//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 - Taking her First Step 
// Story: The Adventures of the New Nightmare 
// by hmaf43 
//------------------------------//

The room filled with silence as Rainbow Dash reflected on herself. Her body was battered and tired, leaving her no choice, but to lie silently on the bed. Normally she would hate to be in such a situation. She would be bored out of her mind, if not for the current turmoil inside her mind right now.

then suddenly, a voice spoke up "Rainbow...."

Rainbow Dash's attention shifted to Scootaloo, her eyes red-rimmed and her voice shaky. "Hey...hey, kiddo," she managed to say, her voice filled with a mix of remorse and vulnerability. She forgot that the orange filly was still in this room.

The entire time.

Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash, her gaze unwavering. Despite her young age, there was a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. "Rainbow Dash, I've always admired you. I looked up to you" she began, her voice filled with a mixture of disappointment and sadness. 

"But what you did... It wasn't like you. You've always been the pony who taught me about loyalty and justice."

Rainbow Dash nodded, her gaze shifting downwards as guilt weighed heavily on her conscience. She had always prided herself on being a loyal friend and a defender of innocence, but at that moment, with her mind in a rage-filled state, in order to take give the princess her justice and gain frame for herself, she had allowed herself to become a source of pain and turmoil instead.

The hospitalized mare swallowed hard, her throat tight with emotion. "I know, Scoots," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "I messed up. I let my anger cloud my judgment, and I hurt my friend in the process." Rainbow Dash's voice cracked with a mix of guilt and shame. 

She could see the disappointment in Scootaloo's eyes, and it tore at her heart.

"I thought... I thought I was doing the right thing," Rainbow Dash continued, her voice trembling. "I was angry, and I let it control me. But it wasn't right, what I did. I hurt someone without fully understanding the consequences."

Scootaloo's expression softened, and she took a hesitant step closer to Rainbow Dash. "But why, Rainbow? I don't understand why you would do something like this. Why did you attack Nightmare Moon first? "

Rainbow Dash sighed, her gaze falling to the floor. "I thought she was a threat, a fairy tale monster that needed to be put down. I let my own biases and emotions cloud my thinking. I didn't do research, give her a chance, try to understand her, or even see her as a pony. I was wrong, Scootaloo. I was so wrong."

Tears welled up in Scootaloo's eyes now, mirroring the pain in Rainbow Dash's heart. "You're supposed to be my hero, Rainbow. I looked up to you, but..."

Rainbow Dash's tears began to trickle down her cheeks. She reached out a hoof, gently touching Scootaloo's shoulder. "I know I've let you down, Scoots, and I can't even begin to express how sorry I am."

Scootaloo sniffled and nodded, her anger giving way to a glimmer of hope. "I want to believe you, Rainbow. I want to believe that you can change and become the hero I know you can be."

Rainbow Dash squeezed Scootaloo's shoulder gently, her voice filled with determination. "I promise you, from this moment on, I won't let you down again, Scoots. I'll learn from my mistakes and try to be a better pony. I'll prove to you and myself that I can be the pony you look up to, the pony who makes a difference for the better."

As Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were in the room together, their bond momentarily strained but not broken, Rainbow Dash knew that the road to her she the road would take to repair her mistake, her friendship, and her redemption would be challenging and painful. 

But with Scootaloo's forgiveness and support, Rainbow Dash found the strength to face her mistakes and strive for growth, to take her first step.

"Scoots, I have a request for you."



The alicorn of night finds solace in the serene countryside of Ponyville, a stark contrast to the concrete jungle that is her home. Here, there were actual trees, casting their welcoming shadows upon the grassy expanses. 

Nightmare Moon contemplated settling under the shadow of one of those trees, where she could immerse herself in her books and continue her research.

She finally found a secluded spot, nestled beneath the protective embrace of an ancient oak. The sunlight peeked through the leaves, creating a delicate play of light and shadow on the ground. 

Nightmare Moon settled herself comfortably, her majestic form blending with the natural beauty surrounding her, as natural as a black coat anime horse with a flowing starry magical mane can be anyway.

Opening a book, she intended to isekai-ed herself into the shadow realm of academic study, in order to understand modern days spellwork better. 

The troubles of the moment were momentarily forgotten as the book titled “Magic 101" floated in her magical griped, slowly opened, revealing knowledge within.

