//------------------------------// // Chapter 09: On Edge // Story: Nightmares // by unoservix //------------------------------// Nightmares ——— Chapter 9: On Edge ——— "How did this even happen?!" wailed Twilight Sparkle—just before Nightmare Storm launched a withering volley of magic blasts that sent her and her friends skittering apart. "Applejack, what happened?!" "Ah dunno, Spike 'n Fluttershy said she was just sleepin', then all of the sudden she comes on out!" "How this happened is of little concern right now!" bellowed Princess Luna, and the princess of the night flung herself in between the advancing shade and the stunned ponies. "I will deal with this!" "You had best stand aside, princess," snarled Nightmare Storm. "I will not be stopped this time!" Twilight jumped up next to Luna. "What the hay happened!? Tell me!" Nightmare Storm's eyes glittered with contempt. "You didn't think that little suppression spell would hold me down forever, did you? All it accomplished was to let me consolidate my power, all while you engaged in all these petty theatrics with my host. And now," she grinned and sparks danced around her horn, "I will be fulfilled!" "Not if I have anything to say about it!" cried Luna, and she fired forward a blazing beam of white light. Nightmare Storm deflected the blow with a shimmering blue barrier and backed away, launching off a hail of bolts to knock the others off-balance. Twilight flung up a translucent shield and started forward. "Trixie, I know you're in there somewhere! Calm down!" "Fool!" crowed Nightmare Storm. "We are one and the same—a fact you should have realized by now!" The Nightmare lit up the sky with a blast of power and then attacked with another coursing beam. Twilight deflected it with her shield—but her horn strained under the blow and her muscles began to burn. Where had all this power come from...? Nightmare Storm advanced forward—but a moment later another blast came down from above that sent her scrambling back, and Princess Luna landed with a crash. "Enough of this," Luna said. "You have prowled these lands long enough." The black unicorn smiled wickedly as the two tall ponies circled each other. "You dare stand against the power of a creature like me? You, who knows our power better than anyone, will risk its wrath?" "Indeed I shall," Luna replied, "for I also know better than anyone that you can be defeated!" The princess flung herself forward, the two ponies locked horns, and then they darted apart to shower each other with blazing magical blasts. Twilight edged back to her friends and watched in wonder as the princess did battle—and from around corners and buildings, the rest of Ponyville's population seemed to be doing the same, all eyes fixed on the princess of the night in action. "I don't know what happened," Fluttershy's voice spoke up, and Twilight blinked in surprise, to find Fluttershy crouched over a weary Rainbow Dash, brushing dirt off her. "She was asleep when Spike and I last checked, so we just let her rest, but then..." "How can she even move?" Applejack grumbled. "Ah thought them bad legs of hers were gonna take weeks to heal up." Twilight frowned. "Healing spell. I read about it in the Codex." She winced as Luna took a hard kick to the ribs—and then winced again when Luna's back hoof lanced out and slammed directly in between Nightmare Storm's eyes, sending the black unicorn staggering back. "A Nightmare can call upon the dark forces to rapidly rejuvenate their bodies if need be." "Sure wish someone would've told me that before I tried to fight her," Rainbow grumbled. "So what do we do?" Rarity asked. "If she can heal from every blow we land—" "Not immediately," Twilight corrected. "Well then she'll just skedaddle somewhere 'n fix herself up anyways," Applejack interrupted. "An' if she can get past that other spell now, we're really in trouble." They all cringed as Luna sent the Nightmare sprawling with a hard right hook. "Actually, I don't know about you girls," Pinkie Pie spoke up, "but letting Princess Luna beat the stuffing out of her seems to be working pretty well so far." "How could she have gotten past the suppression spell?" Twilight murmured. "Oh no, does this mean she was waiting for me to leave for Canterlot just so she could break out?" "Um, I think we have bigger problems right now, Twilight," Rainbow said. Up above, the black unicorn with the smoky mane ducked beneath a blast from Princess Luna and landed with a bone-jarring crash. Luna came down after her with pounding hooves, but Nightmare Storm rolled to her right, sprang back up, and knocked the princess back with a quick shot of magic. Luna shook off the blow and glowered back at her opponent. "Your strength dwindles with every blow, Nightmare." Nightmare Storm smirked—and then a wall of smoke whirled up around her. Luna started forward with a shout, but too late; the smoke launched up into the air and angled off into the night. "She's getting away!" Applejack cried. The cloud of smoke rushed off towards the edge of town; Luna spread her wings, vaulted into the