Just have one more try -- it's dead easy to die, It's the keeping-on- living that's hard. - Robert William Service
Chapter Title: All Bets Are Off
For Neatly Spell, fresh air and exercise were literally just what the doctor ordered. Her physical therapy was going well. After months of being unable to move, she needed to rebuild her muscles.
While she had been stuck in that... dark place, she had apparently missed Canterlot being invaded by bug ponies. She'd thought they were scary at first, but her mother explained that Cave Trolls looked scary too, and many never moved out of their parents’ cavern, but they were actually friendly when you got to know them.
But today, she got to see a really fun parade of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the Elements of Harmony, their pet dragon, and Princess Celestia's student! She'd even seen foals marching in the parade with them! She wished she could have marched too, but apparently it was reserved for them, and her parents didn't want her pushing herself anyway.
There was even this really fast golden ZOOM! that flew overhead after the parade was done, heading for Ponyville! But then it zoomed to Cloudsdale, and back to Canterlot again. Neatly Spell wondered what it was.
+++
"W-Where am I?" Goatcord sat up and beheld a landscape of decayed stone houses and frozen ashes, beneath an empty black sky. "Seriously? Well, horseapples. At least I don't have to share the driver's seat any more!"
Then he spotted something that made his day: A filly, all alone. Orange mane, magenta coat, apple with a cherry blossom for a cutie mark. She was playing on the dusty ground, arranging rocks in a meaningless pattern. Goatcord reached behind his back and transformed one of his arms into a pair of jagged blades capable of turning the filly’s blood into dog-milk cheese, while she sang the musical Cats backwards against her will. He also conjured a pretty-looking gumball that would make anypony who consumed it tap dance until their hooves were bloody.
He briefly stretched one of his eyeballs to sneak a look at her expression of pure naivete, foolish and innocent enough to ask a grizzly bear if it wanted to be friends, no doubt.
Why, he couldn't wait to share the joys of pure absolute insanity with the little darling! His grin grew wider than his actual face. Those meddling Crusaders had gotten off easy. Goatcord knew he could have driven Twilight Sparkle raving mad in a sentence and a half, if the rest of him hadn’t been so inconveniently holding him back!
Goatcord crept up behind her, silent as death... except to one for whom death is loud as a marching band.
A slate-colored earth pony mare with a gray diamond on her flank quietly came into existence… and coldly stabbed Goatcord with her hoof. "YOU. JUST BLEW IT.” There was no pleasure in her expression, no anger, no sorrow, no pity, not even cold satisfaction. “BE NO MORE."
Goatcord tried to scream, but no sound came out. His essence shattered. The half that had come from Her was reabsorbed on the spot, losing all sense of identity and self, and the other half flowed back to Her Husband. The gray mare vanished as simply as she had appeared, and the filly continued to play with the black stones, unaware.
+++
"Wake up, Miss Cheerilee."
Dame Cheerilee fluttered her eyes open and saw a pink Flyder with blue eyes.
"Gah!" Cheerilee scrambled back, wondering what one of those nasty things was doing so far away from Everfree. The whole point of the forest, so far as Cheerilee could tell, was to give monsters someplace else to be, far away from civilized ponies, and especially far away from her.
Cupcake and Zecora were still fighting Diamond's shadow. Cheerilee still felt her Gaia Guard wings on her back, but Gaia's power seemed to be fading.
The Flyder spoke in a high pitched version of Diamond Tiara's voice. "Sorry. I wanted you unconscious until the fighting was over, but I've been told that Ponyville's ponies will think you’re just a big joke, since you went down so quickly without a chance to show off your borrowed gifts."
Cheerilee rose, sore muscles protesting. "I told your father you had a knack for social engineering. But... that's fine. I wasn't given this gift just to show off how 'powerful' or 'badflank' I am. I'm still a teacher. I don't want to fight you, dear."
"You won't have to, but since I owe you something, I’ve herded a pack of rabid timber wolves towards Sweet Apple Acres."
Cheerilee gasped. "Diamond Tiara! Rabid timber wolves can't be driven off or calmed down! The only way to stop them is-"
"You better get to putting them down then, don’t you think?" The pink Flyder dissolved.
