//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Broken // Story: No Need for Rainbows // by terrycloth //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon awoke in a dusty, grey crater, and for an instant was certain that she’d been too late – that the Elements of Harmony had banished her to the moon again. But no, the moon was up there in the sky, shining down on her through the tattered remains of the cloud cover, burned away by the rainbow and the explosion. Two flaps of her wings lifted her above the crater walls, to see the scene spread out below her. The trees were on fire. The house was on fire. The barn was on fire. The grass was no long on fire, because it had burned away instantly. The gems from the pyramid were shattered into glittering heaps of diamond dust, spread out in a starbust pattern from the edges of the crater, with a battered but unharmed pony at the end of each trail. “You’ve failed!” she proclaimed triumphantly. “The Elements of Harmony had no effect! The night still endures!” The ponies below began to stir. Applejack looked up at her with bleary eyes. “The what?” “Ha! Feign ignorance if you like, baker,” Nightmare Moon taunted her. “I know you were the ringleader – what lies did you tell them to convince them your plan had any hope of success?” “This is okay, this is okay,” Twilight said, looking around at the ruins. “Yes, Nightmare Moon kind of went crazy and smashed our rainbow projector, but this was all just a misunderstanding. We needed to build a couple thousand of them anyway, to illuminate all the farms…” Nightmare Moon looked at the pathetic purple unicorn, her mane frazzled, her tail frazzled, her expression… somehow also frazzled. “You naïve tool, is that what your precious Miss Apple wanted you to think? Was she planning to use you as her patsy?” “I want to be the patsy!” Pinkie Pie said, giggling. Her normally straight mane was tangled into a mass of curls. She gave a small bounce in place, sending glittery dust into the air around her. “Oooh… shiny…” “I doubt you wanted anything more than a laugh,” Nightmare Moon said dismissively. “And what a joke it would have been – the great Queen defeated by her own cast-offs.” Rarity looked like she was about to cry. “You – you –“ she stammered. “Those were all my gems. ALL OF THEM! And so much work, and effort – all wasted!” Nightmare Moon felt no pity. “If you didn’t want to see your gems shattered, you shouldn’t have built them into a weapon against me!” “So, uh,” Rainbow Dash said, floating up to be level with the angry Nightmare. “You didn’t like my joke, then?” “I thought you were my friend!” Nightmare Moon cried. “What’s a little rainbow to the face between friends?” the rainbow-maned Shadowbolt asked. “It’s what I was put on Equestria to do – and you have to admit this was a lot better than my pathetic performance at the Summer Sun Celebration.” “I have to admit NOTHING!” Nightmare Moon bellowed, and lightning shot down from the sky, knocking Rainbow Dash out of the air. She turned to the last pony, “Fluttershy, how could you let her – you’re not Fluttershy.” Big Macintosh looked up at her, and said, “Nope.” “What did I ever do to you, to make you join these traitors?” Nightmare Moon asked him. Applejack answered. “Aside from banishing our princess, taking away the sun so the harvest was ruined, blowing up his farm, and wrongfully accusing him of treason?” “He wasn’t with us,” Rainbow said, from the ground, somehow still conscious. Maybe she was building up an immunity to lightning strikes. Not enough of one to actually move, but talking was an improvement over last time. “He was just standing too close when Twilight exploded.” “Fine then, let no pony say that their Queen is not merciful,” Nightmare Moon proclaimed. “He may go. As may you all, except for you –“ she lifted Applejack up into the air with a tentacle of blue mist, “and you.” Rainbow Dash joined her. “I’m going to have *fun* with you two. You’re going to be an example to strike terror into the hearts of ponies for a thousand years to come! The mere mention of your names will send foals crying and shivering underneath their covers!” She cackled magnificently, accented with lightning and a swarm of bats. “The rest of you should run, before you see something that you can never unsee.” “No,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I’m not letting you take them! I was the one who organized every pony, designed the projector, and even activated the enchantment! If you’re going to insist on punishing somepony for your own stupid paranoia then it should be me. Let Applejack go!” “No, sweetie,” Applejack said. “You have to live. You’re the one who can save Equestria – you and Rarity. I didn’t do anything this whole time except get in your way, and pull the wagon.” Pinkie Pie giggled. “If you have to take out your anger on anypony, it should be me,” Rarity said. “You’ve destroyed my masterpiece, you may as well take my life as well and complete my utter ruin. You witch!” Pinkie Pie snickered. “What’s so funny?” Twilight asked. “You’re all talking like you can swap places like this is some sort of magic moon goddess version of red rover,” Pinkie Pie said. “If you really think she has to punish somepony, shouldn’t you be screaming and running by now?” “You’re not screaming or running,” Twilight pointed out. “She promised us things we can never unsee, Twilight. NEVER UNSEE!” Pinkie Pie’s eyes went wide. “And now I’m way too curious to run, although I might scream once she starts. No promises.” Nightmare Moon smiled cruelly. “Oh, there will be screaming. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” More lightning crashed as she laughed. That was an easy spell, but one of her favorites. “Stop it!” came a soft voice from behind her. “Please?” Fluttershy added, as she was grabbed by a strand of the nightmare’s tail and dragged over to float next to Rainbow and Applejack. “Ah, my wayward Shadowbolt. Here I thought you’d done the smart thing and run away,” the mare of darkness said mockingly. “Oh, I couldn’t run away,” Fluttershy said. “The barn was full of cows and pigs and they were so scared they were going to stampede and I had to calm them down, and get them outside because the roof was burning and the whole barn was full of hay. And then I saw that Applebloom and Granny Smith were trapped on the top floor of the farmhouse with the stairs on fire and I had to help them down so they wouldn’t get hurt! And Applebloom was crying and crying because there was a big explosion and her brother had been out front right where he might have gotten caught on it, so I rushed here right away because all my friends were here too. “But it’s okay, because it looks like everybody’s doing okay,” Fluttershy said, “except you.” “Except me?” Nightmare Moon asked, rearing back defensively. “Is that supposed to be a threat? I’m doing just fine. I’m in control here!” “No,” Fluttershy said, “You’re not in control. You’re completely out of control and it’s gone on long enough!” Nightmare Moon tried to protest, but she couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t even look away from Fluttershy’s angry eyes, which seemed to bore into her soul. “Ever since you came back from the moon you’ve been nothing but a bully!” Fluttershy said. “Everypony’s been trying so hard to be nice to you but you don’t even care. You threaten them and declare yourself Queen but when anypony asks you to act like a Queen you complain that it’s too much work!” “But dealing with petitioners is so annoying,” Nightmare Moon complained. “Well, it’s part of being the leader!” Fluttershy insisted. “And now after we worked so hard to try to make a way to grow food with a rainbow, you won’t even let us. Do you know why we built this rainbow machine? Do you?” “To… replace the sun?” Nightmare Moon squeaked. “That’s right. To replace the sun so that you could have your eternal night. But it’s too late for that now,” Fluttershy said. “It’s getting colder and colder and the plants are getting sicker and sicker and everypony’s running out of food, and I think you know what you need to do. Isn’t that right?” Nightmare Moon tried to drag her gaze away from Fluttershy’s stare, or to deny that what she was saying was true, but all she could say was, “Bring back the sun?” “That’s right!” Fluttershy said, shifting position to put her forehooves on her hips. “You’re going to bring back the sun, and you’re going to do it right now!” The moon fell out of the sky like its string had been cut, and a glow formed on the horizon.