Past Sins
By Pen Stroke
Assisted By Batty Gloom
====
Chapter 3
School Days and Memories
====

Nyx clung to Twilight’s front leg as the pair looked at the building ahead of them. It was painted in rich, welcoming reds and surrounded by a lush green yard. The building was decorated with festive hearts; even the weather vane on the top of the bell tower featured a heart, looking almost like a Cupid’s arrow. A playground was visible behind the building, while in front there was a flagpole and a hedge sculpture of a pony wearing a square, flat-topped hat with a tassel.

It was a welcoming sight to most young ponies in the community and a place of fond memories to many of Ponyville’s residents. It was a place of learning, where ponies studied for a bright future and made good friends. It was the Ponyville Elementary School, where the mulberry earth pony, Cheerilee, granted the gift of knowledge to her students.

It was a place that utterly terrified Nyx.

“Do I really have to go?” Nyx asked, trying her best to hide behind Twilight’s leg.

“Yes,” Twilight replied.

“For how long?” Nyx whined.  

“You’re signed up for the morning class, so you’ll be done around lunchtime. I’ll come back to pick you up then.”

“But I didn’t have to go to school before. Why do I have to go now?”

“It’s important for you to get a good education,” Twilight replied, though it wasn’t the whole truth. Yes, she felt it was important for Nyx to go to school, but it was also part of her disguise. If she was going to school, it would be easier for ponies to believe that she was just an average unicorn filly and Twilight’s cousin.

Nyx was also becoming just a little too clingy at the library. She had a thirst for knowledge that was almost unquenchable, and Twilight hadn’t been able to research the cult’s spell. She found Nyx’s curiosity wonderful and wanted to encourage it, but she needed to be able to work on her own studies as well… and maybe have a few hours to herself.

“Can’t I just stay at the library with you?” Nyx pleaded.

“The whole point of school is to learn new things,” Twilight replied. “You’ve been learning everything you can from me and Rarity, and you've been having a lot of fun. Now you’re just going to be learning from Cheerilee with other fillies and colts instead.”

“But I know you and your friends, and I don’t know Cheerilee. What if she’s mean?”

Twilight chuckled a little at Nyx’s fear. “Don’t worry, Cheerilee is very nice. Just pay attention in class and remember to follow the rules. That means both Cheerilee’s rules and my rules, which are?”

“I can’t take off my vest, I can’t take off my glasses, I can’t tell anypony about my wings or that I’m an alicorn, and I should try not to use my magic unless I’m writing something down.”

“And try to make some friends,” Twilight added, rubbing a hoof against Nyx’s head.

With a yelp and a giggle, Nyx batted at Twilight’s hoof before she escaped from the playful noogie. She then looked up at Twilight, curiosity glinting in her eyes. “Are friends really that important?”

“Trust me, nothing is more important than having good friends,” Twilight said, taking a step forward as the school bell began to ring. “Now, come on. If we keep standing here you’re going to be late.”

===

“Good morning, class,” Cheerilee greeted in a singsong voice as she stood at the front of the room.

“Good morning, Cheerilee,” the class echoed back, some honestly, others just to please the teacher.

“Now, before we get started, I have a small announcement. We have a new student joining us today. Her name is Nyx,” Cheerilee said, motioning to the filly standing next to her, “and I expect you all to welcome her as you would any new student.”

“Yes, Cheerilee,” the class chimed back.

Cheerilee gave a pleased nod before turning to look at Nyx. “Good. Now, go ahead and find a seat. You can take any open desk you like.”

Nyx nodded gently as she looked out across the sixteen desks. The class was sitting to one side of the room, leaving a column of empty desks, which had been added the previous evening, on the left side. Nyx looked at each seat, trying to decide which of the desks to claim as her own. Twilight had told her to sit as close to the front as possible. However, Nyx didn’t feel brave enough to sit in the very front, at least not on the first day.

Nyx eventually picked the desk second from the front, setting down her saddlebags before taking her seat. Directly to her right was an earth pony with a grayish-magenta coat and a mane that was a mixture of white and violet. Nyx couldn’t help but notice she was wearing a tiara very similar to the one she had for a cutie mark.

It was only then that Nyx realized the pony she was staring at was staring back, and not in a good way. The tiara-wearing pony wore an expression of annoyance, as if Nyx’s very presence offended her. Nyx shrank away from the other filly, not sure what to do… but then she remembered what Twilight had told her. She was supposed to try and make friends. 

Gathering what courage she could, Nyx gave a very sheepish smile and gently waved her hoof, but the tiara-wearing pony just humphed and turned her head away, lifting her nose a little.

Nyx slumped in her seat at the dismissal and rested her head on the desk. She glanced at the other fillies and colts in class, but those who happened to be looking her way quickly turned their heads back to the front when she glanced in their direction. 

Frowning and turning her head towards the front, Nyx watched Cheerilee write on the chalkboard as her mind came to a single, solid, and in her opinion, undeniable conclusion.

School was not going to be fun at all.

===

School was amazing!

Nyx could only smile, horn shimmering as she took notes feverishly. Cheerilee had started the day’s lesson with some history, teaching about Ponyville’s origins and traditions, such as Winter Wrap Up and the Running of the Leaves.

“Now, are there any questions before we go to recess?” Cheerilee asked, not expecting to see a hoof in the air. Her students were always more interested in taking their recess than they were in learning more. So, Cheerilee couldn’t help but smile when she saw a particular black hoof in the air, one she had seen raised several times over the course of the morning. 

“Yes, Nyx, what’s your question?”

“How was Winter Wrap Up done before there were pegasus ponies in Ponyville?”

“That is a very good question, Nyx,” the teacher replied, pleased with her student’s inquisitiveness. “While it is a tradition that magic isn’t used to clean up winter, few ponies realize that back when the tradition started, there weren’t any pegasi around.”

“So how did they clean up the clouds and get the birds back?”

“Well, if you don’t mind getting to recess a little later than usual, I can tell you that originally the earth ponies in town—”

And Cheerilee was off, going a little deeper into her lecture than she had intended. Nyx was happy and was already jotting down fresh notes. Her note-taking, however, was interrupted when something hit the side of her head. Looking down at the floor, she saw it was a piece of paper, and, upon looking up, she saw a number of her classmates were glaring at her coldly.

Under the unforgiving glares of her classmates, Nyx could only sink into her desk and whimper a little. She didn't know what she had done wrong. She had just asked a question. She was just curious.