Cheerilee groaned. Where was the Royal Guard when you needed them? She flew upward as best she could, and spotted the magical beasts just where Diamond had said they’d be. Their eyes were burning red, and she could sense the termites eating their wooden bodies from within, driving them mad. Cheerilee's eyes narrowed as she faced them.
The Nightmare's shadow smiled. Cheerilee would win, there was no doubt about that. Granny Smith would bear witness, and that would be that.
++++
= Ignus Theme - Planescape Torment =
Nightmare Nhilis
Silver Spoon cried out and took a step back. Yes, yes, that's the look! Finally.
Spike was lifted by Trixie onto her back again. I'm surprised neither Rarity nor Spike objected. I guess Trixie truly did fear punishment from Twilight if she failed to keep Spike from harm. Great way for Twilight to divert guilt from herself for caving in and letting the baby come in the first place. I wonder who my archenemy and her friends' big sisters will blame so the adults won't have to feel guilty if something happens to their little sisters.
Gaia-Fluttershy forces her foal's spirit back inside away from me. I bet there are many overprotective mothers who wish they could do that on command.
I wonder who the clown blames for her world being destroyed. The gods? The ponies who created it in the first place and didn't think it would need upkeep? Never mind her own outlandish wishes that added to the mess.
I wonder who the princesses will blame if something happens to any of the mortals here, so they don't have to feel guilty for failing to protect them.
It's all their fault anyway, forcing me to go this far. I wanted it done quickly; they're the ones drawing this fight out. They just had to make this harder than it has to be. Maybe they'll pretend they have brains, now I've given them an out on a silver platter. After all, everypony knows that the evil filly turns into an evil mare when it’s time for the final battle, so the heroes don’t have to feel bad about hurting a filly.
I didn't want to put them in real danger, but you just had to ruin my playacting, Applejack. This is all your fault.
+++
(Rarity Belle)
We all unconsciously moved into formation, the princesses, er, elder princesses flanking us. Spiky-Wikey stayed with Trixie. As lovely as it would have been to keep him close, Trixie was a distance fighter, which put them both in less danger. The Crusaders surrounded Silver Spoon protectively.
My precious Sweetie Belle looked ill.
-
(Insert By Sweetie Belle)
If not for Chryssy teaching me how to control black magic, I think I'd have sprouted black wings just now. The Song That Doesn’t End is right on the tip of my tongue, and Diamond Tiara is a screeching off-key note that has no place in it, not now or ever! All I have to do is Let It Go, and…
Wait, can I even fall into Nightmare when Diamond has all the evil spirits bottled up inside her? I don’t want to find out!
Besides, big sister has enough to worry about. And I think it would've given... Nightmare Nhilis what she wanted. Big sister couldn't look at me as I backed up to join my friends.
I… I could never do that to Rarity. I don't think she could let go of me.
-
Fluttershy was always dainty, but I'd be blind not to see the weight of exhaustion on her, as though she carried the weight of the world on her lovely new horn. She works herself to the bone caring for her animals, just as I do creating my dresses.
Pinkie Diane is keeping up her happy face, but I notice the way she squints her eyes, trying not to cry. I can relate.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash stay focused and determined, but while Applejack looks stern, Rainbow Dash looks sickened at what's about to happen. We wouldn't be ponies if we weren't.
Spike's pupils are narrowed, his legs shaking. He's never fought a Nightmare before, never felt that sheer aura of wrongness about them that sets your fur on end. He should be proud of not giving into instinct and running.
Trixie is a better actress than most give her credit for, but she can hide her own exhaustion behind that bravado facade only so far.
The Princesses... I can't read their poker faces. The nobles of Canterlot are infants by comparison. They stand as embodiments of the power of sun and moon, two towers ready to protect all within them.
And of course, Twilight Sparkle. What more is there to say? I can see her still hoping against impossible hope that we can simply end this without more violence. Her belief that everypony here can walk away in one piece, her protectiveness of us, that mind of hers is running at full speed even now in the face of such a dreadful degree of danger.
Facing evil, fighting monsters, protecting Equestria from doom... I pray to Celestia I never get used to this. I pray to Celestia I never become accustomed to this. I pray to Celestia that I never come to see this as routine, because that is when I shall know I have lost something I can never get back again.
