private Nightmare's Return (1x1 with Explosionmare)

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The construction sounds began to fade almost as if they were merely sounds of nature outside. Although she couldn’t see it, Nightmare Moon could smell the lavenders that the guards placed in the halls. Those combined with the quietness in the halls finally allowed her to dose off. She rested her head gently on her pillow and pulled her blankets close before she shut her eyes.

Even though she had not planned on entering the dream realm, Nightmare Moon entered it anyways. Since she was responsible for dream and nightmare manipulation, she was most likely placed here automatically. She was standing—well, more like floating since there was no ground—on an array of stars surrounded by doors on either side. Each door varied in size, shape, and color. When Nightmare looked into one, she was greeted with an entire world on the other side. She had not entered a random dream in a long time that the moment almost felt surreal.

She entered the first door she gazed upon: a pink wooden door with a heart-shaped window. She was not a fan of the cutesy design, but she was intrigued by the dream behind it. She stayed in the background and silently watched, observing in case she felt the need to make altercations.

Two foals were playing outside. One was a light pink unicorn and the other was a peach earth pony. They were having a race of some sorts. The details of the game did not matter to the princess. What mattered is how innocent and peaceful the foals were when they played. The scene was quite relaxing to watch, especially after a long day of preparation and capturing.

There was, however, an obvious flaw to the dream. The sky was light blue and sunny; a sky of the past. Annoyed, the princess darkened the shades of the sky and replaced the sun with the moon and a few stars. Thankfully, in the dream realm, this process was not near as taxing as it was in the waking world. Satisfied, Nightmare continued to watch the foals until she awoke. Normally, she would have turned this scene into a nightmare, but she was too tired for that tonight. 

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

As Nightmare Moon awoke she has remembered one of the doors in the hall. The more she seemed to think of it, she would remember more details. That door was fairly large, adorned in what seemed to be black stone, with a pattern on it that resembled that of a dark cave. The door itself seemed to be made of shadows and was pitch black. Something about that door was unlike the other doors there. It was not normal, it also felt rather sinister too. Unlike the other doors, there were black shadows that seemed to emit from under the frame even into where the doorways were. Whatever the case, whoever's door that was was not an ordinary pony. For a while, this probably captivated Nightmare Moon's mind.

Nightmare Moon awoke to a rather quiet atmosphere. The construction noises outside were still there but it wasn't as frequent as it was last night. Outside Nightmare Moon's room the guards stood. They wouldn't dare wake her or bother her. No doubt Nightmare Moon would have spent a bit in her room to get ready for what would come tonight. When the guards would see Nightmare Moon they stand up straight and salute her as if they were statues.

A unicorn would be putting up some tapestries. She was wearing some sort of clothes themed with dark blues and purples. Her cutie mark was 3 blue diamonds. The tapestries were all about Nightmare Moon standing proudly over the moon, with the landscape of the night was done in quite beautiful work. A few ponies were there, bowing before Nightmare Moon loyally. The Unicorn was focused on putting the tapestries up in an exact, perfect manner. There were other guards going about their business in the castle. Whenever guards or ponies would see Nightmare Moon, they would salute to her or bow down. 

Twilight Sparkle was still asleep in her room. She had a nice sleep, it felt amazing to sleep in a bed for the first time in a long time. The guards outside of her room were standing there, as they were ordered to prevent her from leaving during the night. 

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

@Califorum

As Nightmare awoke, she couldn’t help but notice a strange, shadowy door standing out in the hall. It reminded her of the shadows she was encompassed by when she was still Luna. She wondered if she entered the door if she would feel the same comfort as she did in her time of need. Of course, now was not the time to explore such things. She had business to attend to. The princess got up and began putting on her armor. When she walked into the hall, she nodded to her guards.

In the main entryway, a unicorn with three diamonds as her Cutie Mark was hanging tapestries. They were both very beautiful and very majestic. They each displayed Nightmare Moon and her glorious night. The amount of respect that so quickly accumulated, both in the vast array of art and from the immediate bowing of the ponies in the castle was astonishing to the princess. She wondered if her sister ever got this kind of respect—the genuine kind, not the kind ponies have just because they have to be respectful.

Nightmare Moon passed Twilight’s room and noticed that Twilight was still asleep. She should have sent a guard to awaken her earlier. Mentally shaking her head, she trotted over to a guard to wake the unicorn up.

