Well.” He finally replied dejected. “At least Ah got ya ta admit ta makin a mistake, too bad I got turned inta’ a bleed’n rock fer it. An ta tink I said ya’d never admit ta being wrong, not in a thousand years ah said. Oh wait. . .”

“I’m . . .” Nightmare began before stopping in hesitation. “If everything had gone according to plan-"

“The spell woulda been broken when ya duped Celestia inta killing ya.” He cut Nightmare Moon off, anger growing in his voice. “And ah woulda been turned back to normal, yah yer highness, ah figured as much. Trapping me in stone fer a thousand years was an accident.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. Starswirl was obviously fuming at first, but it didn’t last.

“Well, It’s not like ah had a lot of friends, an’ there’s not much ah can do about it now. But ah’m glad you’re okay yer highness.” He replied with less anger now. “A thousand years into the future ay? I guess it could be interest’n. I wonder what advances they’ve made in magic since I’ve been gone.”

“I’m glad to see you haven’t changed.” Nightmare Moon grinned.,happy to see that Starswirl wouldn’t dwell on it. “Ever the curious mage.”

“That, an I’ll always have my two best friends.” He replied more cheerfully. Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow in response.  “You o’course yer highness, fer one.”

Trixie could have sworn his Irish accent got thicker.

“An’ the mare who’s always running out on me, Whiskey.” He grinned. “Ah tell ya yer higness, I can even tink of all the ways they’ve probably made alcohol better. I can’t wait ta try out all tha new beverages they musta invented.”

“Uh, Starswirl?” Nightmare began. “A few hundred years ago. . . Celestia banned alcohol. . .”

---

It took a few minutes to convince the Irish accented stallion that Nightmare Moon wasn’t playing some cruel joke on him. However when she finally managed it, oh boy. . .

Trixie had never heard of alcohol before, or why it was banned. But judging by the look of on Starswirl’s face, and the following freakout, it seemed like Celestia had commited genocide.  

The next half an hour was filled with Starswirl’s rants and protests, all about reasons why alcohol shouldn’t have been banned. Some of them were actually pretty good arguments too. However, Nightmare Moon finally managed to calm him down; but only after he promised to bring whiskey back to Equestria.

Something Nightmare Moon deemed to be his “side project,” if he felt so strongly about it.

At this point, Trixie unwisely revealed her presence by taking control for a moment to ask “What’s alcohol?”

That act opened up another can of worms entirely, which took another half an hour for Nightmare Moon to explain how she was cohabiting another pony’s body. The explanation involved a lot of magical theory, most of which Trixie didn’t understand.

Until Nightmare noticed this and forcibly placed enough magical theory  and knowledge into Trixie’s mind for her to understand. A rather painful, but quick, way for Trixie to learn.

“So you see Starswirl, the result is that my consciousness is inhabiting another body at the moment.” She said to conclude what felt like a college lecture. “So now there are two minds in this body, mine and the original.”

“That’s. . .  rather fascinating.“ He replied as rubbed his beard in thought. “Though I suspect it would kill a normal pony if they tried it.”

“Yes well, I’ve never been normal have I?” She answered with a grin.

“But one question yer highness, if you left yer old body then it probably would’a died; and the spell keeping me in stone shoulda broke?” He pointed out.

“Yes well, my mind wasn’t completely transferred out of my original body. Only the part of my mind that was not in harmony with Equestria” She answered. “I am a part of princess Luna, always have been. I’m just separated from her now.”

“I see. . .” Starswirl responded, once again in thought. “What makes you different from her?”

“In a word,” Nightmare said frankly. “Memory. Princess Luna doesn’t remember everything I do. I know for a fact that many of her memories are buried or blocked. That’s why I’m the one reviving you and not her.” Nightmare remarked.

“Aye, I tink I’m start’n to understand the situation.” He replied as he came out of thought. “So what’s yer name, lass?” He asked, focusing back on the mare.

“Huh?” Nightmare Moon replied.

“Not you, ya body-snatch’n hitch-hiker fer a princess, Ah’ma talking to yer fine hostess.” He clarified, though his tone and word choice elicited a glare of annoyance from the Nightmare.

“I’m Trixie,” Trixie answered. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Starswirl, you’re actually quite famous.”

“Well-mannered and good look’n” he shot her a smile. Though something told Trixie that his compliment was partly meant to annoy Nightmare Moon.  “Famous am ah now? Well, that’d make sense seeing how I was famous before I left. Ah’m tinking I might need somepony ta show me around this new, horrific, alcohol-banned-dry, future. Would you?”

“Umm. . . sure,” Trixie began, though she didn’t know where to start.

“That will have to wait, Starswirl.”Nightmare Moon cut in. “Right now, you need to rest. You won’t be able to use your magic for some time, and while we are waiting for you to recover Trixie and I have work to do.”

“Aye, yer highness!” He replied before giving a mock salute before Nightmare turned to leave.

“Umm. . . Yer Highness?” Starswirl called as she walked toward the door. She stopped and turned back to look at him. “When you say you have work to do. . .” he began with some hesitation. “Does that mean yer still the 'bad pony’ in all this?”   