I've never seen poor Silver Spoon more shaken than she is now. Scootaloo is like an orange guardian angel above her. Little Sweetie is trying to not look as sick as she must be feeling. Apple Bloom stands up to her bully, like she always does.
I look at the dark inversion of the mare I actually hope to see Diamond Tiara become. 'This is a shortcut to being taken seriously,' I thought. 'There are few things as unpredictable as a hurt foal who wants to be taken seriously.' Like a foal holding one of Mage Meadowbrook's creations.
On her shoulder, Discord's spirit was trying not to make eye-contact with anypony.
"This is all your fault, Apple Bloom,” said Diamond Tiara... Nightmare Nhilis. “You just had to force it this far, you couldn't just let it go."
Applejack shouted, "Yer the one not lettin' stuff go!"
-
Nightmare Nhilis
I endangered all of Equestria to undo what I'd done to my mother, what I turned her into. She didn't deserve to have a daughter like me. I belonged with monsters.
Then I saw the puppet strings, and with emotionless logic thought if the world was made ugly enough, it would drive away the puppeteers. Even if the chain to the Heart World was gone in name, we were still feeling the ripples from it.
I thought I could wait for them to just go away.
Then I selfishly decided I didn't want to be alone. Ponies wanted to be my friends, but I wasn't a pony, I was a Nightmare.
Then I tried to sacrifice the Princesses to break us free.
And thanks to one bow-wearing bumpkin and her sidekicks, it all failed, it was all ruined. It was all for nothing. I was all for nothing. Everything was meaningless. There was no point.
These ponies, they're all blind. But that blindness is what makes this Equestria, isn't it? Too blind to see that maybe the end of everything is kinder than continuing at any cost. Too caught up in the lie that life is always worth living. I'll dive into the maelstrom. No more pretenses. This is the only path to freedom I have: obliteration.
(Fearful's Question: W-What are you going to do to them?)
The brow beatings, the broken bones... the icy prickle of stone consuming my flesh, not once but twice... the lantern's light eating at my existence, the smug look on the face of my nemesis... the sheer humiliation! I want them to suffer. Heroes can find a middle ground with moral traps... but humiliation, they'll obliterate everything in their path to pay it back. Then they'll finally do what they should have done at the start.
"It's funny, if I can feel afraid, that means I can fear that none of you will throw the first punch."
I took aim at Fix-It-Flank's Big Sister and fired directly at her heart. They could talk a lot of nonsense about 'the truth of hope' but that wouldn’t stop the pain. But their Pink Fortune Teller snagged her cousin with party streamers and yanked her out of the way. My beam hit a flower behind them instead, causing it to crumble to ash.
I never saw the princesses move so fast. They flew across each other in front of the rest of my incompetent cry-baby executioners. Trailing behind Luna was a wall of starry shadows, and forming behind Celestia was a wall of flames so precise that they didn't set fire to the grass around them.
= Naruto Ninja Storm 2 - Boss Theme 'Susanoo' =
"Barriers can't block my magic."
"Tis not to protect them from ye."
Oh right, their plan to force Discord out of me by pushing me to my limits. The ponies and the dragon are all shouting things that don't matter. "Be careful not to hurt her too bad!" "We believe in you!" "Show her what you're made of!" "Please let us help!" Pointless bleating.
Father whispers, "Don't worry, dear. They couldn’t hurt you if they tried." I resist rolling my eyes at the obvious lie.
"Finally going to take this seriously?" I asked.
"I've taken every moment of this seriously," Celestia told me. Her magic grew, taking on the shape of an armed and armored ancient centaur warrior. What was his name? Oh right, Orion, the first centaur to slay a dragon, using brains instead of brute force.
Princess Luna's magic aura grew until it took the shape of an eight headed hydra. Orochi, the most powerful Hydra who ever lived, and another of Tiamat's bastard spawn. Even Mist Mane feared him when he was alive.
The aura forms were both taller than me.
-
Twilight Sparkle’s Interjection
I tried to figure out how the glowing shapes beyond the barriers were magically put together, but the more I studied them, the fuzzier my thoughts grew.