“Twilight should be awake by now. Go wake her up and tell her to get ready,” she instructed.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

The guard looks to Nightmare Moon. "Right away." he said without question and proceeded into Twilight's room. Twilight was still asleep. The guard noticed this and shook her awake. Twilight yawned and then yelped at the guard's sudden presence. "The Princess requests that you get out of bed and get ready at once." the guard said calmly, yet in a rather firm manner. Twilight yawned again, then stretched. "Alright, alright. I overslept a bit, I know but I really needed it." Twilight said tiredly.

The guard then exited the room and stood where he was before. "She's awake now and getting ready. Said she needed to sleep in." the guard spoke. Meanwhile, Twilight had rested there for a moment before forcing herself to get up and make the bed. She used the bathroom, and brushed her teeth quickly. After a quick shower she was drying off for a bit. She had to be quick because she knew that Nightmare Moon was waiting for her. After drying off from the shower, she combed her mane and tail. Then sprayed on some mane freshener. For a moment she paused at the door as if hesitating.  

Twilight then exited the door, smelling and looking rather clean. She saw Nightmare Moon outside in the hall along with the other guards. "Good evening, Princess." Twilight spoke, a bit unsure of the words 'evening' but she considered that it was nightly enough. She was still a bit tired, but was waking up mentally. 

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@Califorum

Even though Nightmare Moon was not pleased with Twilight sleeping in, she let it slide this time on account of the events of yesterday. She waited for the unicorn to get ready which took a bit more time than she would have liked. However, upon seeing how refreshed Twilight was, she understood why she took so long. Pleased that Twilight was ready and wide awake, she began carrying out her orders.

“Twilight, I have studied the Cutie Mark spell and am prepared to use it tonight. I need you to locate every sun-loving pony out there and bring them to me. My guards will escort you as usual and ensure that nopony tries to escape,” she told the unicorn.

The guards stood around Twilight and led her down the hall. They encouraged her to move by lightly poking her with spears. Nightmare Moon watched as they left before she decided to do some minor tasks of her own.

I need to plan out the rest of my day. I shall go up to my room and begin my paperwork. she instructed herself.

She gracefully went up the stairs and shut the door to her room. She locked it to tell the staff that she would not like to be disturbed (unless there was an emergency, of course). Pulling her paperwork out of a drawer, she set the pile on her bed and began filling things out and making reminder lists for herself. Her day was very precise: it had to be planned down to the last minute.

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@ExplosionMare

What Nightmare Moon instructed is what Twilight had expected to happen today. She wondered what Nightmare Moon was going to be doing when she was gone but had no chance to ask. She was intimidated with the way Nightmare Moon got straight to the point. There wasn't even a 'good evening', just straight to the point. Twilight looked to the guards as they got close.

"Alright. I will do my best, I'll have them wait in the entrance of the castle under watch of the guards and then when I have found all of them I can find, I'll come looking for you." Twilight said, thinking that was a rather logical course of action. Afterwards, the guards and Twilight left.

The guards had lead Twilight outside, she was seeing the outside for the first time since she had arrived. There was a ton of construction going on outside. There were bulldozers currently bulldozing the old gardens and courtyard away, new statues of Nightmare Moon being built and the sounds of beeping and jack hammers all around. This was all interesting. She would have stopped to just take a look at what was being done. There were ponies working on the outside of the castle but it was mostly complete. To Twilight, the new castle looked better than the old one but the fond memories of Celestia would still remain deep down. But of course, Twilight had to move past that.

Twilight and those guards would begin the search. It would take hours to gather up the ponies with sun cutie marks. Eventually, they found the first pony. Then one of the guards had taken that pony to the entrance of the castle where she was guarded over. Eventually, around a dozen or so ponies would be the result of the search. The ponies stood there scared and innocent. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Califorum

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

@Califorum

Nightmare Moon, not a moment too soon, stepped out of her bedroom to gaze up the sun lovers. She scowled at them, making them more intimidated than they already were. She motioned for the guards to push the sun lovers forward and for everypony else to stay back. She didn’t want to affect the ponies who did not need the spell.