===

“Boy, am I glad to get outside,” Apple Bloom said about fifteen minutes later, when Cheerilee had finished talking about how earth ponies cleared the clouds. “I was worried we wouldn’t get recess ‘cause of that question the new filly asked.”

“But it was pretty cool hearing how earth ponies were able to clear the skies and bring back the southern birds before there were pegasi in town,” Twist argued as she and Apple Bloom walked down the outside steps of the schoolhouse, heading into the playground area.

“Yeah, it was kind of cool, but I’d still rather have recess. So, what do you want to do?”

Twist pointed her hoof at the school’s small sports field, where several of their classmates were starting to kick a ball around. “We could go play hoofball with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” 

Apple Bloom scrunched her nose up for a few moments, but then shook her head. “Nah, we played that all last week.”

“You want to take turns on the swing then?” Twist asked, pointing at the swing in question.

“Now that sounds like a good idea,” Apple Bloom replied as the pair began to trot towards the playground equipment. Twist arrived first and jumped onto the wooden swing set. 

Apple Bloom stood back to wait her turn. She watched Twist swing higher and higher, her own smile growing as Twist reached impressive heights. It wasn’t the highest Apple Bloom had seen somepony reach on the swing, but it was still respectable.

“Hey!” Twist called, just before she reached the top of one of her forward swings.

“What is it?” Apple Bloom shouted back. 

“I think… Silver Spoon… and… Diamond… Tiara… are talking… to… the new… filly,” Twist explained, saying a few bits of her sentence each time she swung by Apple Bloom. 

Turning her head, Apple Bloom looked in the direction the swing was facing and saw that the two school bullies had caught the new filly just as she was coming outside for recess. The three of them were talking on the schoolhouse steps, and, by the looks of things, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. 

“What do… you think… they’re… talking… about?”

“Nothin’ good if I know those two,” Apple Bloom said before she took a step in that direction. “Twist, you stay here a sec. I’ll be right back.”

“O… kay!” Twist called out as she continued to swing, though she kept watch as her friend crossed the playground and drew closer to where Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and the new filly were standing.

===

“So, like, we don’t appreciate nerds like you making us almost miss recess.” 

“That class is already soooo boring without you asking a bunch of questions. We get enough of that from Twist, don’t we, Diamond Tiara?”

“Yes we do, Silver Spoon, but at least Twist is bearable. She also doesn’t have an ugly coat, like yours.”

Nyx cringed and lowered her head as her ears flattened against her skull. She had been the last to get out of the schoolhouse for recess, mostly because she had to stop and ask Cheerilee what recess was. Cheerilee had been more than happy to answer, though Nyx hadn’t been thrilled by the idea of having to go and play with the classmates she had just made angry.

Her fears had then only been confirmed when the filly she sat next to in class and another filly, one with a gray coat and a spoon cutie mark, caught her within a few seconds of her stepping outside. “U… ugly?” was all she was able to stammer out under the other fillies’ verbal assault. 

“Yeah, ugly,” Diamond Tiara sneered. “It’s the absolute worst color. I would just die if I had a black coat.”

Silver Spoon nodded her head in agreement, scrunching up her nose in disgust. “Me too! Not only is black, like, so ugly, but it’s creepy too. Only things like spiders, bats, and ticks are supposed to be black.”

“She probably actually likes bugs,” Diamond Tiara added. “Why, I bet she’s covered in ticks this very moment.”

“Ewww!” Silver Spoon said while sticking out her tongue. She and Diamond Tiara then began to smile devilishly as they chanted in unison. “Nyx has ticks, Nyx has ticks, Nyx has ticks.”

“I… I do n-not… ” Nyx whimpered in an attempt to defend herself, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s onslaught of chanting continued. Tears started to flow from her eyes, and the sight of her crying only fueled the sadistic mood of the two class bullies.

“Awww, look, she’s crying,” Diamond Tiara mocked with faked sympathy. “I didn’t realize they let little foals come to school, or maybe that’s your lame special talent: crying.” 

“What special talent? She doesn’t even have a cutie mark,” Silver Spoon noted, pointing to Nyx’s blank flanks.

“Wow, I so didn’t notice that before!” laughed Diamond Tiara before looking back at Nyx. “So not only are you a nerd, a creep, and a crybaby, but you’re also a blank flank! You’re, like, the biggest loser in the whole school!”

“More like the biggest loser in Ponyville,” Silver Spoon corrected, which only made Nyx cry harder. However, before the two fillies could continue to taunt, tease, and torment Nyx, Diamond Tiara was shoved from the side. The sudden push sent her off balance, and both she and her namesake tiara fell into the dirt.

“Oh my gosh, Tiara!” Silver Spoon exclaimed as she looked to where Diamond Tiara had been standing moments before. A furious looking Apple Bloom was now standing in Diamond’s place, and she was glaring down at the two schoolyard bullies. 

“Like, you’re going to be in so much trouble now, Apple Bloom! Cheerilee says no fighting in school,” Silver Spoon snapped at Apple Bloom as she helped Diamond Tiara off of the ground. “I’m going to tell Cheerilee!” 

“Fine, go ahead!” Apple Bloom snapped back. She didn’t falter, even at the mention of their teacher’s name. “If you do that, then I’ll tell her that you were bein’ mean!”

“And you think she’ll believe you?” Diamond Tiara asked once she had gotten back up on her hooves. 

Apple Bloom nodded her head firmly. “Nyx is cryin’, and Twist is watchin’ the whole thing from over there on the swing.”

“Is not!” Diamond Tiara protested. Apple Bloom, however, just smirked and pointed a hoof behind her, where Twist, while still on the swings, was in fact watching what was going on. 

Silver Spoon grabbed Diamond Tiara’s tiara and did her best to wipe the dirt off the treasured crown before giving it back to Diamond. “Come on. This is, like, not worth our time getting in trouble for.”

“Hmph. Fine. You win this round, blank flank. Have fun with your new friend and all of her ticks.” Diamond Tiara sneered before turning away. “Let’s get out of here, Silver Spoon.”

Silver Spoon stuck her tongue out at Apple Bloom as a final parting shot before she and Diamond Tiara retreated. Apple Bloom watched the pair leave, and only when she was sure they were out of ear-shot did she huff and scrape the ground with her hoof. “Someday I’d like to buck some sense into those two, just like my big sister would. She may have gotten in trouble at school, but ya can bet your mane she never got teased by the likes of them.”

