“Her majesty,” Yolina whispered, thoughts briefly dipping away from her immediate concerns. “Luna’s a knight like myself, meaning… Celestia sent you?”
The nightmare laughed at her. “How intriguing the world would be if that was the case. You humans did have a habit of painting her as a villain, so perhaps it can’t be blamed.”
Yolina’s eyes narrowed at the creature before her. It knew what she was, and put her a lot more on edge then she would otherwise feel. If it knew she was human – that she didn’t belong in Equestria – then there was no telling what other knowledge it had. It's already unpredictable nature had just grown substantially worse.
Then there was the matter that talked about Celestia as if humanity knew them. Was Equestria an ascended dream? She would have to inquire further from her American friends once the immediate problem was dealt with. There was clearly more to this pony-filled world then she knew.
“I’ll simply tell you that you are wrong and leave it at that. You’ll have to live the rest of your short existence without answers,” the nightmare continued on. Its words brought Yolina’s attention to above her, taking notice of the twin pillars of ooze that laid above it. “For her majesty to rise to glory once again, you must die.”
As the pillars fell over, their size and form leaving her in shadows, Yolina decided it was time to see how capable she was with her wings. Pushing off the ground with the mace and her hind leg, she flapped her wings. While she had avoided the ooze itself, the collapse sent a title wave outwards, and she had not gained enough height to avoid it.
The wave pushed her back and then under. The ooze had no tide, a fact that she was initially thankful for… before she realized she was unable to pull her head up. It held her like a vice grip, leaving most of her body immobile underneath with the exception of her wings and the hoof wielding the mace. She struggled against it, only managing to pull herself free after a serious amount of effort. An effort that strained her battered, unhealed body.
An effort the nightmare laughed at. “New body too clumsy for you, human?”
“Aren’t you the cockiest critter on this side of the border,” Yolina muttered back in Ukrainian. She spat out some ooze that had wormed its way into her mouth. “I thought you were going to chat for a while, to give me an idea of what's going on. Since that isn’t the case” She raised her other front hoof out, grabbing onto a silk-like string that hadn’t previously been there, “lets dance.”
The nightmare quickly followed the silk to its destination, realizing all too late what it was attached to. With speed no injured pony should be able to muster, Yolina surged right into the nightmares face. Grinning through the grime that covered her body, she struck the creature’s neck with her mace. Instead of breaking apart like he had with her first attack, it merely removed some of the burnt skin that made his form. The ooze inside it pooled out like a waterfall, unnatural and far too thick to be considered anything close to blood.
Despite the dent and ooze seeping from its body, the nightmare hadn’t stumbled or winced from the hit. More than enough battling with creatures like it told Yolina all she needed to know: the ooze and skin were just armor. The actual nightmare controlling it lied inside.
Acknowledging this, she tested for where she figured it was most likely to be. Yolina struck the nightmare’s head, and once again was met with not even a wince. The blow did cave in one side of its face, more ooze spraying out onto the already-coated wall.
Retracting the mace once more, she next swung towards the chest. Contact was never made, the nightmare blocking the strike with a wall of sludge that had arisen from nowhere. Yolina had the force to crack it, but not actually break it open. With it already firmly indented in the erected wall, the ooze immediately sealed itself back up. The bulava’s head was covered with it.
Yolina felt a shadow darken the area she stood in and gave a brief look behind her. A wave of ooze towered over her, consuming the entire hallway behind her. The nightmare before her had created the perfect cage, himself as the bait. Yolina had to admit it was smart, and would probably be effective at containing most Magral Knights. She knew two who were able to get out.
One was Melissa, the other was herself.
As the wave made its descent, no doubt planning to leave her helpless under its force, she tested her silk strings. There were a few of them, but only two had any shine. One was connected to the wall she was currently stuck in, the other led into the floor.
With only a second till she was pulled under, Yolina yanked on the latter. The wave crashed, filling one end of the hall. As the nightmare lowered the wall, allowing the ooze to wash over his body, he bit down…
… and found nothing. She had escaped.
He growled, and said growl escalated into a roar. She had gotten away. How, he did not know, but he wasn’t able to feel her body squirm in the ooze before him. The knight, injured and unbalanced as she had been, was a stubborn bug to squash.
Any attempt Yolina had for a short-term celebration was cut short by a scream. That scream was then followed by a deserving – especially for the circumstances – punch to the face. The blow was more than enough to knock her fragile form into the ooze-covered floor below before the cause of said assault gasped.
“Oh Celestia, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
Yolina raised up her free hoof, using her other and the bulava to get back onto all fours. To the surprise of the nurse before her, she laughed a little. It was forced, but Yolina had hoped the smile would help in ease the worries of the mare she had abruptly appeared in front of. Given Tenderheart seemed on the verge of a nervous breakdown, it wasn’t enough.
“I think I need to be the one apologizing. I told you to run for your safety but… well…” Yolina lifted the thread attached to Tenderheart. The mare before her looked between the thread and the thestral, jaw stuck open, “yeah, sorry. Not the best patient.”
Tenderheart immediately broke the string, something rather easy as she noticed. She briefly looked behind herself, and then back to Yolina. “How did… h-have you been following me?”
“No need, with dream magic,” Yolina answered, seeming far too smug for how injured she was. “Don’t ask questions, we don’t have time. I’ll just ask one thing of you,” she dragged herself towards the scared nurse, patting her on the chest. As she brought her hoof back, Tenderheart witnessed another string was now attached to her, “don’t break the string until the hospital changes back.”
