//------------------------------// // High Stakes // Story: Nightmare Day // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// “Where the heck is that girl?” Applejack grumbles, leaning against the cold stone wall. “Right?” Rainbow Dash nods. “I’m sure she’ll be here any time now,” Fluttershy tells them. “Let’s just be patient.” “It’s been like thirty minutes!” Rainbow Dash protests. “How long’s Twilight gonna make us wait?” “You mean Nightmare Moon,” Scootaloo says. “Oh, no,” a voice says, echoing through the air around the group. “She means Twilight.” Past the grand archway, a set of torches blazes to life, beckoning the ponies inside. At the same time, the lights at the far ends of the hallway flicker out of existence, followed by the next closest lights, and so on, a wave of darkness threatening to consume them. Fluttershy is the first pony to brave the unknown, unthinking in her flight from the encroaching darkness. With the mold broken, the others quickly follow suit, filing into the large cavern just as the void swallows their resting place. The darkness forms a solid wall behind the archway, not entering this new haven, yet allowing no light to escape. None of the ponies dare to test its strength. “Guess we’re in it now,” Applejack says. “Woo!” Pinkie Pie shouts, trotting forward. “Finally!” Following her lead, the group walks further into the vast cave. As they reach the edge of the lit torches’ light, more torches activate themselves, followed by a third set, and a fourth. A path is illuminated for them through the endless abyss, and as the last set of torches light up, they reveal a massive, ornate throne. Purple velvet lined with gold, with jagged black accents running through the surface, mixing into an eerie design. The accents converge, swirling together into a point at the seat of the throne, drawing the eye to the one seated upon it. Twilight lounges, legs kicked over the armrest, glass of wine to her lips, awaiting her guests. Twilight sets aside her drink and stands as the heroes stride up to her. A trail of emptiness seems to follow in her wake as she moves, a forgotten afterimage. She bows elegantly, the lights dimming with her gesture, then rights herself and regards the group with a wicked smile. “Welcome, friends,” Twilight announces, “to the throne room of your new ruler. Twilight Sparkle is no more. Kneel before the might of Sparkle Void!” Flames blast out from behind the throne as she makes her announcement, the intensity casting her grandiose form into shadow. For that brief moment, the flames engulf the world, become all there ever was, all there ever will be, save for that outline. An outline not of a pony, but of a lack of flames. A brilliant void. Rainbow Dash snorts. “Sparkle Void?” she mocks. “Really?” A bolt of electricity scars the earth in front of Rainbow Dash, making her jump back. “You would do well to learn quickly how to treat your new queen,” Sparkle Void says. “I think it’s a cool name!” Sweetie Belle says. “Thank you, dear,” Sparkle responds. “It’s wonderful to see that at least the youth know magnificence when they see it. You may well have a future by my side.” “Lucky” Applebloom says, hitting Sweetie Belle playfully. “I wish I got to be a bad guy.” Sparkle Void laughs, loud and boisterous. “Well, why not?” she offers. “This matchup is looking a touch lopsided. How would you three like to join the winning team?” “Hey, hang on a sec!” Pinkie protests, but it’s too late. The children cheer, running up to stand by Sparkle Void’s side. “Excellent!” Sparkle Void boasts. “Now things are far more balanced. Oh, but this just won’t do. My generals need to be recognizable! Symbols of my power! Let’s fix this, shall we?” Sparkle zaps her new lackeys, bestowing them with new, matching uniforms. Dark tendrils wrap around Applebloom’s legs, equipping her with winding, unnatural greaves. The same darkness flows across Scootaloo’s wings, sharpening them, forming them into a deadly weapon that ripples with blackness. Then, the darkness turns to Sweetie Belle, swirling around her head. It forms a jagged vortex, sharp but ever-shifting, a grand new horn. Finally, all three are adorned with flowing capes of Sparkle Void’s signature purple and gold. The children gawk at each others costumes, laughing and running around enthusiastically. “This is awesome!” Scootaloo announces. “Just one more thing!” Sparkle Void says, grinning. “You three need to pick new names.” They gasp in unison. “Heck yeah!” Applebloom shouts. “I’m gonna be, uhh… Void Orchard!” “Ooh, good idea,” Sweetie Belle says. “I’m Void Concert.” “And I’m Void… uh,” Scootaloo thinks. “Void Darkness?” “Try again,” Applebloom tells her. “Void Evil?” “Nope.” “Void… Void Horizon? “There