A grin slowly crept into Nightmare’s expression. “I won’t stop being the bad pony until the job is done.”

Now that reply didn’t sit well with Trixie at all. But what concerned Trixie more was Starswirl’s response.

“Well yer highness, I’m glad ta hear yer not a quitter.”  Starswirl replied with a grin and a nod. Nightmare was about to leave again when before she stopped and looked back at Starswirl

“Oh, and to motivate your recovery. . .” Nightmare began. “It turns out Celestia’s prohibition didn’t get everything. There are a few bottles of wine in that liquor cabinet. I can’t speak for their quality, Celestia left them behind a thousand years ago. However, the cabinet itself is enchanted, it can only be opened using magic.”

Starswirl’s eyes lit up, and his gaze darted between the chest and Nightmare Moon. After a few moments his eyes adopted a pleading expression. Though Nightmare Moon only laughed.

“Get well soon, Starswirl. . . and shave your beard, it looks weird with a chunk taken out of it.”

- - -

‘Well, that was . . . Interesting.’ Trixie remarked as Nightmare Moon guided the both of them out of the castle. It was night again, and something about the cool night air of the forest seemed to brighten Nightmare’s mood.

Trixie, however, was hardly able to get over the fact that she had just finished talking to a thousand year old wizard. One who also happened to be a reputed historical figure.

However, finding out that said mage was involved in Nightmare Moon’s ‘work’ was a little unnerving. Nightmare didn’t have a shining reputation, and mixing that with a mage of Starswirl’s caliber could only mean trouble.

‘Starswirl has been a loyal and rather useful servant,’ Nightmare Moon responded, sensing the other mare’s uncertainty. ‘It pleases me greatly that he is still alive, despite the fact that his persistence was an accident.’

‘He still makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. . .’ She replied. Though not willing to elaborate as to why he made her feel uncomfortable. However, Trixie couldn’t hide her thoughts from the mare inside her head.

‘Don’t let Starswirl’s friendly demeanor or flirtatious attitude trick you, you’re right to be cautious of him’ She continued. ‘He is incredibly intelligent, highly motivated and goal oriented.’ Nightmare paused for a second. ‘Though he’s been known to show some . . . slightly sociopathic tendencies.’

“What?” Trixie blurted out, alarm in her voice. “Are you telling me we just woke up a really powerful psycho?” Though the irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Trixie. . . if she hadn’t picked up that helm.

‘No, not a psychopath, a sociopath.’ She replied.

‘. . .’

‘Yes there is a difference . . .’ Nightmare continued.

‘Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better. . .’ Trixie countered.

‘Don’t worry, he’s not dangerous, to us anyway.’ Nightmare answered. ‘He’s loyal to those select few he regards as friends. Though becoming his friend can be rather difficult . . . he never really had many friends.’

‘I guess I’ll have to take your word for it. . .’

- - -

The rest of the trek through the forest was spent in silence, or rather, without any more mental exchanges between the two.  Trixie spent most of the time contemplating her situation. She had only known Nightmare Moon for a day, and considering Nightmare Moon’s reputation, didn’t trust the dark alicorn at all. Now, Nightmare had brought back a ‘friend’ and was obviously planning something.

Which made Trixie wonder, should she be trying to resist Nightmare Moon? Could she? Could she force Nightmare Moon out of her head? Could she offer enough resistance to Nightmare Moon to stop her plans, or get Nightmare to leave her? Could the princesses help?

‘Such thoughts are dangerous, Trixie. And I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.’ Nightmare Moon warned, her voice was venom; and it killed Trixie’s train of thought. If she was going to resist Nightmare Moon, she’d at least have to be able to think freely.

Their walk came to an end when Nightmare Moon charged a teleportation spell, which deposited them in another part of the everfree forest. Confused, Trixie asked why they were walking at all when  Nightmare Moon could just teleport them.

‘Just covering our tracks, Trixie.’ Nightmare Moon responded. ‘I don’t want the princesses to trace our teleportation spell and find out where we are staying.’

‘Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?’ Trixie asked. ‘Do you think princess Celestia is even awake right now?’ Trixie said, stealing a glance toward the starry sky.

‘Paranoid?’ Nightmare asked. ‘Not at all, and I’m not worried about Celestia much right now. What concerns me more is princess Luna, she’s in her element right now just like me; and she’s just as clever as me.‘

After a few more minutes of walking they arrived at an ordinary clearing. However, a few spells cast by Nightmare Moon revealed a large circular stone, almost like a plate, barely an inch underneath the surface. In center of it was a blue metallic disc, with a moon shaped symbol on it. Trixie recognized it as one of Nightmare Moon’s magic seals.

‘What is this?’ Trixie asked. ‘Why do you have a locking seal here?’

‘This,’ Nightmare directed Trixie’s hoof to tap the stone slab they were standing on. ‘This is a long-range  teleportation rune, capable of sending the user very long distances with only little magic. But it only teleports to another plate that it is specificly linked to. Usually they’re smaller than this, no larger than a bed. Luckily the sealing ruin over the center piece hasn’t been broken or removed, so it should still be in working condition.’

