//------------------------------// // The Nightmare // Story: Amnesia // by Mad Hattie //------------------------------// **CONTAINS GORE** Chapter 2 Spike was gone longer than Twilight had expected. Though she noticed the dragon little in her trance-like state, she still relied on him for certain matters. Sleep was one of those things. Every night, Spike would make sure Twilight got the proper amount of rest. He’d take her books from her and gently guide her to bed. He’d tuck her in and she’d nod her thanks before closing her eyes and waiting for the nightmares to take hold once more. Twilight could have spent all night reading weren’t it not for Spike’s careful appliance of a regular sleeping schedule. Because of that, though Spike wasn’t there, she knew that this was the time she was usually guided to bed. Twilight glanced up from her book, her own home a blur to her now. For a second, she couldn’t remember how to move. She closed her eyes to gather her thoughts only to find that she was having trouble opening them again. She managed to open them to slits, her head drooping as the exhaustion hit her hard. “S-Spike?” She asked blearily before her eyes closed and her head hit the table. *THUD* As always, Twilight found herself running. She never knew why she had started, but the notion inside her was very clear. She knew something was wrong and because of that, she was running. Images of Ponyville blurred around her as she galloped down the cobblestone path. The same images over and over. The notion got stronger but Twilight wasn’t moving anywhere. Tears cascaded from her eyes as she kicked herself into full speed. Her legs ached with the effort; her mane tangled on her face where the tears had spread. Still, she didn’t stop. Because that feeling deep inside her hurt, it ached down into her very soul, poisoning her. She choked on her own breath as she galloped harder. She knew this pain, the same pain she felt every night. She knew something bad was just around the corner and even the strong notion in her soul wasn’t enough to get her there. The fear was too much. In her distorted dream she didn’t remember much of reality, but she still knew too much for her mind to trick her. She knew she couldn’t see it again. But eventually, she would. That was when the corner appeared. Always at the same time, but Twilight never remembered it. She wanted to stop, she wanted to run in the opposite direction, but now, as opposed to keeping her legs going, she couldn’t get them to stop. “No, please!” she all but screamed, turning her head away in a final effort to keep from seeing what was about to appear. But it was too late. She’d turned the corner… and there it was. Sugarcube Corner in all its glory. As opposed to the path she had been running down, Sugarcube Corner was bathed in darkness. There was no moon, no stars. Just the inky black sky and the bakery. Twilight’s legs buckled as she was left twenty paces from the doorstep. She sat in the dirt and waited. It started with high pitched giggles. Laughter that Pinkie Pie was renowned for. But it wasn’t her usual laughter, it was darker… tainted. The laughter got harder and faster, louder and louder until Twilight was holding her hooves over her ears to keep it from consuming her. Then, the laughter quietened for a new noise. The doors to Sugarcube Corner crashed open as two official police officer stallions dragged out a bright pink form. Her laughter sounded more like shrieks now as her blood drenched hooves caught a hold of the doorway on her way out. The smell hit Twilight hard and she found herself fighting nausea. Pinkie Pie was draped in a cape made out of an assortment of cutie marks, she wore a necklace of Unicorn horns and attached to the front of her cape was a decorative assortment of Pegasus wings. “But Dashie’s wings are still in there!” she cackled as the wood on the doorframe splintered with her effort to hold on, “Let me collect them, I swear I’ll be good after that!” Twilight had seen this happen so many times, but it never ceased in disgusting her. She fell to the floor, landing roughly on her stomach as Pinkamena Diane Pie was put into a strait jacket and roughly thrown into the police carriage. The laughter continued, however. She just wouldn’t stop. Twilight tried to bury her face into the dirt, but the rules of her nightmare were cruel. She had to keep watching. She had to see the second act. “There’s my Dashie!” Pinkie shrieked from the carriage. Twilight’s stomach rebelled, but her nightmare wouldn’t let her throw up like she had done back in reality. Her head was taken upwards by an invisible force as the medical crew dragged the mangled remains of Rainbow Dash out on a stretcher. Her stomach had been torn to pieces; her flank missing her cutie mark. Her wings were missing, leaving chunks of ragged flesh in their place. Dried blood coated almost every inch of her and as the stretcher hit a bump on a rock, a piece of Dash’s larger intestine broke free and hung from her side. Twilight screamed in a mixture of pure fear and disgust. She felt both her heart and soul break as the mangled remains of her best friend was taken to the hospital. There, her corpse would be stitched up as best as possible, her wings would be reattached, but her cutie mark was already a part of Pinkie’s cape and had been kept with the evidence at the police department in Canterlot. Twilight cried freely, screaming for all it was worth as Pinkie’s laughs circled her ears and Rainbow Dash’s final