& & &
Rainbow Dash and Zecora were pinned down behind a fallen chunk of ceiling as magical blasts and lightning rained down upon them. On the other side of the shaking throne room, the Shadowbolts fought to stay upright as their enraged Mistress shook the room with her spells.
“Master!” The lead Shadowbolt called out a warning. “The palace is falling apart!” She quailed under the furious gaze of Nightmare Moon but apparently her warning was heeded for she stopped her attack.
“Find them!” She snapped at the Shadowbolts. “Do not let them escape!” This was easier said than done, for all the dust and debris still hung in the air, effectively shielding the pegasus and zebra from sight as they planned their next move.
Rainbow Dash crouched low as one of the pegasi of darkness flew overhead, looking this way and that for them. “Do you still have that weird illusion powder of yours?” She whispered softly. Zecora nodded, not understanding what the hot-tempered pegasus was up to. Dash smiled. “Good. Here’s what I want you to do…”
The Shadowbolt captain flew around the large throne room, brushing aside the dust and smoke in the air as she beat her wings, looking for her captives. Then out of the corner of her eye she caught a flicker of movement from behind one of the pillars holding up what was left of the roof. She quickly flitted behind it, voice ready to let out a shout of triumph for her fellows—instead she was greeted by a ghostly green apparition. A small unicorn filly so young that she didn’t even have her cutie mark yet. Her eyes wavering as she looked up, she let out a soft “Mama?”
Something in the Shadowbolt’s heart constricted as she recognized her…or what she was a representation of, at any rate. It was Dinky Doo, daughter of Ditzy Doo. The Shadowbolt squelched the feelings from the body she was wearing as irrelevant. She turned to walk away but her hooves refused to budge. “What sorcery is this?” She spat.
“Mama…” The ghostly Dinky begged, her face crunching up in a sniffle as she fought the urge the cry. “I want my m-mama…”
The Shadowbolt covered her head with her hooves. “Stop it! Show yourself!”
Rainbow Dash stepped out from behind a pillar, the mist gently curling around her. “I’m right here Ditzy.”
The captain’s twisted gargoyle-like wings flapped angrily, her gold goggles flashing. “I am NOT Ditzy Doo!”
Dash shoved her muzzle right into her face. “Yes, you are! You. Are. Ditzy Doo! You live in Ponyville—you’re a weather worker and a mail mare. You love muffins and are one of the sweetest ponies around. You’re clumsy, off-kilter and a silly pony sometimes, but you always try your best and everypony loves you for it. You’re always cheery and a great friend.” She wrapped a wing around her. “Whenever I needed somepony to give me a hoof, you were always there for me…just like you’ve been there for your daughter.” She pointed at Dinky.
“D-daughter…” The Shadowbolt stuttered.
“Yeah…the sweetest little filly ever and she’s your daughter. She loves you to death and right now, she misses you. You’re her hero. She NEEDS you. Come back to her.” Rainbow Dash urged.
The Shadowbolt covered her head with her hooves. “You…belong to me.” Nightmare Moon’s voice echoed within Ditzy’s own head.
“C’mon Ditzy, I know you’re in there!” Rainbow Dash hugged her. “Fight it!”
"I—I belong t-to…to….” The Shadowbolt closed her eyes. It was Ditzy Doo who opened them. “I belong to…no…pony!” With an agonized scream, something snapped. The other two Shadowbolts—formerly the royal pegasi guards Steelwing and Silver Lining, also held their heads and screamed as Nightmare Moon’s hold was broken, the three of them bound together by her dark magic.
Perhaps Nightmare Moon had expended too much of her magic in her rage-fueled attack. Maybe there was something in Zecora’s powder or her wards that weakened the Nightmare’s hold on Ditzy Doo and the others. Or maybe, just maybe, the love of a mother overpowered all else. “Dinky!” She desperately reached out with both hooves to embrace her daughter, only for them to pass through, the illusionary Dinky fading out of existence. “No!” Ditzy stared at her own hooves, discolored by Nightmare Moon’s magic to a dull, ashy gray peeking through the holes in her dark Shadowbolt uniform. “M-muffin?!”
“It’s okay Ditzy, it’s okay! Dinky’s safe!” Rainbow assured her, holding her tight as they both sank to their knees. “It’s gonna be okay.” Zecora stepped out of the shadows, kneeling down next to Ditzy to check her pulse. She nodded. Ditzy would be fine.
“That is where you are wrong.” The three mares looked up to see Nightmare Moon towering over them. Her eyes flashed with cold fury. “You have doomed your own friends with this act. I withdraw my countenance from them!” With a discharge from her horn, Ditzy and the others writhed in pain, their Shadowbolt uniforms gone and returned to their normal forms. The shock had rendered them all unconscious, like it had Shining Armor.
