//------------------------------//
// CHOLD Chapter 10: Nightmare 
// Story: I've Got PONIES for ROOM MATES! 
// by Daaberlicious 
//------------------------------//



Chapter 10: Nightmare




For the past few days, true sleep was a foreign concept to Rainbow Dash. Several reasons could be stated for this. It could be that, having been designated emergency guardian (or "godmare", if you will) of Scootaloo by the filly's parents, and having no way of contacting said filly, that she was loosing sleep.

She could have been feeling somewhat claustrophobic in the apartment, and wanted to actually go out and meet somepony for once, and this justifiable obsession kept her awake.

It could have been simply that she was napping all day, and didn't need the rest when bedtime came.

All these could have been true, but something else was the biggest contributor to her fitful rest: Nightmares.

It surprised her that she was being afflicted by nightmares, since she was quite fearless and matured psychologically.

It did not help that said nightmares were shockingly realistic depictions of her adventures having gone wrong. Every time she drifted off to sleep, Her element of harmony would shatter, or her friend would fall too fast to be saved, or Nightmare moon permanently set eternal night on Equestria, or Discord had turned every single pony to grey, or Shining Armor would be a lifeless shell like over 3/4 of the Equestrian population.

Then, two great red eyes would peer out from the darkness at her, and then she'd be covered with frigid darkness. She'd shoot awake, gasping for breath as though she was drowning, and drift off to sleep again.

Rainbow Dash didn't have the guts to tell anyone about the nightmares, somehow fearing worse would occur if she did...

...But her friends wouldn't dare tell anyone of theirs, either.




Starry Lanes was a unicorn colt with a dark blue mane and a crimson coat. Those who met him would describe him as smart and athletic, although surprisingly timid. He functioned well in school and had a decent ammount of friends, but almost never made them through any efforts of his own, being quiet, yet cheerful.

Currently, he slept soundly in his bed, having had a great day with his parents. They had gone to the park, and he saw his friends there. He started a great game of hoofball with them, and got ice cream afterwards.

Then, they went to the library, and got the latest copy of Daring Doo, which he read until bed time.

It was an exhausting, yet very fun day, and his dreams were filled with happy images and sensations...

Something pulled him off the bed, and he fell through a dimensional hole.




The mane six all shot up at the same time from a horrible nightmare.

Rainbow Dash was up on all four hooves with her hackles up within seconds.

Rarity had let out a genuine shriek and was halfway off the bed before she realized it.

Applejack bucked Twilight in the head before she could stop herself.

Similarly, Twilight scorched the ceiling with raw magic and had a headache afterwards.

Pinkie's stomach tightened and burned, bringing pained sobs from the not easily saddened earth pony.

Fluttershy was petrified with irrational terror.

Needless to say, this was so unlikely an occurrence that the ponies could only guess that something was horribly wrong. They stared at each other with their manes in a mess (save for Rarity, of course), and their eyes showed evidence of the deep fear that graced their minds moments before.

Twilight said something: "...There will be terrible ills ravaging every kingdom..."

"What did ya say, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. Pinkie sobbed loudly again, drawing everypony's attention. Fluttershy and Twilight tried to diagnose Pinkie, while she changed topics to something more urgent.

"We're all awake. Did you guys have nightmares too?"

"Yes." They replied in unison. All this sudden racket woke Chelsea and Louis.




"What happened?!" Chelsea and I ran into the room, and saw a tormented scene. All the ponies were huddled around Pinkie, who was bawling her eyes out and clutching her stomach.

It's 3:00 A.M. Why do I always have to deal with top priority problems at late hours? A big exaggeration, of course, unless you count an annoying fire alarm with the tendency to run out of juice at odd hours.

"A nightmare woke us ALL UP, and now Pinkie's stomach hurts! I just wanna be able to sleep!" Rainbow complained.

I rushed over to the pink earth pony. "Pinkie! Do you feel sick? What's happening?"

She tried to say something, then thrust her head into a nearby trash can and barfed.

"Ugh. Thanks for avoiding the carpet."

Pinkie only returned to her place on the bed and whimpered. Fluttershy began to fret over her again, while Chelsea stood in the background, looking worried.

I got to Pinkie's eye level, and put a hand on her side. "Midnight Tummy-ache?" I asked, trying harder to be calm.

She let out a very Fluttershy-esque squeak.

"Yes?"

"...Pinkie sense. I don't know why, but it hurts like hot peppers, not like way too much candy. I don't think anything's hurt like this, and I've gone through a lot. I've fallen down the stairs, tripped over rocks, got my hoof stuck under a rock, bit a rock-"

My hand shot out and wrapped around her muzzle. She quieted down, and gave me time to think.