air, and gave chase. "Good, let her go," grumbled Rainbow Dash as she shook gravel out of her mane. "Let somepony else deal with it—" Twilight bolted after the princess and disregarded her startled friends. A promise was a promise, and there was still something in there to save. There had to be. ——— There was only one place where a creature like Nightmare Storm would want to run, pursued by the Elements of Harmony and the princess of the night; only one place where she could hope to tilt the field back in her own favor. And the more time she spent here in the Everfree Forest, the more Twilight Sparkle began to suspect there really was some intelligence at work in this bizarre place. A malevolent intelligence. Of course Nightmare Storm would choose to make her stand here. The fog was back, but Twilight plunged ahead as quickly as she could. Princess Luna had flown into the forest first, but Nightmare Storm would spare no effort to hide from the immortal princess. And there was only one thing out here that would draw her out of hiding. Twilight lit up the brightest illumination spell she could muster as she picked her way through the undergrowth. The fog shifted and writhed around her. Something in the distance howled; a chill went down the purple unicorn's spine. "I know you're out here somewhere, Trixie," she said, and her ears twitched at the sound of a twig snapping. Twilight whipped around—and there at the edge of the fog were two green, glowing eyes. "For such a genius, you never seem to learn from your mistakes," hissed Nightmare Storm, and the shadowy form of the black unicorn emerged with a flutter of her tattered cloak. Twilight put on a brave face even as she backed away. That face full of burning fury had that same pompous air to it as Trixie, and she had that shredded cloak tied around her neck, and those glittering green eyes and a horn surrounded by menacing blue sparks...Twilight cringed to think that this really was Trixie, or at least an aspect of her; her anger and hatred given physical form. "I've learned plenty," Twilight said. "For example, I've learned about you and Nightmare Inferno." "Inferno," purred Nightmare Storm, and her footfalls did not miss a beat. "So it seems you've earned more than just my wrath." Her horn flashed as blue light began to gather around it, and Twilight tensed at the sight of a charging spell. "Which means I will be making more than one of us happy tonight." The spell erupted from Nightmare Storm's horn; Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and disappeared in a flash of pink light. Nightmare Storm whipped around, eyes wide, and lashed out with her back hoof as Twilight reappeared behind her. The purple unicorn barely ducked beneath the blow and answered with a blast of her own that clipped the Nightmare's shoulder and sent her staggering back. Twilight turned and tried to gain some distance—but the fog around them both rose up, Nightmare Storm rose back to her feet with a laugh, and a ring of blue fire leapt up from the ground and reached towards the sky around them. Twilight turned back around and tried to will herself to be calm. "So this is what being 'great and powerful' looks like? You really think you'd be better than me if you turned to this Nightmare and killed me?" Nightmare Storm laughed as the flames closed in. "You speak as though I want the world's accolades," she chuckled. "No, all I really want is to kill you." Twilight scowled back. "That's weird, because Nightmare Inferno kept going on about plans, and how I was getting in the way of them. Are you just a mindless beast?" She smirked as she caught an angry twitch in Nightmare Storm's eye. "Is that all the Great and Powerful Trixie is reduced to? Just some mindless animal that chases me around and tries to kill me?" They both circled each other as the flames licked closer. "'cuz I remember the Great and Powerful Trixie having plans. Plans that were much bigger than little old me." "Fool! She can't hear you—" "Yes she can!" Twilight dug in her hooves and glared into Nightmare Storm's eyes. "She can hear me, because you're only part of her! Somewhere under all this smoke is a showmare with dreams that are bigger than you, a mare who needs a friend—and I'm going to dig her out!" She pawed at the ground and lowered her head, a spell gathering at the tip of her horn. Nightmare Storm beheld the scene for a moment and then began to laugh. "You are in no position to be making threats, little foal," she cackled. A blinding blue light began to whirl around her horn, and the black unicorn stalked forward with a wild grin. "You may think you've figured Trixie out, but you still fail to understand me." Twilight tensed; Nightmare Storm lunged forward, and the two unicorns locked horns, blue and pink light flashing around them. Twilight gritted her teeth as Nightmare Storm began to overpower her with sheer physical strength. "After all," Nightmare Storm purred, "I too am part of her—and what I want is what she wants, all the same." "Twilight Sparkle!" The two unicorns backed apart and looked