Nightmares

by unoservix

Chapter 18: Blackwing

Chapter 18: Blackwing

"So, sister," started Luna with a nervous look on her face, "would you be so kind as to explain what in the world this is all about?"
All of Canterlot trembled in the shadow of a massive black dragon, eyes glowing bright, bloody red and wings stretched over the seething city. It threw back its head and launched a towering plume of flame into the heavens.
"That is not someone I ever wanted to see again," Celestia groaned.
"Who is it?" Twilight asked with a shudder.
"That, my friends, is Blackwing, emperor of the dragons." Celestia glared up at the dragon as it stretched and howled with delight.
"E-Emperor of the dragons?!" Fluttershy squeaked, and immediately hid behind Pinkie Pie.
"Wait, you mean there's someone who can actually boss dragons around?!" cried Rainbow Dash.
Celestia fixed her gaze on the glowing red eyes of an old foe. "Blackwing led his followers into Equestria to take over. I defeated him and sealed him inside the mountain, and built Canterlot over him to maintain the seal."
Trixie cringed in Blackwing's vast shadow. "Well that sure seems to have gone splendidly."
Up above, Blackwing reared back with a roar and launched another tower of flames into the sky. He looked down towards Canterlot and saw his prey below—but Celestia immediately rocketed up in front of him to command his attention.
"Ah, Celestia," the dragon laughed, and the world shook at the rumbling sound of his voice, "I am pleased I did not have to look far to find your worthless hide."
Celestia put herself between her city and her foe. "You forget, Blackwing, that I defeated you once before and I can defeat you again!"
"And," added Luna's voice as she darted up next to her sister, "now you must face both of us!"
Celestia smiled at the sound of that—but so did Blackwing. "If you both wish to die," he chuckled, "then I'll be happy to oblige!" He threw back his head, took a deep breath, and sent a blinding column of flame at the two princesses. They dove apart and let the flames pass between them, and then swept around the huge dragon.
"So how did you defeat him, sister?" Luna started.
Blackwing howled as he closed in with a swipe of claws and a snap of jaws.
"We'll just use the same plan I used last time," Celestia said breathlessly, as the two ponies veered off and Blackwing gave chase.
"Which was...?"
"Improvise."
Blackwing roared and launched fire at them again, and the two princesses veered off and fired back with a wave of magic bolts.

