//------------------------------// // The Name of the Nightmare // Story: PONY POV SERIES SEASON 8: FINALE! // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Chapter Title: The Name of the Nightmare (Diamond Tiara's Nightmare's Interview): They don't understand how my magic works. Even I don't fully understand how my magic works. After all, not every pegasus is a Wonderbolt, and just because pegasi can fly, that doesn't mean they can explain aerodynamics backwards and forwards. What's more, I'm no goddess whose job it is to know all there is to know about their nature. Everything comes down to figuring it out for yourself. (Interviewer's (Lonely) Notes: When ponies play with us a lot, and they want something done, we figure out how to do it for them.) I figured. I understand that with a whisper or a touch, I can make somepony, something, anything from a dragon to a house, see how everything's all going to be for nothing, and they'll just give up and wither away. I won't pretend to understand how exactly my magic can't be sensed, and how it can mask the magic of others. Maybe it's the emptiness inside me? My lack of feelings? Maybe since I'm something that wasn't supposed to be able to exist, there's no 'registry number' for my magic in the universe's index book? It might explain why barriers and seals don't affect me, and why I don't leave traces behind. My very existence is wrong, like the mortal world itself is trying to pretend I'm not here. Father tells me how there was once an evil spirit that was so hideous, reality itself shrouded her in a veil-like form. Maybe it's the same with me. Or given my ability to see things that others can't see, and being seen by things that ponies are normally invisible to, maybe it's a matter of me being somewhat… displaced. Not that it matters. Would anything actually change if I knew? Ponies, humans, centaurs… they're all driven by a need to know the 'whys' and 'how comes' of everything. Knowing doesn't change a thing. Like when father Discord made me remember how much I had truly failed my mother. Even though Apple Bloom changed how much mother was going to punish me for it, it didn't change how much I'd truly failed her. And what I turned her into. How I had to make a deal with a devil to fix her. Even back then, I was already empty inside. As far as these adults and fillies are concerned, they've already won. I'm just an awkward moment between their victory. Their happy ending. It doesn't change things. "Well, Discord?" asked Celestia. "Are you satisfied?" Discord's jaw dropped. My eyes narrowed. "Now hold on there, Princess!" my 'arch enemy's' big sister began to spout. "Ya can't really still be tryin' ta-" The sharp flick of Celestia's wing was a more powerful command to silence than any magical geass. My predecessor looks like she wants to get this over with even more than I do. Destroy me and imprison father, for the good of Equestria. It's the obvious answer, but she just grits her teeth. "I ask again, Discord. Was this to your satisfaction?" She looked at my replacements. "These brave foals have struck you a terrible blow indeed. Now that you can see it all clearly, was this a satisfying grand performance for you? Are you ready to finally move on from this miserable nonsense? Tell me, Dissy, how does it feel to be able to remember our good times without the taint of your madness?" I saw the look on the faces of Sweetie Belle's and Scootaloo's big sisters, along with some of the others. The idea that Celestia had good times with my adopted father is up there, I'm told, with Celestia calling the defeated Nightmare Moon "sister." Speaking of the former Nightmare Moon, she was watching father and Celestia closely, but she no longer had that expression of contempt and pity, the face of a mare who knew I was beyond saving, but felt she had to humor her sister. Instead, she looked almost like she was holding her breath. This isn't good. And father's eyes were darting around at nothing. +++ Discord's Folded Cubeboard Feathers Wind Whistler was back. Maybe if I drank barrels of hard cider the pink elephants could stomp on her, or maybe if I ate some bad mushrooms she could get squashed by that frog's stairway to heaven. "This conflict is effectively over in my favor, Discord," she taunted, with a sneer I know the real Wind Whistler would never have worn. "You have been permanently deprived of the primary attribute of your character that was instrumental in restraining me for thousands of years." "Will you give it a rest already?! There's no way you're Wind Whistler! If you were, somepony would have tried to rescue you by now, that's how it works. Oh wait, Lulu and Celly DID try to see if you were still inside your, ahem, my body, but I made certain that they could NEVER be certain. How miserable- I mean, what fun that was!" "If that is indeed the case, then logically I can only be an integral part of you, instead of a foreign entity. As I was not among your former detachments, by process of elimination I must be none other than the embodiment of your reasoning." "That's stupid and you're stupid!" I informed them with all my natural elegance and charm. "I'm Chaos itself! What the hades do I need reason or sanity for?!" "Why don't you enlighten me? Unless you propose to continue asserting that I am merely a hallucination, incapable of knowing anything that you yourself do not. Despite your insanity's existence having been unmade. Maybe I should explain how imaginary numbers work, Dissy?" "NO! NOT AGAIN!" I screamed, tugging on my ears. "How can something that doesn't make sense be so dreadfully boring?!" I crumpled up her chart of the Mandeltrot Set and tossed it into the Dimension of Lost Socks. "None of this would be happening, if it wasn't for those little brats! Oh, they were bad enough when my erstwhile relatives used them to ruin the close family urban redevelopment project that made my little filly so happy. But now? I hate them! They destroyed my insanity! Damaged me! Violated me! I can't really be sure I'm me anymore! They destroyed a part of me forever!" Wind Whistler's hooves stamped down in front of me, big enough to crush a house. I might have screamed... just a tiny bit! I could see my handsome self reflected in her eyes as she lowered her head to the ground to glare at me. "Yes, having your very self violated, feeling who you are twisted about against your will, being made into something that isn't even really you? Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Not a pleasant experience, is it, suddenly having to think about what you did to countless innocent ponies and other creatures?" +++ (Diamond Tiara's Nightmare's Notes): I didn't like that look in Discord's eyes, no, not at all. He looked like one of the colts in my class when Miss Cheerilee told them they'd really messed up and they didn't know how to fix it. He hadn't even tried to answer Celestia's question before he was talking to himself again. I thought his insanity was gone. Maybe he only thought it was? That would be a relief. Best to get this derailed train back on the right track. ++++ Diamond Tiara's Nightmare approached Fluttershy. "Hey, Cruelty," she said, emotionless as ever. "Discord adopted me. That makes us sisters now. Wanna come out and play?" Fluttercruel did manifest, appearing once again in her hybrid foal form, just to shout, "Screw you, you little intruder!" At this, Discord sprang up like a released spring. Tears streamed from his eyes as he clasped his paw and claw, a wiggly smile on his face. "You really do care! You're jealous of your adopted sister!" "What… NO I'M NOT!" She stammered out. "Now dear," said Fluttershy. "Just because your evil father adopted another foal is no reason to be angry with her." "But, mooooooom!" "No wonder father never noticed you existed," droned Diamond. "As if he'd take notice of a whiny crybaby like you." "Shut it, you brat!" "Go sit in your high chair, you one-year-old." "I'm still more mature than you!" Discord had a pained expression. "Please, dears! Your mother and I don't want you to fight." "Yes, I... I agree with Discord," said Fluttershy. "Please don't fight." Rainbow Dash twitched her wings awkwardly. "Okay... I think we've found a whole new level of weird." "Ya can say that again," AJ said. "You and me both," Spike added from Trixie's back. Fluttercruel stamped a hoof. "This is the final battle! We're supposed to fight!" "She's right," droned the Nightfilly. "I don't need you agreeing with me!" Diamond narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, the way Maud Pie might have. "So you don't want to fight?" "I want to pound Discord's filthy face in! You're just another pony being used by him!" "You really think that." The Nightfilly said snootily. "I repeat. Everything I've done was me." Fluttershy pleaded, "If that's true, if you really want to do such hurtful things to others, then you're sick, like Luna and I were sick. You need help!" "Isn't that adorable?" Discord said, sounding like he'd been run over with a truck. "She... she loves to say that she's totally in control of herself in spite of me being her evil sadistic puppetmaster." The Nightfilly rolled her eyes. "He wants to pretend he still holds control over me." Her tone changed, sounding more like Diamond Tiara the schoolyard bully. Despite of herself, Silver Spoon felt a sense of longing. "His parents and his foster family couldn't control him! Whatever made him think he could control his own kids? Isn't that right, Cruelty?" "For the last time, it's Fluttercruel! And we're not sisters, so drop it already!" The Nightfilly sneered at her. "What's wrong? Afraid? Afraid you can't beat me? Afraid you can't beat one little filly? Scared I'll crush you? Scared a quasi-goddess of evil is more than enough to crush an accidental demi-demon?" "Is 'quasi' worth more or less than 'demi?'..." Pinkie Pie wondered aloud to herself. Then she grabbed a book and looked it up for herself. "Oooh... Never mind!" "Please," the Nightfilly continued, "You're a mistake, a misprint, a gratuitous presence! You've done NOTHING but make your mother's life that much harder! Everything everywhere would have turned out exactly the same except maybe a little less complicated if you had never existed!" A hoof connected with a filly's face. Blood came down from Diamond's nostrils. Fluttercruel looked shocked at what she'd just done. The Nightfilly wiped the blood with her hoof, examined it, then grinned. "Is that all you've got?" Discord rose and expanded like a storm cloud. "Young mare! If you hurt her again, so help me, I'll take back what I gave you!" "You gave me nothing!" Fluttercruel shouted, reacting without thinking. Fluttershy shoved her way in between the ghostly draconequus and her foal. "Discord! Don't... you... dare!!" Discord wilted, shrinking back down. "Yes, dear." "Spineless," said the Nightfilly. "See, Silvey? This is why you should never fall in love." Fluttershy hesitated, eyes widening. "Love? You don't mean… Discord? Are you saying that Discord loves…" "I'm saying nothing. Father only loves himself, of course. Don't you want to destroy him? Hasn't he done enough? Destroy me, and you destroy Discord. Or maybe you'd rather let me run wild until I free everypony of the mockery called life." "Well, Discord?" Celestia said again, this time much more stern. "Dissy? Are you satisfied yet?! You've endangered my ponies, you've pulled away resources meant to protect Equestria, you've forced the Bearers to wield power they weren't ready for yet, all for your set piece performance! Not to mention, you placed the filly you corrupted and adopted into your family in mortal danger! Are you satisfied?" And Princess Luna, in a moment of moments, was inspired. She cleared her throat, calling upon every ounce of royal self control and restraint she'd ever had, and she spoke with critical honesty. "Thy opening was sufficiently spectacular, along with an eerie prelude. Ye were able provoke us into an equally spectacular set up for the Elements to ready themselves for ye. "We shall not soon forgive ye for spurning our sister's offer of long promised cake, and the dialogue might have been concluded rather more swiftly. However, our ponies' fight against their worst traits was a good twist on thy previous work, and allowed our ponies to show how they've grown. The battle against thy puppets gave Princess Gaia a chance to show her power and demonstrate she was capable of using it responsibly. We imagine that young Silver Spoon reasoning thy true army into being neutral for this battle was not something ye anticipated, yet ye recovered admirably." "Well, of course," said Discord, not seeming to know what to do with his hands. "Any good artist learns to roll with the punches." "Indeed. And finally, showing ye had gained the sense of empathy needed to create detachments was a worthy conclusion, though naturally we would have prefered to combine our efforts and rush ye all at once." "Since when do I enjoy the predictable?"   "Indeed. So Discord, we shall say as both a fellow artist and a patron of the arts, we give thy stage performance our royal approval. Certainly one worthy of the history books." Like he'd been shot, Discord's ghostly form fell down to his knees, his arms limp at his side. He looked at the ground, and raised his head up to Celestia. "I'm the one always asked to change for others. When's the last time anypony changed for me?!" "Well, we could talk about all the ponies you forced to change for you..." Spike muttered, though he was ignored. Celestia didn't even hesitate. "Shady did. She became a mother for you. She became brave for you. She became the best she could be for you… and you still wanted her to change more. You wanted a sadistic monster like yourself. Did you ever consider playing your games on the genuinely wicked and unrepentant while leaving the innocent and just alone? That would have been enough for her… but it wasn't for you. "A mother to a chimeric creature she'd become pregnant with out of nowhere… and she treated you no different. And Baby Shady? She became a sister for you in this new world. You know everything that happened was your choices and her choices, nopony else's." "It was merely pony instinct that made them care for me. Simple biology." "Is biology why Surprise The First chose to become your friend too? The pranks you pulled together? The ones you pulled on each other? When you had to wear the cheerleader costume… and she chose to wear one too for you? Or did you think she was going to wear that anyway? "We are not robots!… There's more to forgiveness AND redeeming yourself than trying to do something horrible — no matter the reason! — being stopped, and suddenly saying you're sorry. And there's STILL MORE to it than just paying back those you hurt, it's about admitting you were wrong. First and foremost to yourself." Many of the ponies present had no idea what they were talking about, and those that did had little expectation of success, for good reason. - Celestia I considered asking, 'Since when is Chaos itself scared of change?' But Discord has spent eons angry and defensive towards anypony he felt wanted to control how to be himself. Any lecture on that would've just caused the walls to go up again. I also thought of bringing up how Discord had turned Surprise into the first rock farmer, but felt it was not needed. The look on his face, the slump of a puppet whose strings had been cut... Discord couldn't hide from himself anymore. I could offer Discord cake again. I prepared a backup set… but Discord hates repetition. "Discord," Lulu said, "Ye are always saying that the god of chaos will not change for others. Wilt thou not change for thine own sake?" Discord's spirit gave a start. In Discord's eyes, I saw images flickering like the movies of that long forgotten age. Mother Shady, Baby Shady, Surprise The First, the seaponies of the age of myths, the Flutterponies, Wind Whistler, Destruction, Morning Star, Diamond Tiara, Screwball, Galaxy, Twilight The First, Spike VII's grandfather, and great-grandfather, Firefly, Posey, Applejack the First, Star Maker, and so many others… including Mimic. Finally, young Dissy himself. = Rain - Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood = Discord snapped back to his normal suave self like a mousetrap. "Well! I think that's all the time we have, folks! I think we all know how this is going to turn out, and since I despise pigeons with every fiber of my being, we'll just be going now! Princess Nightmare, dear, let's fall back on that plan where we go to a planet where everypony is forced to live mindlessly happy, soullessly ordinary lives and we can be worshipped as saviors! I know just the place… it's on the other side of the galaxy from here! Doesn't that sound nice?" I imagine all my little ponies would have something to say to Discord's plan, and none of it positive at the thought of losing their chance to purify Diamond Tiara. "No." Her voice was colder than an Arctic grave. "A little out-of-the-way for your tastes? Well, we could just go to Neighpon! Ponies don't even really remember me over there! I could set up a shrine and they'd be worshipping me by the time they throw their next comic convention. And I hear they're really into the whole 'seemingly emotionless filly' vibe. You'll find yourself a coltfriend in no time!" The joke is that Discord was completely correct. "We're not done here." Her level voice echoed slightly. "Well, if you insist, why not have a climactic final battle with Sweetie Belle there, just the two of you?" Discord framed the scene with his hands. "Two fillies bound by chaos and fate, your magic versus hers! My student against Queen Bug-Butt's! Poetic, wouldn't you agree?" I saw Rarity move closer to Sweetie Belle, while Sweetie Belle herself took a step forward. I could see the gears in the little filly's head already turning, towards how this could help restore Diamond Tiara to her old self. I knew Twilight was already set to counter-offer that only non-lethal magic be used, and I knew Discord would accept after a token show of resisting. Half of my ponies seemed ready to accept this deal with conditions, though the other half surely thought it madness. The Nightfilly put her hoof down. "This doesn't end until the enemy is no more. I'm tired of fathers who don't know how to keep their promises." Discord shrank back from the filly his spirit was tied to. "But… I did keep my promise!" I did not like where this was going. My ponies were looking confused and wary as a horrible truth dawned on them. Twilight's mind worked faster as it always did, her eyes widening. Discord coughed. "Laying the dark and ominous routine on a bit thick, aren't we, princess? Don't forget that you're the brainwashed enslaved minion, and I'm the heartless evil manipulator–" "Who was it that actually did things when we ruined the world? And who played house pretending he had a happy family?" Discord