screams filled the air. The stallions passed her on their way to the medical carriage and once more Twilight’s head was pulled upwards to meet the glazed rose gaze of her best friend. Dash had died with her eyes still open, a sick mockery of her last moments plastered onto her face. Twilight felt her body shaking as the body disappeared into the medical carriage. She didn’t know what to do. She felt lost. She couldn’t function. She could only lie in the dirt alone in the dark and wait for Spike to wake her up. But Spike didn’t come. Instead, Twilight was left there, longer than usual in the darkness. But it wasn’t dark anymore. Slowly, a light rose into the sky. Too dim to be the sun, but bright enough to draw Twilight’s attention. She shakily raised her head to see the face of Princess Luna delicately embedded into the craters of the moon. Suddenly, there was a presence beside her and along with that presence came the feathery warmth of a single wing as it hooked around Twilight’s shaking body. Twilight was too shocked to react; she simply curled further in on herself and stared at the dirt. “My, what a nightmare.” Though the voice didn’t hold the almighty power that Twilight had almost grown used to in the youngest Princess, she still knew it was Luna. Her tone had softened for Twilight’s benefit as she nuzzled her cheek ever so gently, “You realise you are safe, do you not?” Twilight closed her eyes, trying hard to blink away the tears, “P-princess Luna… h-how a-are you…?” Luna chuckled softly and wound her wing further around the young Unicorn, “I am the Princess of the night, it holds a few benefits.” She looked towards the scene at hand, now just a blank canvas absent of any real life, “This is my domain.” She frowned ever so slightly as she looked back to Twilight, “However, even I have never seen such… horrors in the realm of sleep.” Twilight’s voice hitched as she spoke, “It’s real.” Luna felt Twilight’s body rumble as fresh tears spilled from her eyes, she hushed her gently and pulled her closer to her side, “It may have been once, but it no longer is. Such horrors have bestowed the real world… which is why I am here.” That caught Twilight’s attention enough for her to look into the dark eyes of the night Princess, “Celestia already said she can’t-” “Ah.” Luna smiled, “She may be the eldest, but not always the wisest. My sister lacks the knowledge of the night.” Twilight’s ear pricked as she cocked her head to one side, studying the Princess in a mixture of curiosity and plain fear for what she was suggesting; “What is that knowledge?” She implored if not a little shakily. Luna looked up at the moon that now proudly hung over the slowly fading scene of Sugarcube Corner, just as bright as it was in reality, “There is… a spell.” “A spell?” Twilight repeated. The smile on Luna’s face tightened, Twilight knew she was forcing it now, “A very… difficult spell.” Luna scuffed the dirt with her hoof, “Celestia has heard of it, but she believes that no pony is strong enough to perform it.” Twilight stared at her blankly. Luna smiled sadly, “I believe you are strong enough, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight was already shaking her head, “No… I don’t… no, I don’t do magic anymore… I don’t do anything anymore.” Luna’s eyes darkened, her beautiful night sky mane blowing in a non-existent breeze. She stood up, hooking her wing under the purple Unicorn and bringing her up also, “Not even if this spell could bring back Rainbow Dash?” Twilight gasped as she felt her legs buckle beneath her, “That’s impossible, I spent the first week of Dash’s…” she trailed off and shook her head, “I couldn’t find a resurrection spell.” “That’s because there’s only one.” Luna informed, her long horn glowing a deep blue as a book appeared in front of her, its pages were yellow with age and its night blue cover was tattered and worn. “In here lies a spell of the night, only to be performed on a full moon at midnight. This book won’t follow you into reality; the spell shall be embedded into your mind.” Luna’s voice had almost reached its regal power, but she kept it at bay to reassure the young Unicorn, “We need the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle and although the Element of Laughter may be lost for now, we have a chance at bringing back the Element of Loyalty.” Her eyes became grave once more, “But, I must warn you Twilight Sparkle, this spell is hard, it will take hours to perform, the sheer power alone could drain you to the point of exhaustion. Rainbow Dash will return, but if anything goes wrong, she will not be fully restored. You must understand this.” Twilight didn’t care. She had just been offered the opportunity to restore her best friend. The spell was already flowing through her mind and she knew it would be just as fresh when she awoke the following morning. She nodded her head, an eager smile already evident on her face, “Yes!” she called, the first sign of any true happiness ringing in her voice since the tragedy had struck, “I’ll do it, anything to bring Dash back!” Luna bowed her head and smiled gravely, “Very well Twilight.” She sighed as she stepped away from the young Unicorn, “But heed my warning.” Luna’s voice had reached its regal power once more, “If one thing is to go wrong, Rainbow Dash will not be the pony that you remember.” And with that, Luna disappeared and so did the world around her. Twilight was left in darkness once more, waiting for the moment that Spike returned to wake her.