Rainbow Dash held the unconscious Ditzy to her as the green illusion mist dissipated around them. “Ditzy…” she said softly, as she looked up at Nightmare Moon with pure hate in her eyes.
“I shall create new soldiers, untainted and pure!” The dark alicorn announced as her eyes crackled with energy. Soon new Shadowbolts appeared, congealing out of the smoke and mist of Nightmare Moon’s own mane. First one, then two, three…soon there were dozens of them. “Did you really think that depriving me of a few lowly servants would stop me? You haven’t even inconvenienced me. I shall crush you as easily as I have crushed all who have dared to oppose me throughout the world. I am power unlike any you have known! Absolute, infinite, and unrelenting! You have no choice but to prepare for a long, dark future as my subjects... and my slaves.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, her face twitching. “You know what you need to do? You really need to take the opportunity to shut the hay up.”
“As far as final words go, I’ve heard better.” Nightmare Moon turned to her Shadowbolt army. “Finish them.”
“Not so fast Nightmare Moon!” A call came from behind them. In the door way of the throne room stood Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Applejack stepped forward. “S’all over fer you!”
The mare of darkness laughed. “Am I supposed to be intimidated? You’ll have to do better than that.”
“Alright then.” AJ stepped aside, revealing Twilight Sparkle magically levitating six gray stone rocks each carved with a unique symbol. “How do you like THEM apples?”
Nightmare Moon drew back. “The Elements of Harmony?! But how-?!”
“You’d be surprised what you find lying around your own house.” Rainbow quipped cheekily.
“GET THEM!” Ranted the evil princess. The Shadowbolts leaped into the air, rushing at both groups. The air was thick with dark wings flapping.
“Get down!” Applejack called as everypony hit the floor. And just in time. From behind the group at the door came a shower of rocks and dirt that hit the Shadowbolt charge head on.
From her place on the floor, Rarity peeked behind her. “Good job boys! You’re such good dogs!” Roughly thirty Diamond Dogs were bent over, their back to the door, frantically digging at the ground, tossing broken bits of floor and dirt between their legs and over the crouching ponies. A sea of happily wagging tails was Rarity’s answer as the digging increased.
The other contingent of Shadowbolts meanwhile kept heading for Rainbow Dash, Zecora and the unconscious Ditzy Doo. From above they heard the softest cry of “Charge!” ever uttered. They looked to see a soft yellow pegasus with a pink mane fluttering over them. “Um please?” She added. Half a beat later the Shadowbolts found themselves also being attacked from above! Swooping down with a fierce cry, talons outstretched, a swarm of gargoyles tackled the Shadowbolts out of the sky.
To add to the confusion, a sudden swirl of water flooded into a pair of wrecked fountains that occupied the corners of the throne room. Out of the fountain bows sprouted the gilled pony-shaped heads of the seaponies, spraying water out of their mouths and knocking Shadowbolts out of the air with concentrated water jets.
Rainbow Dash turned her head to Zecora and winked. “Told you I had a cunning plan. Now, tell us how to use the Elements so we can blast her!” Zecora opened her mouth but what she said cut off by a blast from Nightmare Moon that struck between the two of them, forcing them to split up.
Rainbow went sprawling, rolling over until she came to a stop against the wall. She looked up to see Nightmare Moon looming over her. “You!
The pegasus looked up weakly. “Um, hi?”
“RAARGH!” Dash rolled away just before Nightmare Moon’s hooves smashed down where her head had been a second earlier. Scrambling to her hooves, Rainbow ran to where her friends were gathered at the entrance. As tense as things were, she was smiling. They had an army. They had the Elements of Harmony and they had each other. She just KNEW the second she was with her friends, everything would be alright.
She was about halfway across the room when she heard somepony shout her name. She turned, it was Zecora. The zebra pointed at a place across the room. Nightmare Moon’s horn was crackling as she aimed it at the doorway where her friends were standing. With all the chaos in the room, the others hadn’t even noticed her. “NO!” Rainbow Dash charged ahead, unfurling her wings. She streaked ahead, her mane swept back. Twilight saw her approaching, waving her over with a hoof. “GET DOWN!”
Several things happened at once. Nightmare Moon fired. Rainbow swept out her legs and succeeded in knocking all five of her friends away. She barely had time to sigh before the lightning struck her in the side. She screamed at the burning, charring sensation even as she felt herself being propelled through the wall, rock shattering upon her impact.
Rainbow Dash’s vision swam as she was knocked out of the throne room, and out of the castle altogether. Below her, she saw the Everfree Forest growing closer as she fell in spin. She faintly heard somepony—maybe several someponies—shout her name. Then she closed her eyes and everything went black.
&&&
Literally saw this going up between writing and posting a comment. Nice.
Anyway,
That sentence seems to be missing something.
wow. Cliffhanger....
