When she saw the word on the cover, Shimmering Light suddenly felt a sense of sudden enlightenment, a flash of insight where lost memories were recalled in an instant.
She recalled that the editor-in-chief on the cover of this book was indeed named Comet.
It seemed her method was effective.
But when Shimmering Light opened the book with high expectations, she discovered that there was still not a single word inside.
"How is this possible? I clearly remembered his name!"
Shimmering Light looked at the result in disbelief, but after flipping through the entire book, apart from the cover and the title page, the other pages remained completely blank.
Shimmering Light's mood at this moment was like when an elk points a metal pipe at a clock, and you click on a study file only to find Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up."
While Shimmering Light was at a loss about this situation, the figure of Nightmare Moon quietly appeared beside her.
Seeing Nightmare Moon appear, Flying Light seemed to have found a pillar of support and looked at her with pleading eyes.
"There is no content regarding this book in your memories, so even if I use magic to extract all your memories from this time period, this book will still be blank."
Nightmare Moon paused and continued.
"But this name is indeed proof that Nightmare Magic has existed, and it is an important trace left in your mind by the wizard who excels at using Nightmare Magic."
Nightmare Moon felt familiar with the remaining trace of magic on this name; it was precisely because of this that she confirmed this was her own Nightmare Magic.
It was no wonder Celestia would think of her. If it weren't for the fact that Nightmare Moon had absolutely no memory of doing such a thing, and that she simply had no opportunity to commit the act, she might have doubted herself as well.
This was truly strange.
"Flying Light, I have a guess."
Nightmare Moon believed that everything the three foals had experienced was actually just a "lucid dream."
It was not much different from the conclusion Shimmering Light had analyzed for the other two foals at the donut shop back then, but the key parts were slightly different.
When the three of them saw the word "Comet" on the cover, they had actually already fallen under the influence of Nightmare Magic and were trapped in the dreamscape created by the other party.
Dream Magic is the re-encoding and integration of existing memories, a selective extraction and creative reorganization of memory, and it does not have the ability to forcibly write new information.
After all, the formation of memories in the hippocampus requires repeated stimulation and the participation of specific neurotransmitters, not simply stuffing a compressed file into the brain.
Because the consequence of doing so, in the best case, is that it cannot be remembered or is forgotten immediately after reading.
And the worst case is that the brain cannot withstand such a large amount of information being written at such a high frequency, thereby causing irreversible damage.
Either brain death, or the brain gets fried, turning into an idiot from then on.
Magic must take into account the endurance of both the caster and the target; this is a point that cannot be violated even by magic, and it can be considered the most obvious distinction between Dream Magic and Memory Magic.
The power of Dream Magic lies in its utilization efficiency of existing information; even the Nightmare Magic within its branches only adds a layer of potent control over negative emotions.
Compared to dangerous magic like Memory Magic, which has the ability to directly delete and tamper with memories, Dream Magic is clearly much safer.
This was also what Nightmare Moon wanted to tell Shimmering Light.
Under the influence of Nightmare Magic, although their consciousness remained clear, their physical bodies had actually entered a state of sleep.
What happened afterward, in layman's terms, is that after waking up, one often cannot remember the content of the dream.
This is because Nightmare Magic activated the MCH neurons during the REM sleep phase, and these neurons strongly inhibit the memory encoding function of the hippocampus.
In other words, rather than forgetting that part of the memory, it is more accurate to say it was never remembered in the first place.
It's like finishing editing a document and exiting without clicking save.
(This story tells us the principle that clicking Ctrl + S from time to time can save your life at critical moments.)
Nightmare Moon was no stranger to this trick, because when she was still known as Princess Luna, she often did this.
After Princess Luna entered the nightmares of The foals to resolve the abnormal mental states formed by these pressures, in order for The foals' mental states to recover better, she would usually erase the traces of her presence along with the nightmare.
In this way, The foals would only remember having a refreshing, good sleep, forgetting everything in the dream, as well as a certain gentle visitor.