“You are the worst and the most unfortunate ponies to exist,” she said bitterly. “You bear outdated marks. Those marks are of the sun or of something in the daytime sky. Those types of marks are not longer permitted in my kingdom. Stand still! I shall bestow a more fitting mark upon your flank,”

She took the first pony in her magical grasp and immobilized their limbs. She had to be prepared in case the pony wanted to struggle. She then produced a series of lights and sparks from her horn that caused the pony’s Cutie Mark to glow. It shifted and morphed in an uncomfortable way as if it were a restless shadow. The Cutie Mark then produced a flash of light as if the pony was earning their Cutie Mark all over again. Where a sun used to be was instead was a half moon. Nightmare smiled and set the pony down.

“No harm will come to you if you comply. This process is long but not incredibly painful. It is something that must be done,” she stated, letting the others know what she was doing and why.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

The ponies were all scared except for one stallion. The stallion just seemed to shrug it off and not seem to care about what was happening. He was the first pony. "Well I mean, its easier to look at the moon than it is the sun. The sun is just a boring white ball to be entirely honest so I don't care if you take that mark off. I don't know even why I got that cutie mark." the others seemed to be extremely afraid of what was going on and dared not to resist.

The stallion seemed to carelessly float there in Nightmare Moon's magical hold. The others were confused at how he had acted, and were afraid of being next. Most of them were mares, a few other stallions were there. The guards had surrounded them just in case they had tried anything. Some of those mares were tearing up from how intimidating this was. But none of them would speak up or even attempt to resist. The stallion floated back down looking at his new cutie mark. "Its better than the other one. Glad that sun crap is gone, I was always a night owl anyways. It really doesn't hurt, its simple. I guess." he stated to the others, it didn't seem to really change how they felt.

The next mare was an Earth pony mare, with a sun shining on flowers as her mark there. "I-I...hope you won't hurt us after you change our marks...please we mean no harm to you..." she squeaked innocently. Soon enough, more guards arrived with more ponies with sun cutie marks. Twilight had found all the ones she really could and stood there in the back, watching what was going on curiously, and deep down she felt bad for those ponies. At least they wouldn't be hurt. 

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Nightmare Moon looked curiously at the ponies who were still very much afraid. She had hoped that the first example would make them see that the spell was not as frightful as it appeared to be. Alas, the stallion’s nonchalant mood was only a result of his personality and not purely the effects of the new Cutie Mark. The princess would have to do a bit of thinking before she picked up the mare standing nearby.

“You ask if I am going to hurt you?” she asked softly as she held the mare in her magic. “I did not hurt the stallion. He complied and now he has a new Cutie Mark. It is as simple as that. If you do not comply, then you will get hurt. If you do comply, then the process should be fairly simple,”

When she was finished, she did not wait for the mare to agree as she swapped her flowery Cutie Mark for three shooting stars. Personally, she felt this mark suited the pony much better. Once the spell was complete, she gently set the mare down and waited for the new few ponies to move up in the line.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

The mare would only gulp nervously within Nightmare Moon's magic. She watched as her cutie mark was changed though. It didn't hurt, it just felt a little strange if anything. When her mark was changed and she was set down she looked at her cutie mark. It was more of nervous curiosity if anything. She said nothing else. The mare was too astonished at what had happened to speak up and went back with the others.

One by one the ponies went. Some were more nervous than others, some of them seemed to not really care. But eventually all the ponies had their marks changed and were sitting in the area looking at, some admiring their new cutie marks. There was a little over a dozen ponies here. So Nightmare Moon was likely a bit tired after casting the cutie mark changing spell onto them. Twilight was standing in the area too, with the guards standing near to her.

Other guards were still there, there must have been at least a dozen guards in the area too. In the distance there were some booms from construction. Some of them were quite loud but it seemed like the majority of the construction was not in the immediate area they were. 

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@Califorum

With the last pony finished, Nightmare Moon sat tiredly on her throne. The spell had been draining as expected. She rubbed her horn to get the tingly feeling out of it. With her other hoof, she dismissed the citizens and the guards. The guards stood by Twilight and prepared to escort her once commanded.

“Twilight, see if you can find a way for me to perform the batpony spell without having to cast it on everypony. I want to be able to transfer it from just one pony. Do so quickly but do not bring me the results until I’m ready,” she prompted the unicorn.

The guards nudged her towards the archives in case Twilight needed something in there. Twilight had selected a batpony book already, but there may be some materials she had not discovered yet that she could cross reference. If that didn’t work, they would just take her to her room and allow her to conduct research from there.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

The ponies who had their cutie marks changed were escorted out by the guards who were watching over them. Within a few seconds, they had all cleared out of the area. Probably giving Nightmare Moon and the remaining ones some well needed space. Twilight would nod. "I'll do my best, if I manage to find anything I'll let you know." Twilight spoke to Nightmare Moon.