‘Why haven’t I seen one of these before?’ Trixie asked. It would have been amazingly useful to her in her previous profession as a traveling performer.

‘They cause some rather nasty side-effects to most ponies, especially non-unicorns, who use them. Which is why I suspect they’re rarely ever used. If I had to guess, they’re probably reserved for military use, if they haven’t been forgotten about altogether.’

‘Well, where are we going?’ Trixie asked as Nightmare Moon retrieved the moonstone from their pack. A quick spell with the moonstone and Nightmare picked up the seal, revealing a blue crystal underneath.

‘Oh, about a mile straight down,’ Nightmare Moon replied before sending a small pulse of magic into the crystal.

---

After a brief flash of light, Trixie found herself standing on another stone slab.  However this one appeared to be in some sort of chamber. The walls, floor and ceiling were all made out of stone. It almost felt like she had been teleported back into the everfree castle’s basement.

But when asked, Nightmare revealed that it was actually an underground structure she had built a long time ago. Someplace she claimed would allow her to safely conduct research without being discovered.

Though, what was different from the castle basement was the atmosphere. The air itself felt stagnant, with a weird smell that Trixie couldn’t identify. It was strong enough that she could taste it when she inhaled. Needless to say, there were no sources of light.

However, the darkness didn’t stop Trixie from being able to see. She still had Nightmare Moon’s ability to see in the dark. Though something she did notice with night-vision was that everything was in black and white.  There were no colors.

‘How far down are we again?’ Trixie asked, looking around the room.

‘We are about a mile underground,’ Nightmare Moon, sounding lost in thought.

‘Oh, I don’t feel like dungeon diving today. . .’ Trixie complained. ‘The last time I did that I got a crazy pony stuck in my head.’

‘Haha very funny. But I guess it’s only fair that I warn you.’ Nightmare replied. ‘It’s been a thousand years since I’ve been down here. I don’t know what we’ll find . . . but it may be unpleasant. It’s very important that we get what I came for, otherwise decades of work may be lost.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Trixie was starting to feel uneasy. Though she couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but something seemed very off about this place. However, before she could ask she spotted the entrance to the chamber they were in.

It was a set of double doors, but it appeared that there was a small pile of rubble in the way. Getting closer revealed that the rubble was actually the remnants of a barricade. Someone had placed furniture in front of the door in an effort to keep it closed, though wasn’t successful. One side of the barricade was pushed back with top half of the door missing; like something had torn its way through.  

A small part of Trixie was rather surprised it was still standing after a thousand years. She suspected it was magically reinforced at one time. However, she didn’t get to inspect it much further before she felt Nightmare take control, who directed their gaze to a black object draped over the broken door.

Getting a closer look, Trixie suddenly realized it was the badly burned corpse of a pony. Trixie would have recoiled had she been in control, but nightmare continued to inspect it. The burnt corpse had a set of misshapen wings and a horn.

‘By the stars Clover, tell me you didn’t . . .’ Nightmare began, Trixie almost missed a sense of dismay coming from Nightmare Moon. However, it was soon replaced with anger. ‘Clover, what have you done?’

‘W-What is it?’ Trixie asked as Nightmare cast a spell to levitate the corpse out of the way. Though she didn’t need to ask to in order to sense from Nightmare that something was wrong. It didn’t take long for Trixie’s memory to kick in. The last ti me she had seen something with boths wings and a horn, that wasn’t a princess, were the monsters she had seen in Nightmare’s memories.

Nightmare didn’t respond to Trixie, but rather pushed what was left of the half door out of the way before peaking down the hallway beyond the door.

‘Nightmare? ‘T-Those things couldn’t still be down here after a thousand years cou-?’ Trixie tried to press her question but was cut off.

‘They were built to last Trixie,’ Nightmare replied. Trixie picked up on her choice of words, what did Nightmare mean by ‘built.’

‘Built to last? Exactly how long were they ‘built to last?’ ’ Trixie did nothing to hide her anxiety.

‘Forever,’ Nightmare stated simply.

---

“What the hay do you mean forev-“ Trixie began before Nightmare Moon forced her mouth shut.

‘I can’t stress to you the importance of shutting up,’ Nightmare responded, with both urgency and annoyance. ‘We need to stay hidden in the darkness, and we can’t do that if you’re yapping away. Think, don’t speak.’

However, it didn’t take Nightmare’s tone to convince Trixie to be quiet. Trixie could sense some of the emotions Nightmare Moon was having, and none of them were good. The most prominent was a sense of urgency, followed by determination and apprehension; and even a small amount of fear.

‘Nightmare Moon, w-what’s going on?’ Trixie asked with apprehension.

‘You remember those monsters you saw in my memories?’ Nightmare Moon began, still with urgency , as she pushed aside the door and peaked down both sides of the corridor beyond. When she didn’t see anything of interest she continued. ‘ They’re called the reanimated, and I suspect Clover . . . didn’t do what I told her to do, so now this place is going to be full of them.‘

“WHAT?”-CLACK

‘Outbursts like that are going to get you killed, Trixie.’ Nightmare Moon replied with more anger this time, after snapping Trixie’s mouth shut. Nightmare then stepped back into the room and emptied their courier bag on the floor. ‘The reanimated can sense magic, and the magic from teleportation plate definitely woke some of them up. Make no mistake, were not alone down here. And making slightest sound is not wise.’