Apple Bloom finally lowered her guard. She blew a tuft of her mane out of her face and turned to look at Nyx. “You okay?” 

Nyx, who had watched the exchange between Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon, nodded her head as she pulled herself up. She closed her eyes, carefully removed her glasses, and used a hoof to rub away the tears on her cheeks. She did not open her eyes again until her glasses were back where they belonged: perched squarely on her nose. 

“W-why are those two so mean?” sniffled Nyx.

“Personally, I think it’s their special talents, and that they should have bully cutie marks. But I guess it’s kind of like havin’ a special talent for arguin’. There just isn’t a cutie mark that really makes sense for bein’ a bully. I’m Apple Bloom, by the way,” the yellow filly said before she stuck out a hoof.

Nyx looked at the hoof for a bit, cautious of the kindness she was being shown after Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon’s cruelty. Still, she eventually managed a weak smile as she reached out and gently shook it.

“I’m Nyx.”

===

“Well howdy, Twilight! What brings you round these here parts?” Applejack greeted as she caught up to Twilight Sparkle, who was walking down an earthen path in Ponyville. 

“Oh, hey, Applejack. I’m just on my way to the schoolhouse,” Twilight replied. 

“Well, that’s just where I’m headin’,” Applejack said as she began to walk with Twilight. “I’m pickin’ up Apple Bloom from school today. Need her help runnin’ some errands in town. What about yerself?”

“I’m picking up Nyx.”

“Nyx? That cousin of yours?” Applejack asked, surprised. “Since when did that little filly start goin’ to school?”

“Today was her first day, actually.”

Applejack whistled before glancing in Twilight’s direction. “First day of school is never easy, ‘specially when you just moved to a new place.”

“Yeah, I remember the first day I transferred from my old school to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns,” Twilight reminisced. “It was scary, but I really didn’t have to deal with a lot of other students, being Princess Celestia’s private pupil and all. Still, doesn’t this mean that Apple Bloom and Nyx are in class together?”

“Yep, right along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. You think they’ve met?” Applejack asked.

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but, at that moment, the school came into view. Just outside the schoolhouse’s front door, Twilight saw a pair of fillies running and laughing merrily. It was a sight that made Twilight smile. “I’d say they’ve more than just met.” 

“Applejack!” Apple Bloom called out when she caught sight of her older sister. Soon, she and Nyx had scampered over to meet Twilight and Applejack, who were smiling down at the pair of young ponies. 

“Hey Apple Bloom, how was school today?” Applejack asked.

“It was really fun, and I’ve made a new friend,” Apple Bloom said with a smile before motioning to Nyx with her hoof. “Applejack, this is Nyx. Nyx, this is my big sister Applejack.”

Apple Bloom put on a big smile and looked back at Nyx. She expected to see a similar expression but instead found only confusion. “Wait… your big sister is Applejack?”

“You already know my big sister?” Apple Bloom asked in return, reflecting Nyx’s confusion.

“She should,” Applejack interrupted. “Twilight brought Nyx around the orchards yesterday.” 

“Why would she do that?” Apple Bloom asked, cocking her head to one side.

“Because Nyx is my cousin, and she’s staying with me at the library while she’s here in Ponyville,” Twilight answered with her simple lie.

“Whoa, that’s cool!” Apple Bloom said excitedly. “Did you know Twilight once beat an Ursa Minor all by herself?”

Nyx’s eyes went wide, and she looked up at Twilight with her mouth agape. “You did?”

“Well… yes, but I wouldn’t really call what I did ‘beating it’,” Twilight clarified modestly. “The Ursa Minor was just cranky from being woken up, so I gave it some milk and rocked it to sleep.”

“But it was still really cool,” Apple Bloom assured Nyx. 

“So, did anything else happen at school today?” Twilight asked, trying to steer the conversation away from her victory over the Ursa Minor.

“Well… some of the other fillies in class were mean to me… and Cheerilee wanted me to give you something,” Nyx said. With her horn glowing, she clicked open the latch on her saddlebags and pulled out a note. Twilight quickly took the note into her own magic and lifted it to her face so she could read it.

“What does it say? Did Nyx do something bad?” Apple Bloom asked, her only experience with teacher’s notes being referrals for bad behavior. 

“No, it’s just Cheerilee asking me to make sure Nyx knows about some subjects, since she’s starting partway through the school year.”

Applejack leaned to one side and whistled while she read the note over Twilight’s shoulder. “That ain’t just some subjects, Twi. That’s a lot of book learnin’ Nyx has to catch up on.”

“Yes, but with my help, I’m sure we’ll get through it really quickly,” Twilight said confidently as she rolled up the note and put it back into Nyx’s saddlebags. “We’ll, of course, start right away. We could probably get through basic mathematics this afternoon if we really hit it hard.”

“Awww,” Apple Bloom muttered in disappointment.

“What’s the matter, sugarcube?”

“I wanted to ask Nyx if she wanted to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I’m meeting Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle this afternoon so we can try and find our cutie marks. Nyx doesn’t have hers either, so I thought she might like to come along.”

“Well, how about you let Nyx go get some learnin’ done with Twilight, and then you and your friends can go find her at the library later?” Applejack suggested before she glanced over at Twilight. “That is, ‘course, if it’s okay with you, Twi.”

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but, before she could, she saw Apple Bloom and Nyx looking up at her. The pair of them were putting on the biggest, most pleading puppy-dog eyes and smiles they could muster, and Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. She nodded, causing a pair of cheers to erupt from the two young fillies. 

===

Diamond Tiara groaned as she dropped her face into her open book. She glared coldly at the letters on the page, even though she’d rather be focusing her glare on her newest classmate. Nyx had just asked another question, right before recess, and now Cheerilee was continuing to lecture past class time.

Thankfully, the answer to Nyx’s question was short, and the fillies and colts of the school were soon free to run and play outside. Nyx rushed out with Apple Bloom and Twist, and the three ran to meet Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo near some of the school’s playground equipment.

Diamond Tiara, on the other hoof, lingered near the schoolhouse and watched Nyx as she waited for Silver Spoon to get outside.

“Hey there, Diamond Tiara. How boring was that lesson?”

“Totally boring, and Nyx just couldn’t keep her mouth shut and had to ask another one of her dumb questions. Like, I don’t know what’s wrong with her. It’s like she actually likes school.”