The guards and Twilight would then enter the forbidden section again. Twilight took the time to search through books. She was intensely curious about this section. While she had been here before this was different. Nightmare Moon wasn't watching over her this time. She sat down, getting in her very curious book research mode pretty much. With her magic she would levitate various books and read them. There were some dark magic spells, necromancy, and forbidden black arts among various other things.

Twilight took a little longer to look over those just for the sake of curiosity. But she would locate more books about the bat ponies. She would look at other books, comparing information. It seemed that the spell was possible to do on one pony but it required a degree of dark magic, since dark magic corrupts and alters forms. It would not corrupt the pony though, just change their form. Still though, this spell was a great deal more costly than the cutie mark changing spell considering the complexity.  

 

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

@Califorum

The guards glared at Twilight as she used her magic. They watched her intensely to make sure she wasn’t going to try out a spell herself. When she didn’t, they relaxed just a little bit. They continued to wait as Twilight read over the texts. Whenever she was finished or whenever Nightmare Moon called, they would take her back to the throne room properly.

With the ponies gone, Nightmare Moon plotted out her constellation patterns for the next few weeks. She wanted to be not only precise but unique in each design. She sketched out patterns on a piece of scroll paper, working meticulously with each star. Since night was all the time now, she could test out her patterns whenever she wanted. She wasn’t doing anything else right now, so now was a perfect time to do the one thing she truly enjoyed.

Stepping outside, she allowed the cool air to corse through her before she began. Taking a section of the stars in her grasp, she rearranged them slowly until they matched the sketches she drew. She pulled this particular group into a circle with a sideways arch in the middle—a shield. She made this constellation for protection. She moved on to another set of stars and curved them until they formed some sort of a bridge. The bridge was for all the good changes that were to come. She continued to walk around and create more constellations, giving each their own meeting. Later, once the more important spells were complete, she would have to get Twilight to document all of these.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

It would take Twilight at least another hour to find the answer. It seemed that the spell itself was designed for multiple ponies at once but Twilight had found out an alteration of the spell and had written some notes about the correct procedure to cast it on a notebook. It was fairly complicated but it would do. Twilight signaled to the guards that she was done and the guards had lead her out of her room and back towards the throne room.

If Nightmare Moon was there, Twilight would give her the notes and tell her all about the spell. Nightmare Moon would learn that the batpony spell was rather complicated and costly. Way more costly than the cutie mark spell so it would be more tiring so Twilight warned against doing too much ponies at once. If Nightmare Moon was not there the guards and Twilight would wait until she arrived and then inform her on the spell.

Outside the construction around the castle was largely finished but some ponies were hoisting moon shapes onto the top of the castle for decoration. The statues were all completed as well as the sidewalks and courtyard outside the castle. 

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@Califorum

As she made her way inside, she was greeting by Twilight who had already finished compiling notes. She stepped closer to her and took the notes with her magic to examine them. She frowned upon noticing how draining the spell could become. This would prove to be difficult if the princess wanted things done efficiently.

“This spell may be too complicated for what we have time for,” the princess spoke. “There must be a way to combine parts of the spell to make this go more efficiently. See what you can do to condense this and I’ll have a guard bring you breakfast,”

Nightmare Moon had to remember that despite Twilight having a strong mental work ethic, she still needed to be kept alive just like any other pony. Plus, she knew that Twilight could not afford to have her strength down when there was important work to be done. On the matter of important work, there was still much to be done around the castle aside from the spells.

Nightmare first surveyed the construction outside. Just a few finishing touches were being added, nothing severe. She then retrieved the paperwork for tonight and put it on her bedside to work on later. Lastly, she worked on her scheduling for events both for the castle members and for the public. Many of the events were for the public to announce her official place on the throne, but there were a few dinners and other sorts of meetings she wanted to have with the staff. It was important that they all knew how to stay on top of things. Once she had a few nights plotted out, she went into her room and shut the door as she filled out more forms.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

Twilight Sparkle nodded. She was sure she could come up with something to make the spell go more efficiently. "I'll do my best but if it proves unsuccessful than we may have to have multiple unicorns casting the spell along with you to have increased efficiency, if that still doesn't work I suppose we'll go with the other plans for tonight." Twilight spoke logically and left. 