‘L-lets just leave!’ Trixie replied, almost pleading.

‘Really can’t do that at the moment Trixie,’ Nightmare replied as she started to remove any enchantments from contents of their bag, ‘The larger teleportation plates, like that one, have a cool down time between uses. I’d say about thirty minutes before its functional again. And since were a little over a mile underground, the only other exit is another teleportation plate on the far side of complex.’  

‘Why don’t you just teleport us?’ Trixie asked. ‘I’m sure you’re strong enough to not need the rune.’

‘Out of the question,’ Nightmare replied. ‘Teleportation spells that are casted, unlike plates, can be traced. Teleporting to the surf opens up the possibility of one the princess or somepony else tracing the spell back here, and that cannot happen.’

‘Then we can j-just wait here,’ Trixie suggested.

‘That’s also a bad idea, I guess we have about ten minutes before the ones that are awake pick up on our scent and start hunting us, fifteen before they find us if we stay still.’ Nightmare replied, finished removing all magic from items they were carrying and placing back into the bag. ‘Trust me, you don’t want to be caught in a room with them pouring in through the only exit.’ Trixie got a feeling that Nightmare had done this before.

‘Teleport us to the other plate?’ Trixie was getting desperate.

‘That would be a mistake,’ Nightmare replied. ‘When you’re dealing with the reanimated, the last thing you want to do is teleport into a room that might be filled with them. You’ll be instantly surrounded, and if you’re not, they’ll know exactly where you are because they can sense the magic.’

‘W-What are we going to do?’ Trixie asked, some part of her hoping that this was all one cruel joke.

‘Well, our best option would be to get to the other teleportation plate. There’s a route there through the lower level, which fortunately takes us near where I need to go.’ Nighmare answered, her tone shifting from critical to focused. She had finished stowing everything back inside their bag and was peeking out the door again. ‘I came here to get something and I am not going to leave without it.’

‘Do I have any c-choice?’ Trixie replied.

‘You wouldn’t have a better one if you did . . .’ Nightmare replied. Thought she could still sense Trixie’s growing fear. Feeling the need to reassure her, Nightmare continued. ‘Don’t worry Trixie, I’m going to get you out of this. I’ve been through situations like this before.’  

---

Trixie had never moved so quickly so quietly. She would have argued that it was physically impossible, but Nightmare Moon seemed to be getting hey body to do a lot of things Trixie would have thought impossible for her to do.

The ‘research site,’ as Nightmare put it, must have been huge.  The pair had passed countless doors and corridors as they worked their way deeper underground. Nightmare peeked around every corner, always checking if the coast was clear before move ahead. To their fortune, most of the rooms were completely empty of anything that would want to rip their head off.

Although, the tenth time Nightmare peaked around a corner almost gave Trixie a heart attack.

What she saw looked like several ponies, just standing in random places throughout a small hallway. Each had their head drooped, typical of ponies that had fallen asleep standing up. They were completely covered in a strange rough looking material Trixie had never seen before. All of them were completely still except for the slight movement of their breathing.

‘Are those-‘ Trixie started, noting that they were all had both a set of wings and a horn.

‘Yes,’ Nightmare Moon cut her off before cursing. ‘They’re in our way, we’ll have to double back and go around.’  Nightmare remarked as she pushed up against the corner, trying to get a little bit of a closer look.

Though Nightmare Moon took a moment to study it, noting that it’s wings were not misshapen like the ones she had seen before. A closer look also revealed that the ‘rough’ coat wasn’t a coat at all. In fact it appeared as though the pony’s fur and skin had completely disintegrated; leaving dried and exposed muscle underneath.  ‘Interesting . . .’ Nightmare thought to herself. ‘These ones are a little different from the ones I’ve seen before.’

‘W-what do you mean? Is that good or bad?’ Trixie asked out of fear.

‘Well I can’t tell if it is something Clover did, or just the effects of a thousand years . . .’ Nightmare replied. ‘But they appear to have been altered. As for good or bad, I doubt it changes anything. They’ll probably still try to kill us if they wake up.’

After doubling back, they had finally reached the room Nightmare Moon had been looking for. It wasn’t until they were at the door that Trixie was able to sense how much Nightmare Moon had wanted to get here. She was obsessed.

Peeking inside revealed a large room. It was filled with cages.

And bodies.

A small battle had occurred inside. Weapons and the bodies of armor clad ponies lay everywhere. The closest one, just inside the entrance, appeared as though his hind half had been torn off. Wherever it went was anyone’s guess. And he wasn’t the only one that looked like he was torn apart. Many of the bodies in the room appeared to be mutilated in some fashion.

But what scared Trixie the most was that all the ponies appeared to be skinless, just like the horned pegasi that they had spotted standing in the hall.

The cages in the room were organized into long rows, and some of the cages were occupied by more of the skinless ponies.

All of which served to terrify Trixie.