-
Yes, of course the brilliant Trixie tried to Spell Copy it, but she only got a headache for her trouble! Trixie wonders if that was pony magic at all, or something else entirely!
-
I felt the intense heat from one, and the biting cold of the other. I can't understand how this particular magic works at all. Is it incompatible with my Nightmare power? I won’t be able to counterspell it.
Dammit! Fighting one of these one-on-one would have been dangerous for any Nightmare. Fighting both at once would've been suicidal before. Why did they have to wait til now?!
(Fearful's question: Maybe because they know you can take it now?)
I didn't ask for your opinion!
The Princesses struck together, hitting me with the combined might of both these spell-forms. I didn't even try to dodge. With a sound like a hundred dragons roaring all at once, the ground around me became a flash-frozen inferno. A trail of destruction stretched behind me.
Discord's spirit was blown away, then snapped back to me like a rubber band. "Ow!" He twitched. "Hey, I felt pain and you didn't."
I know. Too bad. Me? I wasn't harmed. Their combined magic just washed over me. What a bucking waste!
If Celestia and Luna were shocked at seeing me shrug off their trump cards, their expressions didn't show it at all.
"You should have done that before I absorbed the spirits of Dark Magic. They know your magic inside and out... Nightmare Moon, Star-Catcher. As long as they’re part of me, they’ll defend me whether they like it or not. You should have killed me while I was a filly!"
"Tis always foals who try to appear the most adult," said Luna matter-of-factly. “Some things never change.”
I remember when Silvey and I used to play 'Princess Celestia vs Nightmare Moon' Of course, I'd play Nightmare Moon sometimes, because bad guys are cooler, but I'd always be the Super Powerful Queen of Nightmares or some junk.
(Vanity's question: Heh, what’s wrong with that?)
It's boring.
"Come on, show some shock and awe. I just no-selled your fancy new toys. Call me a cheater, get angry!"
"Cheating? Pray tell, to what rules have we agreed? I recall none!"
"Well, that’s a load of-"
I didn't see Luna's punch coming. She dismissed Orochi, and in the space of a single flap of her wings, her horseshoe made my chanfron ring in my ears, sending me plowing backwards through the bare scorched earth.
Luna massaged her hooves. "If magic is not the answer, then we shall pummel ye into repentance!"
She followed up with a punch directly above my head, sending me into the ground so hard I made a hole shaped like my body.
I spat out a mouthful of dirt. "Ah, ah, ah! Remember who's below us?"
Luna snorted. "We'll simply have to spank ye into orbit, then!"
I flew out of the pit to see Celestia taking aim with Orion's spear again. "Have you forgotten, Star-Catcher? That applies to you too-"
Celestia did a forward flip and caught me by the neck with her rear hooves, pirouetted with her front hooves, and slammed me into the ground again. That’s when two ear-fulls of the Royal Canterlot Voice deafened and sent me reeling. How!? I'm immune to their magic!
Father blew soap bubbles on a miniature pipe. Even at a time like this, he couldn’t resist a few of his usual ludicrous antics. 'Well my Princess, the R.C.V. is magically enhanced, but once unleashed it’s only sound, after all.'
Wait a minute! Is that a horn seal Luna's holding? When did she get that?! Would that work on my magic? I don't know!
"I WON'T BE TRIVIALIZED AGAIN!"
= Megalovania - Undertale =
I brought my horn to a full charge as quick as I could and split the beam in two when I fired, hitting both princesses and shoving them away from me! They struggled against the beams as warps and cracks began to appear in their royal barding.
Applejack and adult Fluttercruel came at me left and right, I raised my wings to block both their melee strikes. Rainbow Dash came at me from above and I caught her in my telekinesis, but I forgot Pegasi had a counter for that and she slammed into my back. I hissed through clenched teeth.
The princesses dropped their barriers and teleported away to regroup. My beams had dug a perfect V-shape into the ground in front of me.
Discord shouted, "Fluttercruel, dear, are you okay?!"
Fluttercruel hissed, "Just die already!"
Discord frowned. "I WAS TRYING MY HARDEST to honor your wishes, dear!!"
Ugh, Twilight Sparkle just teleported behind me and back blasted me. Feels like it was her drill spell, she actually managed to dent my barding! That's what I get for being distracted by Father's antics!