up in surprise, just in time for a column of white light to come slamming down from the heavens into Nightmare Storm. The fog vanished, the blue flames went out, and Twilight stumbled away from the force of the blast—and the next thing she knew, Applejack and Fluttershy were putting her back on her feet. She looked back over her shoulder to find her friends around her, staring at her with expressions that ran the gamut from shock to outrage. "What the hay were you thinkin', comin' out here alone?!" Applejack cried, evidently representing outrage. "At least tell us when you're gonna do somethin' like that!" "A-Are you okay—" Fluttershy started. "That's it, no more fooling around!" Rainbow cut her off. "I'm flying to Canterlot to go get the Elements!" Twilight shrugged them off and turned her eyes back towards the middle of the clearing. Nightmare Storm went flying from another pulsing blast in the face from Princess Luna's horn, and this time she skidded to a halt, smoke rising from her body, and did not get up again. Luna landed with a crunch of leaves and stalked forward, horn lit up with shining bolts of magic. "It is time we finished this, Nightmare," she said, and another beam began to build at the tip of her horn. "Your reign of terror ends here—" "No!" In a flash of pink light, Twilight Sparkle appeared between the princess and her fallen foe—to the shock of every eye watching. Luna jerked back in disbelief. "Wh-What is this?!" "Don't hurt her, Princess Luna!" cried Twilight. "Please!" "Twilight Sparkle," boomed the princess, "it is evident beyond doubt that this creature is of great danger to Equestria. And now that she has overcome the suppression spell there is no other option. Stand aside." "Trixie is still in there," Twilight answered, "and I'm not giving up on her yet!" "Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Seriously, she's nuts!" Twilight dug her hooves in and glared back at Luna. "I promised Trixie, when I went to Canterlot, that I would find out what happened to her parents. And I promised everyone, even Princess Celestia, that I would try to get rid of this Nightmare without hurting her." Twilight's friends came galloping up to the princess's side. "Twilight, this is insane!" Rarity cried. "You can't make friends with someone who doesn't want to be friends!" "This is why I said we should just fry her right from the start!" Rainbow added. "U-Um, but—" started Fluttershy. "Twilight Sparkle, I cannot allow this creature to run free in our kingdom," Luna said with an imperious stroke of her wings. "Stand aside and I will finish the deed." "I can't do that." "Then you will regret that!" Everyone turned at the sound of Nightmare Storm's voice, as the black unicorn struggled back to her feet, twitching with rage. Twilight glared back. "You still want to kill me, Trixie? Then fine." "What?!" yelped Applejack. "Are you nuts?!" "Twilight, what the heck are you doing—" Rainbow began—only for Princess Luna to snap her wings open and block her friends' path. "What are you planning, Twilight Sparkle?" the princess asked—but Twilight kept her eyes fixed on the trembling black unicorn. "Go ahead," she said. "Kill me. And then you'll never know what happened to your parents—and you'll go back to being alone. No friends. No hope. The princesses will have no choice to kill you. And that's how it will all end for you—consumed by a monster you created yourself. No more shows, no more audiences, nothing. Are you willing to do that?" Nightmare Storm let loose a cruel laugh. "You are an even greater fool than I thought," she said, and a blinding blue light began to charge at the end of her horn. "Prepare to die!" "Twilight!" Applejack screamed; Luna reached forward and shoved Twilight aside— ...and no blast came. Nightmare Storm's eyes flashed wide, the light vanished, and she fell to the ground with a painful scream. Everyone watched with bated breath as Nightmare Storm pressed herself against the ground, hooves over head, tail thrashing. "No...!" she ground out through clenched teeth. "I...I will kill you!" The Nightmare screwed her eyes shut, her face contorted with pain—and then she disappeared beneath a veil of churning smoke. "She's teleporting again!" Luna cried, and stepped forward—and then bolts of lightning lanced out from the smoke to drive her back. "What is she—" And then the smoke parted, the magic vanished, the bolts dissipated into the air—and on the ground in front of them all sat not a tall and furious black unicorn, but a bruised and shivering blue one. "T-Trixie...?" Twilight started. "She...transformed back?" Fluttershy whispered. "She can control it?" Luna sat in stunned silence. Twilight started forward. "Trixie, are you okay?" "Wh-Wh-what happened?" Trixie gasped. "Why—how—am I—" "She overpowered the Nightmare," Luna murmured. "Remarkable..." Rarity cleared her throat. "Um, begging Your Highness's pardon, but what exactly does that mean?" Twilight turned around before anyone else could speak. "It means you guys are wrong. We can still help her." She glanced back at