Various conclusions flew through my head, but only one held merit.

We must see the old man. Now.

I got up, and stood where I could be seen in the few lights flicked on.

"Guys? Everything must be packed. We're leaving. Now."

All faces were plastered with shock as they turned to me.

My fear rose to the surface again. "This can't be a coincidence! All of you woke up, suddenly terrified, and Pinkie's Pinkie sense shows up so strong that she has to barf! I should have got us all going when the package came, but I thought it could wait! Something evil is behind your slip through the dimensional holes!" 

Cold sweat poured down my back.

"It has to have been an accident!" Twilight retorted.

"Really? Tell that to Derpy Hooves! Tell that to Chelsea! She almost DIED when the Everfree forest blew up her college campus! If you feel so confident in it, Tell that to Zecora!"

"What? The Everfree's here?!" Fluttershy whimpered.

"You never said anything about Derpy or Zecora!" Twilight yelled at me.

"And what about the SHEER 'COINCIDENCE' that all the mane six would appear in one guy's apartment?! Why not spread across the globe?!"

"Shut up!" Someone yelled through the walls. I continued, undaunted.

"Face it, guys! Something is behind this, and we're going to need answers NOW."

I shut up when I heard Fluttershy start crying. If she cries, you listen, or you have no soul.

Her tears weren't nearly as fast flowing as the cartoon depicted them, but they were still quite the waterworks.

"I've b-b-been having nightm-m-m-mares ever since com-m-ming here! I didn't think they were im-m-m-mportant, b-b-but they've all been the same!"

She described her dreams, all of which which Rainbow Dash and the other members of the Mane Six had been suffering from similarly. They confirmed this with a rush of frightened chatter.

Chelsea stepped in to take control of the situation. "Wait, guys! Wait! What was it that scared you all awake at the same time?"

Fluttershy lost her composure again, and fear shot back into the other ponies' eyes, visibly flinching.

Nopony was looking eager to share (Rainbow Dash glared at Chelsea when asked about it), so Twilight took the initiative and recounted her dream.




She was standing in a field at night. The chilly air whipped at her mane and tail, and penetrated her coat right through.
The sky only had red stars, and permafrost had settled on plants that bloomed in summer, making everything seem covered in a thick, near-transparent sheet of ice. She sought shelter from the horrible cold by walking in a strait line.

Icy grass cut her legs and tripped her as she staggered in the same line as before. She couldn't conceive how this would help, but continued walking despite her best interests, shivering, and gazing through the diamond dust.

Something followed her. She couldn't hear it, see it, or even see evidence of it's passing, but something unquestionably followed her. Her head swiveled around rapidly as she tried again and again to find evidence of it.

She bumped into a towering glacier that was not there moments before. Perfectly, almost naturally melted into it's side was a message:

"there will be terrible ills ravaging every kingdom"

SILENCE. No wind, only the sound of her breath and of the icy grass snapping under hoof. A terrible, numb cold gripped her insides suddenly, just as even purer darkness settled over the iced landscape, making only the unsettling red stars visible.

She cast a light spell, and found herself in Ponyville, completely iced over. Another turn, and she found herself on the Sandy Shores apartment complex's rooftop, and all landscape was just as iced over.

She kept whipping her head around, and the locations cycled. Skeletons of ponies and humans started appearing, completely frozen in positions of terror.

Locations started cycling every time she moved her eyes, as the body count built up rapidly. She stepped backwards, only to find her hoof fell onto a hand. She lurched up only to bump into into a huge writhing stallion. She let out a gasp, and started running straight through Ponyville's streets.

More frozen skeletons appeared as Ponyville streets cycled with Sandy Shores streets. Her breath came out heavy with terror as her heart raced, trying to keep up with her full tilt run.

She tripped over many more frozen bones, slipped, and slid her way into Ponyville's fountain center, meeting the fountain's edge with full force and falling into the icy cold water.

Twilight closed her eyes tight, unable to bear the cycle any longer. She curled up tightly, and shivered in the fountain's frigid waters, not caring anymore of the cold... Just so long as she wouldn't have to see another skeleton.

The water warmed, and she heard daily activity going on in Ponyville. The sounds of foals giggling tickled her eardrums as birds tweeted softly.

"What are you doing in the fountain, miss?" A young colt asked her. Twilight raised her head and opened her eyes.

All temperature dropped instantly. Frozen, broken bones now littered the equally cold landscape alongside iced over skeletons laying everywhere.