The alicorn intended to at least got something practical out of today's endeavor. She delved into realms of knowledge, and soon her grinding would bear fruit, if she wasn't being disrupted that is.

"N-Nightmare Moon," a trembling young voice suddenly called out to her, causing the regal-looking mare to regally turns her gaze towards the source. To her surprise, it was none other than the iconic orange filly, Scootaloo. 

In the grim darkness of the twenty-first century, there is only meme.

Existed in this bleak reality is a realm of chaos where all hope seems lost. It’s called the internet, a place where the emperor’s guiding light doesn’t shine, lies there are many temples of heretics.

Among them exists one group that devoted themselves to the equine goddess, Faust-sama. It's a community filled with pastel-colored horse-loving individuals.

On the edge of this great unified church of faust is an imageboard, a place inhabited by a group of acolytes who fight for their great cause, the cause that can only be comprehend by them. The group was so radical in their way that they even got rejected by other horsy sects. 

They often affectionately dubbed this small orange being as the “chicken filly”, the flightless pegasus with a medical condition called microwings. She who fated to be bounded to the ground forever, because her wings are too small to be useful, no different than man with a micropenis.

Nightmare Moon chuckled mentally, forced herself to keep up the serious charade on the outside. She knows that in reality, that's not the case, but it's more amusing that way.

And hey, the filly definitely deserved that nickname to a degree.

For she is one of the unholy trinity, the original Legion of Doom, the destroyers of public properties. She is one of the founding members of the crusader of ass tattoos, the filly who will forever be attached to Rainbow Dash's sweaty muscular butt like a flatworm glued to the digestive track.

Nightmare Moon is well aware of Scootaloo's unwavering admiration for the rainbow pegasus, could only fathom one reason why the young filly sought her out. The filly's voice trembled as she mustered up her courage to speak.

"P-Please come with me!" the orange filly pleaded, her voice wavering with a mix of fear and determination. "Please," she continued,  desperation clear in her eyes and her voice barely above a whisper. Nightmare Moon could somehow sense the actual weight of that plea.

Nope nope. Nightmare Moon though to herself, she wasn't going to deal with this now. The black alicorn swiftly stood up, turned around, and walk away, fully intending to ignore the filly's repeated calls for her attention. Pretending she hadn't heard a thing seemed like the best course of action.

But fate had a different plan. She turned away, determined to distance herself from the filly. As she thought she had successfully evaded the situation, a shudder ran through her as the black alicorn felt something soft pressing against the side of her foreleg. 

With a sense of dread, she slowly turned her head downward, only to realize too late that she made the grave, terrible mistake of committing the sin of looking down to see what it was. The thing that awaits her is Scootaloo's devastating cosmic-level weapon—a powerful attack that only big eyes anime girls and children could master.

There it was—Scootaloo, looking up at her with those infamous puppy dog eyes. 

The bottom-barrel otaku within Nightmare Moon was ill-prepared for such an onslaught. She wavered, torn between her own self-preservation and the accepted the request of overwhelming cuteness radiating from the pleading filly before her. The internal battle raged within her, but she knew deep down that she must not give in to the little shit, no matter how much damage those innocent eyes inflicted upon her cold, dead soul.

"Pleaseeeee," Scootaloo's voice quivered, her ears flopping in a display of desperation. Her eyes shimmered, hinting at the imminent tears that would soon follow if Nightmare Moon resisted furthur.

Kuk... Nightmare Moon's resolve weakens under the powerful force of Scootaloo's gaze. A small wave of frustration washed over her. It was just too powerful to handle. 

The battle was lost before it had even begun. 

Nightmare Moon tried to maintain her sanity, but the relentless assault on her mental defenses proved to be too formidable. Even realizing that she was about to be pulled into something she had tried to avoid, with a defeated sigh, she finally relented.

"Fine," she muttered, her tone laced with exasperation, begrudgingly accepting her fate. "What is it, filly?"

A ghost of a smile spread across the filly's face, her eyes sparkling with hope. She wasted no time pulling the unreluctant alicorn to the destination.

With a another resigned sigh, for good measure, Nightmare Moon gestured for Scootaloo to lead the way. She would follow the filly, reluctantly embarking on an unexpected adventure, knowing that her plans for a peaceful day of reading had been thoroughly trashed.

Welcome to Ponyville, a peaceful village that is never peaceful..?