you go.” Sparkle Void chuckles. “There we have it! Now,” she says, turning back to the heroes, “it’s time for the show to begin. I’d like you all to direct your attention to the night’s final guest… Rarity!” A corner of the room lights up spectacularly, revealing a large stage. Huge red curtains framing a desolate scene, empty save for one area in the very center. There sits a massive hourglass, rimmed with gold, top half filled and ready to spill downwards. In the bottom half they find Rarity, trapped and glaring with a scowl on her face. Rarity points towards the throne. “Sweetie Belle,” she calls out, “if they lose, you are going to be so grounded!” “That’s Void Concert to you!” Concert retorts, sticking her tongue out at her sister. “Rarity has been so kind as to offer herself as motivation for our final event,” Sparkle Void says. “As you can see, she is quite trapped. However, that is no mere hourglass! As I am a gracious ruler, I take great pains to know my subjects well, and that has allowed me to replace the sand threatening our friend with something more befitting her unique tastes. Although she may find it a bit… crude.” She sighs when her speech is met with looks of confusion. “Oil. I filled the hourglass with oil. It’s gonna stain her fur.” “Aw, that’s just cruel,” Applejack says. “Can’t ya go easy on her?” Sparkle Void laughs. “It seems you still don’t understand the situation you’re in! You know, I was going to explain our game before starting the clock, but now I’ve changed my mind.” She waves a hoof dramatically, and Rarity screams as oil begins to drip down, splashing onto her hooves. “Now, would you like to hear the rules?” “Do we gotta?” Pinkie asks. “Let’s just start already!” “Well, wait a minute,” Fluttershy starts, but she gets cut off. “Eager, are we?” Sparkle Void asks. “Very well Pinkie, you can go first. You’ll be facing off against Void Concert. Let the games begin!” Sparkle Void shoots a bolt of magic into the air, which splits and rains down, hitting all the ponies. An explosion of energy rings out as they’re flung through space, landing in the center of the room. Pinkie stands facing Void Concert, and behind their respective champions stand the two teams. Between them, the floor lights up, an array of neon lights spreading out in a web before them. Rings and lines dot the field, an incomprehensible mess. Sparkle Void leans down and whispers into Void Concert’s ear. “Got it,” Concert replies with a nod, and she braces herself to begin. “Hey, no fair!” Pinkie calls out. “You told her what to do!” “That’s what I was trying to say,” Fluttershy says. “She already knows all the rules.” “Well, it’s too late now,” Rainbow Dash says. “We just gotta guess. My bet is that you have to get to the other side without hitting any lines.” “Will you hurry it up!” Rarity yells. A puddle of oil has formed under her hooves. Sparkle Void grins. “Yes, I suppose we ought to begin. Go!” Void Concert sprints out immediately, zig-zagging around the playing field, stepping methodically. As she does, the ground below her lights up purple, filling the spaces between the lines wherever she lands. Step by step, she hops around, focusing on clusters of small sections, and the board starts to fill up purple. Pinkie takes a moment to react, then starts sprinting when she realizes the game has started. She flies past the lines, hardly landing, pink lights forming scattered puddles behind her. She zooms by Concert in record time, and before long skids to a stop at the far side of the playing field. “Woo!” Pinkie shouts. “I won!” She looks back over her conquest, a slowly spreading sea of purple dotted with islands of pink. Void Concert keeps hopping along, eyes focused, filling spaces. Oblivious, Pinkie cheers, whooping and hollering until Sparkle Void interrupts her with a pointed cough. “Well,” Sparkle Void announces, “I believe we have a clear winner.” Pinkie grins proudly while the rest of the heroes grimace, bracing themselves. Fluttershy covers her face to hide. “Pinkie Pie…” Sparkle continues. “You lose.” Pinkie gasps. “What? How? Why? Where?” Sparkle Void cackles. “It was a valiant attempt, putting all your eggs in one basket like that. Unfortunately, you guessed wrong. It was quantity, not quality, to decide your fate, and my fantastic protegee outperformed you in every way.” Void Concert smiles wide and bounds back over to her team. “I won!” she announces. “Did you guys see that?” “Pinkie didn’t stand a chance,” Void Horizon tells her. “Eat it, losers!” Void Orchard yells to the other team. Applejack fumes. “You’re gonna get it, missy! Void Sparkle, let’s go, start round two!” “Oh, but I haven’t even given out the prizes!” Sparkle Void says. “For the winning team, well, why