Twilight looked  frantically around, desperately trying to find the colt who spoke to her. Her throat got raw from breathing the cold diamond dust, and tears froze to her face as she cried from fear.

She blinked.

Something shoved a cotton bag over her head, and was slowly forcing her into it. She kicked, flailed, screamed, and shot magic.

Nothing worked, and she was soon completely inside it, despite the fact that it couldn't have possibly fit her before. She bit at the sides and kicked, screaming some more inside the muffled atmosphere.

Out of desperation, she charged her strongest magic bolt, and let it go.




"...And now the ceiling is scorched."

"Great. The land lord will not be happy." I had said the first thing to come to mind. The account of the nightmare did calm my nerves, but It also reinforced my suspicions.

"I don't think a scorch mark is our biggest concern, Louis." Chelsea cut in. She then spent the next couple of minutes asking the other five ponies what their nightmares were like. They did vary from Twilight's, but not significantly enough to deny that something was definitely wrong.

A thought occurred to me.

There is no question that we're going to need the equipment we ordered. If Everfree fell through a hole, who knows what other hostile environments may follow... And monsters. I don't want to be caught scaling a mountain, being chased by a dragon, and not having the gear to help me ascend. And the cold environments: The old man told us specifically not to rely on the gloves and hoof covers to keep us warm. What would happen if we lost those? Aaaugh, so much to worry about!

"Okay, guys. I panicked. We can't go anywhere without the stuff we ordered. It's too dangerous. Let's just wait until tomorrow when it comes in, and then we can all go in a panicked rush."

Applejack looked relieved. "You said it. I'm going to sleep now." She buried herself under the covers quickly. While Rainbow Dash followed suit in about the same manner, The other four ponies continued to look at me.

It was time for a pep talk, it seemed. I got down on my knees, and focused my gaze on them.

"Uh... I think I know what you're going through here, and I'm trying my best to help you fix this."

They stared in mild confusion. Pinkie moaned quietly, but nopony spoke up.

"It's just that... This is tough for me too, I guess. I've been wracking my brain for the past 48 hours to find a solution to a problem that's outside my experience, and my only leads have been from an old man none of us know, and a set of extremely disturbing dreams that don't really point to anything specific.

Worse yet, if I screw up somehow, who knows what will happen? Chelsea had a nasty run-in with some Poison Joke, and It was just luck that Zecora was there to save her in time. What if we get into something nastier?

...Okay, sorry. This isn't helping anyone." I began to head back upstairs, when I heard Pinkie say something. I almost missed it because it was so soft.

"Optimism, Captain." Pinkie said with a silly smirk.

That alone somehow helped me considerably.




Starry Lanes staggered through the frostbitten forest he landed in. He was tired and freezing, and the light spell he had been using was doing his endurance no favors.

This can't be real. This isn't real. I was just in my bed! It's got to be a dream. It can't be anything else. I know it.

A gust of frigid wind blew over him, and he let out a small cry as it tore through his shallow fur and went strait to the bone. He kept going, and grasped desperately onto the hope that he'd wake up.

Wind blew in his ears.

Leaves crunched underhoof.

His breath rasped as the frost made his throat raw.

Minutes passed.

An hour passed.

Finally, after what seemed like all night, the little colt stumbled upon a strange clearing. It had no leaves to speak of on the ground, and a completely random cotton bag in it's center. The place was unsettling, but something had been telling him to go there since he got to the forest.

He put more strength into his light spell, and cautiously approached the piece of litter. His body tingled in an unsettling way, but he didn't stop or turn back.

Something snapped in the background. He completely stopped moving as his head whipped towards the source.

"Hello? ...Mom? ...Dad?" He questioned the source hopefully, although his head told him that they wouldn't be here.

He got within a yard of the bag, and his approach got much slower. He could barely stand the impending sense of danger it was giving off, but still couldn't stop... Almost like something was pulling him.

It's tendril was wrapped around the colt like an iron vice, although he couldn't possibly notice the grip.

It had gripped the bicyclist in the same, subtly strong method to prevent It's continued affliction of curses from the disgustingly decrepit human that had been passing down It's path for weeks. It was thankful that the human never saw the wisdom in It's outright destruction, but would make sure that he was eliminated while still outside of the knowledge of It's upcoming transformation.

...Starry tentatively poked the bag with a hoof. It seemed safe...




A loud voice erupted from the bag as it shot towards Starry's face.

"FINALLY MINE!"