Nightmare, however, had a rather different reaction. When she first spotted the bodies she started counting them. As she did, Trixie was surprised to find a sense of guilt welling upside the dark alicorn. It grew to be crushing by the time she had counted to five or six, but continued to grow until she quit counting at thirty.

‘I’m responsible for this . . .’ Nightmare Moon said to herself, Trixie was certain that she forgot Trixie was there. ‘All these loyal ponies died horrible deaths . . . and it’s my fault.’

Though, after a few moments of standing silently, the guilt Nightmare  felt seemed to dimish to the point of almost vanishing. Whether she had buried the feeling or just shrugged if off, Trixie couldn’t tell. Trixie was more concerned with Nightmare’s apparent interest with the room, namely what Nightmare had spotted on a table on the far side.

That’s when, much to Trixie’s dread, Nightmare rounded the corner and started cautiously walking into the room.

‘Nightmare!’ Trixie mentally cried out in terror. ‘What are you doing?! Those things are everywhere in here!’

‘Shut. Up. Trixie.’ Nightmare replied in a stern and threatening tone. ‘I need my full concentration; we can’t afford to make a mistake. We can sneak past them, they’ve been sleeping for a thousand years.’

Those words didn’t comfort Trixie at all. Nothing Nightmare could say would. Here they were, weaving their way through a crowed of corpses. Any one of them could, in theory, jump up and attack her at any moment.

Though, she could sense complaining would only be met with a similar, if not harsher response.

‘I’ll suppress your mind if I have to Trixie,’ Nightmare answered the terror she felt building up in Trixie. ‘In fact, I offer it if you think you can’t handle this.’

Though, Trixie had learned a few things from Nightmare Moon. Nightmare had played on Trixie’s emotion’s before, and Trixie could still sense Nightmare’s lingering sense of guilt. ‘Are you going to trade away my life to get whatever you’re after, just like you did all of these ponies here?’

That actually got Nightmare to freeze in place, putting her hoof down silently.  Though she failed to realize it grazed something in the process. A pang of guilt shot through Nightmare, threatening to break her stoic demeanor.

‘Trixie. . .’ Nightmare began, ‘I wont let you die . . . I don’t want anypony to die anymore.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Ironically, that’s what this is all about.’

It wasn’t the reply Trixie was hoping for, but it definitely raised more questions than it answered.

Navigating the room was relatively easy once they had made it passed the entrance area, where most of the bodies were located. Beyond the final row of cages was an archaic lab, ancient alchemy tools littered several tables. Though, on the central table were several journals and a crate labeled ‘active samples.’

Nightmare Moon quietly collected the journals into her bag; before opening the crate. It contained a number of small metal canisters, which Nightmare opened one by one. All of them were empty except for the last one, which contained a set of glass test tubes that held a yellow glowing liquid.

At this find Trixie could feel sheer elation coming from Nightmare Moon. Whatever it was, Trixie could tell Nightmare had found exactly what she wanted.

Though that yellow glow seemed familiar to Trixie, but she couldn’t place it at the moment.

Sealing the canisters killed the yellow glow, the only source of light and color in the room.  At least that’s what Trixie thought, but that’s when Trixie remembered where she had seen the yellow glow before.

‘N-N-Nightmare?!’ Trixie began, spotting something that Nightmare was too busy to notice.

‘What is it Trixie?’ Nightmare replied with annoyance as she placed the canister in their bag. ‘I need to focus.’

‘C-Can they see in the dark?’ Trixie asked.

‘Not as well as us. Now be silent.’ Nightmare began, she was still obsessed with securing the bag such that there was no chance of it dropping or falling open. However, to communicate her point, Trixie tried mentally shooting Nightmare what she knew instead using any words.

Trixie could tell it worked because that’s when Nightmare cursed inwardly, rather loudly too.

Freezing in place, Nightmare gazed up. One of the ‘dead’ ponies had lifted its head up, his eyes open and giving off the same eerie yellow glow as the contents of the canister. He had what appeared to be a rather old guard helmet on, and his hind half was pinned underneath one of the cages that had fallen over.

He also wasn’t moving; instead he was staring off in the direction he had awoken to.

‘I don’t think it spotted us’ Trixie said, her blood running cold. ‘We can sneak around behind it!’

‘No, we can’t.’ Nightmare replied. ‘The reanimated have excellent hearing, and one of his ears is pointed right at us.’ Nightmare’s answer excited Trixie’s mounting fear. ‘He knows we’re here, he’s been listening to us.’

Nightmare continued to stay perfectly still, trying to think of the next best thing to do. However, after Nightmare went completely silent, the reanimated guard flicked his ears a few times before sniffing the air.

“Intrrrrruuuddddeeerrrrrr.” The former guard rasped, before letting out a series of shrieks.

Another loud curse came from Nightmare’s mind, as the pinned creature started struggling. He worked his unpinned legs in an attempt to get up, shrieking loudly and rattling the cage that pinned him.

Almost at once, the rest of the ‘dead’ bodies awoke and shot to their hooves. At least those who were not dismembered and still could. Soon the only entrance to the room was flooded with the creatures, who haplessly bumped into and tripped over one another as they searched their side of the room in a frenzy.