Trixie and stepped back towards her protectively. "It's just like the story of Nightmare Nebula. Flicker knew she was getting somewhere when Nebula was able to stop herself from doing terrible things. Able to exercise control over the Nightmare." "Yeah, and what's gonna stop her the next time she gets all mad?" Rainbow shouted back. "Am I the only one here who remembers that she was a bloodthirsty monster, like, a minute ago?!" "Calm down, Rainbow Dash," Luna said, extending a wing in front of her. "But Princess Luna—" "Calm down." She turned back towards Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, you are running out of chances. Nightmare Storm could have destroyed the entire town if she had so wished. Regardless of what Trixie feels, the Nightmare can and will act on its own." She looked meaningfully into Twilight's eyes. "I should know. Do not doubt its power, or its capacity for destruction." "Twi, this is crazy," Applejack groaned. "Why are you so up in arms about this? Ya weren't that worried about savin' Discord! And he wasn't even tryin' to kill ya!" Fluttershy quietly skirted around them and drifted over to Trixie. "Wait, Fluttershy, what are you doing?" exclaimed Rainbow. "She's hurt," said Fluttershy, and she bent down over the trembling pony. Twilight fixed the rest of her friends with a hard look. "I'm not giving up on her. So if you want to, you'll have to go through me." "T-Twilight," Rainbow started, "are you serious—" "Well!" chirped Pinkie Pie, who promptly bounced over Rainbow's head, landed in front of her, and whirled around to face her in one dizzying motion, "I am totally in favor of not reducing our newest friend to a pile of smoking ashes!" "What—newest friend?!" Rainbow squawked. "Whose side are you on, Pinkie?!" "Enough," said Luna, and every pony in the clearing backed up a step. She turned back towards Twilight. "In light of this development, we shall leave this matter to you. But know that this is your last chance. If Nightmare Storm breaks loose again, we will have no choice but to destroy her. You know her power, and we shall not allow such a creature to threaten our subjects. Is that understood?" Twilight bowed her head. "Yes, Your Highness." Rainbow and Applejack stared in shock. "You...you're just leaving?" Rainbow asked. Princess Luna glanced back at Trixie, still curled up on the ground in sheer terror, with Fluttershy and Twilight bent over her. "It is rare for a Nightmare to act this way. Perhaps her method is working." She turned back towards the other stunned ponies. "But I will not tolerate a repeat performance of this episode." Rainbow looked back at Trixie, aghast. "No. No way. You can't ask me to do this, princess. You can't ask me to just sit here and do nothing while someone is trying to hurt my friends! You can't!" She shook her head, vaulted into the air, and took off ahead of a shimmering trail of rainbow light. Luna blew out an annoyed breath. "Sister was right. Things have gotten more complicated." Luna turned back towards a moderately stunned Applejack and Rarity. "I will return soon. My sister will want to know what has transpired here." "O-Of course, Your Highness," Rarity said with a bow. Luna promptly disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving the two ponies to look back towards the middle of the clearing—where Twilight was starting to lift Trixie up with a levitation spell. "Wow!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed and bounced back down in front of the two speechless ponies. "I don't know about you girls but this was probably the least fun night I've had in a loooooong time! Who's up for a party?" Applejack and Rarity stared back. "You're throwin' a party at a time like this?" "Well I wouldn't be Pinkie Pie if I didn't, now would I?" Rarity arched an eyebrow. "She has you there." "How 'bout later," Applejack sighed, and looked up wearily towards the fading rainbow contrail in the night sky. "'cuz right now, ah think ah need to have a talk with somepony." Rarity followed her gaze. "Oh, don't be too hard on her, darling. I can only imagine how awful this must all feel for the Element of Loyalty." "Yeah. But ah'd better talk to her anyways, 'fore we all go crazy." ——— It was an hour before Fluttershy finished fussing over Trixie's injuries and went back home—and thankfully, Princess Luna had taken care not to do permanent damage to the rejuvenated Nightmare Storm. But the battle with the princess of the night had fractured a few more of her bones, which meant Twilight had to set that ancient healing spell to work again—and in the morning, Trixie was going to be so sore and stiff she would be absolutely seething with contempt for everything around her. Spike, in the meantime, had gone back to bed and fallen back asleep before his head had even hit the pillow. That left Twilight, alone with the silent blue unicorn in the flickering light of a lone candle on the nightstand. She dimly wondered if maybe she shouldn't have gone to Canterlot after all, or sent Spike to go do the research—both to avoid Nightmare