“A total egghead,” Silver Spoon agreed.

“She’s been like this since she started class two weeks ago. I don’t know why she keeps doing it. Like, everypony else has to hate her as much as we do. Her only friends are those three blank flanks and that other nerd, Twist. Somepony needs to teach her a lesson about being so… nerdy.”

Silver Spoon then smiled when an idea popped into her head. “Hey, you want to put gum on her chair?”

“No, that won’t do it. It might make her cry, but not much else. No, if we’re going to prank her, it needs to be a prank that teaches her to not be so curious,” Diamond Tiara said. She shifted her gaze away from Nyx, searching for some inspiration for the perfect prank. She looked at her other classmates playing, at the playground equipment, and then her gaze shifted to the forest in the distance. Diamond began to smile devilishly. 

“Oh… that is too perfect.”

“What is?” Silver Spoon asked.

Diamond Tiara motioned for Silver Spoon to get close before she started whispering in her friend's ear. Still, as Diamond Tiara explained the idea, Silver Spoon’s smile weakened. “I don’t know Diamond. It’s a good idea, but what if something happens to her? We could get in trouble.”

“It’s a great idea,” Diamond corrected, “and it will teach Nyx a lesson. Besides, she’ll be in there for like ten minutes before she turns around and runs away crying like a baby.”

Silver Spoon bit her lip for a moment, but then smiled and nodded. “Okay, let’s do it.” 

“Bump! Bump! Sugar-lump, rump!” the pair said in unison, doing their strange, special hoofshake before they laughed and strolled off to set their plan in motion.

===

KNOCK… KNOCK… KNOCK

“Coming!”

Twilight set down the book she had been holding and trotted towards the library door. She had been organizing a few books while Nyx worked on some math problem as part of Twilight’s efforts to catch her up with the rest of her class. Nyx was currently sticking her tongue out and scratching her head as she tried to solve one particularly difficult problem. 

“Nyx?” Twilight called from the door.

Nyx looked up from the math worksheet Twilight had made for her and called back. “Yeah?” 

“There are a couple of your friends from school here. Do you want to take a break and go play with them?”

Nyx was at the door in a flash, expecting Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, or Twist… but her smile quickly withered when she saw it was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon standing on the library’s doorstep. 

“Hey, Nyx, we were just going to Sugarcube Corner to get a snack. You want to come with?” Diamond Tiara offered with a big, friendly smile.

“I… I really shouldn’t,” Nyx said. “I’ve got a lot of studying to do.”

“Oh, nonsense,” Twilight said, using a leg to push Nyx out the door. She fetched Nyx’s saddlebags and put a few bits into the right pouch. “Go have a break with your friends. Oh, can you bring me back a sugar cookie too? Pinkie Pie was bragging about how the sugar cookies she made this morning are her best ever, and I was hoping to try one.”

“But, but…” Nyx stammered, but, before she could say anything else, she was outside, and the door to the library had been shut behind her. Nyx lowered her head and looked at the two other fillies, afraid of what they would say to her. But rather than insult her, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon continued to smile.

“First, I just want to say, Silver Spoon and I are sorry for being so mean.”

Nyx raised her head and made no effort to hide the expression of confusion and surprise that formed on her face. “You… you do?”

Diamond Tiara nodded and motioned with a hoof. The trio began to walk down the street in the direction of Sugarcube Corner while they continued to talk. “Yeah, like, we thought about what we did, and we’re so sorry we did it. It’s not easy being the new kid in town, and it was wrong of us to be mean to you like that.”

“O-oh, um… that’s okay. I forgive you,” Nyx said with a weak smile as she walked between Diamond and Silver Spoon. “You two did say a lot of mean things, though.”

“We know, and we feel really bad, but, like, we got to make sure the new ponies in town are cool,” Silver Spoon said, as if judging a pony’s coolness was their job.

“So all that was a test?”

“Yes,” assured Diamond Tiara, “and you passed. Congratulations.”

“But how is saying I have ticks a test?” Nyx asked, focusing her questioning gaze on Diamond Tiara. There was a moment of pause from Diamond, who smiled weakly while she glanced anxiously at Silver Spoon.

“Like, uh,” Silver Spoon interrupted, “we wanted to make sure you actually cared about being covered in ticks. That way, we would know whether or not you cared about… being clean.”

“Well, of course; what kind of pony would actually like being covered in ticks?” Nyx asked.

“A pony that’s, like, a real weirdo,” Diamond Tiara answered, jumping back into the conversation after Silver Spoon’s rescue, “and you’re obviously not a weirdo, because you do care. Still, we are, like, sorry we made you cry. We just had to be sure you are a cool pony.”

“And am I a cool pony?” Nyx asked anxiously.

Silver Spoon nodded. “Totally cool, and that’s why we wanted to be, like, friends with you.”

“R-really?!” Nyx asked with a grin. Twilight often spoke of the importance of friendship over the two weeks since Nyx had started school, and Nyx was excited by the prospect of extending her circle of friends. 

“Oh yea. We can, like, be total BFFs,” Silver Spoon assured eagerly.

“What’s that?” Nyx asked as she continued to walk with the other two fillies.

“BFFs… Best Friends Forever,” Diamond Tiara explained. “Oh, and just so you know, black is so totally cool.”

Nyx’s eyes lit up, and her smile widened. “It is?”

“Like, coolest color ever. It makes you unique, even if you don’t have a cutie mark yet,” Silver Spoon assured.

“Totally cool,” Diamond Tiara agreed.

“Well, thanks… I’m glad we can be friends,” Nyx said with a wide smile. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon smiled as well, but they also winked at each other behind Nyx’s back and began to snicker. 

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing, just thinking of a joke Silver Spoon told me,” Diamond Tiara assured Nyx. “Now, let’s go get those sweets.”

===

“Really?” Nyx asked in disbelief as she sat with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara just outside Sugarcube Corner. Nyx levitated the food to her mouth, doing her best to remember all the lessons on being a proper mare Rarity had taught her as she ate her snack, since Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon seemed to be the kind of fillies that would care about that sort of thing. 

“Oh yes, the Everfree Forest really is amazing once you go deep enough inside,” Diamond Tiara reassured Nyx. She and Silver Spoon had just spent the last half hour convincing Nyx that once you got by the scary trees on the forest’s edge, it became a beautiful place filled with all sorts of gentle animals, babbling brooks, and huge fields of flowers. 

