//------------------------------// // Of Nightmares // Story: Little Choices // by Skijarama //------------------------------// Rainbow flinched back when the Tantabus reached for her and Luna, ready to bolt away as quickly as she could at a moment’s notice. Luckily, Luna formed a magical blue bubble around them, causing the Tantabus’ shapeless form to harmlessly bend past them. Luna turned around as the creature of nightmares reformed on the other side of the shield and grimaced. “Rainbow, seek cover! Let me deal with this!” she commanded before dropping the barrier and hurling a spear of magic at the Tantabus. “No,” Rainbow replied dryly before turning her attention to the parasitic creature. “I’m helping! This is my dream!” with that, she focused on something, anything really, that could let her help Luna against this thing effectively. She grinned rather widely when an idea came to her. She refocused on the Tantabus, her grin growing confident and also kind of excited. “Rainbow, what are you doing?!” Luna shouted when Rainbow suddenly shot towards the Tantabus at high speeds. Before she could try to stop her, Rainbow was enveloped in an enormous flash of multi-colored light that bathed the entire area in a kaleidoscope of colors. There was a deep and loud eruption of sound so loud that Luna’s ears began to ring. When the light faded, the Tantabus had retreated significantly, quivering in alarm. Rainbow turned back to Luna before gesturing up with her eyes. “I’m being awesome. Duh,” she said as if it were obvious. Luna’s face twisted somewhat as she tried to figure out how to feel about what she was looking at. “My niece… I…” Rainbow chuckled before tapping a hoof to the new horn sticking out of her forehead. “I hope this doesn’t feel like this in real life. I’d never fall asleep again if I got one,” she commented before testing it out again. Magic flickered on the horn a few times, her aura colored a deep magenta. Luna blinked before deciding to ignore the fact that Rainbow had just made herself an alicorn. It was Rainbow’s dream, after all. “...Very well. If you insist.” she stated before glaring to the Tantabus, which was now circling them cautiously. “I still ask that you let me take the lead.” Rainbow rolled her eyes while taking up a position next to Luna. “You’re sounding like a broken record player, you know that?” “What’s a record player?” Luna asked incredulously, glancing back at Rainbow. Rainbow faltered slightly. “Wait, you mean they didn’t have them back-” The Tantabus let out another howl before lunging forward again. Rainbow cut off her sentence before forcing some magic through her horn. She didn’t really know what she was doing with it, but she still managed to let loose with a powerful and focused beam of magenta energy. The Tantabus warped around it, the beam passing uselessly through the smoke. Rainbow grunted and dodged out of the way, as did Luna when the Tantabus soared by. “Right. Talk later.” Rainbow said to herself while Luna growled and chased after the Tantabus. There were a few moments where Rainbow only watched, looking for an opening she could exploit. The Tantabus howled yet again before coming to a stop. The light it emitted pulsed again. As it did, the whole world around Rainbow began to ripple and shift. Luna’s eyes widened before she turned to Rainbow Dash, looking desperate. “Rainbow! Drown it out! FOCUS!” “What are you talking about-?!” Rainbow began before she felt a spike of pain in her head. She gasped and reached her forelegs to her temples, cradling her skull as her wings fell out of sync. She plummeted to the ground below, groaning in discomfort. When she hit the ground, it wasn’t the soft grass or brittle dirt she had been expecting. Her side collided instead with hard, smoothly cut stone. She groaned and opened her eyes, the pain in her head gradually subsiding. She was no longer outside. Instead, as she looked around, she realized that she was in one of the rooms of the Castle of the Two Sisters. It looked a lot cleaner than she remembered, though. Gradually, she managed to stand up and dusted herself off. “Oi… what’s going on now?” she muttered in frustration before starting forward. “Aunt Luna? Where are you?!” She heard Luna’s voice calling back, sounding like she was in pain. With her heart rate spiking again, Rainbow broke into a gallop, following the voice through the halls. Eventually, she came to a simple wooden door with metal reinforcements. With a grunt, she pushed them open and looked into the room beyond. Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. The room was an enormous hall, the ceiling easily two stories high. To Rainbow Dash’s left, Princess Luna stood at the top of a balcony that rose behind the two thrones of the room. The throne on the left was colored in yellows and golds, while the one on the right was blue and black in coloration. Tapestries hung over each one to indicate who would stand there. Behind Luna was a hole in the wall, where sunlight was streaming in. Luna looked back to Rainbow, her eyebrows twitching with strain and her whole body shaking. Rainbow stepped forward, ready to aid her aunt however possible. “Princess Luna!” somepony shouted out. Rainbow froze and turned her eyes to the one who had spoken. It was Twilight Sparkle, followed closely by the rest of their group of friends, charging towards the struggling lunar princess. “Ack! R-rainbow!” Luna called out through clenched teeth, sweat dripping down her neck. “I am s-so sorry! Th-this is all my f-fau-” her words cut off with a loud scream. A sphere of darkness materialized out of nothing, encasing Luna before lifting into the air. “LUNA!” Rainbow shouted, rocketing towards the spinning ball of shadows. A bolt of crimson electricity shot out of the orb, striking Rainbow in the chest and sending her to the floor below in a crumpled heap. Gasping for breath through the intense throbbing pain, Rainbow managed to look up into the sphere that held Luna. It began to emit a fiery red glow, emitting enough energy to shake the entire room. Then the sphere dispersed, dissolving away as quickly as it had come. Rainbow tried to focus on Luna, but her eyes were refusing to cooperate. Finally, she managed to get a hold of herself and got back to her hooves. When she looked back to Luna again, she felt her blood run cold. “Luna? Why would you be calling for that guilt-ridden fool?” the Mare in the Moon chortled in amusement before flaring out her pitch-black wings. A fang-toothed grin split across her face. “You remember me, don’t you, my niece?” Rainbow felt her ears go flat against her head as she slowly backed away. “No way… No way, we got rid of you!” she shouted defiantly, though there was no strength in her voice. Nightmare Moon grinned even wider before laughing that sickening, sadistic laugh. “Maybe you did… but so long as ponies have fears, I shall exist to make them real!” “Rainbow, come on!” Twilight called, reaching into some saddlebags Rainbow hadn’t noticed and pulled out the Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon looked past Rainbow to the rest of them and scowled. “Not this time.” she snarled before grabbing Rainbow Dash in her magic and forcefully yanking her away from the others. The moment Rainbow felt that tingle around her body and the forces moving her against her will, she began to thrash and scream wildly. “PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN, DANGIT!” she begged, her vision already blurring with fresh tears. She could see them, her parents, on the ground before her, on that fateful day so long ago… motionless. “RAINBOW!” Twilight called out, her own ears flattening back. Nightmare let out a small hum of thought before smirking slightly. “Ah… I see you have a lovely horn… how wonderful.” “Let me go!” Rainbow gasped out before whimpering, the same sorrow and fear she had felt so long ago returning in full force. Nightmare Moon ignored her pleas, her eyes flickering with a threatening shadow. “Let’s draw out your true potential, shall we?” she then dropped Rainbow to the ground before lighting her horn with dark magic. Rainbow looked up just in time for the magic to hit her on the horn. She locked up, her breath hitching in her throat. She felt a tug in her head. She felt a sudden rush of heat all through her body and a tingling along her scalp. She howled in pain and rage before the whole room flickered out for her. Rainbow struggled against the feelings rushing through her. Anger, rage, hate… they boiled past her feeble efforts to contain them. Any color in the world around her was drained away, seemingly sucked into the sphere or twisted and distorted colors that now swirled around Rainbow Dash. The sphere dispersed after a moment, leaving the new pony within to slowly rise to her hooves. Nightmare Moon smiled proudly while taking a step back, admiring her handiwork. Rainbow Dash was gone. The cyan in her coat had been replaced with a deep, dark blue, with the edges of her hooves fading into pitch black. Her mane and tail, now rainbow-colored once again, had taken on a sickly tint. They were frazzled and messy, partially obscuring her eyes, which now had reptilian slits for pupils, glowing intimidatingly in the darkness. Her wings unfurled slightly, many feathers falling out as she did so. “And what is your name, my niece?” Nightmare asked almost affectionately. This newly fallen alicorn looked at Nightmare with an empty expression. “...Shut up,” she said darkly, her words dripping with venom and malice. Nightmare Moon flinched away, taken aback by the other pony’s tone. Her eyes then narrowed into a displeased glare. “I beg your pardon?!” “Shut up. I want you to shut up.” ‘Rainbow’ said again before her horn lit up with a red glow. Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened before a blast of energy washed over her, blasting her through the wall behind her and into the recreation of the everfree forest behind her. ‘Rainbow’ then turned her gaze back to the mares before the throne. “Rainbow Dash…” Twilight whispered, terror and sorrow in her eyes as she backed away, the others joining her in her retreat. “Don’t call me that!” ‘Rainbow’ snapped, slamming her hoof down before her horn lit up again. Twilight’s eyes widened before she lit her own, trying to form a barrier. ‘Rainbow’ didn’t aim for her directly, though. Instead, she blasted a section of the ceiling above, knocking several large stones loose and sending them falling down towards the group of friends. Twilight looked up, her eyes widening with horror. She couldn’t dispel her barrier in time. The debris fell onto the group, burying them beneath a pile of stone and rubble. For several moments, ‘Rainbow’ stood silently, glaring at the mound with disgust. She blinked. When she opened her eyelids again, her eyes were back to normal. “...Twilight…?” she breathed out in a shaky voice. She leaped from the raised platform to the carpet below, then breaking into a gallop for the pile of debris. She slid to a halt in front of it, tears coming to her eyes. “Twilight… no… what have I done?” “You petulant, thankless brat!” came the voice of Nightmare Moon from the hole Rainbow had made in the wall earlier. She came to a rest and glared into ‘Rainbow’s’ back in a rage. “I grant you clarity and that is how you thank me?!” Rainbow looked back at Nightmare Moon blankly. “...I don’t have a name.” she uttered, no emotion in her voice. Nightmare paused and leaned back a bit. “...What?” The other mare fell to her haunches and peered into the debris. “I don’t have a name. I never will… because I’m never going to exist.” Light erupted from the alicorn, momentarily blinding Nightmare Moon. When the light faded, the nameless fallen alicorn was replaced by Rainbow Dash. Nightmare Moon watched as Rainbow began to tremble and sob quietly, reaching out to the stones in front of her. “She doesn’t remember that this is a dream…” Nightmare Moon grunted and flinched away. She reached a hoof up to her temple, hissing in discomfort. “N-no! Stop! You’re weak! I’m in control, you fool!” “My niece needs me. Your turn is over!” Nightmare Moon gasped once more before she froze like a statue. For a moment, she held that way. Then, when she moved again, her body melted away and vanished into the shadows in the corners of the room. Princess Luna, once more stood, in her place, looking on at Rainbow Dash. “My niece?” she called gently, stepping down from the platform and letting her wings slow her descent. Rainbow looked back, only looking slightly relieved that Luna had regained control. “Aunt Luna… what have I done?” she asked timidly, touching a hoof to the stones again. Luna put a hoof to Rainbow’s back and shook her gently. “You have done nothing, Rainbow Dash. Remember, you are dreaming right now. Twilight and your friends are still safe and sound in the waking world.” Rainbow visibly relaxed at the reminder, but she still didn’t exactly look happy. She shakily got to her hooves, Luna offering support. “Thanks, Luna… what do we do, now?” Luna sagged and looked away, unwilling to meet Rainbow’s gaze. “...I do not know. I am so, so sorry that I brought this creature upon you… this is all my fault.” she managed, her voice shaking. The howl of the Tantabus, far off outside the castle, grew louder. Rainbow’s brow furrowed. “...Luna… you think this is your fault?” “Of course!” Luna blurted out, tears in her eyes. “This creature is my responsibility! My burden to bear! And now it has infested your mind, and I don’t think we can contain it as we are now. It is going to force you into nightmare after nightmare, making your sleep a miserable and dreaded experience!” The world shook slightly, and the howl sounded yet again, even louder. Rainbow reached out to Luna, offering comfort. “Hey, it’s okay-” “No, it’s not!” Luna shouted, flinching away from Rainbow’s touch. “Because my creation is hurting the ponies I care about! Why?! Why is it that everything I do ends in the ponies I love suffering?!” Rainbow jerked her hoof away, her eyes going wide. “...Your… creation?” Luna locked up, snapping her eyes shut. With an uncontrollable shudder running through her, she nodded. “Aunt Luna… why?"