Fanfic / After That Fateful Night

After That Fateful Night cover picture

The Elements of Harmony fail to purge Nightmare Moon from Luna leaving her to claim her throne, but not without a prize. She takes Twilight, the only pony that could ever hope to challenge her, and holds her as a prisoner in her new palace.

Nightmare Moon quickly returns to her full power, and, in order to further strengthen her hold on the kingdom, returns her most powerful minion from her first reign to keep a watchful eye on her captive.

What shall happen to the world under Nightmare Moon's rule? Only time shall tell…

Can be found here

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This fanfic provides examples of:

• Achey Scars: Twilight gets a scar on her barrel after taking a hit from a griffon assassin with a poisoned sword for Nightmare Moon. The ache is actually caused by remnants of poison and not the scar itself.

• Actual Pacifist: Fluttershy, which causes Rainbow Dash to become worried about her when she hears about the war draft.
• Adaptational Badass: Gilda the griffon, after joining Nightmare Moon's army.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Celestia's royal guard mounts an attack on Nightmare Moon's castle in New Mareland at the peak of the civil war. And they brought dragons.
• Always Save the Girl: She starts doing this even before she falls in love, but Twilight decides to protect Nightmare's life even though letting her die would free Equestria. Actually becomes this after Twilight confesses her love for Nightmare.
• A Match Made in Stockholm: Eventually what Twilight and Nightmare Moon's relationship becomes.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Twilight confesses her love to Nightmare Moon after an assassination attempt, and later confesses again to ask what Nightmare thinks of her.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Nightmare Moon makes it clear that if Twilight will not be her pet then she will die.
• Anxiety Dreams: For a time after telling her friends that she chooses to stay with Nightmare Moon, Twilight starts having nightmares about her friends rejecting her.
• Arbitrarily Large Bank Account: While visiting Valtaura, Nightmare and Twilight go shopping on Tyra's account.
• Assassin Outclassin': Soon after taking over Equestria, Nightmare Moon finds herself the target of frequent assassination attempts. However, Twilight prevents a great deal of these attempts, usually by shielding Nightmare with her body.
• Asshole Victim: Many ponies are killed by Nightmare Moon, but several of them are shown to have deserved it and at least one rejected an offer of mercy.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Part of the reason that Nightmare made Cloudy Horizon the High Commander is that she stood out as being tougher and more experienced than the other recruits.
• Attempted Rape: Because Twilight keeps getting in the way of assassins who target Nightmare Moon, four stallions decide to kill her, as well as have fun with her first. Silent Brook warns Nightmare Moon, who then kills them before they have their way with her.
• Awful Truth: Celestia's actions against Cloudy Horizon are this to Twilight.
  • The way Celestia treated Nightmare Moon and Moon Beam one thousand years ago also count for Twilight.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The premise of the story.
• Back from the Dead: After taking a sword for Nightmare Moon, Twilight dies while confessing her love. Nightmare takes her to the infirmary and uses her magic to bring Twilight back.
• Bait-and-Switch Tyrant: Nightmare Moon appears to be a Mean Boss at first and is often harsh to the ponies she interacts directly with, but later is shown to be doing what she thinks is necessary for Equestria and begins to soften up on others, eventually deciding she would rather be celebrated than feared.