flinched. For a moment, I actually saw pity for him in Applejack's eyes. "You cured my mother, I freed you. We were even from the start. Do you think I listened to you because I'd just do whatever I was told? My first father couldn't manage that. What made you think you could?" "… We were kindred spirits," Discord said, like a foal who'd just learned that the popular colts had only let him tag along to make fun of him. "Yes, we are, which is why you should understand." Discord's lip quivered. "Trixie never imagined she'd see the day where Discord had less spine than Fluttershy!" Twilight winced. "Trixie!" (Interviewer's Notes (Prism Rush): It's a universal constant. Discord never could control his own kids.) Wait! Are you– "We're staying. And we're playing this out to the bitter end." The worst part was, the fear in Discord's voice was not for himself. "No... Diamond Tiara, please!" "That is not my name." "Discord!" Twilight shouted. "Get out of Diamond Tiara's body!" It wasn't a command to an evildoer, it was a plea from one pony to another trying to stop a disaster. "I can't!" snapped Discord, not sounding happy about it. "Mother never bothered to include a way to do that! How do you think I was stuck as a statue for two thousand years?!" (Interviewer's Notes (Earth Pony): Tell Moon Dancer and friends to stop blocking Dissy's magic! Maybe he can help!) We can't do that either… we told them to keep casting the spell and not stop no matter what, until they sensed that Discord was petrified and Diamond Tiara was cured. We couldn't risk Discord impersonating one of us to fool them into stopping. (Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Aw, horseapples.) (Interviewer's Notes (Sad): Our best friend has a message to pass along: 'know despair.') Silver Spoon extended a hoof. "Diamond, Alula is waiting for you too. Don't you think you've kept her waiting long enough? Let's all go have a pool party at your place!" Truly, if Scootaloo does not become the next Element of Loyalty, then Silver Spoon will be right behind her. The Nightfilly magically slapped the offered hoof away. "Maybe you didn't hear me. She's better off without me." Silver Spoon recoiled, cradling her hoof as if a bee had stung it. The resolve on Silver Spoon's face would have made her father proud. "Then maybe I should join you! If you'll leave everypony else alone, maybe I can become a Nightfilly like you too! Go ahead! Diamond, you always said you were going places and I was going with you! Well, here I am! Change me! Transform me!" Spike and the Crusaders gasped in horror. The old Discord would have put on his best snake-oil salespony smile and immediately snapped his fingers to seal the deal. The Nightfilly cringed. - (Interviewer's Notes (Greedy): Ooooh! New friend to play with! I like her, she won't lose what's hers, no matter what.) She is not for you. Not now. Not ever. Don't you dare so much speak of it again. (Interviewer's Notes (Scared): Hey, are you feeling afraid for somepony just now?) I don't feel. (Interviewer's Notes (Lonely): She wants to be with you forever.) "Don't ever say something stupid like that again," I spoke. "You could never become a Nightmare, Silvey. You just don't have what it takes to boss others around." "Are you saying I never learned anything from you?" "You're just not evil empress material." "Since when have you been?" "Always. Or haven't you been paying attention?" "Right, taunting foals on the playground, that's really proof that you want to conquer the world!" - Rarity = Hisou no Tatakai ("Tragic Battle", extended version) - Sailor Moon Crystal = "Rarity, everypony!" said Sweetie Belle in a hushed voice. "Zap me with the Elements! Diamond will dodge and teleport away, but I won't! If we're really linked, then it should stop her too!" "Young mare, that is not happening!" I said quickly. "But Rarity...!" "No means no! I won't sacrifice my baby sister to stop an evil we've beaten and beaten again!" "You don't know…" "Neither do you!" I glare at my friends, waiting for any of them to challenge me on this. "Do you have a better idea?" Sweetie Belle asked defiantly. "We have an idea," said Princess Luna. "But ye shan't like it. Ye have to push Diamond Tiara's Nightfilly to the limit, We mean the utmost limit, the point where her body, mind, or soul can withstand no more. "At that point, Discord's spirit should flee her body in self-preservation, whether he wills it or not. Discord's last host had their body forcibly turned into his and their spirit either banished or subsumed, but that is not the case here. The Elements won't possibly petrify them with Discord gone. " "Ya sure that's gonna work?" AJ asked. "No." "Will this hurt Sweetie Belle?" I asked. "No. But she will begin to feel all of it, the closer Diamond gets to her limit." Sweetie kept a stiff upper lip that didn't belong on any foal's face. Her friends hugged her. Silver Spoon's spoken opinion of this 'plan' was unprintable in even the most uncensored medium. - … I'd rather die a villain than be redeemed, only to be thrown away into nothingness. - The Nightfilly snorted violently. Her scab opened, and blood trickled down her muzzle again. "You and Father have had your fun. Now it's my turn. You can only sense Father's power, not mine. How do you think we were able to safely recruit denizens of Nothingness without Father's Mother noticing?" Rainbow Dash frowned, "Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Whisper, Nightmare whatever… we'll magically unscramble your brain too, kid!" "You've never fought a Nightmare like me." Dash groaned. "Ya know, I never liked how the first thing every bad guy does in the comics is to trash talk the previous bad guys. It really disses all the stuff the hero did before! Whatever you got, we can take it!" "I'll show you despair." Twilight Sparkle responded by placing a replica of her brother's forcefield around her. "You need a time-out!" The Nightfilly stepped through the barrier like it wasn't there. "Not happening." Trixie zapped her legs, horn and wings in rapid succession, encasing them in ice. The ice didn't melt, it crumbled to powder. Rarity's horn glowed, and cloth spun from spider threads knotted around the Nightfilly. Apple Bloom tossed in a potion bomb, covering her in gunk that quickly solidified when it came in contact