//------------------------------// // Five - Petrified // Story: The Eternal Storm 2 - Eternally Devoid // by TDarkchylde //------------------------------// Eternally Devoid - Chapter 5 - Petrified "...I hope you get your way... but what a price to pay..." Identity is an odd thing, isn't it dear? It's not a clear-cut division, it is more like a spectrum. Extremes exist at opposite sides. In the middle, you ponies firmly know just who and what you are. Most ponies are like this. At one time, you may have even been like this. ...Oh, do wake up, dear. This is somewhat important. ...Ughhh... what happened? Welcome back, Trixie. Briefly, but still. The Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare was just explaining something that will prove very interesting to you. Dread and omnipotent... what is going on? Why are you in the Great and Powerful Trixie's mind? She demands you leave at once! Oh... you invited the Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare into your mind when you made your plea for more power, remember? Do try to keep up. As it is, the Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare will certainly not be leaving. Yet. The time comes soon, but hasn't yet. Unacceptable! Leave The Great and Powerful Trixie before she destroys you! See, dear, you are at one extreme of the identity spectrum. Your ego has grown so large and overbearing that you are attempting to move beyond it. You overestimate your own importance and ability... destroying The Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare is far beyond you. You tried to be something more than a pony... you tried to become a brand. Believe me, The Dread and Powerful Nightmare dislikes that trait of yours, but it won't be enough to drive her away. "Her." In Father's name, do the words "I" or "me" even exist in your vocabulary? How dare you speak to... That's quite enough of that, dear. You belong to The Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare, now and forever. Observe your place. ...forgive this mare, Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare... she meant not to interrupt you... wait, why is this mare saying these things... ...And just as easily, you could end up at the other end of the spectrum. Your identity is gone - you are no longer a pony - you are but an object, a plaything to be used by The Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare as she sees fit. ...if that is how it must be, Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare... this mare will obey. At this end of the spectrum, you are completely powerless... you are nothing. The Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare actually prefers you this way while she can stomach you being awake, so you shall stay that way. For now, though, your lesson is complete. Sleep. ...this mare obeys... The Dread and... Omnipotent... Nightmare... ...Broken so easily. She flew so high, which just left her further to fall. So be it. The Dread and Powerful Nightmare senses you, Element of Magic... and Father is on his way as well... this will get very entertaining in short order. The pieces are falling into place. It is time for The Dread and Powerful Nightmare to set the next part of her glorious plan into motion... ..:://=||=\\::.. Day broke over Equestria as Princess Celestia used the last of her magic to guide the sun over the horizon. "I could have spared myself enough magic to put it away tonight if that crowd of protesters hadn't distracted me with their chanting all night..." she lamented. As if on cue, the crowd could be heard chanting. "Off with Celestia's head!" "At least they haven't turned on you yet, Sister," Celestia sighed. The crowd responded as if they had heard her. "Off with Luna's head!" "Would you please stop giving the angry mob ideas?" Luna shouted. "At least they don't know some of the things that have actually happened..." Celestia said as she tried to hide her head underneath a pillow. "SEND THEM TO THE MOON!" the crowd shouted in reply. "...Perhaps you should just be quiet for a while, Sister," Luna said, her irritation growing by the second. Celestia sighed as her irritation also was becoming evident. "Perhaps you could try talking some sense into them, then?" "You wouldn't be asking me to do that if you remembered what happened the last time I tried to talk sense into an angry mob," Luna retorted. "Those poor griffins..." Celestia recalled in horror. "...And they still don't trust us to this day," Luna said. "The best thing we can do right now is to let the guards continue to hold them back while Twilight and Spike try to put an end to this new Nightmare persona." "...We both know we're running out of time, though," Celestia lamented. "I don't have enough magic to raise the sun again, and I don't imagine your magic is in much better shape." "You're right..." Luna regretfully admitted. "I could probably put the sun away tonight for you, then raise the moon... and that would be pushing it." "...And then... nothing..." Celestia said, shaken. "Twilight will succeed," Luna said, though the tone of her voice betrayed that even she was not certain of the truth of her words. "...But surely, you have a backup plan in case she fails... right?" "In time, the sun and moon would start to move on their own should neither of them be under our guidance..." Celestia began. "...However, if it should come to that, they would remain out of our control forever. No... unless the magic returns soon, we as a species may be doomed. Our way of life would be over." Luna gasped as she realized the ramifications of the current crisis. ..:://=||=\\::.. Scootaloo woke up as the sun ascended from the horizon. She quickly looked over at her mentor, who was still in traction and being monitored closely. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash was still breathing. She had made it through the night. She was still in very bad shape and had not regained consciousness, but there was hope. "...She isn't out of the woods yet, but we're hoping she'll make a full recovery," Nurse Redheart said cautiously from outside the door to Dash's room. "Honestly, I'm baffled as to how she could have broken every bone in her body except the ones in her wings..." "Well, 'bout five years ago, there was an... incident," Applejack could be heard saying. "See, somethin' all malevolent-like took her over after she broke her wings. Somehow, it made 'em indestructible. If it weren't for her dizzy spells, she'd never'a stopped flyin'." "Interesting..." Redheart said. "It's a pity most of my unicorn staff are having problems with their magic... this could be studied and used to help pegasi who injure their own wings. As it is, I can't take the time for something like that." "Ah wish Ah could help you, but Ah don't know the first thing 'bout medicine..." Applejack admitted. "You'd want Fluttershy for somethin' like that." "If this gets much worse, I might have to get her to help out here," Redheart said. "Another ten pegasi fell out of the sky, and more and more earth ponies are coming in with broken bones. I don't know what's happening. By tomorrow we'll be completely swamped and I may have to start turning ponies away." Scootaloo got to her hooves and walked toward the door. She flinched as pain reverberated through her back. Glancing back, she saw the unwelcome reminder that she hadn't escaped completely unscathed - that of her left wing in a brace. It was broken badly, there was no way she would fly again for weeks. Still, she walked to the door and opened it. Applejack turned to look at the injured young pegasus. "Scootaloo? What's the matter? Is... is somethin' wrong with Dash?" "She's still breathing," Scootaloo sighed. "Actually... whatever's going on isn't just happening here. Our accident started near Cloudsdayle, we only landed here by chance." "So... this could be happening all over Equestria?" Redheart asked, stunned. "Ain't no way to know til we can check with someone else," Applejack said. "Don't Apple Bloom have a way to get in touch with Rarity in short order? If Manehattan's havin' problems too, then we know somethin's not right." "I could run to the Boutique and ask," Scootaloo volunteered. "Please say yes. I can't stay here. I can't face Rainbow Dash right now... I'm too scared." "Ah can't leave... Macintosh still needs me here, an' at least Ah can watch Dash while you're gone," Applejack said. "You're prolly the best one to go." "Every fiber of my being says you should try to rest... "Redheart said, sighing. "...But if this is Equestria-wide..." She wrestled with her conscience for what seemed like an eternity, then finally acquiesced. "As long as you don't try to fly, there's not much else we can do for you here. Hurry, but be careful and I mean this - don't try to fly until your wing heals." Scootaloo turned to run out of the hospital when Applejack stopped her. "Whoa there... one more thing," she said. "You can't avoid havin' to face Dash. If somethin's eatin' at you, you gotta tell her. She'll hear you even if she's still sleepin'." "...How did you..." Scootaloo said, flabbergasted. "Apple Bloom is my sister, Scoots," Applejack said, smiling. "We ain't got a lot of secrets from each other. Do what you gotta do now, but you gotta come back an' talk to Dash eventually. Who knows, it might wake her up or somethin'." "I'll keep that in mind," Scootaloo said, weakly smiling. "Gotta run for now, though!" With that, she ran out of the hospital. ..:://=||=\\::.. Twilight Sparkle sighed as she finally took a brief rest. Her mind and body were arguing with each other, and her body won by shutting itself down. "I guess we'll take a break here," she said as she pulled a bottle of water from her saddlebag. Opening it wouldn't be anywhere near as easy as grabbing it, however. "Ugh... it's so hard to do this without my magic..." "Allow me," Spike said as he effortlessly opened the bottle with his claws. "Lucky you," Twilight said snarkily. "You can grab the thing." "So can earth ponies," Spike pointed out. "It's something they learn. Perhaps when this ordeal is over, you might take some time and learn for yourself." "Maybe..." Twilight said as she took a sip of the water. "I don't know how things went so wrong... " "It wasn't your fault," Spike said, trying to calm his friend down. "Maybe she's always had the potential to become a bad egg. You certainly didn't accelerate it." Twilight would have none of it. "No... even in Ponyville she wasn't bad, just... a little full of herself. Remember? She didn't free the Ursa Minor..." Spike cut his friend off. "No... but she did