The guards brought Twilight back to the room they were in before. Twilight began looking and researching the spell more. It was found out it is made up of sub-spells consisting of adding on bat pony wings, ears, and other things in some sort of condensed spell. The condensing of these all into one large spell is what makes it costly, but casting all of these individually would be more time consuming but would cost less magic and strain. She noted that down. It was up for Nightmare Moon to decide on that.

A guard would soon come in. This guard was actually...the captain of the guard herself. Twilight would be surprised that this guard was bringing her breakfast. Her name was Moonlight Raven. Moonlight Raven was always one of the darker ones, so naturally when Nightmare Moon came about she was one of her first followers. Despite having no intentions or desires before, as one of the first followers of Nightmare Moon she was rewarded with her position.

"For you, Twilight Sparkle." she said and handed Twilight a plate of freshly cooked eggs, and bagels. Twilight would smile as she took the plate in her possession. She put the books down. Strangely enough, Moonlight Raven would stay and also had her own plate. 

"So, Twilight. How has it been adjusting here?" Moonlight asked, somewhat coldly. Twilight would tense up a bit at the question. 

"It has been difficult, but it is going well enough, thank you." Twilight would say awkwardly.

"The change has been difficult for everyone, but to go along with it reaps great reward both for yourself and others." Moonlight would reply ominously.

"That makes sense, so how did you get around here? I feel like I've seen you before. Before." Twilight would state.

"Choices, Twilight. Choices I've made." Moonlight replied, she was quite an ominous, cold sort. 

With that, they would enjoy some small talk and conversation. Some of the other guards had joined in. Of which Rainbow Dash, the one who was assigned to watch over Twilight at most times. Moonlight would soon leave, as she had important Duties to attend to. However, she shot Twilight a slight glance. Twilight knew she would eventually meet Moonlight again. 

After the breakfast had ended, Twilight would study those spells more for a bit while longer. Once Twilight was satisfied with this, Rainbow Dash and the other guards would lead her back to the throne room. Rainbow Dash was not a talker, that much was sure. 

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@Califorum

Bringing in other unicorns is the very reason why I am performing these spells. I am performing them so nopony else has to and nopony ever will. If I allowed other unicorns to practice magic with me, my kingdom would become unbalanced. I have told that unicorn time and time again that I am the sole user of advanced magic. She is merely the book sorter, Nightmare Moon thought angrily.

As much as she understood the gravity of the batpony spell, she also knew that allowing other unicorns to participate would pose a threat to the throne. She may have to find a way to remove horns from unicorns in the batpony spells. For now, though, her main focus was to project the spell onto any pony. She decided to take a few basic transformation spells out of her personal library to analyze. Perhaps she could find a solution of her own if she looked at varying transformations that also alternated ponies’ bodies.

Meanwhile, the guards took shifts watching over Twilight. The captain, Moonlight Raven, took to talking to Twilight to keep her occupied. It was rather uncommon for a guard to socialize with somepony they were trying to watch over, but this was more along the lines of collecting information then it was making friends. It was a shame Rainbow Dash didn’t see the conversation like that, but she was known to be antisocial and brash, even with her fellow guardsponies. She was known more for her strength and agility than her manipulation, which is why Nightmare chose her as opposed to another batpony. If the conversation happened to go awry, Rainbow would be the one to put an end to it.

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@ExplosionMare

Rainbow Dash and the other guards would bring Twilight into the throne room. If Nightmare Moon wasn't there, they would be waiting until she was there and a guard would be walk off to inform Nightmare Moon that Twilight was waiting. Once Nightmare Moon would enter into the throne room, they would all bow before her including Twilight. Rainbow Dash and other guards would stick close to Twilight just in case she had attempted anything. The guards all had neutral, more submissive looks when Nightmare Moon was before them.

Upon being asked about her findings, Twilight would reveal what she had found. Twilight found out it is made up of sub-spells consisting of adding on bat pony wings, ears, etc in some sort of condensed spell. The condensing of these all into one large spell is what makes it costly, but casting all of these individually would be more time consuming but would cost less magic and strain. This would likely please Nightmare Moon, knowing that she didn't need any others to be casting the spell. 

Twilight also brought the spell book and the notes to Nightmare Moon, handing over her work for Nightmare Moon to do as she sees fit with it. She hoped her work satisfied Nightmare Moon. 