with the air. Plants sprouted from Fluttershy / Gaia's magic, growing and wrapping her up tight. Twilight's horn glowed again and added yet another layer, conjured chains that locked the filly in place. Then a lightning cage from Rainbow Dash on top of all that, followed by one of Pinkie Pie's biggest birthday present boxes, wrapping her all up in a bow with anti-teleport runes on the ribbons. The Nightfilly's empty expression never changed as she disappeared from view. Discord floated above the whole thing, wringing his hands. "Please stay there, princess. Please, just stop." The gift box aged and fell apart, the lightning sputtered out, the cloth frayed and unravelled, the plants withered and died, the chains rusted and broke apart, and the resin disintegrated. "I've never seen aging magic like this," Twilight Sparkle admitted. "I don't age them. I make them realize there's no point in going on. Also, I wouldn't really call it magic. Silvey knows how persuasive I am. Imagine everything you love, passing away. Realize the great lie, the futility of living. You can't contain me. You can't stop me. Your only option is to destroy me." Rainbow Dash shouted, frustrated: "I am NOT beating up a filly! Let alone killing her!" "I tormented your precious Scootaloo." "Yeah, and you got your just desserts for that every time." "I nearly destroyed the world. Beat me to a bloody pulp! Smash my face in. Strangle the life out of me." "Do it yourself!" shouted Dash. "We're all still here. You're a stupid brat who made stupid mistakes, but our only wish is to stop you from hurting anypony here, including yourself." "Then stop this." A ghostly white ball grew above Diamond's horn, rose above her head, then detonated into a million pieces of magical shrapnel. The Bearers of Harmony dove for cover. The shards of Blank Diamond's magic bounced against the harmony armors like physical arrows. The Crusaders covered Silver, huddled beneath their capes, the shards ceasing to be when they touched them. The Princesses protected Trixie and Spike, their royal armor being stabbed by the unspeakable magic, feeling little needles poke at the uppermost layer of their skin. "Come on. I'm just an awkward moment for you to dispose of so you can get to your happy ending. You don't really care about me. None of you 'important ponies' did." "I CARED!" Rarity shouted. "I care for all my ponies!" Celestia added. "Then where were you when my family broke apart?" 'When I failed her.' "ENOUGH!" boomed Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice. Her glowing white eyes narrowed. "Our sister has suffered enough! Ye accuse her of being a tyrant, but then ye accuse her of not meddling enough in thy life?! Make up thy mind!" "All I'm hearing is a thousand-years-out-of-date windbag. Can't the former great and terrible Nightmare Moon back up her words with real action?" "Dream the Night away!" Princess Luna fired her custom triple-strength nighty-night spell. Luna doubted it could work on a spirit, and she did not know if it would affect a Detachment, but she saw no reason why a filly whose magic was based on depression and disconnection from reality should be immune. Neither did the Nightfilly, apparently. She teleported to one side and the sleep bolt missed. Luna didn't hesitate… she kept firing, but the Nightfilly kept dodging, never teleporting to the same place twice. Twilight Sparkle gaped at her. "Did you… you did! That's my technique! You were watching when I fought Lioncord!" The Nightfilly paused long enough to say, "You're going to complain about somepony copying your magic, now?" before skipping away from Luna's next spell. Applejack managed to snag the Nightfilly with her lasso, but Blank Diamond didn't even bother decaying it, since her next teleport severed the rope anyway. "Slippery varmint!" muttered AJ. Trixie and Twilight glanced at each other, getting the same idea almost simultaneously. "Spell Copy!" Twilight fired shot after shot trying to catch Blank Diamond in the crossfire, each sleep spell as potent as Luna's own. Ironically, Trixie had to skip the flash and dazzle and pick her shots with much more care, since she was running purely on Rarity's mana gift. "Sleepy warm summer's day," said Princess Celestia serenely. Most of the ponies present didn't even appreciate the significance of Celestia copying Luna's magic. Perhaps they took it for granted, after a thousand years of Celestia raising and lowering her sister's moon. A golden bolt lashed out... But since the Nightfilly had watched all of the heroes battle, both with her own eyes and that of her shadows, even this didn't surprise her long enough for the sleep spells to hit their mark! "Keep it up!" Luna urged them, concentrating harder. "She cannot dodge all four of us indefinitely!" Discord's spirit meanwhile, basically along for the ride, loudly shouted, "DIAMOND TIARA! DODGE!" "Don't call me–" She froze, realizing that this was one distraction too many. With no time to teleport, she turned to shadow instead and the spells flew through her like rocks through smoke, disrupting her shadow's form. All four casters hesitated, worried they might have permanently damaged the mad foal. Blank Diamond could have been playing lame duck, but they couldn't take that chance. "Princess," Discord chided her, trying to get back into his game, "you're stealing my spotlight. What have I told you about upstaging your father?" "I haven't even started yet." "This isn't what we planned!" "This is exactly what we planned, before you lost your nerve.  