With that she yanked on the string attached to the nightmare, and disappeared. It was at that moment that Tenderheart had deemed she had seen enough, and fainted.
Before he had seen the knight reappear, Yolina had already struck. Her bulava collided with his chest, and there was nothing he was able to do in order to stop her. The hit broke through the skin-like, gooey armor that made up his visible form. A softer, pinker skin was visible underneath now.
By the time she had seen it, the element of surprise was over, and the nightmare attacked back. He threw up a punch, one she guarded with the bulava’s handle. A spike burst forth from the wall, aimed for her cheek, and she jumped back to avoid it. He had created space, given himself an advantage, and he was going to use that.
He created a wall behind Yolina, one she noticed near immediately, cutting off her escape. Where he was more toying with her earlier, believing her injuries meant she was weak, he was now leaving no chance. A row of small, jagged spines formed from the ooze before him, all launching at Yolina. With their speed and numbers, it had again seemed impossible to escape.
Yet again, he forgot about the thread.
Instead of taking herself back to Tenderheart, knowing the mare had already had enough heart attacks, she put herself back on the offensive. As soon as the spikes had launched, she had tugged on the string still connected to her opponent, and in a blink she was no longer the one in danger. The spikes were behind her, enemy so close she could kiss them, and her weapon was already mid string.
She struck the skin under the armor, and she was rewarded with the first sign of visible pain the nightmare had shown that night. It’s muzzle roared in agony, and then tried to bring its teeth upon her neck. Yoliva fell purposely onto her side to avoid the strike, and threw all her might into a straight punch at the nightmare’s true flesh. While the reaction to that blow wasn’t as visceral as before, her enemy’s pained snarl was more than enough to tell her she was proving effective.
The nightmare’s hoof attempted to stomp on her face, and she was forced to roll away. After being certain she was far enough away, Yolina laid on her belly and looked in front of her. She gritted her teeth; her weapon had been left behind in the flurry of activity. Wanting it back immediately, she went to pull on the thread connected to the nightmare once again…
… only it to cut the thread off.
“Clever trick, but not clever enough,” the nightmare replied. The words were as much mocking her as they were a compliment. “I have heard that your kind is formidable. Somehow they understated it.”
He pushed Yolina’s bulava under his body, took a step forward, and then kicked it behind him. She let loose a silent swear; with her current state, she was no longer in any position to fight the creature.
“Trust me, if my friend's were here, one cut connection would not be enough to stop me,” she replied back, daring to smile. Yolina knew it gave him a clear signal she had something else up her sleeve, but she didn’t reveal anything. Her thread to Tenderheart was simply useful for escape now, nothing more.
Her words got a laugh out of the creature, this time clearly meant to be mocking. “No friend is helping you here, human. What, expecting a song and a couple words to fix everything?”
“I’m not five,” she said, pushing herself up so that her chest was free of the ooze around her. She grimaced at it for a moment, and then eyed the nightmare sternly, “but I’m also not an idiot. You’ve seen what I can do, now imagine that with six of the strongest Magral Knights alive at my side.”
“You exaggerate.”
“You don’t know what we are capable of,” she replied, narrowing her eyes. She readied herself to zip out of danger, knowing her coming words would test the nightmare before her. “Actually, perhaps you do. Melissa Rogers, Lucy Francois, Maria “Dragon” Hoover, Holly Richards, Jessica “Jay” Wilde,” she allowed the smallest sign of a smile to reappear, “Yolina Yvanova. You know about my home realm, you know my people, so you must know us… if you aren’t dumbass, that is.”
There was the slightest sign of fear in the nightmares stance, followed afterwards by a snarl of disgust. Yolina snorted in amusement, knowing that she had gotten a small victory over the nightmare in the end. She watched as it readied another spike in rage, and then flew it at her immediately. She went to tug her string and escape, but then her eyes shot wide open.
The launched spike crashed against a curved, translucent, dark blue wall that both knew wasn’t there previously. It disintegrated on the spot, leaving one nightmare growling in anger and one human in shock. Her ears then made note of a sound coming from before her, approaching slowly and methodically. Yolina looked back, and her shock turned to a cocky grin.
Luna dared to return it back as she approached, stepping out of a closing portal. Yolina recognized what lay on the other side as the realm of dreams.
“We had a feeling your arrival had not gone unnoticed, Lady Yolina. We did not expect you to be out of bed, doing further harm to the body our reality has loaned you,” Luna replied, her shame surface level and nothing more. “Hardly a good impression for someone claiming to be important. Perhaps next time, you’ll wait for a full recovery.”
Yolina chuckled, looking in the opposite direction in embarrassment. “Yeah, like I’m going to give you all the fun. Beat him good for me, will ya?”
“I think I can imagine that,” Luna replied. Her gaze then turned from the human-turned-thestral to the nightmare. Her face grew a lot more stern. “You’re one of hers, aren’t you?”
“Who else, host,” the nightmare shot back, taking a daring step forward. The sight of the night princess had instilled the slightest giddiness in him, though he hid it decently. “You are saving her majesty time and planning, showing up tonight. I will enjoy bringing your unconscious form before my queen once again.”
“And I shall enjoy destroying her ambitions. I will not succumb to her again,” Luna replied. She stomped the floor, a gooey splash replacing the loud, desired echo she had hoped the actual would have achieved. “I am not the mare I was all those years ago.”
Yolina blinked, her shock returning as she listened to the princess and nightmare speak. While she still held far too few details to be sure, if the words being said meant what she thought they did, she had gotten wrapped up in something far bigger than she had ever expected.