"Shooting somepony in the back, Twilight? What if the foals imitate such behavior?"
"I'll teach them what big brother taught me, that sometimes you need to play fair and be sporting, but this isn't one of those times!"”
"If that’s how you want it..." I grabbed her legs with my magic and slammed her into the ground. Her armor saved her bones from being broken.
Rarity's chaise longue charged me from behind. I stopped it dead in its tracks with one rear hoof while continuing to slam Twilight, but the recoil hadn't even settled before Trixie teleported in and launched a fireworks spell right at my face from the side… and while I was shielding my face with a wing Spike had teleport-sky-dived onto my chanfron and set my mane on fire! I lost my concentration and bucked and twisted about, before one of Cheerilee’s old fire safety lectures kicked in and I rolled to put the fire out, squashing the dragon into the dirt in the process.
"Do you think fixing this mane is easy, little dragon?!" I snapped.
Trixie blinked. "You're joking, right? If Trixie can easily regrow a mane, then how hard could it be for you? Clearly, you’ve been taking advice from somepony with stock in the mane care industry."
Getting up, Twilight shook out the cobwebs. "But, but... mane magic is nearly impossible! That’s what every gifted unicorn is... taught."
We looked at each other, realizing nopony had taught Trixie that. How much stock did mom have in that business again? Whatever! The world has enough conspiracies!
+++
"Dolls!" Fifteen dolls of Diamond Tiara the filly materialized into being around Nightmare Nhilis, each with a plastic crown and a heavy mace-scepter gripped in its left forehoof.
"Join us, Sweetie! Join our dance! Join us, Sweetie!" They mindlessly repeated and marched outwards in perfect sync, swinging their left forelegs like fan blades.
"These are spawned from me, by the way. Destroying them only returns their essence to me, so I can respawn them over and over, but I'm pretty sure they can feel pain so feel free to-"
Before Applejack could call her a liar, Scootaloo darted towards Nightmare Nhilis, cutting through the dolls with bursts of speed like short range teleports and leaving only carved-up pieces behind. Then she banked and shot towards the Nightmare, the tips of her wingblades pointed directly at Nhilis' eye!
Nightmare Nhilis teleported out of reach, alarmed. "What is wrong with you?!”
Scootaloo panted, crouching low to the ground. "What's wrong?” She stood and levelled an accusing hoof at Nhilis. “You keep talking about wanting to be never-heard-from-again, so what's stopping you from doing it yourself?! That's not good enough, is it? You want somepony else's hooves bloodied for you, you want somepony else to carry that weight forever! To have somepony tell you, yes, you deserve to die! Coward!"
"Winds of Oblivion," said Nightmare Nhilis shakily, as she swept a wing at Scootaloo, creating a slashing black wind. Scootaloo gasped and ducked under her cloak, but the wind blasting around the invulnerable cloak still swept her away.
Dash swooped down and caught Scootaloo in a rainbow blur, saving her from tumbling along the ground and probably breaking something. "You okay, Scoots?!"
"I'll will be... Look out!"
"I see it!" Rainbow backhoofed a doll in the gut, destroying it.
-
Rarity Belle
Sweetie Belle was sweating at the sight of the dolls. I know she's worked hard this last year to get past what was done to her, but I imagine this is a bit too close to home.
As some of the mindless toys marched towards myself and the other foals, I took in a deep breath and said, "Silver, darlings, please advert your eyes."
A moment later I telekinetically connected jewels of mine together like a whip chain, and slashed through the dolls. They collapsed to the ground in pieces, apart from their animation and weapons, they were indeed just dolls.
Silver Spoon and Sweetie had indeed looked away. Dear Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, had gone on the offensive. I really need to get that filly a duplicate earring. Wearing just one makes her look more gypsy than Zebra-ish, which I don't think is the look she's going for.
Sorry, darlings. I fear my thoughts are focusing on irrelevancies, rather than confronting the fact that I’m watching Apple Bloom buck dolls of Diamond Tiara apart, holding back none of her earth pony strength. Having her new mark to tell her exactly how the dolls’ joints are put together probably doesn’t hurt either.
"Did that feel goood, Paint Flank?” taunted Nhilis. “Don't tell me it didn't!"
