//------------------------------// // The Show - Part 4 // Story: Saving Equestria // by Damaged //------------------------------// Memories of the fire stung at Derpy's mind. The flames were made to inflict mental pain, and to make it stick. Behind her, Princess Luna and Sweet Dreams stood, but she had to face the fire alone. "We'll wait here." Sweet looked sideways at Princess Luna. "If you need to fall back, just call for us." He stood just as tall and proud as an alicorn in the dreamscape, and it was only partly to look good for Luna. Luna wasn't immune to the posturing or glances Sweet Dreams shot her way, nor was she unaware of them. After a thousand years spent thinking she was unloved by anypony, however, it was quite refreshing. "Fight well, Derpy Hooves." She risked a look at Sweet, only to be caught looking at him while he was looking at her. Over a thousand years old, and Luna could still blush and look away like a young mare. Derpy had looked back at her mentor in time to see the nonverbal exchange between Luna and Sweet. Seeing the pair, so coy and new at love, buoyed her determination to do what she knew was right. Forming the improved, triangle-based bubble, Derpy flew off the ground and flowed through the brick wall around the center of her mind. The flames that had been licking the walls and eating away at the bricks started turning their attention on Derpy's shield. The flames weren't just stupid fire, they were alive, guided, and they all seemed to crowd around the glowing shield. In the middle of the inferno, Derpy could see that all the roaring flames came from one direction. She smiled and flapped her wings within the shield. Despite it being just a dream, flapping her wings propelled Derpy faster, and her target was the source of the fire. "There you are!" Derpy's head snapped around, focusing on the voice. A pony that looked like a cross between some kind of bat and a pegasus, but on fire, was in the heart of the flames. They stared at Derpy with slit eyes, and trembled with fury. "Hi!" Put off guard by the cheery greeting, Derpy's Nightmare slowly flapped its wings to keep in place; up until it had seen Derpy flapping hers, it hadn't needed to actually flap them to fly. "Give up. You can't fight me forever: every moment I am here I grow stronger and you grow weaker." Giggling, Derpy nodded. "Yeah, I know. They told me I had to come and fight you, but you are too strong to fight, aren't you?" Watching the bat pony smile and nod, Derpy shrugged her shoulders. "So you might as well get rid of the fire, and I'll get rid of this shield, and we can talk." The logic was confusing, but there was enough of Derpy in the Nightmare to shake its plan of destruction. For a moment it thought about it. "Do you think I'm stupid? If I stop the flames you will wrap me up in one of those bubbles!" The Nightmare pointed a hoof at Derpy's shield. "You drop your shield and I will pull back my fire!" Derpy knew it was a trap, and knew she was about to get burned—badly burned. "Okay." She tried to keep her tone upbeat, in the hope the Nightmare would have a change of heart. The moment she let her shield puff out, the flames rushed her. Gasping in pain, Derpy threw her shield back up, wrapping it around her singed feathers and fur. "Ouch! That really hurt!" Safe again, she looked at the Nightmare. "You said you would call your fire away!" "I lied!" The Nightmare laughed and intensified the rush of fire around Derpy's shield. "Did you really think I would play fair? Just give up and drop your shield. You know you are meant to be out here, with me." Scrunching her snout up, Derpy looked at the Nightmare. "You're being mean, but you're right. I should be out there, and in control." Derpy let her shield crumble. Each of the triangular plates that made up the barrier crumpled and faded, except one. Each time a fire strike came at her, Derpy spun that one barrier around to block it. "Why are you doing this?" The Nightmare snarled, flashing a set of fangs at Derpy as she sent fire at the mare again and again. "Because it is what I am! I was made to crawl into you and take over. I am a monster!" Too slow with one rush of flame, Derpy winced as burning flames licked her side. She floated up closer to the Nightmare. "But you're me! What did the amulet do to you to do this?!" She pointed a hoof at the Nightmare. "It wants me to—" The Nightmare faltered a moment, missing a few beats on its flaming assault. Eyes widening, the Nightmare shook its head. "It wants me to kill you to make room for him." "Who's 'him'?" Derpy stopped whipping the shield-plate around, the attacks had stopped. She was barely half a pony-length from the Nightmare, and couldn't help but admire how pointy she was. Hooks at the thumb of each