To Nyx, it sounded like the best place ever.

“But… I’ve been in the Everfree Forest with Twilight, and I never saw anything like that.”

“You must not have gone deep enough,” Silver Spoon answered quickly, brushing off Nyx’s comment.

“Still, you don’t know what you’re missing. It is, like, so beautiful,” Diamond Tiara said before perking up with a smile. “Hey, we should all go together.”

“I…I don’t know,” Nyx said nervously. “I’ve been in there and it’s really scary… and Twilight told me to never go back in there because of all the monsters.”

“Look, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Silver Spoon insisted. “The path is, like, enchanted or something. You stay on it, and the monsters will leave you alone.”

“Oh, well… that’s good, but—” Nyx hesitantly rubbed her forelegs together and glanced over her shoulder. “Twilight’s expecting me back at the library.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Silver Spoon and I will go tell her where we’re going.” Diamond reached into her saddlebags, pulled out a map, and rolled it flat on the table. A red, dotted line had been drawn on the map, leading deep into the Everfree Forest. “Just follow this, and you’ll get to the really beautiful part of the woods. We’ll be right behind you.”

Nyx eyed the pair for a second and then looked down at the map, biting her lower lip. Still, when she looked up and saw the very gentle and excited looks on Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, she couldn’t help but smile. Nyx picked up the map with her magic and stuck it into her saddlebags. She took out some of the bits Twilight had given her.

“Well, okay, I’ll see you there. But… could you take Twilight a sugar cookie when you go to tell her where we’re going?”

“Of course,” Silver Spoon said, taking the bits and standing up from the table. “I’ll go buy the cookie right now.”

“Yea, we’ll go tell Twilight. You just go on ahead, BFF.”

Nyx nodded, jumping down from the table and trotting off in the direction of the forest. Diamond Tiara smiled, watched Nyx until she had rounded a corner, and then burst out in laughter. Diamond Tiara laughed until Silver Spoon came back out of Sugarcube Corner carrying two freshly purchased cookies.

“Oh… that was too easy.”

Sliver Spoon nodded, offering one of the cookies to Diamond Tiara. “Yea, and we, like, got free cookies out of the deal.”

“This, Silver Spoon, was our best. Prank. Ever.”

“Totally,” Silver Spoon replied before the pair high-hoofed and began to enjoy their ill-gotten sweets. 

===

Twilight trotted through the streets of Ponyville as she anxiously looked around. She hadn’t seen Nyx in two hours and was starting to worry. She hadn’t been able to find her or the two fillies that had come to play with her. For the moment, she was willing to believe they had just gotten caught up in playing and lost track of time.

Trotting into the market, Twilight looked around but still saw no sign of Nyx. She did, however, catch sight of Applejack. Applejack was tending her market stand while keeping an eye on Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, who were trying to balance on top of each other a few feet away. Twilight could only guess the trio were making another attempt to get their cutie marks, but she didn’t have time to try and figure out what they were doing.

“Hey, Applejack!”

“Hey there, sugarcube,” Applejack greeted as Twilight trotted up to her market cart. “What can I do ya for? Want some Red Delicious, Gala, or maybe some Granny Smith apples?”

“Applejack, you haven’t seen Nyx have you?”

Applejack cocked her head to the side. “Nyx? Why no, I haven’t. Is she missin’?”

“I… I don’t know!” Twilight fretted as she glanced about. “Two fillies from her class came by to see if she could play. That was hours ago, and I’m starting to worry.”

Applejack chuckled, her eyes drifting over to Apple Bloom for a moment. “Oh, Twilight, I’m sure you got nothin’ to worry yourself about. You know fillies that age. They’re probably just off playin’.”

“I know, but… but it has been two hours.”

“What two fillies came to play with Nyx?” Apple Bloom asked. She and her friends walked up to the mares, having overheard the conversation.

“I don’t know their names. One was gray with a spoon cutie mark and a braid in her mane. The other had a tiara.”

“Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?! Nyx went to play with them?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, her voice carrying undertones of concern.

“Yes… is that bad?” Twilight asked, her concerns increasing from the filly’s tone.

“Twilight, those two are bullies! Don’t you remember how they made fun of me and called me a blank flank at Diamond Tiara’s Cute-ceañera?”

Her eyes grew wide, the memory of that day causing her to stagger. She did remember those two fillies. They had been teasing Apple Bloom about not having a cutie mark. She hadn’t recognized them without their party dresses on, and she hadn’t spoken or really seen that much of them in a year at least.

“Girls,” Applejack began, getting the attention of the three fillies, “I reckon you three better help Twilight find those two. Do you know where they like to hang out?”

“I know where Silver Spoon lives,” Sweetie Belle claimed. “Rarity does a lot of business with her father, and sometimes when I go with her, I see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon doing their homework at Silver Spoon’s house.”

Applejack nodded and began to lock up her apple cart. “Alright then. Sweetie Belle, you show Twilight where Silver Spoon lives and see if they’re there. Applebloom, Scootaloo, y’all can come with me and we’ll go see if they’re over at Filthy Rich’s store.” 

Twilight and the three fillies nodded their heads, and soon the quintet of ponies had raced off in hopes of finding Nyx safe and sound.

===

Nyx shakily took out the map Diamond Tiara had given her and checked it over before looking up at the dark, foreboding path ahead. She didn’t know how far along the path she was, but the line on the paper said she still had to keep going.

The line crossed a river, and Nyx could hear the babbling of a stream just ahead of her. Still, after she rounded a corner, Nyx let out a small panicked yelp before she ducked behind a tree. Just in front of her, a giant purple sea serpent was splashing around in the water. The purple sea serpent, who oddly had well-styled orange hair, was in the process of eating some rough gemstones he had gathered from the river bed.

Nyx wasn’t certain the serpent wouldn’t turn down his gemstones to eat a little pony, so she decided to stay hidden and wait until he left.

===

Twilight and Sweetie Belle were unable to find anypony at Silver Spoon’s house, and Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were just as unsuccessful. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Nyx were simply nowhere to be found, and Twilight was officially starting to panic. 

The search quickly expanded. Applejack and Apple Bloom asked ponies around the market if they had seen the trio of fillies. Sweetie Belle ran to get Rarity while Scootaloo used her scooter to quickly race out of Ponyville to where Rainbow Dash was practicing tricks. That left Twilight to continue to run around Ponyville, trying to find Nyx and the two fillies she had last been seen with. She asked anypony she came across, growing more frantic as more time passed. Where were they? Where was Nyx?