• Blood Knight: Although Gilda joined Nightmare's army to get back at her father, she revels in fighting, even against her own people. This is actually part of the reason Gilda is rebelling against her father in the first place.
• Boisterous Bruiser: While not the best fighter around, Gilda is shown to be better than the average soldier in Nightmare's army and is quite loudmouthed. This trait often gets her into trouble with her superiors though.
• Bond Breaker: When Twilight chooses to stay with Nightmare Moon instead of going along with her friends rescue attempt and explains why, their friendship is damaged.
• Break the Cutie: Twilight goes through this.
• Break the Haughty: When Gilda starts to get too belligerent Cloudy Horizon or Nightmare Moon threaten to do this, and sometimes punish her to invoke this.
• Bring News Back: Cherry Jubilee decides to take her daughter, Cherry Tart, and head for the castle to warn Nightmare Moon that the griffons are attacking after they destroy Dodge Junction. She reaches the castle, but dies from her injuries afterwards, leaving Cherry Tart an orphan.
• Broken Ace: Cloudy Horizon is this, being a skilled and competent commander even after losing a wing in the civil war, but has issues and a grudge against Celestia which she claims is due to being unfairly imprisoned and that the foal she was pregnant with was stillborn because of the prison conditions.
• Brought Down to Normal: The binding ring Nightmare Moon puts on Twilight prevents her from using her magic, and she is forced to perform tasks like an Earth Pony would.
• Callousness Towards Emergency: A griffon raiding party attacks a group of servants and foals that were playing outside the castle, and the guards who heard the attack brushed it off as them just being noisy.
• The Captain: Cloudy Horizon, being High Commander of Nightmare Moon's armies.
• Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Cloudy Horizon and Gilda have this dynamic, with Cloudy as The Captain and Gilda as either Sergeant Rock or Drill Sergeant Nasty.
• The Cavalry: Lord Jahurl and the minotaurs saving an injured Nightmare and Twilight from the griffons.
• The Chains of Commanding: Twilight is starting to feel this on her journey to Drakenrange, using soldiers who don't respect her and may be treasonous.
• Character Death: Silent Brook, Cherry Jubilee, and Blueblood so far. Some ponies from Ponyville were killed in a griffon attack, but the extent of the damage hasn't been revealed yet.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Twilight tries to help everypony she can, including both Nightmare Moon and Nightmare's enemies. This causes her a lot of trouble, but she is starting to get over it.
• Circling Vultures: When the civil war ends, Nightmare sends Twilight to take Cloudy Horizon to the infirmary, and she finds Cloudy being circled by vultures.
• Civil War: The royal guard rebels against Nightmare Moon, first attempting to assassinate her, then fighting a short war at the New Mareland castle. After losing the war the royal guard continues to fight Nightmare by helping the griffons invade.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Some of the punishments and threats Twilight receives from Nightmare are like this, such as being lashed with a flaming whip.
• Collateral Angst: Some of the attacks on Nightmare Moon and the counterattacks against the aggressors focus on Twilight's reaction to them.
• Combat Sadomasochist: Borea accuses Twilight of this, which she denies. The masochism part appears to be true though.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Twilight is loyal to Nightmare Moon, but still wants to help Celestia.
• Conscription: To prepare for the war with the griffons, Nightmare Moon orders a draft, and is implied to be ordering the deaths of those who refused. Rainbow Dash is one of the ponies drafted this way.
• Consummate Professional: Cloudy Horizon has shades of this.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Cherry Tart is orphaned soon after entering the story, but Cloudy Horizon and Moon Beam help her to move past it quickly.
• Cooldown Hug: Twilight does this while talking Nightmare Moon down from an Unstoppable Rage. It works, but not before Nightmare brands her.
• Corporal Punishment: A brutal one is dealt to Gilda after she mouths off to Nightmare Moon during training.
• Coup de Grâce: Gilda delivers one to a paralyzed griffon assassin.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Nightmare Moon inflicts these or orders killings like these most times she is confronted with an enemy.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Borea challenges a partially disabled Twilight to a duel, with death as the punishment for losing, and it turns out like this. Twilight wins anyway.
• Death Glare: Nightmare often does this after being offended.
• Decisive Battle: The battle for Nightmare Moon's castle in New Mareland, which marked the climax of the Equestrian's civil war.
• Deep Cover Agent: Silent Brook.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Nightmare Moon starts out treating other ponies and especially Twilight coldly, but gradually begins to treat others better as she and Twilight grow closer.
• Depower: After being captured by Nightmare Moon, Twilight's magic is sealed with a binding ring and she loses the ability to use magic. She gets it back though.
• Double Agent: Silent Brook, sort-of. She is truly loyal to Celestia, but has no problem with sending royal guards and other ponies to their deaths for her own advancement.