don’t we raise the stakes a bit?” She shoots a blast of magic towards the stage that rockets into the hourglass, shaking it violently. The glass warps, remolds itself, and opens up. Rarity jumps back as the oil starts to pour in faster, surging up to her knees. “Hurry it up out there!” Rarity shouts, her voice cracking. Rainbow Dash winces, and Applejack growls under her breath. “And for our dear runner up,” Sparkle Void continues, “what could be better than a lovely statue as a trophy?” Another bolt fires out, striking Pinkie in an explosion of energy. Dust fills the air as magic swirls and transforms. When the commotion ends and the smoke dissipates, the heroes look on in horror as they find their friend, unmoving, petrified into stone from the neck down. “Hey, what’s the big idea!” Pinkie yells. “This isn’t a good prize at all. I can’t even see it! And how am I supposed to cheer like this? And another thing, I- mmf! Mm, mmrm!” Pinkie gets muffled as Sparkle Void blasts her again, freezing her snout into a grim expression. “Ahh, much better,” Sparkle says. “Don’t struggle too much now, dear, stone can be quite fragile.” She chuckles to herself. “Can we get a move on?” Applejack calls out. “I’m ready, aint no way Apple- er, Orchard can beat me now that I know the rules.” “Bring it on!” Void Orchard taunts, stepping up to the playing field. “Oh, no, no, no!” Sparkle Void says. “You won’t be playing the same game. Where’s the fun in that?” Applejack grunts, stepping up to her starting area. “Fine, just tell us the rules already.” “Quickly!” Rarity adds, the oil rapidly climbing her legs. Sparkle Void stomps a hoof on the ground, and the board wipes itself clear. “Very well! For you I’ve prepared a battle of wits. Which sister will prove superior in the realm of strategy? Let’s find out!” With a wave of her hoof, the board lights up once more. Lines spread out, connecting and winding together into knots. As the lights dance, images start to form, and soon the contestants are both presented with a line of crude pictures. “The game is simple,” Sparkle Void explains. “One round. One choice. The images before you have a hierarchy, and your job is to surmise that hierarchy and choose the image to beat the one your opponent chooses. Understand? Well, hopefully you do. Let the game begin!” Applejack studies the figures before her. Animals of all sorts, from small to large. A mouse, then a cat, a dog, and so on, ending with an elephant. She stares hard. First, she nearly reaches for the elephant, but then pulls back. Her next choice is the mouse, but again she decides against it. Shaking her head, she reaches out and taps one decidedly. Before her the drawing of an antelope lights up, and the rest fade from view. Orchard makes her choice soon after, and Sparkle Void steps forward. “There we have it!” she says. “Applejack, could you reveal your choice?” “Yeah,” Applejack says, “I picked the antelope. I figured somethin in the middle was the safest bet.” “Clever thinking!” Sparkle says. “Let’s see how it holds up. Orchard?” Void Orchard grins. “I picked the hurricane!” Applejack flinches. “What?” she shouts. “What kinda baloney is this?” Sparkle Void tsks. “I’m sorry, Applejack, but I think we can all agree that there’s just no way an antelope could beat a hurricane. It looks like you’ve lost.” Orchard snickers, and Applejack glares at her. “That was bunk!” she says. “Lemme see those pictures.” Applejack starts dashing across the field, but Sparkle steps in, volleying a shot of magic at her. As the attack lands, Applejack’s hooves lose contact with the ground, running against the air. She scrambles for the ground, but it’s too late. Gravity has abandoned her. Her momentum carries her weightless body up and away as she flails, floating into the darkness. “How awfully rude,” Sparkle says, shaking her head. “That is no way to behave before your queen. She didn’t even wait for the prizes! Well, too bad. That just means both prizes go to us. I’m sure you can imagine what form they’ll take?” Rarity shouts as magic rocks her prison again, further opening the floodgates. The oil pours out now, rising up across her chest and sides. She stretches herself upwards as the inky blackness inches closer to her neck. “Rainbow Dash?” Sparkle says. “I believe you’re up.” Rainbow Dash and Void Horizon step up to their corners. “Yeah, alright,” Rainbow Dash says. “You’re goin down, squirt.” Horizon spits a raspberry back at her. Fluttershy trembles behind her teammate, retreating into herself. “It seems our time is running short, so let’s make this one quick, shall we? A simple game of chance. Before you are twenty cards.” As she says this, the field lights up again, covering itself with blank