After listening to Nightmare Moon's account, Shimmering Light felt a bit of soreness in her chest; she was originally feeling disappointed about the fruitless information search, but when she thought about how Princess Luna bore the nightmares of all of Equestria alone, while she only wanted to receive the adoration of The foals.
As subjects, what right did they have to blame Princess Luna for becoming Nightmare Moon?
"Then after I wake up, will I also forget everything you did for me?"
Nightmare Moon looked at her in confusion.
"I don't seem to have done anything."
She had originally intended to help Shimmering Light solve the problem, but it turned out that all of this was futile, and she had also confirmed the traces of Nightmare Magic; rounding it up, it was indeed her fault.
Nightmare Moon did not feel she had helped Shimmering Light.
Nightmare Moon, just about to say something else, suddenly sensed something and lifted her head abruptly, as if she could peer through the dreamscape to see the situation outside.
"The dream hasn't ended yet; you can rest here for a while and do what you want to do. I have to leave for a moment."
Then, without waiting for Shimmering Light to ask what had happened, Nightmare Moon left Flying Light's dream.
Outside, in reality.
Nightmare Moon opened her eyes and took a look at Shimmering Light, who was still fast asleep on the sofa bed.
Perhaps because this was a dream purely created by magic, her sleep state was poor; her brows were slightly furrowed, and she looked like she was not sleeping very comfortably.
Nightmare Moon planned to try to see if she could craft a sweet dream for her next time as compensation.
"Flying Light?! Flying Light, are you here?!"
"Flying Light, if you are here, please answer! We have come to save you!"
"Flying Light..."
Some foals' voices began to echo in the castle, and they were even faintly approaching their location.
From the way they addressed Shimmering Light, it was not difficult to judge that they were Shimmering Light's friends.
To prevent these voices from disturbing Shimmering Light's rest, Nightmare Moon conjured a magical silence bubble for Shimmering Light to isolate these noises.
After settling Shimmering Light, Nightmare Moon turned into a cloud of smoke and drifted out of the secret room.
Since they were Shimmering Light's friends, for the sake of Flying Light, she naturally would not make things difficult for these uninvited foals, but she would remind them to mind their volume and not disturb Flying Light's rest.
"Stop shouting! Your calls are just a waste of breath."
Nightmare Moon's figure re-solidified in front of the Six Fillies.
Upon seeing the suddenly appearing Nightmare Moon, the Six Fillies simultaneously displayed expressions of terror.
"It's Nightmare Moon!!"
Although they had already anticipated the fact that Nightmare Moon had truly returned after noticing the anomalies in the celestial phenomena and the disappearance of Shimmering Light, they still couldn't help but feel intimidated when seeing this pitch-black, eerie Alicorn with their own eyes.
"What kind of expression is that? Is this the etiquette you show when meeting a Princess?"
Nightmare Moon had no good impression of these foals who barged in without greeting; not saying hello upon seeing her was one thing, but calling her by her name "Nightmare Moon" repeatedly was truly lacking in manners.
Twilight Sparkle was the first to regain her composure after a brief surprise, and she mustered the courage to question her.
"You are Nightmare Moon! Where have you hidden my teacher and senior sister?!"
"You should stop thinking about Celestia and the boring daytime; from now on, this place will always be night!"
Thinking of the reality that she had once again descended upon Equestria, a sinister smile could not help but appear on Nightmare Moon's face.
"As for Shimmering Light, she won't be able to wake up for a while now, so you had best abandon the idea of looking for her right now..."
"Don't even think about it! Nightmare Moon, your conspiracy will not succeed! And we will never abandon our friends!"
Twilight Sparkle glared at Nightmare Moon, gritting her teeth as she spoke.
She had once lost her senior sister because she was obsessed with studying, and now, because of a moment of laxity, she had lost her teacher and Second Senior Sister again, plunging the entire kingdom into an unprecedented crisis.
This time, there was no one left to protect her; she had to learn to be strong and protect The foals she loved.
At this moment, Nightmare Moon also sensed something was wrong.
She hadn't seen clearly earlier because of the distance, but now, having walked closer, she could see clearly by the light of her magic.
Why were these Six Fillies wearing some pretty little accessories?
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/SolyuraMT
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"