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@Monotonality

Twilight returned with Rainbow Dash and a couple of other guards. Nightmare Moon was not present when they arrived in the throne room until a guard alerted her of their presence. When she entered, she was met with gracious bows before Twilight detailed her discoveries.

“So you are saying that rather than condensing the spells, they shall all be cast individually?” the princess asked. “Very well. If it keeps other unicorns away from my spells then it must be done this way. Your work so far has been commendable. I will keep these notes for further studying. I would encourage you to find other methods of condensing but do not make that your main focus any longer. I do not have much else for you to do at the moment other than to study the effects eternal night will have on nature. See what you can find so we can get the minor tasks out of the way,”

As she glanced over the notes and trotted towards her room, she pointed a wing to single for the guards to leave. Rainbow Dash and the others escorted Twilight to the library once again. Rainbow was slightly annoyed that she had to keep going back and forth between the library and the throne room, but she would never disobey Nightmare Moon by refusing or even asking what the purpose in it was. If the princess found it important to have a little apprentice around, then she had to respect and honor that. That didn’t mean she liked Twilight, though. She kept as much distance as she could while guarding her; enough to block her in but not enough to disregard her personal space.

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@ExplosionMare

Twilight was glad that her work was satisfying for Nightmare Moon. She even got complimented on that. It felt rewarding. It felt more rewarding than Celestia, because Nightmare Moon was more cold and distant than Celestia ever was, and didn't pepper Twilight with compliments constantly. Celestia was no longer a thought in Twilight's mind, which was occupied by the tasks of the day. 

"Very well, I shall do so." Twilight said obediently as her and the guards left. Rainbow Dash had stayed silent buy the other guards would probably be able to tell his discontent but they too would stay silent and not speak up. They had a job to do. They went back into the forbidden section and stood guard over Twilight as she began to do further research. A few minutes into research, Twilight had to use the bathroom. The guards escorted her off to the bathrooms in the castle, which were on the other side of the castle in all reality. But they too didn't mind a bathroom break. As they walked they could see that the castle interior was mostly complete.

In the halls some workers were buffing the floors and polishing everything so it would look absolutely pristine. They also passed by the guard barracks where some guards were off duty and holding conversations. The guards here were active at all hours of the day and there were multiple guard shifts that would shift out every so often. They could see at this time Moonlight was on break, noticeably silent as the guards talked. She glanced to Twilight and those other guards as they went to use the bathrooms. Twilight and Rainbow Dash, and another female guard entered the same bathroom while the other stallion guards would use the one across the hall. There was all new toilets, stalls, sinks, fixtures, the bathrooms were entirely remodeled. This greatly pleased the guards and ponies in the castle, as under Celestia's time on the throne the bathrooms were generally left uncleaned and there were frequent complaints but the bathrooms were never taken care of. Under Nightmare Moon however, the bathrooms were entirely remodeled.

Twilight was nervous truthfully of using the same bathroom with someone so gruff and intimidating like Rainbow Dash but it went off without a hitch. Twilight took her time to enjoy the new bathroom. After they were all done, they went back to the library to continue guarding over Twilight as she continued the research. Twilight would find that under eternal Night, the leaves will no longer be getting sunlight. Of course, Nightmare Moon had already dealt with this and changed the ecosystem with various transformation spells on the wildlife so everything wouldn't die. However she had located some things that Nightmare Moon had not done yet.

Of these were glowing mushrooms. Not true mushrooms, but with a special spell some small plants could be turned into mushrooms that would glow a soft dark blue, dark red, and light blue color. There were also things such as making the pollen glow, Twilight was fascinated with imagining the pollen of plants having a dark blue color. It would perfectly compliment Nightmare Moon's eternal Night. She would take notes on these. There was also ways to make the leaves of the plants glow themselves, of largely any color the user had wanted. Twilight would take notes on this and left the choice up to Nightmare Moon herself, however she was sure that Nightmare Moon would choose the darker colors. 

For the deserts, since there was no beating sun the sands would have gradually faded away into forest or some sort of grassy plains. There were ways to prevent this through spells to preserve the sands though. Forests, such as the everfree forest would expand gradually which would become an issue in the future. Monsters, and creatures roaming the night would also have become more common. Timberwolves, and other such creatures are expected to multiply. Jungles, and rather warm biomes would have been losing their moisture and warmth to the cool calm night but Nightmare Moon also already dealt with them making them converted into temperate rainforests which can survive in the night through various means. She took notes on these too. 