All the while, Trixie and Nightmare watched while standing perfectly still; Nightmare had even held her breath. Though no thanks to Trixie; She was now in full blown panic mode.

The reanimated rummaged around the entrance for a few more moments, their continuous shrieks and howls pierced Trixie’s ears like needles. They were obviously affected by the dark somewhat, a few of them bumped into each other and started to pick fights with one another. However, this ended when many of them started sniffing the air.

Then the whole room got quiet, as every last one of the now fully awake creatures stopped sniffing the air and directed their collective gaze directly at the mare by table in the center of the room. The only sound came from the one creature that had awoken first, still struggling undernearth the cage that had him pinned.

‘Oh No! This is IT! WE’RE GOING TO DIE!’ Trixie began wailing internally, ‘THEY’RE GOING TO RIP US APART AND-‘

‘SHUT UP TRIXIE!’

The closest of the creatures bolted at Nightmare, wailing the whole way. The rest of them followed in his wake.

Nightmare summoned her magic, producing a fireball from Trixie’s horn. It impacted one of the oncoming ponies in the center of the chest before exploding, incinerating it completely. Its pony shaped remains collapsed to the ground in a pile of fire and ash.

After the first explosion, Nightmare charged another fire spell. Though, Trixie could feel this one was much stronger.  A wave of fire erupted from Trixie, arching out across the room and consuming the center of the rapidly approaching herd. Several more of the creatures turned to piles of ash, with several more being lit flame.

Though, the flaming ones kept coming.

However, one of the creatures used its wings to dodge the wall of fire and flank the unicorn. Though, it let out another blood chilling wail before lunging at Nightmare; giving her just enough warning to react in time. She brought up a forehoof to meet it, slamming the deformed alicorn with enough force to send it flying across the room where it crashed through a few unoccupied cages.

Spotting another one of the reanimate approach, Nightmare cast another fire spell. Like the ones before it, the fireball exploded on impact. However, the flame quickly went out, leaving a badly burned but still very angry looking monster barreling down on her.

“What the?” Nightmare asked in surprise before casting a force spell that sent it flying backward. She tried the fire spell again, only to find the same results.

‘What are you doing Nightmare?!?’ Trixie screamed in their minds. ‘Don’t undercharge your spells, burn  them! Burn them with fire!’

‘I’’m trying,’ She said, before casting another fire ball. Again the spell failed to destroy the creature it struck, which had to be knocked back with another powerful hit from Nightmare’s forehoof.

By now, more of the creatures had arrived. They were flooding in through the entrance, quickly spotting Nightmare and joining in the attack.

‘Fire’s not working!’ Trixie said in panic. ‘Do something else!’

‘Fire is the only way to destroy them for good!’ Nightmare replied. ‘Now shut up!’

Immediately Nightmare cast another explosive force spell, this one much more powerful than the last. It knocked all the creatures in the room against the walls, shrieking as they impacted the hard stone with hideous cracks or grotesque splatting sounds.

When the spell was over Nightmare stood in the center of the room panting. She was out of breath and her entire body felt tired.

“What is this?” She breathed, feeling suddenly weak and light headed. “What’s . . . wrong ?”

Though she didn’t get much time to think of an answer. She turned to see one of the closest creatures getting back up. It had been thrown into one of the empty cages by Nightmare’s spell. It’s body had been torn by the metal, it’s leg broken and a large gash ran across it’s chest.

Though, after a few seconds of from standing up, it appeared to Trixie as though it were starting to heal. The various smaller cuts on the creature’s body seemed to seal themselves up, while the broken leg looked like it mended itself, and the large gash slowly closed itself.

To Trixie, it was rather grotesque. Though healing in a matter of moments was also incredible.  

Though she didn’t get to revel in it very much, as the creature let out another shriek and starting running at her again.  It was barely deflected by a now panting Nightmare Moon.

“Of course!” Nightmare breathed to herself. “Were underground . . . oxygen exchanging spell . . . worn off by now . . . fire used up all the air.” Her vision was starting to get blurry, as a wave of sleepiness hit both of them like a train. Nightmare glanced at the entrance, the creatures were still pouring into the room. “No other choice.” She panted.

Trixie, feeling as though she were about to pass out, felt another surge of magic through her horn. There was a loud popping sound, followed by heavy breathing of her own body.

At first it appeared as though all the reanimate that were attacking her had suddenly disappeared, but then she noticed she was in an entirely different room.  It looked like a bedroom, judging by the decaying furniture.

“Oh, That was close.” Nightmare said while panting. The air in this room had not been used up by fire yet, allowing them to catch their joint breath.

However, their moment of reprieve didn’t last for long. As soon as the dizziness and sleepiness wore off,  a loud shriek cut through the air.  It was followed by an exploding pain in Trixie’s hind leg, on her flank just above her cutie mark. A quick buck shook it off as Trixie cried out, though the explosive pain soon returned; this time in Trixie’s chest.  

Opening her eyes, Nightmare saw one of the reanimated biting Trixie’s chest. Blood trickling down her coat. A powerful blow with a forehoof sent the creature sprawling across the room.