rectangles. “These cards are numbered from one to twenty. Pick a card, and the higher card wins. Okay? Go!” Rainbow Dash and Void Horizon both blast into the sky, gazing down at the board, and jet down simultaneously. A thud resounds through the cave as the two land on their chosen cards, which light up and grow to fill the arena. “See? Simple!” Sparkle says. “Let’s see the results, now. Rainbow Dash, your chosen card…” she waves a hoof, and one card flips itself over to reveal a number. “Fifteen! Good draw. And Horizon, yours…” the other card flips over. “Aw, only a three. It would appear that the heroes have finally shown where their strength lies! Pure, dumb luck.” Rainbow Dash jumps and cheers, while Void Horizon sulks back to her group. “Sorry, guys,” Horizon says. “Don’t worry about it,” Orchard tells her. “We’re still winnin.” “Yes, we certainly are,” Sparkle says. “Although this loss does mean we can’t advance the clock. Looking, though, I’m not entirely sure we need to.” Sure enough, over on the stage, Rarity is in a dire position. The oil has risen at an astounding rate, already covering most of her head. Only her snout is visible still, poking desperately out of the dark sea. Fluttershy wails and crumples, while Rainbow Dash snarls. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” she says. “We just gotta win this quick and she’ll be fine.” “Yes, I’m sure she can hold her breath for at least some time,” Sparkle agrees. “We can’t continue yet, though! Rainbow Dash, you still have to collect your prize. Come, let me present it to you?” “Ooh,” Rainbow Dash says, strutting over to the evil team. “I didn’t think I was gonna get something. I thought my prize was just not getting turned to stone or whatever.” “Now, Dash,” Sparkle says, stroking her friend’s cheek, “when did I ever say that?” With a wicked smile, a bitter cold starts to spread from Sparkle’s hoof where she’s holding Rainbow Dash. It accelerates in a flash, instantly freezing Rainbow Dash’s face into an expression of horror. The rest of her body follows suit, forming a beautiful ice sculpture. Laughing, Sparkle Void gives Rainbow Dash a playful nudge, and the frozen pony starts to slowly slide away. “Fluttershy!” Sparkle suddenly announces. “Shall we end things?” Fluttershy lays on the ground with her head in her hooves, shaking. “I- I-” she stutters, unable to get the words out. “Yes?” Sparkle says, trotting victoriously over to the cowering pony. “I don’t wanna play anymore!” Fluttershy shouts, her voice cracked and pained. “Oh, shoot,” Sparkle says under her breath. She leans down beside her friend and strokes her back gently. “Hey,” she whispers into Fluttershy’s ear, “you did great. We’re wrapping up, you just sit tight and do what you need to, kay?” Standing back up, Sparkle clears her voice. “As I was saying,” she says, “I feel bad for these so-called heroes. This can’t be the best they have to offer. Let’s give them one final shot.” With a final bolt, Sparkle strikes the hourglass and shatters it. The glass disintegrates, and oil spills across the stage. As it spreads, it reveals Rarity, soaked head to toe in the goop and glaring at Sparkle Void. The stained pony starts to stomp over, a trail of oil falling in her wake. “Rarity!” Sparkle announces as her friend reaches them. “Our final champion. You’re looking well. Have you done something with your mane? It quite suits you.” Rarity snarls in response. “Well, I don’t have a game prepared for you, so how about this. You can choose any of the three to play against me. Sound fair?” Rarity smiles, her teeth shining bright behind the inky sheen. “Oh, I know what game I want to play.” She crouches, lowering her head, then rockets forward, tackling the tyrant. Sparkle Void flies backwards, sprawling out on the ground as oil launched from Rarity lands on her. Rarity walks over and places a damp hoof on Sparkle’s side, holding her still. Sparkle Void coughs dramatically. “I can’t believe it,” she wheezes. “To have been defeated so easily. All my preparation for naught. But don’t think you’ve won completely.” She points a shaking hoof to her generals. “Stay strong, my pupils. Your time will come. Perhaps… next year…” With a final, wheezing cough, Sparkle Void falls limp. As Rarity raises her hoof, the fallen ruler starts to glow and tremble, and with a stunning bang splits open, exploding into smoke and lights. The lights zoom around, dragging the smoke throughout the room, and soon none of the ponies are able to see. Then, the smoke starts to clear, and when it’s gone completely the eight ponies find themselves in Twilight’s Library, all healthy and perfectly mobile. “Well,” Rarity says, dripping oil onto the wood floors, “that was somewhat overacted.”