Coward." "You actually think you can CONTROL a Nightmare, Discord?" asked Princess Luna, incredulously. "Not so much control, as help along, ugh! I mean of course! Haven't you been paying attention? I've been controlling her every move!" "Liar," AJ said at once. "Oh will you shut up?!" Discord pressed his middle fingers together awkwardly. "After all, I manipulated her into accepting me as an adopted father." Luna's first reaction was to call Discord sick and evil, but instead she said, "She already has a family." "A father who tried to buy her love, a mother who hurt her." "And you somehow think you're better?" "I considered sanity an arbitrary burden to liberate others from." "And yet, Discord, if everypony were mad, none would appreciate your games." "... I know. Now." +++ Rarity Belle This close, looking at Diamond Tiara was like looking at a statue of her, or a pony wearing a mask of her own face. I knew all the tricks used by the high society elites to conceal their emotions, of course, but this was nothing like that. It was truly like there was something broken inside her, underneath the wings, barding, darker colors, and draconic eyes. To say I was confused at what was going with Discord would be an understatement. Somehow, the battle with Sweetie Belle and her friends had shaken Discord far more than the defeat of his other pieces? And Princess Celestia was striking while the iron was hot? But Diamond was continuing her habit of not listening to fathers. I kept Sweetie Belle close by my side, but otherwise I was focused entirely on Diamond Tiara, hoping for some way, any way to help her. I didn't care for Princess Luna's plan, and Sweetie Belle's frankly terrified me, but we were running out of options. "What did I tell you, father?" Diamond Tiara said in that lifeless tone, still in shadow form. "You failed. It's my turn now." The mass of shadows began to swell. "And if you won't take this fight seriously, I will." Then white lightning began to crackle along her coat, spiraling up her horn. "What? No..." The shadows writhed, deeper and darker, lightning flashing almost constantly. "Can't control it... The dark magic! It's too much… taking me… can't..." The mass of shadows swallowed every last trace of light. "HELP ME!" Then the shadows exploded! = Zophar's Revival - Lunar 2 Eternal Blue = It was the size of an Ursa Minor. The garden trembled as it moved. Twisted dragon claws dragged along the ground, tearing up the earth as it went. Tattered and bony wings like the rigging of a ghost ship hung from its back. Its coat was a twisted mess of black and gray scars, topped with a cutie mark of a twisted and shattered crown. Its great mane billowed and fluttered like dying smoke from a fire, skulls visible for a moment in the floating ash. It was musclebound like a manticore. Its pupil-less white eyes were feral and wild. Its basic shape was still that of a pony, but its neck moved brokenly, unable to bear the weight of the horn that skewed from its forehead. Heavy, barbed armor dug into its flesh. Wounds opened and closed on its body, revealing glowing eyes within. She moved like every breath, every motion was pain. Her body was covered in sweat, like every breath was knives into her, every heartbeat fire through her veins. A horrified Discord still floated above it, bound to it like a genie to his bottle. It let out an utterly mindless roar, devoid of any thought except pain. I swayed on my hooves, almost calling for my chaise longue, but the horror pushed me back into awareness. I couldn't faint, not now. I hugged Sweetie Belle closer. I heard my friends shout around me. Screaming in fear, in dismay, some shouting orders, other crying out to Diamond Tiara. The dark beast looked at us without recognition, like nothing of her mind remained. My blood turned to water. Mr. and Mrs. Rich, Silver Spoon, I'm so sorry… Then a voice shouted, stern, calm, powerful, like a rock in the middle of the ocean during a storm. "Ya done playin' Nightmare Night tricks, young filly?" Applejack! The thing burst into white flames and burned away, leaving only Diamond Tiara the Nightfilly, hovering where its head had been and glaring down at Applejack. I never thought I could feel relief at seeing her like that! I swear I heard Silver Spoon's heart start beating again. "Those eyes of yours are so annoying." "Ah was able ta see though changelings changin' shape," said Applejack, in the same tone she might have used to scold Apple Bloom and her friends for blowing up the barn again. "What made ya think you could fool me?" "I knew something didn't feel right!" whispered Sweetie beside me. The Nightfilly landed and trotted towards Applejack menacingly. "Some truths shouldn't be told." Applejack hesitated. "So I've learned." "Have you? Look at me. Take a good, long look." Diamond Tiara spread her wings slowly, leaving herself wide open. "Your Truth lets you see through possibilities, doesn't it? So look into me, into the heart of me… the depth of me. What is there? If Nightmares are unfinished Alicorns, then what incomplete Concept am I?" Applejack's eyes took on a silvery sheen as she narrowed them, staring intently. Whatever she saw, it made her shudder and take a step back. "There's… just a wound…" "Exactly, I am no concept. I shouldn't exist, but I do, and yet the Wolf doesn't come for me. I am more than a virus, I am a wound in reality. I was giving you all a way to put me out of my misery with a clean conscience, but you insist on doing everything the hard way." As Diamond spoke, Fluttershy's fog silently rose from the ground behind Diamond, and as quick as a blink, engulfed her. I slumped with relief. "Thank you, Fluttershy." But Diamond Tiara simply flew out of it. Fluttershy looked on in confusion and shock as my heart sank. "But- but how?" "Your fog shows ponies what makes them happy, I'm never happy." And I swear by Celestia I hear Silver Spoon's heart break. Apple Bloom shouted, "STOP IT, DIAMOND TIARA! Ya already lost to me, Button and Featherweight. What makes ya think ya can take on my big sister and her friends?! Ya can't win this!" Diamond Tiara gave Apple Bloom that look reserved for only the most truly stupid of ponies. "'Can't win this?' No matter what, you say? Then the filth can all join me in Oblivion when I fall." Discord hung his head, saying nothing, his eyes closed. She rose and hovered again, looking down at us all. "Do any of you know why the name of Night- exists? Nightfilly, Nightstallion, Nightdrake… because it's at night, in the dark, that we discover what we're really like. Nightmares are the shadow, the true self." The Princesses and my friends start charging up their sleep spells again. "Don't bother. You forced me to do this. This is your fault. I gave you a way out, but you wouldn't take it. I didn't want innocent ponies in danger for this, but you forced me. Now I see that I can't just pretend to be a threat. On your heads be it." - Come, friends, it's time to begin the best game you'll ever play. - = Clara Dolls Theme - Madoka Rebellion = A mass of black threads bloomed around Diamond Tiara, each