• Dreaming of Times Gone By: After the empathic bond between Twilight and Nightmare forms, Twilight's Anxiety Dreams start to be replaced with visions of Nightmare's past.
• Dream Weaver: Nightmare Moon, as part of her powers as Queen of the Night. She uses them to view Twilight's Anxiety Dreams and offers to make them stop, but Twilight declines.
  • However, Nightmare couldn't see into or shape Twilight's dreams when she was Dreaming of Times Gone By except to share a vision willingly, which frustrated her.
• Duel to the Death: When Twilight offends Lady Borea by speaking out against her in her court, Borea demands a duel and will have Twilight executed if she loses.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Twilight confesses her love for Nightmare Moon while dying from a fatal chest wound. She gets better.
• Easily Forgiven: After Silent Brook's betrayal Twilight just seems to forget how Nightmare Moon treated her, and immediately forgives Nightmare after she brands Twilight. Lampshaded by Nightmare Moon.
• Elite Army: The Valtauran minotaurs are this for Equestria.
• Evil Former Friend: In-universe, some of the Elements of Harmony see Twilight this way.
• Evil Overlord: What Equestria thinks of Nightmare Moon.
• Face Death with Dignity: Twilight attempts this after Nightmare Moon defeats the Elements, prompting Nightmare to take her as a pet.