inspire those fancolts of hers to do it. Look, Twi... I don't know what's happened to her in five years, but we need to stop her before things get worse. "No," Twilight said as she finished her water and got up. "We need to try to get through to her while there's still time. She's trying to fight the Nightmare... I just know it. If we don't hurry, though..." She looked up at the sky. The sun was about halfway up and she figured they still had about seven hours to go. Spike facepalmed. "Yeah, yeah, ticking clock..." His wings carried him into the air slightly. "You still need to rest, though. Get on my back. I'll fly you for a little bit while you rest your hooves." Twilight didn't protest as she got onto Spike's back. Though they were almost the same size now, Spike was still more than strong enough to carry one unicorn mare a little bit of the way. With that, they flew upward, following the mountain road. ..:://=||=\\::.. Blackout and Sentinel were finding absolutely no help in New Harmony. It was as if nopony wished even to open their door, much less talk to the two guard ponies. "Hey, finally, ponies! Real live ponies! A sight for sore eyes," a voice called from behind them. "If I would have known this place would be this dead, I'd have told Hyperaktiv no thanks to coming here!" Chief Sentinel turned around at the voice. "Identify yourself," he said. "Whoa... whoa dude... no need to be so harsh," the white unicorn mare said as she backed away slightly. "Name's Vinyl Scratch." "You're the one Miss Sweetie Belle was coming to meet?" Blackout said as he recognized the name. "Well, Hyperaktiv was coming to meet with me... Sweetie was just along for the ride," Vinyl said as she looked around. "You seen her? Can't really miss her... she's pink all over and she's got this wicked curly mane..." "We did..." Chief Sentinel said. "She went missing, along with our employer. We're looking for them." "...And nopony wanted to come out and say a word," Vinyl said, knowingly. "They've been the same way since I got here. Still..." "If you know anything that'd be helpful..." Blackout offered. "I sensed a wicked vibe coming off this cottage on the hill over there," Vinyl said as she pointed to the west. "Course, now I can't sense anything, but you can't miss it. It feels like a bad trip." "We'll keep that in mind," Chief Sentinel said. "Miss Sweetie Belle is in the carriage we left just south of here... she may need the company. Since you know her..." "Yeah, sure, I'll head there," Vinyl said. "I'm sure you burly security stallions would be better off without me in the way anyway. Just be careful, okay? It felt like a really bad trip." She turned to head off to Rarity's carriage. "Ugh," Chief Sentinel sighed. "Musicians..." "She wasn't that bad," Blackout protested. Sentinel just glared at Blackout in reply. ..:://=||=\\::.. A malevolent presence made its way closer to New Harmony. It could have teleported there... but even its magic was being dampened by the force being created by the Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare. He had to settle for flying. "Stupid child," the presence thought. "While I appreciate being free again, stealing my magic is a quick way to get on my bad side. Chaos can wait... punishment comes first. Just wait until I get there, little Nightmare... you're in trouble." He laughed, but he was so high in the air that nopony heard it. "And don't think you're getting away without a visit, little ponies... I'll see you after I get my offspring in line." ..:://=||=\\::.. Apple Bloom was in the process of closing the Carousel Boutique so she could get an early lunch when the door opened. "Oh... Welcome to the Carousel Boutique, is there something I..." she began to say when she turned around and saw Scootaloo in the doorway. "Ah, it's you... what's goin' on?" she said as she reverted to her natural accent. "...I honestly did not know you could speak like that," Scootaloo said between heavy breaths. "Not important, though... do you have a way to get in touch with Rarity?" "Uh..." Apple Bloom stammered. "Well, there's the voice-throwin' talisman we use for contact between locations, but Rarity said we ain't s'posed to use it unless it's urgent." "It's urgent," Scootaloo said. "You've seen that magic's failing here, and it's failing around Cloudsdayle too. It's not just unicorns, either... it's affecting all of us. We've gotta get in touch with Rarity in Manehattan and see if it's happening there as well... heck, we could ask everywhere there's a Boutique location." "Ah got it, Ah got it..." Applebloom said, sighing. "Ah'm gonna be in so much trouble..." She waved a hoof over the talisman and activated it. Within seconds, there was a reply. "Carousel Boutique main office, this is Thimblehoof, may I help you, Ponyville location?" Apple Bloom replied. "Thimblehoof? Rarity's intern?" "Yes... is this important business?" Thimblehoof's voice replied. "We had something really important to ask Rarity," Apple Bloom said. "Is she gonna be in the office today?" "No... Miss Rarity went to New Harmony a couple of days ago to pick up a shipment of Zebra-made threads," Thimblehoof's voice replied. "Is there something I might be able to help you with?" "We're havin' problems here with magic," Apple Bloom said. "Are any of the workers