//------------------------------// // The Nightmare Thickens // Story: Honor Above All Else // by Honored Service //------------------------------// Honor Above All Else Chapter 14 By Honored Service I very slowly and cautiously, began moving down the sand dune, scratch that, sand mountain the ancient ruins of Hum-gia. Nightmare then began to explain to me more about the Nightmare. I am the Nightmare, or to be more precise, I am a part of the Nightmare. “Wait what? I thought you were the Nightmare?” I scratched my head as I struggled to move out of the sand. Yes I am, but I am also a part of the Nightmare. When I attacked this place, I wasn't alone. I was leading a giant cloud of Nightmare. To sum it up, I used some evil magic and may have turned some innocent ponies and other sentient creatures into Nightmare beings as well to aid me. I was silent as I began to process the information that the Nightmare, or at least a part of the Nightmare was telling me. I was in control, or at least I was, until the old humans blew me and the others to pieces with their lightbombs. “Lightbombs?” Okay my mind was fucked. More Nightmares. Lightbombs. This is just getting more and more complex. How many other damn secrets was I going to find out about humans, and the thing living in my head. Myself and the collected mass of Nightmares, nearly two thousand strong, attacked the city. Now we came as a solid sheet of darkness. What is the best way to get rid of the dark? It hit me. “You turn on the lights. Lightbombs.” Exactly. Good you're catching on fast. These bombs cut through us in seconds. The light was so powerful that it could have crushed us into nothingness. I was about to ask the Nightmare how he had escaped into the basement of the building where he had killed Sheildstrong, but stopped when my foot hit something solid. I looked down and saw I was standing on pavement. I was on ground level in the crumbling ancient city. “Wait, what did you mean could have crushed you into nothingness?” I felt an uneasy feeling sinking into my gut. I was getting there. The Nightmare can’t be stopped that easily, it takes a lot more than some bombs to destroy the actual essence of the Nightmare. The Nightmare only needs darkness and powerful objects to survive. “And the ancient Human city had both.” It dawned on me. The ancient humans had electricity thus, literally, powered objects. And the city itself was covered in darkness from the ashes that was caused by the bombs. The ancient humans had meant to destroy the Nightmare, but they had succeeded in only creating a time capsule for it. Honored, this city isn’t a grave for the ancient humans – “It’s an incubator keeping the Nightmare alive.” I unslung my rifle and loaded a full magazine into it. The scream sounded out again, this time followed by mad laughter, which sent chills through my bones. I'm sorry Honored. I should have told you sooner. Now we are both going to die. I don’t control the Nightmare any more. I'm the only sane part of it left. “And that’s saying something.” My humor just didn’t seem to work this time. I watched as all around me shadows moved along the walls and crept all over the destroyed buildings. I kept spinning around, trying to follow one with my rifle, but to no avail. The screaming and laughter continued to it pounded on my brain. I heard a foot steep echo from behind me and turned on my heel, bringing the rifle up as I did so and froze. I was staring down the scope at a shape in the middle of the street that rested on two legs. It had two arms that hung limply at its side. Black smoke seemed to rise off its body as two piercing blood red eyes stared me down. I gulped and clicked the safety off. All of a sudden more footsteps echoed from behind me. I turned my head to see that fifty feet behind me, the street was filled with hundreds of dark human shadows with blood red eyes. I turned back to face the one and jumped backwards as it was suddenly within touching distance. It had moved silently, to mere inches from the barrel of my rifle. It reeked of rotting flesh and continued to stare at me with unmoving red eyes that spoke of nothing but pain and evil. Slowly its mouth opened and then the mouth spilt vertically so the mouth had four jaws stretched as wide as my head. And this shadow nightmare demon screamed that blood curling scream. For the first time since coming to Equestria, I was truly scared. To the bone scared, knowing that for once, I may have met my match. I'm so sorry Honored. Please forgive me.