“Twilight!”

Looking skyward, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash circling above her. “I’ve found them! This way!” 

“I’m right behind you!” Twilight shouted to Rainbow Dash before calling on her magic. With a flash and a pop, she used her teleportation spell to move to a nearby roof. She kept teleporting between rooftops, following Rainbow Dash until they arrived at the edge of a park. “Where are they?”

Rainbow Dash pointed with her hoof to a park bench, on which Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were chatting and making fun of ponies walking by. Twilight was a little disheartened because it didn’t look like Nyx was with them, but she kept herself focused on the task at hoof. “Rainbow, find the others and have them meet in the town square, just in case we have to find Nyx, while I see what these two know.”

“You got it, ” Rainbow Dash assured her before she sped off to gather all the others. 

Twilight watched her friend leave before turning her eyes on the park bench. Sweetie Belle had told her how mean the two school bullies could be while they were looking for them at Silver Spoon’s house. She had also been told of how cruel the pair had been to Nyx on her first day. She wanted to scream, but Twilight forced herself to smile gently. As the old saying went, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. 

“Excuse me,” Twilight said sweetly to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as she approached the bench. “You two wouldn’t happen to know—”

Diamond Tiara glanced over at Twilight Sparkle like she was regarding an ant before she turned back to Silver Spoon and began to speak as if Twilight wasn’t there. “Oh look, Silver Spoon, it’s the town librarian. What, trying to find ponies that have overdue books?”

“No, actually,” Twilight said sweetly, though she was struggling to maintain her kind demeanor. “I was wondering if you two know where Nyx is. The last I saw her, she was going with you two to Sugarcube Corner, and I haven’t seen her in a few hours.”

“Wait, she isn’t—” Silver Spoon tried to ask, only to yelp and promptly fall silent when Diamond Tiara stepped on her hoof. 

Diamond Tiara looked back at Twilight with a sympathetic grin. “Nyx? We don’t know any Nyx, do we, Silver Spoon?”

Silver Spoon continued to rub her hoof, but shook her head. “N-no, it doesn’t ring a bell.” 

Twilight chuckled under her breath; it was the kind of chuckle somepony made when they were doing their very best to keep their anger in check. “Now girls, we all know that isn’t true. You came to the library earlier to play with Nyx, my cousin. You know, she has a black coat and wears a vest.”

“Sounds like a real nerd to me,” Diamond Tiara commented, “and we never hang out with ugly nerds, do we, Silver Spoon?”

Silver Spoon laughed weakly, withering under Twilight’s intense glare. “N-no, we don’t.”

“Now girls,” Twilight said through gritted teeth, “I know you—”

Diamond Tiara leapt down from the park bench and turned her nose up and away from Twilight. “Come on, Silver Spoon, let’s get out of here before she tries to make us read a book or something.”

“Uh, D-diamond?” Silver Spoon stammered as she pointed a hoof at Twilight. Diamond Tiara turned her head back, confused as to why her friend was suddenly scared. Fear quickly sprang up in her own chest when her eyes fell on Twilight. 

While reports of such things are rare, some books have records of exceptionally magically inclined unicorns performing something called a “rage-shift”. Twilight had studied it closely, especially after going through her own rage-shift for the first time when she was trying to understand Pinkie Pie’s sixth sense. The book she had read said that the shift occurs when a unicorn’s anger feeds into their magic to cause a physical change to the unicorn’s body.

And, in that moment, Twilight had rage-shifted for the second time in her life. With her mane and tail set ablaze by her magic, with her eyes a burning red, and with her coat a bright, angry white, Twilight glared down at Diamond Tiara like she was a pony of the apocalypse.

“Unless you want me to turn you two into cacti, you will tell me where Nyx is RIGHT NOW!”

“She’s in the Everfree Forest!” Silver Spoon squeaked out in fear. “We… we told her that the forest got really nice if you go deep enough and gave her a map. She left from Sugarcube Corner, and that’s the last we saw of her!”

Twilight’s rage-shift ended. Her mane, tail, and coat returned to normal while her eyes narrowed into pinpoints. Then, without another word to the fillies, Twilight spun on her hooves and galloped back towards the center of Ponyville, where Rainbow Dash would be gathering her friends. It would be dark soon, and the Everfree Forest only got more dangerous in the dark.

===

Nyx trembled, just barely keeping herself moving without crying. The growing darkness had made the forest very, very scary. She looked around the path anxiously, watching the many long shadows that surrounded her and seeing things that may or may not have been there. Still, Nyx counted it a small miracle that she could see at all. The moon was three-quarters full, providing just enough light to see the path ahead.

Nyx had given up on trying to find the nice part of the forest. Now all she wanted to do was get back to Ponyville, but she had lost her map. A rustling in the bushes had startled her earlier, and when she ran, she had left the map behind. Now she was wandering around aimlessly, hoping to recognize some landmark.

She tried to follow familiar paths, ones she thought she had traversed before, but she hadn’t crossed the river again. It was the one landmark Nyx was desperately hoping to see, even if the sea serpent had returned.

Following a bend in the path, Nyx came to a stop. Before her, shrouded in curling mist, a creaky rope bridge hung over a deep expanse. It groaned as it shifted gently from side to side, nudged by small breezes. Beyond the bridge, on the far side of the gorge, were the ruins of an ancient castle that had been long forgotten and partially overtaken by the Everfree Forest.

Nyx knew she hadn’t passed by a castle on her way into the forest, and yet… it was strangely familiar. Curiosity starting to replace fear, Nyx carefully stepped out onto the bridge. Thankfully, none of the wooden planks gave way under the weight of her small body, and she was able to cross to the far side without incident.

As Nyx approached and looked up at the long-forgotten castle, something began to bubble up in her mind. She tried to force whatever it was away, tried to clear her mind, but the blurry images and voices persisted, playing out inside her head.

“Oh, my beloved subjects. It's been so long since I've seen your precious little sun-loving faces.”

“What did you do with our Princess?”

“Whoa there, Nelly!”

“Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?”

“Ooh! Ooh! More guessing games! Um… Hokey Smokes! How about Queen Meanie? No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty!”

“Does my crown no longer count, now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years? Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?”

“I did, and I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon. Nightmare Moon.”

“Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here.”