• Flash Forward: Some chapters do not have a number, taking place some time in the future.
• Forgotten First Meeting: How Silent Brook knows Twilight. It doesn't happen quite how she says, since it's part of her plan to explain why she looks familiar and to seduce Twilight in order to find out Nightmare's weakness.
• Friend to All Children: It is revealed that Nightmare Moon still has Luna's soft spot for foals.
• Friend to All Living Things: Fluttershy is this, which starts to make her unpopular during the war with the griffons when she shows concern for the enemy soldiers.
• Go-Go Enslavement: Shortly after moving to the new castle, Nightmare Moon commissions a dress for Twilight to show off her position, which embarrasses her.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Nightmare Moon takes over Equestria and declares herself queen. Subverted, because she is actually trying to be a good ruler for Equestria.
• Gold–Silver–Copper Standard: Valtaura has this currency system.
• The Good Chancellor: Fancypants impressed Nightmare Moon with his behavior in the royal court and was rewarded by being made chancellor.
• Good is Not Nice: Some of the things Nightmare Moon does, particularly when dealing with enemy soldiers, are justifiable and even necessary, but still come off as the actions of a Jerkass.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Silent Brook is jealous of Twilight because she caused Celestia to pay less attention to her.
• The Grim Reaper: Appears to take Twilight to the afterlife when she dies protecting Nightmare Moon from a griffon assassin, and attacks them both when Nightmare appears to bring her back to life.
• Happily Adopted: Cherry Tart is adopted by Cloudy Horizon.
• Happiness in Slavery: Twilight eventually comes to love Nightmare Moon despite being her pet. Becomes a Subordinate Excuse after Twilight willingly chooses to serve Nightmare Moon instead of attempting to escape.
• The Heart: Moon Beam serves as this to Nightmare Moon and sometimes Twilight.
• Honey Trap: Part of Silent Brook's plan.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Twilight invokes this to try and convince Silent Brook not to kill Nightmare Moon, but is ignored. Later, the same pony invokes it as well to talk Twilight into saving them, and she ignores it as well.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty: Nightmare Moon uses Twilight for 'relief.'
• Improbable Infant Survival: The story contains some fairly gruesome fight and death scenes, but no foals have died on-screen yet.
• Interrupted Intimacy: Has happened a couple of times to Nightmare and Twilight.
  • First when Tyra walked in on them in the morning while at Valtaura.
  • Rarity also finds them in a compromising situation and does not take it well.
• Jerkass: Nightmare Moon is very cruel to Twilight in the beginning and shows no remorse for the way she treats her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Occasionally Nightmare Moon would do something nice for Twilight even before they warmed up to each other. Also see Friend to All Foals.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Some of Twilight's friends feel she has done this.
• Just Between You and Me: Silent Brook tells the details of their plan to kill Nightmare Moon to Twilight before leaving and promising to return and kill her.
• Kick the Dog: Done frequently to Twilight by Nightmare Moon early on.
• Kick the Morality Pet: During some of her Unstoppable Rages, Nightmare Moon does this to Twilight.
• Large and in Charge: Nightmare Moon counts, being larger than other ponies. Also Lord Jahurl and Lady Borea.
• The Leader: Nightmare is Types II and IV, while Cloudy Horizon is a Type II.
• Love Epiphany: Twilight's dreams force her to realize that she wants to stay with Nightmare Moon because Twilight loves her. She forgets this after wakening, but realizes it again after preventing another assassination attempt.
• Love Makes You Evil: Silent Brook wants to kill Twilight because Celestia stopped paying attention to her when Twilight became her student.
• Love Redeems: After accepting Twilight's love, Nightmare Moon starts trying to become a better pony. However, Word of God says that she will not revert to Princess Luna.
• Made a Slave: Nightmare Moon takes Twilight as a pet and a trophy to her victory.
• Magically-Binding Contract: Once they finished negotiations, Nightmare Moon and Jahurl signed an unbreakable magic contract confirming their alliance.
• Make Up or Break Up: After being ordered to kill an enemy captive, Twilight begins to doubt the sincerity of Nightmare Moon's feelings and avoids her. This causes Nightmare to feel rejected and go into an Unstoppable Rage, causing a fight when Twilight tries to stop her. They make up, but not before Nightmare Moon brands over one of Twilight's cutie marks.
• Mayfly–December Romance: Twilight is a mortal unicorn and Nightmare Moon is an immortal alicorn. Subverted by the Soul Jar aspect of the spell Nightmare Moon used to revive Twilight acting as an Immortality Inducer. Word of God has said that as long as Nightmare Moon is still alive, Twilight Sparkle will not die of old age.
• The Medic: Despite receiving a pardon from the draft, Fluttershy volunteers to serve as a medic in the war.
• Misery Builds Character: Silent Brook's betrayal helps Twilight discover her feelings for Nightmare Moon.
  • Nightmare and Twilight's fight causes Nightmare to want to be a better pony and a loved ruler.
• The Mole: Silent Brook.
  • When the war with the griffons begins a servant pony named Sweet Scoop is introduced as a spy for the griffons.