thread ending in a stubby hand. They writhed and swarmed, reaching, swaying, like a sundew, ready to ensnare anything in their grasp. - Princess Celestia I saw the little swarm of breezies fly around my fallen pony: white as ghosts, all wearing tiny black clothes, each with wings of a different color, but their smiles all the same. I had hoped I would never have to lay eyes on them again. - Princess Gaia Oh dear! I never thought I'd see those baby animals again. The lion cub, the black widow spiderling, the sad little bluebird, the yellow rabbit, the polar bear cub, the piglet, the baby peacock, and little green snake in her shadow. The way they all smiled and swayed around Diamond Tiara didn't make me feel better, not one bit. I knew they were more dangerous than a pack of timber wolves. - Princess Luna It feels like an age since we've seen them. Thestral foals, each dressed in mourning garb of a style a thousand years gone. Each wearing a unique, brightly colored token, save one. Each with a different expression. Never did the foals stray too far from each other, either unwilling or unable to be apart. We've walked the gray world they inhabit, a whisper removed from this one. Imagine if all the world was inhabited by ghosts except thyself. - Rainbow Dash Whoa, what the heck? What are those creepy shapes around Diamond Tiara? I can't make them out, but they give me chills. They almost feel familiar, and not in a good way! - Applejack Ugh! What are they? Whatever they are, they make my eyes hurt. Tryin' ta make out any detail is like tryin' to remember a bad dream! The more Ah see the less Ah want to! It's like tryin' to see somethin' really far away, but ya know it's horrible all the same. They're spinning a web of black threads with tiny claws, but there's somethin' worse beyond that, and Ah don't like it. - Trixie ... Those cords of blackness, they make Trixie feel sick. The worst part is, Trixie can almost make out a shape in there. It reminds Trixie of when she was alone in her own mind for so very long. - Silver Spoon What are those black ribbons with stubby things on the end? They don't make me feel good. - Twilight Sparkle That mass of black threads… I can sense… ugh, it's like sensing chaos magic around Discord. My mind doesn't want to see it! (Interviewer's Notes (Dusk): Those are some extremely troublesome spirits, ones that I hope you never have to meet.) (Interviewer's Notes (Noon): Except, yer kinda gonna have ta. Soon. With the crystal.) Princess Luna and Fluttershy look horrified! Applejack looks like she can't keep her eyes focused on them. Princess Celestia, is she shivering? "Be gone!" Princess Luna suddenly shouted. "Diamond Tiara doesn't wish to play with ye!" "Oh, but I do." said Diamond Tiara, a smirk twitching on her face for just a second. After seeing her without any expression most of this time, it's actually a little bit more disturbing to see an expression now! "I want to play with them more than anypony ever has before." "Please, please go play somewhere else!" shouted Fluttershy, as if the twisting black threads were unruly foals. "Haven't you played with Diamond Tiara enough?" (Interviewer's Notes (Lonely): Hello, sisters.) Wait! This feeling! It's so familiar, like when I was in that fake sanitarium in Trixie's mind. So alone! Who, what are you? (Interviewer's Notes (Lonely): We are they who were born orphans.) "That doesn't make sense!" I felt compelled to point out. - (Nightmare !$*(!@(!( ) "In attendance, we the neglected," said the only foal not wearing any piece of clothing. "I'm angry!" huffed a colt with a little red stuffed tie, crossing his forelegs and standing on two rear hooves. "I'm lonely," sighed a filly in a black poncho with a purple scarf, polarized like a magnet she couldn't get near the others. "I'm sad," sniffled a filly wearing a blue ribbon, hiding her eyes. "I'm scared!" whispered the filly with a yellow flower in her black sun hat, hiding behind the angry foal. "I'm hateful," wailed the colorless foal who had spoken first, never looking at his family. "I'm greedy," said the filly with an orange sash who kept glancing at the bits of color her siblings wore. "And I'm quite vain, and my twin is very envious." The filly wearing a pink brooch stood tall and proud among the others. In her shadow lurked a nearly identical filly with a green brooch, who growled and watched her with jealous longing. Thank you for gathering here with me. "I'm sorry that your gift for making us new friends didn't work," said the sad filly. "I know you put a lot of work into it." "Did you not learn your lesson the first time!?" shouted Luna, sounding worried, desperate even. "Be away from those fiends at once! Don't take the chance that they can do you even further harm!" I noticed the sad filly cringe. "Diamond Tiara, the Princess and I know what you're going through," Gaia-Fluttershy pleaded. "You're suffering horribly, but this isn't the way to make the pain go away!" "I disagree," I said. "So what game do you want us to play?" asked the lonely filly. Just hold very still. - = EV31 Giga-Microwave - Wonderful 101 OST = (Prism Rush's Notes) Darlings! Diamond Tiara's Nightfilly spread her wings, and ghostly white chains shot from her horn, snaring the eerie foals and pulling them towards her! The foals squirmed and cried out, but they were caught fast! - Rarity Belle Oh sweet Celestia! Diamond Tiara conjured chains out of her magic, wrapped them around the blob of black threads, and began absorbing it like a sponge. Whatever is she planning to do? And… why could I faintly hear the sound of foals crying? - Backstabber's Notes Come now! This'll be the biggest, best, and last game you'll ever play. "I thought we were friends!" said the lonely filly, like a deer caught in the headlights as her spirit was absorbed into my body. Who say I'm not? You who were born orphans, I'll end your pain permanently along with mine. "Why are you doing this?" cried the sad filly. In only a year's time, two more Nightmares? Almost three? Four? Getting rid of you is the only way to ensure more Nightmare Moons and Nightmare Whispers don't appear. Nothing personal. 