Bloom scowled. "Ya think this is still all about yer stupid bullyin'?!"
"No, I think this is about me destroying the world."
"Sweetie Belle," Silver Spoon whispered. "If you ever find a spell or magic rock that makes ponies remember the bad stuff Diamond did that happened but then didn't happen... don't use it on me."
"... I promise I won't."
Applejack made no objections.
(Insert By The One and Only Trixie: If there is one thing a stage magician knows, it's misdirection, and Trixie can tell these toys aren't meant to wear us down like the last batch of minions. They're to distract us from coordinating.)
= Fusion Dragon theme - Golden Sun =
Pinkie Pie popped up from out of the range of my vision right in front of Nightmare Nhilis, Party cannon in hoof. “Say cheese!” She fired at point blank range, covering Nhilis' chanfron in soot and pushing her magical mane straight back.
Nightmare Nhilis blinked. "The comic relief trickster heroes who DON'T rely on raw power are always the first to go!" Her horn glowed that ghastly white, and mirrors rose on all sides of Pinkie Pie, obscuring her from our view. Then the box shattered, and Pinkie Pie was gone!
"What did you do?!" Rainbow Dash demanded. “Where is she?”
"I'm honestly not all that sure. Maybe now you'll take this-"
"SURPRISE!" A giant yellow metal thing came out of nowhere and fell right on top of Nightmare Nhilis, burying her like the Wicked Witch of the West! Then Pinkie Pie popped out of the hatch of... My word, is that a submarine? I thought they only existed in those undersea adventure novels by Mules Fern!
Twilight shouted, "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing?!"
"Don't worry, Diamond Tiara's tough, she can take it," said Pinkie Pie, hopping aside and patting the submarine... before a white beam of magic vaporized it from underneath. Pinkie Pie kept on smiling. "See?"
Nightmare Nhilis conjured an endless supply of chittering ghostly purple pony skulls that seemed to home in on Pinkie Pie's position. "What are you even fighting for, cotton-candy-brains? This reality has strayed so far from the Heart World that every second it doesn't unravel is a wonder!"
With pinpoint accuracy, Pinkie Pie's party cannon blew up skull after skull, even getting in some shots at Nightmare Nhilis, who teleported away and conjured more of the ghastly things.
"It hasn't strayed in spirit!"
"Spirit?! Take one look at me and try that joke again!"
"It's no joke."
"Then you're the joke!" Nhilis conjured a pony skull the size of a house with four glowing eyeholes.
"We're still getting a happy ending, just you watch!" Pinkie Pie pulled out- egad! Is that the Happy Howitzer?! She swore she had dismantled it! MK 2?! My word! An eruption of confetti and good cheer obliterated the giant skull.
= Wrapped in Black (CD version) - Sonic Rush =
Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense continued to serve her well as she dodged Nhilis’ attacks before she could even made them. Pinkie switched from launching party cannon shots to making silly faces.
This gave Rainbow all the distraction she needed for another attack. Nhilis spotted her in the corner of one eye and grabbed her with her telekinesis again, and this time when Rainbow slipped free, Nhilis fired a beam right through Rainbow's flight path. Rainbow zigzaged around it and double-bucked Nhilis in the sides anyway, staggering her.
Twilight took the opening to teleport in and fire at Nhilis’ horn, but the Nightmare intercepted the laser with a beam of her own. Their crossfire grew more and more intense, each of them struggling to overcome the other’s attack.
Rainbow shouted, staying clear of the crossfire, "What is with you Discord!? You were supposed to betray her so she turns good, not the other way around!"
Discord gave Rainbow a defiant look. "Well, excuse me for not following expectations Rainbow Dash."
"You could have at least been trapped in a ruby or something when she turned on you! She turns Super-Evil, she banishes you, we turn her good, neat happy ending. IT'S NOT THAT HARD!"
"I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN DAD-DAMMIT!"
"What is this, debate club?!" hissed Nhilis. "SILENCE!"
A visible shockwave pulsed from Nhilis' horn. I felt my bones rattle and my body ripple as it passed through me. Then all was completely silent. I spoke, and nothing came out. Pinkie Pie blew on a noisemaker, and nothing. Princess Luna drew in a deep breath and unleashed her Royal Canterlot Voice, but I heard nothing. Dear Celestia, had she made us all deaf?!