• Morality Pet: Twilight becomes this to Nightmare Moon.
• Nightmare Sequence: Twilight's Anxiety Dreams play out like this.
• The Night That Never Ends: A given, since this was Nightmare Moon's plan in the canon story. The problems of this causing frosts and crop failures is addressed by Nightmare Moon giving the moon "night cycles" which are just like normal nights, and "day cycles" in which the moon emits heat to warm the world.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Nightmare Moon delivers several of these accompanied by Cruel and Unusual Deaths, typically during an Unstoppable Rage.
• Not So Stoic: Nightmare Moon has a few moments of these, sometimes accompanied by an Unstoppable Rage.
• Now, Let Me Carry You: Done literally by Twilight to Nightmare Moon by carrying her across the desert to Valtaura when Nightmare is injured.
• Oblivious to Love: Nightmare Moon initially mistakes Twilight's feelings as a subject's love for their queen, and has to use their empathic bond to figure out that it means more than that.
• Official Couple: Nightmare Moon and Twilight.
• Onrushing Army: The royal guard's main tactic during the civil war.
• Parental Substitute: Cloudy Horizon for the orphaned Cherry Tart.
• Pet the Dog: Nightmare Moon has some moments like this early on, being kinder than expected to Twilight and treating those who do their jobs well.
• Physical God: Celestia and Nightmare Moon are much more powerful than ordinary ponies. Nightmare reveals that they used to be even stronger, but lost much of their power after the Lunar War.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Twilight says a version of this to Nightmare Moon after Silent Brook betrays her. She also asks again a few other times, and Nightmare assures her that she will not be abandoned.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Twilight begs mercy for the first assassin to attack Nightmare Moon and is implied to have asked the same for many others after that, with Nightmare sometimes agreeing.
  • When Nightmare catches Twilight's friends trying to rescue her Twilight asks this of Nightmare and Moon Beam convinces her.
• Poisoned Weapons: The griffon assassin that attacked Nightmare Moon used a sword coated in drake venom. It is later revealed that the griffons are hunting drakes to get the venom sacs, which would upset the dragons if they knew, prompting Twilight to go on a diplomatic mission to Drakenridge.
• Poor Communication Kills: A lack of communication after Nightmare Moon forces Twilight to kill a would-be assassin leads to Nightmare believing Twilight has rejected and causing Nightmare to enter an Unstoppable Rage which ends with her branding Twilight.
• Post-Victory Collapse: Nightmare Moon and Moon Beam after the civil war.
• Power Nullifier: Nightmare Moon places a binding ring on Twilight's horn shortly after capturing her, sealing Twilight's magic. Twilight destroys it when she forces a teleport spell in order to save Nightmare Moon and Moon Beam from Silent Brook.
• The Power of Love: Used by Twilight to bring Nightmare Moon out of an Unstoppable Rage and convince her to act better.
• Pretext for War: The griffons are using Celestia's disappearance at the hooves of Nightmare Moon as a reason to invade Equestria which convinces the remnants of the royal guard to help them.
• Prince Charming Wannabe: Blueblood tried to pull a Prince Charming act on Nightmare Moon. It didn't end well for him.
• Promoted to Love Interest: Both in and out of universe. Nightmare Moon initially takes Twilight as a pet and trophy, and later promotes her to royal consort after Twilight proves to be loyal, eventually also returning her feelings of love.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: The griffons. Also part of the reason Gilda is rebelling against her father: because her father is a VIP she is expected to become a priestess even though Gilda feels she should be a warrior.
• Punishment Detail: Gilda is forced to clean several floors of the castles latrines when Cloudy finds out that Gilda has been referring to her by disrespectful nicknames.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: What the griffons did to Dodge Junction and other towns.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Nightmare Moon, surprisingly. She is strict and can be cruel, but is a competent ruler and usually gives the castle staff warnings before hoofing out punishments.
• Redshirt Army: Nightmare Moon's army. During the civil war, all of the castle guards except Cloudy Horizon died.
• Relationship Upgrade: Twilight and Brook coming together after one of Twilight's punishments. Also, Nightmare Moon promoting Twilight from pet to royal consort.
• The Resenter: Silent Brook to Twilight. Also Cloudy Horizon to Celestia (see the Broken Ace entry for details), which carried over to Twilight until she proved her loyalty by protecting Nightmare Moon from a griffon assassin.
• The Reveal: Silent Brook is loyal to Celestia, but jealous of Twilight and plans to kill Twilight as well as Nightmare Moon and Moon Beam.
• Riches to Rags: Prince Blueblood offends Nightmare Moon with his behavior in the royal court, and is stripped of his title and has his estate confiscated by the government. He protests this and approaches the queen, getting himself sent to the dungeons until he agrees to become a civil servant. Blueblood is later killed in a griffon attack.
• Romantic False Lead: Silent Brook again.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Nightmare Moon has been shown governing, and does not shy away from a fight.