As for the wildlife, there were various spells to make their eyes more nocturnal. Nightmare Moon had also already done this, but there were some other minor things that she had not done yet. Twilight took notes on this. Soon enough, Twilight finished up. The guards escorted her back to the throne room. If Nightmare Moon wasn't there, a guard once again would be sent off to inform her. Once Nightmare Moon had entered in, Twilight would present the information she gathered. Her notes were rather detailed, and there were some illustrations she had made that were of concepts of the glowing leaves, mushrooms, and pollen among others. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by Monotonality

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@Monotonality

It was a shame Nightmare Moon was buried in so much paperwork that she was hardly able to appreciate the fine construction surrounding her. Alas, the duties of a princess were supposed to be busy, so it was not like she expected to have time off to look at things. Of course, she was in charge, she had to remind herself, so if she needed to take little breaks every now and then, she could. Realizing soon that she needed to use the restroom, Nightmare got up and headed towards them.

They were so much more clean than they ever were with Celestia. There was a shine to the walls and a delicate polish to each stall that Nightmare couldn’t help but stare at. When she entered one of the stalls, she was surprised that not only did it fit her enormously tall body, it didn’t feel unsanitary either. As she exited to wash her hooves, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of gratitude for all the work done in the castle so far. Not only was it very professional, it was also to her standards despite her standards being rather vague. She wondered why nopony was able to express this kind of appreciation before.

She made her way towards the throne room again to examine Twilight’s work. She had done a tremendous amount of research, far more than she would have expected to occur in a day. The majority of the research was focused on the ecosystem and how it would be handled under eternal moonlight. The changes would definitely be strange but the princess was confident that the creatures and the citizens would be able to adapt just like the castle staff have. As she looked further into Twilight’s notes, she saw an outline for a various assortment of glowing mushrooms. Intrigued, she asked,

“How am I able to reproduce these mushrooms? As much as I am against outdoor lighting, I believe these could at least have an ascetic use. If I am to use these, the best ones to use would be the ones that bring out the many colors of the sky, such as indigo and violet,”

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

"You convert small shrubs or plants into them. The bigger you want the mushroom, the larger the spell. According to my research, you think of the color you want the mushroom to be and it will end up that way. It is not a particularly complex or costly spell unlike the other spells we have previously discussed." Twilight would reply intelligently without hesitation.

Twilight would present the books she had gathered the research from. It was about 5 books, but they were fairly large books that looked rather ancient. She handed them over to the princess in case she wanted to study them in great detail. With that, Twilight had concluded the handover of the notes and materials she had gathered. It was a lot of research, Twilight was slightly tired but unlike Celestia, she was no longer doing specific tasks for a reward or 'grade', she was just doing them for the sake of research and retrieval. It was far less exhausting and time consuming than her studies had been under Celestia.

Twilight would await for Nightmare Moon's response and for any further orders as Twilight was not sure what she was doing next. The guards stood there straight, tall and doing their duty perfectly. 

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

@Monotonality

Nightmare Moon nodded. She figured she could work on this little spell for now until she felt there was enough research being put into the batpony spell. Collecting the books Twilight gave her, she tucked them under her wings to take outside with her. Before she headed out, she told Twilight,

“Find more information over the batpony spell if possible. If you find something, have the guards notify me immediately. Otherwise, you may go to your room for lunch,” she instructed.

The princess signaled to her staff to take lunch to her room before she went outside. She would eat once she was done casting the plant spells. As soon as she stepped hoof outside, she breathed in the cool night air that gently percolated through her nostrils. The air left her as gently as it entered, filling her with a peace she hadn’t felt in a long time. The tranquility allowed her to focus all of her attention on the shrubbery surrounding the castle. As she looked at each plant, she thought of the colors that would best coordinate with them. Dipping her head down, she prepared a soft stream of teal magic that cascaded towards every petal and leaf.

The plants took on a more circular shape as they transformed into the mushrooms. As soon as the mushrooms appeared, they began to glow various shades of violet, indigo, and occasionally turquoise. The soft lights illuminated all of the dark corners of the castle entryway.

Perfect for spotting intruders or stowaways Nightmare thought proudly.

Satisfied with her work, she went inside to eat her lunch before it got cold. She took the books from under her wings and placed them with the other texts she had collected from Twilight. As she ate, she thought of her own ways to make the batpony spell easier. It was the most important one at the moment, so it was important that it be looked at from every angle.