Nhilis smirked as she and Twilight continued to clash, the surprise of the mute spell making Twilight falter. Nhilis increased the brute strength of her attack, sending Twilight back and forcing her to teleport away.
Trixie looked horrified as she opened and closed her mouth and nothing came out. Silver cried out, and silence. Fluttercruel mouthed a slew of words that I’m certain Fluttershy never would have let her say aloud.
Discord's spirit fired a cannon, and it was as quiet as a picture.
Then Pinkie Pie brought out a flashing neon sign saying: 'GIVE YOURSELF ANOTHER CHANCE!'
Nhilis let out a silent scream and blasted the sign to pieces in the quietest explosion ever.
Princess Luna silently teleported above Nightmare Nhilis, silently shape shifted into a dragon made of the same stuff as an Ursa Minor, and silently fell on Nightmare Nhilis, silently smashing her once again into the ground.
It was then I think that Diamond Tiara... Nightmare Nhilis realized that the mute spell was more trouble than it was worth, as the noise of the impact came back in an instant.
"THANK GOODNESS, THAT WAS HORRIBLE!" Trixie shouted.
"TELL ME ABOUT IT!" Pinkie Pie agreed.
"Now Diamond Tiara," Twilight began, the soapbox appearing beneath her. "You must see that we're not going to stop trying to help you. All you're doing is dragging this out. Now, once we've safely removed Discord from you, we can-"
A black blob shot out from the dust cloud, landed squarely in Twilight's open mouth, and began to wiggle its way inside!
A grayish pink dragon with scale platting along its back and underside appeared beneath the starscape dragon, and the two began to wrestle, tumbling on top of each other. Everypony scrambled out of the way.
Celestia teleported to Twilight's side, and Fluttershy and I rushed to join her. Our other friends were scattered by the dueling dragons.
Twilight wasn't coughing, that wasn't good at all. The black blob covering her face seemed to be shrinking. The look of alarm and fear in Twilight’s eyes was horrible.
Fluttershy's eyes and horn glowed. "It's going down her windpipe!"
Twilight, myself, Fluttershy, and Celestia all magically pulled at the black slime, but it stretched like taffy. And Fluttershy and Celestia's magic was like they were trying to grab smoke.
"Get Spike to send it away with his flame!" I shouted.
"Twilight’s mouth and throat would be horribly burned!" Fluttershy protested.
"Better than suffocating!" The more time we argued the less time Twilight had. "Let me absorb the malady!"
"I have another idea!" Princess Celestia said, teleporting away and teleporting back with a surprised Apple Bloom besides her. "Such things tend to have resistance to magic, but not alchemy! Apple Bloom! Do you have ANYTHING to help Twilight?!"
Even though she was startled, Apple Bloom quickly pieced together what was happening, her eyes taking in every detail. She reached into her bag, combined the contents of several vials with the talent of an artist mixing paints, and poured her brew down Twilight's throat. I never thought I'd be relieved to hear Twilight cough and gasp for air. The foul Nightmare stuff dissolved into nothing even as Twilight spat it out.
"T-Thank you, Apple Bloom! You saved my life!" Twilight hugged her.
"Indeed, thank you, young Apple Bloom!" Princess Celestia said.
"Well, Ah knew some home remedies on clearin' throats, and Zecora taught me hers, so Ah knew how to handle that magic snot!"
"Wait, that was..." Twilight looked a little green. I can't say I felt well about it myself.
Twilight, Fluttershy and myself all brought up a layer of shield magic as the dragons almost rolled into us! That ended that conversation! All of her dolls, being mindless puppets with no self preservation, looked to have all been crushed beneath the dragons' brawl.
With her back against our own shields, Nightmare Nhilis pushed Princess Luna off her. Luna clawed her in the face, and Nhilis grinned and breathed fire at Princess Luna, who shifted back to an Alicorn to dodge the attack.
Nhilis landed on her four claws and turned to face us all, shifting back into an adult Nightmare. "If you don't kill me, I'll make you regret that you didn't. You can’t afford to worry about me, little ponies. Worry about how you’re going to save Equestria!"