• Save the Villain: Soon after being captured, Twilight decides she doesn't want anypony to die if she can help it and tries to keep Nightmare Moon alive, tending to her injuries and shielding her from assassins.
• Scars Are Forever: Twilight gets a scar on her barrel from a griffon assassin and a Flash Forward reveals she will get another on the side of her face, but it is not revealed what caused it.
• Second Love: Nightmare Moon is this for Twilight.
• Secret Relationship: Twilight starts one of these with Silent Brook. It ends when Brook betrays her and promises to kill her.
• Sex Slave: Twilight is forced to serve as this after being captured.
• Shame If Something Happened: Lord Jahurl says this to Nightmare Moon when she talks about Twilight's injuries. Subverted because Jahurl admires Twilight and meant it honestly.
• Shock and Awe: While shapeshifting, Moon Beam can breath electricity.
• Shockingly Expensive Bill: Twilight and Nightmare Moon buy several expensive items while in Valtaura, shocking Tyra with the prices as she is the one who has to pay for them.
• Shoot the Dog: Some of the decisions Nightmare makes on Equestrian policy and wartime policy are necessary but still seem cruel.
• Shower of Love: Or Bath of Love anyway.
• Silence, You Fool!: Nightmare does this a few times.
• Skilled, but Naive: Even Nightmare Moon admits that Twilight is the only being besides Celestia with the power to challenge her rule, but Twilight's inexperience and naivety prevent her from making the most of her abilities.
• The Snark Knight: Nightmare Moon is this, particularly early on.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Twilight develops this after being foalnapped.
• The Stoic: Nightmare Moon shows little emotion in her face or voice, even after defrosting.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: After defrosting, Nightmare Moon acts like this.
• Suicide Mission: Twilight's diplomatic mission to Drakenrange is regarded as this by Jahurl.
• Swiss-Cheese Security: Twilight's friends have no trouble breaking into Nightmare Moon's castle. Justified because they did so right after the civil war ended and the castle had no guards left.
• Terms of Endangerment: How Twilight feels about Nightmare calling Twilight her pet, at least until they became marefriends.
• Thrown from the Zeppelin: Nightmare Moon has several instances of this.
  • She keeps detailed records of every pony in her army, and threatens to kill them and their families if they desert.
  • To prepare for the war with the griffons, she orders a draft for every able-bodied pony who does not have an important role to fill for their towns or foals to care for, and is implied to be ordering the ones who refuse to be killed discreetly.
  • Nightmare also had supplies and airships confiscated from nobles and the elite, and having any pony that tried to resist detained.
• Too Clever by Half: Silent Brook falls into this by explaining her plan to Twilight, thus causing it to fail.
• Too Kinky to Torture: A minor version. Twilight responds normally to Nightmare Moon's punishments, but her reactions to being injured during her fight with Borea leads her opponent to accuse her of being a Combat Sadomasochist. She denies it, but other characters confirm that she orgasmed during the fight.
• Toothbrush Floor Scrubbing: Gilda had to do this.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: The premise of the story, Nightmare Moon was not defeated by the Elements of Harmony and takes over Equestria.
• Underestimating Badassery: Borea to Twilight.
• Undying Loyalty: Moon Beam to Nightmare Moon, and later Twilight to Nightmare.
• Unequal Pairing: Even after they become marefriends, Nightmare Moon is still Twilight's queen and holds a lot of power over her.
• Ungrateful Bastard: Played straight then subverted with Nightmare Moon. When Twilight tries to tend to her injuries when Nightmare first takes over Celestia's castle, she hits and tells off Twilight. However, after Twilight saves her from an assassin she is somewhat grateful and agrees to grant Twilight's request for mercy.
  • Later played straight with a former royal guard. Nightmare Moon captures him and offers mercy, but he rejects her offer and spits in her face.
• Unstoppable Rage: Nightmare Moon has a couple of moments of these, usually involving Twilight.
• Unwanted Rescue: Twilight's friends try to rescue her, but she has already decided she wants to stay with Nightmare Moon.
• Upper-Class Twit: Prince Blueblood. This, combined with the fact that he does nothing to improve Equestria, leads Nightmare Moon to revoke his title and confiscate his estate.
• Villainous Rescue: Nightmare Moon saves Twilight from assassins looking to get her out of the way.
• Violence Is Disturbing: The ways in which Nightmare Moon deals with her enemies are rather brutal, and for Twilight, traumatic.
• Voluntary Shapeshifting: Moon Beam can do this.
• War Is Hell: The ponies didn't know much about war before, but they quickly come to this conclusion.
• The War Room: Nightmare Moon's castle has one.
• We Have Become Complacent: Specifically, Nightmare Moon believes that Celestia's policies have made Equestria complacent, especially in concern to the griffons whom Celestia was trying to pacify with gifts and trade.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Rarity to Twilight after the journey to Valtaura.
• Why Would Anyone Take Her Back?: In-Universe, Nightmare Moon to Twilight after their fight, asking why Twilight continues to forgive all the things Nightmare has done to her.