'Dear, I KNOW this wasn't part of our plan!' I'm making a new plan. Princess Cadence should thank me. What she tried to do with a sledgehammer, I'll do with a scalpel. - Silver Spoon I think I'm going to be sick! Diamond Tiara inhaled the black cords like they were smoke. And the way they were wiggling, it was like they were desperately trying to escape from her. - Princess Luna I watch the foals being sucked into the blind pit where Diamond Tiara's heart should have been. I don't think, I act. It makes my skin crawl to even think of letting those creatures touch me again, but I grab hold of them with my magic all the same, trying to pull them free and avert this catastrophe. Celly gapes, and then she joins in, trying to save them from being drawn into Diamond Tiara. The others couldn't even truly see what we were doing, let alone help. Princess Gaia TRIES to help, but she barely has the mana left to sustain her Alicorn form. But all we were doing was delaying the inevitable. "Diamond Tiara, stop! This is madness!" "I'm a Nightmare. I said the Spirits of Dark Magic and I shared a common pain. Now I'm going to end their pain along with mine. Foals who have never known a mother's love, isn't it more equine to simply get rid of them?" It was Rarity who spoke, "No. That's all the more reason to help them." "This is helping them." "No! You said yourself, this is 'getting rid of' a problem so you don't have to deal with it." Instead of answering, the Nightfilly looked at Pinkie Diane. "You should thank me, Pinkie Pie. I'm going to give you the chance to take back the kind of world you lost, where the spirits of dark magic don't exist. If I didn't know you were all too gutless to take it! So I'll help you make it! Come at me or lose everything!" "I hurts! I don't want it!" shouted the greedy foal. "You jerk!" the hateful foal snarled. "You big bully!" shouted the angry foal. "You can't do this to me!" shouted the vain foal. Stop whining, you stupid brats. With you destroyed, there won't be any more Nightmares in this world. My magic can't actually hurt you, but theirs can. We'll die together. Who else would ever want to be your friends? Losers. The Alicorns are trying to stop me, but they can't. It's not a matter of power. They rejected you. They forsook you. I'm the only one willing to accept you, to embrace you, to take you. The envious twin snapped, "You don't want us, you want to use us!" Oh, I know exactly how you feel. Isn't that right? Discord? 'I never pretended otherwise, remember? Not at first. I... didn't expect to care about you... I'm sorry I did this to you.' Too little, too late. And the Alicorns just lost their tug of war. All of your spirits are mine. = kiri no mukou ni tsunagaru sekai (atelier iris 3 full op) = (Prism Rush's Notes) The aura of dark magic flared around Diamond Tiara's Nightmare. Her eyes widened, she gritted her teeth, her muscles all tensed like she'd swallowed hot coals. Her body pulsed. The struggles of the dark spirits only bound them tighter, like insects in a web. Discord was pulled into her too, like a slurped-up noodle. For a moment, I feared the spirits of dark magic would conjoin inside her as one creature that would rip the poor foolish child to shreds from the inside, leaving Discord to fade into the spirit world with no mortal anchor, leaving Dash and her friends to fight for their lives. Diamond Tiara was already a Nightmare, there was no cocoon of threads of black magic. I imagine Tirek would be scandalized that he never thought of this. A surge of fear, hate, anger, want, isolation, envy, hubris, and sorrow hit me all at once, leaving my brain scrambled. It felt like time slowed to a crawl for everypony else but her. Cold light like snow blindness shone against the empty darkness, leaving only her silhouette visible. Wings grew, legs lengthened, a muzzle no longer so stubby, a long mane and tail flowing behind her. This was no shape shifting. Her body trembled. Then her image shattered. - Far away, in Everfree Forest, feeding on the innate magic of the beasts within the forest of death, a pathetically scrawny and emaciated centaur turned his head. - (Rarity Belle) As Diamond Tiara… changed, Sweetie Belle began convulsing. I hugged her as tightly as I could, and she hugged me back, crying. She opened her mouth as if she was trying to scream but no sound came out. Her spasms stopped, but she looked up into my eyes horrified. "I could feel all of it," Sweetie whispered. None of my friends were hurt by what had happened. It'd felt less like an explosion and more an implosion. Light, warmth, feelings, all being sucked into the center. Silver Spoon stood still as a statue, staring at what had happened. I swear, the ever-stoic Princess Luna, the fur on the back of her neck around her mane stood on end. I nearly needed my chaise longue again. The children, the princesses, and my friends: we didn't gasp, we were too stunned. Diamond Tiara was still an Alicorn pony. Her barding was still dark gray with pink accents, devoid of elaborate detail, covering most of her body. Her champron was still the one all Nightmares seemed to wear. She still had a white diamond on her peytral as the only decoration. Her cutie mark was still twisted into that eight point circle. Her cornflower blue eyes were still like those of a dragon. Her coat was still that gray under-toned grim purple, the color parts of her mane almost black. Her magic, her presence, was still like she wasn't there even though I could see her with my own eyes! None of that had changed. There was only one visible change at all… "Finally! I was so tired of being a filly." The Nightmare rose to her new height, grinning as she stretched her muscles and vulture-like wings. Discord's spirit had shrunk to the size of a doll, sitting on her right shoulder. He wasn't smiling at all. The Nightmare zeroed in on Silver Spoon and the tiara she wore. The adult looked down at the foal. "Silvey?" Her horn burned white, and a grim black sword formed in the grip of her magic. "It's me. Your best friend," Diamond said, the last part almost laughing. Sweetie Belle touched her own chest, letting out a small gasp. For a moment, Diamond's face became something horrible, a jagged mouth and pupil-less eyes, a red light glowing from within like a jack-o-lantern. And in that brief moment she said, "Nightmare Nhilis!" Swan Song's Siren ------ Nightmare !$*(!@(!( !$*(!@(!( !-$-*-(-!-@-(-!-( 1-4-8-9-1-2-9-1-9 !$-*-(-!@-(-!( 14-8-9-12-9-19 N-h-i-l-i-s Nhilis