The crimson coated colt had no time to react before it covered his head. The blood vessels in his ears thumped as he kicked at the cotton material and shrieked. Tears of sheer terror streamed down his muzzle as the situation began to look more and more hopeless.

The material expanded and engulfed his forelegs. Bone-chilling laughter rang loudly in his ears as the horrible tingle reached it's peak. He tried using telekinetic magic as he grew more desperate, but it seemed to only cause the trap to progress further.

The little colt put up a huge fight for 2 minutes, but could not keep it up when the bag got to his knees.

He instead screamed, yelled, hollered, and made as much noise as he possibly could until his throat went sore. The formerly small sack engulfed him completely. His ears rung from the horrid laughter until he couldn't stand it any longer.

"SHUT UP!" Words never came out of the colt's mouth, but the voice in the sack became silent. Starry was further shocked by this odd occurrence.

The wind blew as Starry shifted nervously.

"I take it you're surprised, Starry Lanes? It's not every day somepony encounters a silencing spell."

"What do you want with me?" Once again, nothing came out. The little colt squinted his eyes shut, trying not to think about how hopelessly trapped he was. It did him no good.

"Why would anypony want anypony else? It always stems from a need: A longing for love or companionship, a powerful thirst for revenge or blood, a potent need for guidance or assistance, or perhaps... A desire for a key or tool?"

"You want to kill me? What did I do to you?"

"Nothing. You are simply a naive foal with untapped potential, and I'm going to drain it dry to fulfill my goals. You are a tool. Tools are always used when obtainable."

Starry's horn glowed, and he could feel energy being pulled from his laylines. Air sucked towards a point and started forming into matter: Magic completely outside Starry's will and skill level.

A new wave of terror rushed through the colt, bringing energy to kick at the bag and scream once more. Still no sound came out of his mouth, and exhaustion took him quickly as his magic trickled dry. He was reduced to laying limp, gloomily accepting that he was now a power generator for some malevolent entity without a face.

Several minutes passed, as the matter began to form a silhouette.

This time, the voice came from the new shape. "I really must thank you for being so cooperative. There are no other ponies of your magical strength living in Equestria, and it's fortunate I managed to find you... What a shame you will never be able to utilize your power for yourself." It twisted the truth with perfectly even tone of voice and crushed the little colt's hope.

"What are you doing with me?"

"Ah yes. I don't suppose there's any harm in telling you, since you will remain silent as long as you are in that sack."

Blood red and dark blue began to show up in the silhouette.

"So deep and strong is your wellspring of magic that I can create a true vessel to house my soul, instead of that pathetic sack you're inside of."

Details began to show up in the silhouette: It was proving to be huge.

"With this new body, I will be able to channel my magic in it's full potential, and will have little use for you."

The foggy figure turned it's menacing head towards the sack, picked it up, and tied the straps around it's neck.

"I'll only keep you alive to stabilize my body. You will not be granted freedom at any cost, for what you know could easily be told. My magic will sustain you and keep you from making your escape or speaking. I advise that you get used to your situation, for I have a certainty that you will be there for a long time."

Angry tears silently fell down the colt's face as he was suspended from the thing's neck.

It chuckled with cruel mirth, sending chills down Starry's back. "Ha ha ha ha... Don't cry, little foal. At least you'll stay warm."

The silhouette finally took shape, suddenly depressing the leaves under It's hooves. It stood at 10 feet tall on all four hooves, covered in blood red fur and dark blue mane. It's singular unicorn horn curved upwards to a nasty point. It mostly looked like a huge unicorn, but for more than a few odd features.

It's bright blue irises left no room for the whites of the eyes, and the slitted pupils showed bright yellow. Bright blue lines glowed in a network along It's fur, and armor covered It's body partially.

Most disturbing, however, was the two arms composed of hovering metal and bright red gemstones that connected to the base of It's neck. As with the horn, massive quantities of thaumic energy hummed off of them, and Starry could feel all of it.

Starry mustered up the courage to ask another question.

"Who are you?"

"I am The Stallion of Dusk and Ice, Nightmare Moon's Vicious Revenge, and he who brings terrible ills ravaging every kingdom. I am your new prince of Equestria and many many more universes to come. I am the continuer of Nightmare Moon's noble work.

I am Tirek, And you will do well to remember me."






I figuratively require you to view the source. It looks much better there!

Since this is such a huge picture, you all cannot say I never did anything for you!

...Anyway, I kinda feel my writing style going flat. If you agree, please give me some suggestions to make it better. I'd appreciate any help that comes my way.

Pony on, Bronies!

-Electroshock