wing looked sharp enough to slice a sheet of parchment, and the Nightmare's fangs looked like they might skewer her own lips and tongue at any moment. "H-Him! The amulet's maker. K-K-King Sombra." The Nightmare's pupils were narrowed to the barest of slits, and she looked suddenly terrified. Derpy was suddenly off-balance. "He's in here?" "No." The Nightmare stared past Derpy, stared into the flames. "I don't think so. I think a tiny piece of him is in the amulet." "Insurance." The moment Derpy said the word, the Nightmare snapped her attention back on the pegasus. "He put a little of himself in the amulet, and set it to do this—all of this." Derpy gestured around, and finally at the Nightmare. "He is using me and you. And he is using Trixie. "We have friends who can help stop him." Derpy lifted a hoof and poked the Nightmare on the nose with a soft boop. "He needs a body, right? One where the owner can't fight him?" "That's why I'm here, why I want to fight you." The Nightmare's eyes focused on the hoof that poked her nose. "I'll be destroyed either way. King Sombra wouldn't allow me to be in his body." "My body." Derpy straightened at the talk of her body as Sombra's. "It's my body, and I say who gets to stay in it!" She let out a snort, staring at the Nightmare. "They told me I had to fight you, that you were bad—" The Nightmare, no longer commanding the flames, cut in on Derpy's words. "I am bad!" Letting loose a giggle, Derpy Hooves shook her head. "You're only bad if you want to be." She gestured around with a hoof. "You aren't being bad right now." The Nightmare froze, staring at Derpy. For what seemed like hours to the mind-demon, they both just looked at each other. She looked at the innocent-appearing mare, and was surprised by how deep her thoughts actually ran. It was simple logic: she didn't have to fight just because she could. "I don't know how this will work, with you inside my head, but it will." Derpy gave a sharp nod to punctuate her words. "And do you know why?" The Nightmare just shook her head. "Because a friend told me that in here,"—Derpy gestured around with a hoof—"I am in control. I get to decide how things'll work. "You have my memories?" Derpy finally stopped flapping her wings, and imagined some soft grass under them. Pushing, the ground came into being and she alighted upon it. "S-Some. Things are hazy, smokey." The Nightmare found herself able to easily float again, but surrendered to the pull of the soft grass. "You weren't meant to last much beyond removing me, were you?" Settling down, Derpy folded her legs and relaxed. "But that's alright, and you know why already." Blinking her big eyes, the Nightmare tilted her head a touch to the side. "Because you don't want me around anyway?" Derpy drew her head back a little in shock, and she shook her head. "No! I mean you are in my head, and I have control of things in here. Sweet Dreams said so." Spreading a smile back on her face, Derpy had another shock. "Oh right! I should call them over. C-Can you get rid of all this fire?" Though the Nightmare wasn't directing the flames, there was still plenty around. Each lick of fire was a fraction of the Nightmare's fury, and bit by bit she pulled it in, drawing all her anger inside. Softly, just to herself, she promised that she would find a better target for it. When the flames died out, Luna let out a tiny sigh of relief. "Derpy has won." She tried to avoid looking at Sweet Dreams, partly because she didn't want to admit that she had feelings for him, and partly because she didn't want him to catch her looking at him—again. "Then let's fly, Princess Luna!" Spreading his black, bat wings, Sweet caught the princess looking at him again, and barely managed to stop his smile getting wider. Every time she had glanced towards him, his heart beat faster, and soon enough it would explode out of his chest if he didn't make a move. Big, bat wings spread out and flapped beside her, and Luna couldn't help but feel excitement. She spread her own wings and gave chase before she realized what she was doing. Flapping her wings hard, she kept her eyes on Sweet—she could make the excuse now, after all, that she had to watch where he was flying. It wasn't long before two sets of wings brought Derpy's guests to their little field. "Don't be scared of them; I won't let them hurt you…" Derpy's ears shot up, and she blinked in surprise. "Do you have a name?" "I—I'm your Nightmare…" The Nightmare suddenly didn't like the name, hated it. She didn't want to be anything bad to Derpy. Derpy didn't deserve her. "Oh. I could call you Night Mare, if you like?" The moment Derpy suggested it, she saw that was a bad idea: the Nightmare's internalized anger expressed itself as a halo of flame. "Something different. Fire