at your location short of magic or anythin'?" "A few of our unicorn seamstresses did call in sick today..." Thimblehoof said. "But loss of magic? If something like that's going on, it's the first I've heard of it." "Ah see. Please, if Rarity comes back in, do let her know to call the Ponyville location," Applebloom said as she shut off the talisman. She then growled. "Ah never liked that guy... but yeah, looks like Manehattan's short of magic too." "Then it may very well be Equestria-wide..." Scootaloo sighed as she turned to walk out of the door. "We've got to talk to Applejack and Fluttershy, and try to find the others. Something's not right, and when it's not right..." She dashed outward. "Ah'll check the horn an' see if Ah can chase down Rarity," Apple Bloom said, sighing, now talking to the walls. "There goes any hope of an early lunch..." ..:://=||=\\::.. Sweetie Belle just sighed as she sat inside the carriage, waiting for the guards to return with word of her sister and Pinkie Pie. She was awoken from her fugue by knocking on the side door. "Hey, Sweet Stuff, you in there?" a voice called from outside. "Vinyl? Vinyl, is that you?" Sweetie said, surprised. "Who else would call you Sweet Stuff?" Vinyl asked, coyly. "The same pony who knows how much I dread that pet name," Sweetie replied. "Come in, Vinyl... it's fine." Vinyl opened the door and stepped into the carriage. She was in awe as she saw the interior. "Wow, girl... this carriage is downright swank. I didn't know your sister was this hooked up." "Yes... yes, she certainly is that..." Sweetie Belle sighed. "You're not still mad at her, are you?" Vinyl asked. "I just... I don't know, Vinyl..." Sweetie said, looking almost on the verge of tears. "I hated that she had me protected by her guards after her business took off, but now, now that's she's missing... Celestia, I hope she's okay..." "Well, those guards seemed to be on the ball," Vinyl said as she scooted close to Sweetie Belle. "I'm sure they'll find her and Hyperaktiv in no time, and we can get out of this freaky place. It's really giving me the creeps..." "Vinyl..." Sweetie Belle said as she started crying. "Oh, I hope they're alright... I hate this place..." Vinyl took Sweetie Belle into a hug. "Look, Sweet Stuff, it's gonna be okay. Everything will be okay..." Sweetie Belle tried to laugh, but it was weak and mixed with sobs. "I told you I hated that name, Vinyl..." Vinyl laughed softly. "Has that ever stopped me, though?" She was quickly silenced as Sweetie kissed her. "Doesn't mean I'll stop complaining..." Sweetie said as she broke off the kiss. ..:://=||=\\::.. Chief Sentinel and Blackout finally made their way to the hut Vinyl had earlier indicated. "She was right, Chief," Blackout said. "This place does feel a bit off..." "Doesn't matter," Sentinel said. "We have a job to do." He knocked on the door. "Hello in there! Can you come out for a second? We have some questions..." A voice replied from within. "Questions? Oh... there may be answers in here. Do come in, the door's open..." "I don't like this, Boss..." Blackout said. "Suck it up, Blackout..." Sentinel said, chiding his subordinate. "We're coming in. Don't try anything funny..." He opened the door. As the two guards went inside, the first thing they noticed was how dark it was inside. They could barely see past the noses on their faces. "Ah... so glad you two could come in," the strange mare's voice replied. "Ooooh... a unicorn and an earth pony... just like the unicorn and earth pony that are already here... this could be good..." "A unicorn and an earth pony?" Sentinel asked. "Two mares?" "Yes... two mares..." the strange voice replied. "Not like you, though... you're a pair of stallions..." "We are, but... what does that have to do with anything?" Blackout asked as Sentinel pulled out a baton. "Oh... nothing... that can be changed, you see..." the voice replied once more. Before Sentinel or Blackout could react, they both found themselves wrapped in fields of solid magic. Light began to return to the inside of the hut. As the light hit the guards' eyes, they could see Rarity and Pinkie Pie hanging unconscious on the far wall, bound in chains. Then they saw a large black mare who seemed to be radiating magic. "What... what is this?" Sentinel asked, surprised he was still able to talk. "Oh, this? This is just the Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare's humble temporary abode... but don't you two worry yourselves. The Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare will not hurt you... permanently..." the Dread and Powerful Nightmare said as she turned toward the two stallions. "But rest assured, it will hurt in the short term. Luckily for you, you won't remember it..." Blackout began to panic, while Sentinel just stared daggers into the Nightmare's eyes. "...However..." the Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare replied, "...you won't remember anything else, either. If you believe in any kind of celestial being, say your goodbyes now... too late. Goodbye..." As the Dread and Omnipotent Nightmare's horn began to glow, the two guards screamed in agony. They couldn't even form a coherent thought between them as their bodies were being crushed, twisted and reshaped and their selves simply ceased to be...