“You're here to… to…”

“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever! AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

Nyx shook her head, finally managing to banish the blurred thoughts that had overtaken her. She had recognized some of the voices; she had heard Twilight… but there was a voice she shouldn’t have recognized, but did. The voice of the older mare, the one who laughed at the end. It was a voice that Nyx felt she kind of remembered, but she couldn’t think of who it belonged to.

Putting the strange occurrence out of her mind, she began to climb the steps to the castle. She didn’t know why, but she had to see inside, no matter how scary the Everfree Forest was. It was as if the castle was calling out to her. She climbed steps, navigated old hallways, and eventually entered the one remaining tower. There were no defining features to the room, which had suffered under the passage of time, but Nyx recognized that it was the palace’s throne room, and it felt… like she had been there before.

Nyx stepped into the center of the room, looking up at the broken glass windows at the far end. She winced in pain, images bursting to the front of her mind. These were far more aggressive than the images from before, and they were much clearer. They would not be ignored, and they shoved all other thoughts out of Nyx’s mind as they demanded attention.

She… she realized they were memories, that she could remember standing at the far end of the room, looking down across it. In the memory, she was looking down at a small purple unicorn: a unicorn she knew… Twilight.

“You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!”

Nyx could remember herself saying those words. She could remember thinking them, but even worse… she could remember the feelings behind those thoughts. She wanted to hurt Twilight, to punish Twilight for trying to thwart her. She was thinking about banishing her, imprisoning her… even torturing her.

Nyx struggled against the memory. No, she wouldn’t want to hurt Twilight. Twilight was the kindest pony she knew. It was Twilight who took care of her, who taught her, who read her to sleep at night. It was Twilight that had found her in the forest. She didn’t want to hurt Twilight!

Dark shadows shifted around the room: Dispelled magic that had lain dormant was now being awakened by Nyx’s presence. Trails of indigo smoke began to creep towards Nyx, and, as the magic seeped into her, the memory continued.

She saw Twilight with her friends, saw Twilight giving a long speech about elements… and then there was a bright light. A light so bright that it hurt to look at it. She had to shield herself from the light with her wing. And then… then there was a rainbow, but not a nice, pretty rainbow.

No, the rainbow lunged at her like an angry snake. It encircled her, and it burned. It was burning her away, tearing her away from something else. It was like a savage animal with razor-sharp claws. It tore her to ribbons, despite her cries. Then, the memory faded and stopped, as if the rainbow had caused her to simply not exist anymore. 

Nyx collapsed on the floor of the castle, panting heavily as the memory finally relented. Despite the cool feel of the castle’s stone floor, she could still feel the burning pain of the rainbow, how it had cut and torn at her.

Other thoughts began to bubble to the surface as more and more of the indigo smoke drew in from the room and into Nyx. The thoughts were desires… hateful desires. Desires to hurt ponies, to make them pay for ignoring her. Memories of being scorned and ignored, memories of jealousy and anguish.

Among these thoughts, a few began to stand out and mingle with Nyx’s memories of her friends and Twilight. They began to poison those memories, filling them with hatred. She wanted to hurt Twilight. She wanted to make her suffer, to torture her.

These were thoughts that Nyx didn’t want to have. She clapped her hooves against the sides of her head and shouted at the castle’s silence. “NO!!! I don’t want to hurt Twilight! She takes care of me, teaches me things, lets me go to school! I don’t want to hurt her!”

Despite her cries, the thoughts relentlessly continued. She thought of how she would hurt Twilight and how she would torture her. She’d snap off her horn, keep her locked in a dungeon, and other horrible things that started to make Nyx physically ill.

“NO!” Nyx cried to the silence. “I don’t want to hurt Twilight! I don’t want to!”

The thoughts were reaching a boil. As Nyx tried to push them away, more rose in their place. Thoughts of how she’d hurt Twilight’s friends, how she’d go after Twilight’s family. She just kept thinking of all the ways she could break Twilight’s spirit.

“NO! NO NO NO NO NO NOOOO!!!”

With that final scream, something sparked to life inside Nyx and her eyes glowed white. The creeping tendrils of indigo smoke suddenly shifted, swirling faster and faster as they were sucked down into her like water in a whirlpool. At the same time, the dark desires in her mind began to fade, ebbing away as more and more of the smoky tendrils were absorbed. 

Then, when the last traces of the cloud were gone, Nyx’s horn sparked and sent a crack of lightning lancing up into the sky with a thunderous boom.

===

Celestia bolted up in bed and turned her eyes to her window, through which she could see Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. Her breathing was still, and her ears turned forward in erect attention. Like a pony hearing an unexplained thump in her home at night, for a moment, Celestia had felt something in Equestria that did not belong. She stretched out her magic and senses, trying to find the presence she had detected, but it was already gone. It had felt like… No, that was impossible. She could sense Luna in the castle, in the main hall.

Yet, Celestia could not get over what she had felt. It was short lived, but she had sensed her presence… a presence she hoped to never sense again.

===

In another part of Canterlot, a dark-blue unicorn with turquoise eyes was sitting in his study when a crack of lightning from the Everfree Forest lit up the room. With the light came a surge of magic, which drew the unicorn’s gaze from the book he was reading to a window. He listened to the thunder that trailed, and, even after it had passed, he continued to stare through his window at the distant Everfree Forest. He then shut the book he had been reading, a rare tome on theoretical resurrection magic, and shouted out into the silence of his home.

“Proper Etiquette!”

The door to the study opened within moments, and an all-white unicorn with a fabric collar and tie stepped into the room. He adjusted the monocle that was over his right eye and looked across the room with his own turquoise eyes. “You called, sir?”

“Have messages sent to Miss Gray Gale, Miss Night Wind, and Mr. Stonewall. I need to speak with them, this evening if possible.”

“Of course, sir. I will have them summoned.”

===

Twilight cried out, tripping over her own hooves as she landed in a heap on the side of the path. She and her friends had been racing through the Everfree Forest when a bolt of lightning launched into the sky. Twilight had been in the lead, galloping as quickly as her legs would carry her when she heard the thunder and tripped. 

Rarity and Fluttershy quickly galloped up to assist Twilight while the others were transfixed skyward, where they had just seen the bolt of magic.

“Whoa! Did you see that!?” Rainbow Dash asked. 

Applejack nodded and tilted her hat back, so she could have a better look at the sky. “Sure did, sugarcube. Where do you reckon it came from?”

“Oh, the Everfree Forest!” Pinkie Pie chirped.