Dancer?" The burning ring around Fire's head snapped out and she blinked her big eyes a few times. "Fire Dancer?" She held up a forehoof, and let her fire dance along it. A big smile spread across her face, and she juggled some flames. "Stand back, Derpy!" Luna saw Fire Dancer start to rekindle her fires, and tried to warn Derpy. "It's preparing an attack!" Fire Dancer shot to her hooves, and her anger spilled out at Luna. Flame licked up her legs, and boiled over her fur, and she began to channel more still, when Derpy jumped between her and her target. "Stop!" Derpy spread her wings, making herself too big a target for either Luna or Fire Dancer to attack the other without hitting their friend. "Fire Dancer won't hurt us, and neither will Princess Luna." She turned her head, looking between the two. Sweet Dreams landed a little to the side of Luna, and looked over Derpy Hooves and Fire Dancer. He tilted his head to the side, and reached one leathery wing out to rest on Luna's back. "It—she—isn't attacking us." "Yes. I have dealt with her kind before. Nightmares sent by King Sombra to destroy ponies and puppet them around." Luna didn't calm down, instead she summoned more magic—dream magic. Behind her, Sweet Dreams' flames felt hotter and hotter. With Luna's magic swelling before her, Derpy realized things were escalating. Luna had Sweet Dreams at her side, but Fire Dancer was all alone, so Derpy sucked up her courage and sidled closer to Fire Dancer, risking the flames that grew more intense. "What are you doing?!" Fire Dancer had to rush to pull her anger in, to surrender her flames. Just as she got the last of her anger in check, Derpy was close by her side, and spread a feathery-soft wing over her back. The gesture was worth more to Fire Dancer than anything else so far. She leaned to the side a little, and pressed the side of her head against the side of Derpy's. The dream wavered, and with a snap the poison that had kept Derpy sedated reached a point where her new, altered metabolism could compensate for. Opening her eyes to the real world, she smelled something hot, something burning. "She's awake! Make sure those chains are secure!" Heavy Lift gestured to the heavy chains that were welded into the very stone of the room. Each led to the collar around the gray bat pony's neck. "Um…" Derpy's body felt awash with strength and explosive energy. She stood up slowly, the weight of the chains feeling like it was nothing, although once they were at their full extension, she couldn't move her head. "C-Can you undo this, please?" "Send word to Princess Twilight." Heavy gestured to one guardling, and they went galloping off. Squaring herself, she turned to Derpy, or what she hoped was Derpy. "We have to keep this on until we can confirm that you are you. Princess' orders." Derpy tilted her head to the side, causing the chains to rattle, and one to creak. "Oh, okay!" She smiled, and promptly poked her bottom lip with an overly sharp fang. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Each time she exclaimed, she poked another part of her lips or tongue with a fang, perpetuating the chant. Waking from his restless sleep, Swift Stride lifted his head. He looked at Derpy, and concern warred with hope. "Derpy, is that you?" At his words, she stopped biting various parts of her mouth. "Swift!" Derpy's face lit up, and her heart lifted. "Swift, you saved me!" She took a step, and without realizing it strained at a single chain enough that each of the links stretched, their magic pushed almost to their breaking point. "You're calm? It's really you? Princess Luna said that it might be something really bad, and I—" Swift cut himself short as the princess in question entered, with Princess Twilight. "Is she alright?!" Before Luna could answer, Twilight rushed in and past all the chains to hug Derpy. "You're alright! Princess Luna and Sweet said you made friends with what the amulet had put inside you?" Derpy nodded, her attention split between two royals, her coltfriend, and the tiny changeling almost asleep on Princess Luna's back. Sweet Dreams looked like the cat that ate the canary. "Fire Dancer isn't a bad pony, Princess Twilight, Princess Luna, she just didn't know she could be good." Heat boiled inside Derpy, and she could feel the flames Fire Dancer embodied. "I'll take responsibility for Derpy Hooves, Heavy Lift." Twilight nodded to Heavy, and the big changeling nodded back. Channeling magic, Twilight used the special magical "key" that had been built into the collar. The moment the restraint snapped open, and Derpy was free, she rushed at Swift Stride and wrapped him up in her forehooves and her wings. It was at that exact moment she realized what was so different. "I have Fire Dancer's wings!"