I love and hate you at the same time for that.
awwwww i wanted to be the first person to wright a comment 4 this chapter oh well one minute let me actually read this chapter before i wright what i think about it sos
Huh. Clever Rainbow...
Damn these cliffhangers, I need MOAR!
only one word can describe that scene EPIC
Not bad, but this chapter feels a bit rushed. There are a of typos and the wording and narration sound a bit stilted and unnatural. You could always go back to this chapter for some revisions, but in terms of stuff actually happening in this chapter, I liked it.
Also, I still think that you should add the Adventure and Comedy tags to this story.
God where i am its 20 past midnight i gotta stop doing these all nighters because i'm reading tooo much mlp fanfiction hehe just wanted to share that with you guys although it has nothing to do with the story in any way
.
.
.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Completely epic. Rainbow came through! And with allies! Yea!
S***t got real......
1105882 Who needs sleep anyway. It's 1.35AM in my country. Reading fanfiction: All Night Long.
1105919 Mm, 'k, first off, s**t only has four letters (you spelled it with an extra *), and second, s**t's been real for the past few chapters
You just love messing with our heads with these cliffhangers, don't you? *glares* I hate and love you simultaneously. All else I can say is...MORE! ...P-Please?
Cliffhanger!
OH COME ON! dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Sweetie_Belle.png
Can't wait for the next chapter!
MOAR! NAO!
I'm actually going on a trip tomorrow and will be back Thursday. I'll try to get some writing done, but it certainly won't be at this pace. The story was how I worked off nervous energy for my trip. XD
So, mad love for you all, and updates will resume next week barring the unforeseen.
1106008 Well yeah, but now it's SUPER REAL.
oh dear god how can this story get better! totally intrigued, can't wait, surely dashie will live, right?
Element of loyalty Taking the hit for her friends!
some how saw this coming...
Well you know what they say, whatever doesn't kill you hurts like hell. Or is that just what I say?
but, but the cliff hanger
CLIFFHANGERS!!!!! But at least I know there another chapter coming up soon!
1106580
It's a very close relationship. Sometimes the relationship between a close teacher/mentor and student can take on some of the aspects of a mother/daughter relationship.
Aaaand Loyalty.
...Aaand there's Loyalty.
1106666 Ffffffff
im guessing that RD does a rainboom at the end and defeats nmm?
Engaging epic fight music in three... two... one...
*static*
You didn't really expect this to be the final battle, did you?
YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE US HERE
...
SHITS GOTTEN SERIOUS
And that seems to be the final test. Time to beat down Nightmare Moon.
If only you weren't going on vacation for nearly a week... dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra_cry.png
1106253
Curses!
NOOOO Dash!
Dn cliffhangers!
Forget about real-world responsibilities, you have a story to write!
XD
Kidding, of course.
But seriously!
Write with godspeed!
That is all.
Journcy Out.
1106253
What a b*tch of a cliffhanger to leave us on.
Have a safe trip, and Godspeed.
Confound those cliffhangers. They drive me insane. Anyway good work and have a safe trip.
Just read the whole thing up to this point, and all I can say is "WOW"
Your cutiemark is a cliff with a small adorable kitty hanging from it, isn't it?
1106599
Agreed. Especially since she more or less raised Dash, like the canon Celestia raised Twi.
Great, just great! I'm going away for two weeks and you dropped that huge cliffhanger. Thank you for such a good story, fuck you for such an annoying cliffhanger
B-But!
You can't leave us hanging on this giant cliff you made!
Please! Help us!
ANOTHER FUCKING CLIFFHANGER!
You're getting too good at those!
I can see it now. Rainbow wakes up floating in midair surrounded by a glow, she doesn't know or care what's going on so she flies up to see what's happening, Nightmare's about to win. Rainbow says "oh HELL no you ain't" and pulls the Rainboom right in Nightmare's face.
I thought I had a small knack for action sequences, but this is blowing my best attempts out of the water. Nicely done.
Also, thanks for the cliffhanger. [/sarcasm]
1106259
And everyone knows that constitutes an extra censored letter!
Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Dashie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Cliffhangers! And i am back in school on wednseday! Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! I'm gonna make sure i am on right away when i get home Thursday! I F*yay*Ing Love this story!
I think i like this better than the actual pilot episodes.
This can only end with something awesome,
now I am sort of afraid of the end of this story arc, as it may somehow end up being anticlimactic or something.
Of course. What's more loyal than to lay your life on the line for your friends. Elements: ACTIVATE!
Good Old Rainbow Dash for ya right here in this link yeah that one down there <_<
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXkBpFUVmNQ
1126086
i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/248/962/949.png
1105822 Dat Prinny profile pic
First you give us Zecora played by Ian McKellen and now Ditzy is voiced by Frank Welker..... and it works..... what kind of magnificent monster are you, Trinary?
1126301
Indeed, they only have one decision left...who is going to be suicidal/crazy enough to attack Dash first.