Checking the wound, Nightmare cursed loudly. Louder than anything Trixie had ever heard from the Nightmare before. The bite wound was deep. ‘He got us good.’ Nightmare said, before checking the wound on their hind leg. ‘He got us good, twice.’

Nightmare turned back to the reanimate that bit them, which was getting up again. It had the typical horn and wings, though Trixie noticed something strange about it. Of all the creatures wearing armor, this one was the only one that had a sun emblem on it instead of a moon emblem.

Trixie really couldn’t say she cared since she only wanted to leave.

However, there was surge of anger from Nightmare, who promptly rushed the creature. She slammed a forehoof into the creatures skull, smashing it against the stone wall. As she did this, her hoof crushed the creatures skull and cracked the stone wall behind it. No small amount of blood and gore poured down Trixie’s hoof.

“He was an idiot anyway . . .” Nightmare said angrily as she withdrew the hoof, shaking the gore off as the creature’s body slid to the floor. The dark alicorn could apparently recognize some of the creatures, at least recognize who they used to be before they became pony shaped monstrosities

.

Wasting no time, Nightmare bolted toward the door. A large amount of shrieking could be heard in the distance down both directions of the hallway, and they were growing in number and volume.

‘Can we get out of here now?’ Trixie nearly screamed to Nightmare.

‘Yes, we’re leaving . . .’ Nightmare replied.

The journey to the other teleportation plate was interrupted by only a few of the reanimated. Each being dispatched by fire. Though, the whole way there Trixie could of swore that every last one of these creatures in the complex was following them, if the louding shrieking and wailing that seemed to be following behind every corner was any indication.

Her  fear wasn’t helped when Nightmare confirmed that they were being followed, by a growing horde of them.

They finally came upon a room that looked like it was once a bed room, but a rather large one at that. Though a quick inspection of the furniture revealed several lunar emblems, it must have been Nightmare’s chambers at one point.

Nightmare threw several pieces of archaic and rotten furniture against the door, creating a barricade. And almost as she had finished placing the last piece of furniture did it seem to come under attack, countless shrieks and wails accompanied the pounding being brough down on the ancient door.

‘That’s not going to hold for long Nightmare!’ Trixie cried in a panic. ‘Get us out of here!’

‘Sorry, I couldn't risk any of them getting to the plate while I activated it, hold on.’ Nightmare said as turned to where the bed used to lay, where she immediately found the teleportation plate.  

Just as Trixie felt a pulse of magic leave her horn, she could hear the sound of wood snapping. Though, the next moment was met with silence.

---

Trixie found herself standing in an open field.

It was quiet, no shrieks or ear piercing wails.  

Nightmare looked around; they were on the edge of the everfree forest again, and dawn was breaking.

“I think we’ve had enough of that.” Nightmare said before looking down. The teleportation plate had apparently burned its way through a layer of grass and dirt that was hiding it from view moments before. After removing the crystal in the center of the plate, Nightmare stomped her hoof down onto the stone slab leaving a set of large cracks radiating from her hoof.

However, despite the change of scenery, Nightmare found that she still had a fight on her hooves.

“The hay was that?” Trixie said aloud, momentarily breaking Nightmare’s control.

‘What was what? Be specific.’ Nightmare stalled, though she new exactly what Trixie was asking about. She could still read the unicorn’s mind.

“You know what I mean!” Trixie said more assertively, starting to inflame the dark alicorns temper. But she didn’t care.

‘I don’t have time for th-‘

“You drag me out into the middle of the forest, send me miles underground, have me chased by a horde MONSTERIOUS FREAKS who managed to rip two, not one, but two CHUNKS OUT OF ME,” She motioned toward the wound on her chest and flank. “AND FOR WHAT? THIS?” Trixie patted the courier bag, feeling it’s contents.

‘Trixie, I will explain in due time, but this incident represents a breach of quarantine. We must-‘

“NO! I WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU CAME HERE, WHAT WAS SO IMPORANT THAT I ALMOST DIED FOR IT? I WANT SOME ANSWERS AND I THINK YOU OWE ME SOME.” Trixie shouted at the top of her lungs. A small part of her was surprised by how loud she managed to shout, her voice echoed off trees in the distance. “AND WHAT THE HAY DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE ‘RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THIS?!?’ “  

Normally Nightmare would have gotten angry with the way Trixie was addressing her, though she knew this outburst was Trixie coming off of the fear and adrenaline from the chase that had ended a few minutes ago. That and a part of Nightmare couldn’t blame her. Trixie had just gone through the most traumatic event in her life.

‘Trixie, I need you to calm down, it is very urgent that we get back to the castle.‘ Nightmare said calmly, keeping her voice level.

Though, what Trixie said next completely crushed Nightmare’s composure and conquered destroyed her patience.  

“WERE YOU THE ONE WHO MURDERED ALL THOSE PONIES DOWN THERE, OR DID YOU TURN THEM INTO FREAKS FIRST?!? NO WONDER  EVERYPONY HATED YOU AND YOUR SISTER SENT YOU TO THE MOON YOU-“ Trixie’s rant was killed by the sudden sensation of pain; though it wasn’t like anything she had ever felt before. Her body felt like it just been covered in a blanket of agony, one which was smothering her with such intensity that she couldn’t ever describe it. Instantly she felt to the forest floor with a thud, her body completely paralyzed as she twitched in spasms.

