//------------------------------// // A new ally // Story: Nightmare Sparkle // by Twilight Star //------------------------------// The princesses, the five mares and the dragon were very close to the exit. They saw the exit and ran, but unfortunately it was blocked by one of the Nightmare Forces. “You all aren’t going anywhere!”  Rainbow Dash struggled to not laugh. “Sleep well?”  “Why do you work for them, Mr. Shadow?” Pinkie Pie jumped up to him.  “Because I’m loyal to Nightmare until the end,” replied Jerome. “But they don’t treat me as well as Shadowfright and Nightmare.”  “But how are you treated by them?” asked Fluttershy, concerned.  “They don’t care so much about what others are feeling, what matters to me and to them is our queen,” said Jerome.  “How is their friendship with the other Nightmare Forces?”  “What? Friendship? We aren’t friends and we aren’t friends with each other,” said Jerome.  Pinkie Pie was surprised. “What? But having friends is the best thing in the world.”  “Well, it may be for you, but for us it has no meaning,” said Jerome, “and you all aren’t leaving here.”  The six mares, the three princesses and the dragon got together to come up with a plan for how they could get Jerome out of the way. “And now? What are we going to do?” said Applejack.  “Let’s punch him in the face!” Rainbow Dash hit the two front hooves.  “No Rainbow, let’s settle in a peaceful way,” said Fluttershy.  Rainbow Dash stood with crossed hooves and sulked. “What’s your idea?”  “We will offer our friendship to him,” replied Fluttershy. “I’m sure if we talked, he would let us go.”  “Fluttershy, you and Pinkie Pie already talked to him and it didn’t work. How do you want us to do that?” said Rainbow Dash.  “We are going to show him that being a good person is much better than being evil,” said Fluttershy.  “Fluttershy, that might work, but he is loyal to Nightmare and he wouldn’t be by our side even if we talked to him for hours.” Applejack approached Fluttershy.  “But what if it worked?”  Suddenly, Fluttershy heard the sound of crying they saw that Celestia was lying on the floor, crying. “It’s all my fault. I lost Twilight Sparkle forever… ”  “Princess, don’t say that. We will be able to save Twilight,” said Applejack.  “But what if we don’t?” Celestia looked at Applejack before looking at the floor. “Oh Twilight, I’m so sorry. If only I had listened to you…”  “Princess, don’t blame yourself, Chrysalis is to blame. She fooled us all,” said Applejack.  “Yes. But it was our ignorance that made us lose Twilight in the first place,” said Celestia. “If only we had listened to her...”  “Sister, please don’t think it’s the end of the world. We are very close to getting out of here and saving Twilight.” Luna approached Celestia and put a hull on her.  Celestia looked at Luna. “But how are we going to save her? Using the Elements of Harmony? But we can’t, without Twilight, the Elements of Harmony won’t work.” “C’mon guys. Don’t lose hope. We’re going to make it!” said Pinkie Pie.  Applejack took off her hat and sat on the floor. “I don’t know Pinkie. Princess Celestia is right. How are we going to save Twilight?”  “But there has to be a solution.”  Spike approached Celestia and started to cry, his tears wetting his cheeks. “Twilight, I’m sorry that I didn’t hear you. If only I had stayed with you in the rehearsal room…”  “I’m really sorry, ponies.” Everypony looked at Shining Armor, who was sitting on the floor while looking down. “If I hadn’t been thick with Twilight, none of this would have happened...”  “Shining, don’t blame yourself. The Chrysalis spell may have been why you acted that way,” said Cadence.  Shining Armor looked at Cadence. “But what if it isn’t? What if I really said that for wanting?” he could feel tears welling up in his eyes. “If only I had noticed that ‘Cadence’ was acting strange...”  “Shining, don’t blame yourself. It was Chrysalis fault.”  “Yeah, Shining. That evil queen tricked us all, resulting in us losing Twilight to Nightmare,” said Pinkie Pie.  “But how are we going to save Twilight?” Shining Armor raised a hoof.  “Let’s see, Nightmare Forces are forces of hate, so that means ...” Celestia realized what had to be done.  “What does it mean, princess?” asked Applejack.  “You and the other mares have to use what you all feel for Twilight to get her back to us,” said Celestia.  “It looks like a good plan. But how are we going to make this?” asked Applejack.  “You five are the spirits of the Elements of Harmony, so you are likely to have the magic to defeat Nightmare Sparkle and save Twilight,” said Celestia.  “But without Twilight, how are we going to do that?” asked Applejack.  “You’ll first ask if Nightmare Sparkle could stop being evil, and if it doesn’t work you use magic on it,” Celestia looked at Luna. “Luna, could you help get Nightmare out of the body so that Twilight could be released?”  “Of course sister,” replied Luna. “Everything for my best friend.”  “But how are we going to get past him?” Applejack glanced at Jerone.  “The same thing that you guys are going to do with Nightmare Sparkle,” said Celestia. “You can release your inner magic.”  Applejack and her friends started to think about how their friendship meant and they started to shine differently. Applejack was an green color. Fluttershy, yellow. Pinkie Pie, pink. Rainbow Dash, blue. And Rarity, purple. The five mare approached Jerome and used their magic on him. A rainbow spun around Jerome, and when it was gone, Jerome’s shape was different. Jerome was now skin-colored and his eyes were yellow.  Jerome looked at himself and realized that his shape was different. “I feel different. I feel… more like me.” he looked at the five mares with a smile. “Thank you ponies, well before Nightmare Moon went to the moon I and the others were guardians of dreams, but when Nightmare Moon arrived, it changed our shape so that we brought nightmares.” what nobody realized was that Luna was ashamed of herself .  “What’s your name?” asked Applejack.  “Jerome, pony,” said Jerome.  “Applejack.”  “Applejack.”  “Are you going to help us save Twilight?”  “Sure.”  “Do you know where Nightmare Sparkle went, Jerome?” asked Luna.  “Well, she is currently preparing to invade Ponyville with her army of Nightmare Forces,” said Jerome.  “We need to get out of here quickly before she and the others realize we aren’t in the dungeons!” said Applejack.