“Well, no duh, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “We’re kind of in the Everfree Forest.”

“Of course, silly! That’s how I knew that lightning bolt came from here.”

Dash slapped a hoof to her forehead while Twilight struggled to her hooves with Rarity and Fluttershy’s help. 

“Twilight, dear, you okay?” Rarity asked. 

“Yes, I’m fine… I just tripped,” Twilight assured, pushing her friend away as her horn glowed. The group had stopped just momentarily at the library before heading into the forest to get a compass and map. Pinkie Pie had volunteered to carry the map in her curly mane, while the compass hung from Twilight’s neck by a thin piece of string. Twilight drew both items out, levitating them in the air as she looked skyward.

“Okay,” Twilight began after taking a breath to calm herself, “where was that lightning bolt again?”

“Right over there,” Pinkie Pie answered, pointing at the sky with her hooves.

Twilight quickly positioned herself by Pinkie Pie, holding up the compass as she turned the map over in the air. “Okay… using the mountains as a reference, we’re about… here. Now, if we’re here and the lighting bolt was there… and how long would you say it was between the lightning flash and thunder?”

“A second, maybe two tops,” Rainbow Dash answered.

Twilight nodded and, making very rough calculations in her head, began to move her hoof across the map. “All right, then the lighting came from—” Twilight fell silent, staring at the map. She double checked her rough measurements and guesses, but in the pit of her stomach she knew she was right.

“I… I know where Nyx is!” Twilight said, dropping the map and compass in the mud. “I need to get to her right now!”

“But, sugarcube, how do you—” Applejack began to ask, only to be cut off as a bright light enveloped Twilight as she teleported away. 

===

Twilight finished her teleportation spell and waited for the magic in the air to settle from her arrival before she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a room she had not been in since the Summer Sun Celebration two years ago, the throne room in the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. It was where she and her friends had defeated Nightmare Moon, and the room was just as Twilight remembered it except for a single, small detail.

Nyx was lying in the center of the room, and, for a moment, a wave of relief began to wash over Twilight. That relief, however, receded like the tide from the shore and was quickly replaced by a powerful, gripping fear that threatened to squeeze the very air from her chest. Nyx’s normal mane and tail had been replaced with flowing masses of star-dotted magic. Nyx was now truly Nightmare Moon’s doppelganger. All she lacked was the armor, the eye shadow, and Nightmare Moon’s cutie mark.

This… this was Twilight’s fears made real. With that mane and tail, could she deny the truth any longer? Could she honestly believe that the cultists’ spell had not accomplished its intended purpose? Nyx was young, but there was no denying that she was—

Crying.

Nyx’s wails filled Twilight’s ears, derailing her train of thought. She was bawling her eyes out, and Twilight had to catch herself. She had already taken a few steps forward because of her desire to comfort Nyx, to tell her everything was okay. Nyx was terrified, more so than she had been the night Twilight found her.

Still, Twilight held herself back as her mind rebelled against itself. She couldn’t dismiss Nyx’s resemblance to Nightmare Moon, especially now that Nyx had the mane and tail the Mare in the Moon was infamous for. Yet, would Nightmare Moon be crying like that? Would she be wailing so loudly?

Unable to bear it anymore, Twilight inched towards Nyx. She approached the filly as she would a slumbering Ursa Major, as if the sobbing form before her could turn around and maul her to death at any second. Twilight pushed forward, and, when she was close enough, she reached out at Nyx and nudged her with a hoof.

Nyx spun her head around at the touch, a frightened look in her eyes. That fear, however, died almost immediately when she saw Twilight. She scrambled to her hooves and buried her head in Twilight’s chest, bawling, “I’m sorry!”

“Shhhh… it’s okay. It’s okay,” Twilight reassured, cautiously wrapping her hooves around Nyx’s trembling form. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me! Please! I don’t want to hurt you!” Nyx wailed into Twilight’s chest, her voice muffled.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat, but she fought the urge to pull away. “Hurt me? When did you want to—”

“I… I don’t know!” Nyx sobbed miserably. “I-I came in here and then… and then I remembered looking down on you. W-we were both here, and you looked so scared, and I w-was happy to see you were scared… and-and I wanted to hurt you, b-because you tried to stop me from doing s-something… but I d-don’t want to hurt you, Twilight! Please… please don’t hate me! I don’t want to hurt you!”

Twilight felt a tension in her chest, a physical manifestation of her inner conflict. Nyx wasn’t crying because she was scared of the castle or the forest. She was crying because she felt she had done something horrible, and she was apologizing for it. Apologizing for things that Nightmare Moon had done, had thought, had felt. It worried Twilight because, if Nyx had Nightmare Moon’s memories, it was almost conclusive evidence that the two were one and the same.

Yet, as Twilight looked at the filly crying into her neck, she was no longer able to see Nightmare Moon, and it made her realize how close she had grown to Nyx. She had only taken Nyx into her home originally to keep an eye on her, to make sure she knew where the possible reincarnation of Nightmare Moon was at all times.

That was it; she was never supposed to bond with Nyx. She had intended to only be a caretaker, an observer, but… things had changed so quickly. She needed a way to get Nyx to sleep at night, so she started reading her bedtime stories. She saw Nyx struggling with homework, so she sat down and helped her. Nyx came to her asking questions, and, through their conversations, Twilight had grown to know Nyx as a filly. She was a filly who loved the sun, had friends, and was curious about the world around her.

That familiarity had bred care. Twilight cared about Nyx. She wanted her to get a good night’s sleep, to do well in school, and to ask questions. She wanted Nyx to be safe.

Twilight still wasn’t sure who Nyx was or how much—if anything—she shared with Nightmare Moon beyond the physical similarities. She did, however, know one thing: Nyx was crying in terror of her own memories, and Twilight couldn’t ignore Nyx’s wails. 

“I know you don’t,” Twilight finally comforted, hooking a leg around Nyx and hugging the filly as tightly as she could. “It’s okay, I know you don’t want to hurt me.”

Twilight’s words, however, were not enough to soothe Nyx. She continued to cry and beg for forgiveness, and again and again Twilight said that it was okay. Twilight did not force Nyx to stop, even after her mane and tail had returned to normal. Nyx needed to cry, to get it all out. She had remembered something terrible, something she couldn’t understand, and she just needed Twilight to be there, to assure her everything was okay.

To protect Nyx from her memories.