‘DON’T You DARE SPEAK ANOTHER WORD,’ The sound of Nightmare’s voice roared out in Trixie’s mind, it was the only thing that was not drowned out by the pain. ‘YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE THINGS I’VE HAD TO DO, WHAT I’VE SACRAFICED. EVERYPONY HATES ME FOR WHAT I’VE DONE, BUT IF I DIDN’T ALL YOU MORTAL PONIES WOULD BE DEAD.’

The pain was so intense that Trixie’s mind couldn’t even form a response. She could barely understand what Nightmare had said. Trixie should have passed out from the sheer intensity of the pain, but she could tell that Nightmare Moon was keeping her conscious for every second of it.

Though, as soon as the pain came it suddenly vanished.

‘Come Trixie . . . We really must go, We. Do. Not. have time for this.’ Nightmare’s voice finally said, though this time it was both calm and cold. Very cold.

“I-I won’t l-let you u-use me to-to k-kill anypony.” Trixie replied, her voice stuttered. She was still in shock from the pain she had just felt. Though she didn’t know where she got the strength to say that, or the courage to declare that she would stand up to Nightmare Moon.

‘That’s fine, I don’t intend to kill anypony.’ She replied, her voice still ice. ‘Though it’s a shame you didn’t grow that spine fifteen minutes ago when the reanimated were trying to kill us.’  

---  

The journey back to the everfree castle was instantaneous, thanks to another teleportation spell.

Opening the door to the room they had left Starswirl in revealed it to by empty. Though, it looked like someone had torn apart the liquor cabinet in an attempt to get it open. Judging by the torn and broken doors on it, he had succeeded.

“Yer already back?” A familiar voice came from behind. “That was fast.” Nightmare turned to face him, he had a bottle floating in an magical aura. His beard had also been trimmed; it was much shorter now and no longer looked awkward from a piece of it missing. He opened his mouth to speak again; however before he could get a word out Nightmare threw their courier bag into his chest. He stumbled a bit catching it with one of his hooves.

“What n’ bloody blazes . . .” He said as he looked down at the offending bag. “What is this?”

“Don’t ever go back to the Everfree research site,” Nightmare replied, ignoring his question. “Its overrun, and there is nothing of value down there anymore. Let it be buried forever.” She said glancing toward the bag Starswirl was holding.

“Well, I’m guess this is a sample of the . . .” He began before trailing off as he noticed the wound on Nightmare’s chest. “Yer Highness?” He started, now fear and uncertainty in his voice.

Nightmare Moon didn’t respond, but turned away from Starswirl. She walked into the center of the room and began clearing it by pushing away all the furniture in the room, except for the bed.

“Nightmare!” he called after her as he followed her into the room. “There is still a chance we might be able to-“ His words, however, were cut off by Nightmare Moon.

“Listen to me Starswirl,” She began, her voice was stern and threatening. “I don’t need your ideas or any brilliant plans. I need you to do as I say, and I’m telling you to get out. You of all know what the stakes are.”

“Nightmare,” Starswirl replied while shifting in her grasp, “I wouldn’t stand by and let you kill yourself a thousand years ago, what makes you think that’s changed?”

Nightmare responded by slamming him into the wall. “And like last time, I won’t let you get in my way. There can be no chance that this disease escapes into the population, and unfortunately there is a small town nearby. Now I don’t have an army like I used to, I only have you. I need you to do what I say.”

Starswirl didn’t reply, he just kept a strong and defiant glare fixed on Nightmare.

“Starswirl . . . I can’t let an outbreak happen again.”

“Do we need her? Ya can still abanadon ship so ta speak. . . Cold as it sounds.” Starswirl asked. What he was implying was lost on Trixie, but not on Nightmare Moon. Whatever it was, it got Nightmare Moon to pause for a moment before eliciting a small bout of guilt. But her hesitation was suddenly replaced with barely contained rage.

“Don’t you DARE suggest something like that AGAIN.” Her anger grew with every word. “If I didn’t need you now I’d turn you back to stone for suggesting that.” She hissed.  

After a few moments, Starswirl gave a small and reluctant nod. At which point Nightmare dragged him to the door and threw him out of the room.

He was able to pick himself up and face Nightmare for her to say one more thing.

“In forty-eight hours, you incinerate everything in this room. No. Matter. What. Understand?” She said, glaring at him. Though when he didn’t respond, she began to shout. “SAY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND.”

“Ah understand yer highness.” Starswirl replied, not wavering from his stoic expression.

Satisfied, Nightmare directed a large burst of magic into the ceiling above the door, causing it collapse. Stone and rubble buried the only entrance to the room, sealing it away from the rest of the world.

‘What’s going on?’ Trixie, who had watched the whole exchange with mounting fear and confusion, “Why’d you trap us in here?”

‘Lets just say Trixie . . .’ Nightmare began. ‘If you . . . if we manage to live through this . . . it’s going to be a long day.’