Inferno and to stay here and prevent Nightmare Storm's return. She felt completely drained, and she still had one more painful, difficult task ahead of her. It was one thing to be nearly killed by some mysterious evil shade that had fooled her for so long, hiding in plain sight behind an unassuming guise; it was another to have to go back to Ponyville and protect Trixie from the entirely reasonable slings and arrows of her friends—and, for that matter, Princess Luna herself. She could hardly blame them for being upset. And she was acutely aware that Luna's patience had run thin; if she'd been in anyone else's position, she would probably have done as they had done. Then again, she wasn't in anyone else's position, because no one else's position was one that looked at this shivering pony and saw a victim, underneath all the bluster and bravado and snarling demonic alter ego. Underneath all that was a pony that was hurting—and Twilight steeled herself, because now she had to inflict a lot more hurt. But first... Trixie eyed her cautiously in the candlelight. "So..." "I need to ask you about a pony named Seesaw—" Twilight started. "What about my parents?" Trixie interrupted, and Twilight's heart sank. Apparently they would have to get to that first. Well, fair enough; Seesaw could wait. "You promised me you'd find out about them." Twilight turned towards her saddlebag, opened it with a puff of magic, and pulled out a piece of paper. "I...yes, I did." "Well?" A bolt of fear went through her eyes. "You...you did find out, right? What happened to them?" Twilight wordlessly lifted the Royal Guard's report over to her, and watched as she began to read—and then as the fear turned into disbelief, and pain, and sadness, and shock, all rolled into one tidal wave of emotion. "There's some newspaper clippings too," Twilight added quietly, "but that's all I could find, and all of it agrees..." "They...died?" whispered Trixie, and the tears began to flow. "They died and no one ever told me?" Twilight opened her mouth with a ready stream that of alternative hypotheses that had occurred to her during her search through the archives. Maybe there was some other pair of unicorns named Starstreak and Shimmer Lulamoon, or maybe there was a mistake, or maybe they'd actually survived and the Guard hadn't recorded that, or maybe something else—but when she looked down at Trixie, choking back sobs as the reality sunk in and tears staining the page in front of her, it all seemed petty and stupid. Princess Celestia's words came back to her. Trixie didn't need vanishingly unlikely alternative hypotheses right now; she needed a friend. And so, Twilight put her arms around the weeping unicorn and pulled her close, and they stayed that way for the rest of the night. ——— Applejack took roughly fifteen minutes to find the tree where Rainbow Dash had decided to take refuge from everything. For some reason the rainbow-colored pegasus liked to hang out on Sweet Apple Acres when something was bugging her, setting up camp in one of the apple trees and pouting or whatever it was she did up there. The moodier she got, the farther away from the house her chosen tree would be. And right now she was pretty darn moody, so it took Applejack fifteen minutes just to march down in the dark through the fields to the southwestern edge of the property. "So RD," Applejack said, nice and loud and directed at the rainbow tail hanging down from one of the trees, "are you gonna come down from there yourself or am ah gonna have to drag ya down?" "Leave me alone," Rainbow Dash's muffled voice floated back down. "No can do, sugarcube." She sat down next to the sturdy trunk with a heavy sigh. "Ah mean, ah can understand what's got y'all upset. Everythin's been all crazy lately. Rarity's shop got robbed, all these new ponies in town, Twilight an' Trixie an' whatever's goin' on with them, now we got a dang princess showin' up an' we gotta fight for our lives or whatever." "Oh, I can deal with that," Rainbow grumbled. "Sure don't look that way, sugarcube." "Yeah, well, fine, you want to know what's up?" She hopped down from the tree. "That is why ah came out here," Applejack said. "Ah know this all started when we brought back Trixie, but you ain't still mad about her magic show, are ya?" Rainbow scowled and looked away. "Ah mean, she made me look dumb too, but hey, that ain't nothin' ah never did to myself." "That's not it," Rainbow grumbled. "It's...gah, I don't even know! That's the problem!" She flopped down on the ground and moaned. "How am I supposed to tell anypony what's bugging me so much if I don't even know what it is?" Applejack glanced away awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, good question." "I mean, fine, okay, I don't like her," Rainbow went on, "but yeah, Twilight's right, killing her wouldn't be very fair. But then that monster keeps coming back, and it sure isn't worried about being fair, and Twilight keeps trying to get rid of it without just doing it the easy way, and I'm supposed to just sit here and grin and pretend that my