I could rewrite some of the spell myself if Twilight’s methods do not work. There must be an easier way to turn the entire population into batponies. If a bit of dark magic is required as well, then so be it she reasoned to herself.

[Props Valroa 25,957]

@ExplosionMare

Twilight nods to Nightmare Moon's command. She and the guards head off to the archives much to Rainbow Dash's dismay. She would spend some more time researching and uncovered that the fastest way to turn ponies into batponies is through dark magic. Dark magic will make the process go much quicker and have the desired effects of the caster. She wrote down some notes and collected some files on the spell. While dark magic will make it go much faster, it will only be slightly more tiring than the normal spell. With the better speed and process, a little more tiredness was likely worth it.

Twilight would gather some more research based around this. The dark magic spell would come with some draw backs and would have to be re-applied to the ponies twice within an hour to make the spell take full effect. It's a failsafe if anything. Twilight noted that Nightmare Moon could tinker with this part and remove this part of the spell if she desired. But she warned caution due to the nature of the spell as this will be the first time this spell is in use so she believes they should cast it normally and see what happens before modifications are made. It took a while to locate these files. Likely Nightmare Moon was done with her lunch by now.

Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash who was sitting around boredly as Twilight was reading. Twilight handed the books to Rainbow Dash and the notes. "If you could take these off to The Princess it will save me some time here. Everything she needs to know is in those notes, and in those books." Twilight said respectfully.

Rainbow Dash slouched up and stretched. She yawned, as if tired of the whole situation. However she quickly stood to attention. "Fine. Go to your room and you may have lunch. You will be taken there by the other guards. They will be switching shifts, but I will not be." Rainbow Dash spoke rather coldly to Twilight as she took the books under her wing. Normally she would have denied Twilight's request but she too had some lunch to eat. Twilight was a bit taken back at this but didn't mention it.

Rainbow Dash would split off from the group. The guards would take Twilight to her room and then the guards would change shifts. New guards stood at attention by Twilight's door while the other guards were heading off to the guard barracks to get lunch. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had looked for Nightmare Moon. She obediently informed Nightmare Moon of Twilight's findings, and handed over the books that were the key to the batpony spell. She informed Nightmare Moon that everything she needed was in those notes and books. Rainbow Dash wasn't too pleased with having to carry Twilight's books but considered it a good opportunity to get lunch after informing Nightmare Moon of this.

After Rainbow Dash addressed Nightmare Moon, a construction pony would approach Nightmare Moon. She was an Earth pony mare and when given the chance would inform Nightmare Moon that the construction inside and outside of the castle was fully complete. She suggested the idea of giving Nightmare Moon and her staff a tour of the castle and of the new outside courtyard and other areas. 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Monotonality

[ExplosionMare 18,007]

@Monotonality

Nightmare was surprised to see Rainbow Dash deliver the next set of study notes. For a moment, she wondered if Twilight had snuck off somehow and glanced around scrutinizingly. She then remembered that Twilight was most likely having her lunch now with the other guards. As much as she preferred to have Twilight discuss the notes with her herself, she was pleased that there were at least some interesting findings she could look over.

Dark magic sounded like the easiest solution from the beginning the princess acknowledged. I did become part batpony myself because of it, after all. This could be a much more simpler process then when the spell was cast on me. The night sky is already available, so I would only need a few of these incantations here to recreate the spell on other ponies,

She stowed the notes and books away as she mapped out the best way to go about this spell. She could perform it outside and allow the dark magic to intertwine with the natural elements of the sky. That could aid in potential adaptability, but that could also run the risk of the spell spreading to places it didn’t need to. She would most likely have to do it inside, but even with how big this castle is, it wasn’t realistic to thing she could fit every pony in here at once. She would have to section them off and hope that nopony would try to flee during the process. There was a lot to consider. Nightmare may have to consult Twilight on the matter. As much as she would rather do things on her own, she didn’t want to take any chances when it came to securing her kingdom and the throne.

She was momentarily pulled from her thoughts when an earth pony debriefed her on the construction process. Everything was completed and now that there was nothing else for them to do, they had offered the princess a tour. Curious about the new layout, she said,

“I will see the finished result. Before I go with you, however, I want the guards to accompany me. If Twilight wishes to see the castle, she may join us as well,”