friend isn't staying in the same house with something that keeps trying to hurt her?" She groaned and buried her face in her hooves. "It's driving me nuts!" "Maybe you should try talkin' to Trixie. Y'know, try to make friends." Rainbow stared back disbelievingly. "You know, AJ, let's be honest here. I think that would end really, really badly." Applejack cringed at the thought and felt stupid for a moment. "Yeah, you're probably right." She pawed at the ground awkwardly for a moment. "Then again, ain't lookin' like Trixie's gonna go away anytime soon. Ah dunno if you've noticed, but this sure seems to mean a lot more to Twi than just doin' the right thing, y'know? Like she's really serious about bein' Trixie's friend." "Don't even get started on that," Rainbow moaned. "I'm having enough problems here as it is." "Well, look, ah'm just sayin', looks like we're gonna have to get used to Trixie bein' here for a good long while." Applejack glanced back towards the town again. "Looks like Twi was serious about makin' friends with her. An' if that's the case, then we're gonna have to find a way to get along with her no matter what. 'cuz it won't help matters none if we don't." She looked back down at Rainbow with a frown. "Anyways, she can't be all that bad if Twi's willin' to stand up to a dang princess for her." Rainbow pouted. "I still feel weird about this." "Whaddya mean?" "Well...weird. Like something else is going on here that I don't understand, and it's gonna be a really big deal and it's gonna change a whole lot of things and," a flash of sadness raced across her features, "and we won't be friends anymore or something." Applejack bent down until she was level with the blue pegasus. "Sugarcube, ain't nothin' gonna stop us all from bein' friends. Nothin' in this good green world gonna do that. You know that." "I know," Rainbow mumbled, "and I really wish I knew why I felt this way, but..." She shook her head. "I can't figure it out. And I'd ask Twilight, but, well, yeah." "Ah know what ya mean," Applejack said, and put a comforting hoof on her friend's shoulder. "It's all crazy right now. But, y'know, Twi's gonna need us here, to help her make this whole thing work—an' to stop her from doin' somethin' really stupid if that's what it comes down to. An' ah know we can count on you for that." "Yeah, yeah," Rainbow said, and slowly got back to her feet. "I'm not the Element of Loyalty for nothing, you know." "Glad to hear it, sugarcube." Applejack lifted her head back and yawned. "Now, what say we all just go back home an' get some sleep, and sort this mess out in the mornin'?" Rainbow smiled. "You had me at 'sleep.'" "'course ah did. Sweet dreams, RD." They shared a quick hug and Rainbow took the skies for her house in the clouds—and Applejack watched her go for a moment before turning back towards her own home. It bugged her too. Rainbow Dash was right to feel weird about this. It was the sort of thing where Applejack was out of her depth, and that meant she would have to turn to someone who had a bit more experience with this sort of thing. She grimaced as she made her way back home. Rarity would never let her live it down. It was going to be horrible. ——— It was so adorable it bordered on the saccharine. Veiled in an invisibility spell and sheathed in the shadows, Lapis Lazuli watched grimly from the library's balcony as Twilight and Trixie slept—now that Trixie had pretty much cried herself to sleep, anyways. It was, indeed, intolerable to think that the whole plan had failed so thoroughly. She had willingly stayed behind in Ponyville, lurking in the shadows and making sure that nothing from this provincial little village disrupted the plan in Canterlot. Instead, Nightmare Storm had emerged, all on her own, and wreaked chaos until the whole town quaked at her feet—and then a bloody princess showed up and beat her down, and the whole thing was for naught. She ground her teeth in frustration. It was probably Barbell and his flunkies' fault. It had all been planned so perfectly, even if it was risky—and few could match her master for disarming charm and charisma. Yet Nightmare Inferno had taught her, time and time again, to seek opportunities in the midst of setbacks. That was how his centuries-long plan had gotten this far; that was how it would proceed. And so there was, somewhere in all this mess, an opportunity to be found. Lazuli could not see it; all she saw was a proud pony finally driven into despair, and once in its depths, she had discovered the friend she'd always had and never recognized until now. That was how Nightmare Nebula had met her end. That was how hatred began to die. That was the beginning of the end of their valuable distraction—and to think Inferno had even revealed himself to his adversaries in the bold light of the moon... She closed her eyes. Opportunities. Opportunities amid setbacks. She could not see it, but her master would—and that, after all, was why he was her master. Lapis Lazuli glowered back at Twilight and Trixie one more time, and then vanished into the night. ———