Down below, Twilight pointed up angrily at a gleeful Inferno. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it?! You were going to release him and let him wreak havoc!"
Inferno smirked and glanced over his shoulder as Lapis Lazuli emerged from the cavern. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"And give us back the Elements!" Twilight shouted. She lit up her horn to prepare a teleportation spell—
Then the ground in front of her split open and threw her on her back, and from the shadows emerged a fanged skull and a long trail of ribbed vertebrae—and with a shrieking hiss, the skeleton of a gigantic snake rose up from the ground and glowered down at the ponies below, fangs gleaming.
"Fascinating, the things you can find down there in the catacombs!" laughed Inferno, and he turned and headed back into the cavern with Lazuli. "Have fun!"
"Fine, so we have to beat this thing first?!" Rainbow Dash cried. "Let's do it!" She rocketed forward and veered around the snake's head—but then its tail came blasting out of the ground, wrapped itself around Rainbow's body, and flung her back into her friends. They skittered back as the snake let loose an ear-splitting shriek. It lunged forward at them; Twilight blasted it back with a bolt of magic.
"Since when were snakes this big anyway?!" Twilight cried.
Applejack got back to her feet. "All we gotta do is yank the head off, right?"
Twilight nodded. "Just get it to sit still long enough for me to get a hold on it."
Applejack adjusted her hat with a grin. "Let's get to it, gals! One headless giant zombie snake, comin' up!" She sprang forward, twirling a lasso over her head; she swung it up and looped the rope around the snake's neck, then yanked it hard to pull it to the ground. The snake, not to be deterred, let out a bone-chilling scream and tugged back on the line, sending Applejack flying through the air. Rainbow Dash swooped down to catch her, then ducked aside—just in time for Pinkie Pie to bring the party cannon to bear. But before she could douse the snake in cotton candy, its tail lashed up from the ground and flung both the merriment-based ordnance and its operator to the side.
Spike let out a sigh. "Stirring performance."
"That's it!" cried Rainbow Dash; she darted up into the sky with a loose brick in her hooves and flung it down at the base of the snake's skull—and then drooped in disappointment as its ribs slid up like a cobra's hood to deflect the blow harmlessly. "Oh, come on!"
The battle paused at the sound of another screech, this one from up above—and Twilight cringed as up above, Celestia and Luna barely dodged a sweeping blow from Blackwing's enormous claws. "That's not going too well either..."
Rainbow Dash skidded to a halt as the snake skeleton thrashed above them. "We've kinda got our hooves full down here!"
At Twilight's side, Rarity ducked as Pinkie Pie and her party-based weaponry went sailing away from another blow from the snake's tail. "If only we had some gigantic ghastly brutish thing on our side!" She levitated Pinkie and her increasingly battered party cannon back to the front.
"Yeah, uh, if you guys expect me to fight that dragon up there, I'm afraid you're gonna be disappointed," Spike added.
Applejack landed with a thump as the snake screeched victoriously. Rarity darted forward with her horn sparking to life; a swirling, twisting strand of light danced in front of the snake's face. The giant skeleton stared at it almost quizzically for a moment—and then it roared again, fangs flashing, and Applejack leaped across the way to knock Rarity aside as it brought its fangs down into the pavement with a crash.
"Goodness! I thought snakes were supposed to like things like that!" Rarity cried.
Twilight circled around behind it and fired a blast of magic at the back of its skull—but the hood snapped open again and deflected it off into the sky. The snake's tail ripped its way out of the ground and nearly grabbed the purple unicorn—but then Trixie came charging out of nowhere to yank the tip of its tail off and fling it into the nearest wall. The snake whipped around in rage, but it was a long enough distraction for them both to get away as the snake reassembled its tail.
"Jeez, two big problems at once is no fair!" snapped Rainbow Dash.
From the safe protection of a lump of rubble, Fluttershy popped up. "W-Well actually, um, I could..." She looked up at the giant flailing snake skeleton, squeaked in fright, and hid again. The snake lunged up into the air after Rainbow Dash; she darted back down to the ground and zipped underneath it. Instead of tying itself into knots, the snake swung out with its tail, caught her in the side, and sent her crashing into Fluttershy's hiding place.
"Ow," she groaned, and slowly got back to her hooves.
"R-Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?"
Rainbow shook her head and looked back up—where the skeleton was deflecting another blast from Twilight with its hood, and snapping its huge fangs at Applejack as she tried to get the lasso around its neck again. "Could be going better, huh," she grumbled. Another roar split the air overhead, and they both looked up to see Celestia and Luna on the run from Blackwing's furious fire. "So could that."
Fluttershy's ears went flat. "If only we had a big scary dragon on our side..."
Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up and she grabbed Fluttershy with an eager grin. "Oh, but we do!"
Fluttershy stared back for a moment, confused—before comprehension dawned and she started to go pale. "B-But—"
"You're the only one who could talk him into it!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Come on, Fluttershy! Do it for Equestria!" Fluttershy fidgeted. "For the princesses!" Fluttershy's eyes darted back and forth. "For...I dunno, the bunnies!"
Fluttershy twitched. "W-What if he's mad that I woke him up?"
"Then you Stare him into submission or something! You're the crazy animal trainer here!" Rainbow put on a reassuring smile. "Come on, you can fly almost as fast as me when you have to! And if there was ever a time where we need you to do that..."
"Okay," Fluttershy said quietly, "I-I'll do it—"
"Great!" Rainbow Dash gave her a bone-crushing hug. "You can do it, Fluttershy. We're all counting on you."
"O-Okay..."
Fluttershy took to the air and Rainbow Dash leapt back into the fight. "W-Where's Fluttershy going?!" Twilight cried.
"Getting reinforcements!" Rainbow shouted back with a grin. She looked back up at the snake—and Applejack screaming bloody murder as it swung her around with the lasso around its neck. "So, uh, how's Sir Hiss-a-Lot going here?"
Rarity went flying as the snake's tail hit her and she skidded to a stop at Rainbow's feet. "How does it look like it's going?" she snarled.
"We just have to get that thing distracted enough," Twilight said, and she pawed the ground and readied a spell at the tip of her horn. "If you can get in there and draw its attention, and just get it to sit still for a second..."
"Stop right there, you ectothermic undead monstrosity!"
Everyone, including the snake, stopped in surprise—and the hulking skeleton turned in apparent bafflement to face a blue unicorn standing atop a heap of rubble. Down below, everyone else watched, jaws falling open.
"That's right!" screamed Trixie, swinging her tail back and forth rhythmically, "I'm talking to you, you stinking reanimated pile of calcified squamate!"
Applejack blinked. "Are those even words she's usin'?"
"Technically," said Twilight, and her horn glowed again, "now just stay very still."
"Yes, that's it, you overgrown worm!" Trixie yelled. "I bet you can't even open your jaws wide enough to swallow me!" The snake reared up and did just that; Trixie blanched. "Well...um, so what?! I'm still not scared of you! A musty old pile of bones could never compete with the Great and Powerful—"
The snake lunged with a screech and Trixie slammed her eyes shut—and then the long skeleton lurched back as its neck glowed pink. It gave one final shriek of outrage before Twilight wrenched its skull off its spine, and the whole pile of bones came down with a clatter.
Twilight let out her breath and dropped the skull unceremoniously—and then looked up in disbelief at Trixie. "'Reanimated pile of calcified squamate?'"
Trixie fidgeted. "I, um, may have read some of those biology books when I was, you know, bored..."
"Very clever!" cried another voice—and they all turned in surprise towards the fissure up above, where stood Lapis Lazuli with a scowl on her face. "I see we'll have to raise the stakes!"
The ground shook again—and another swarm of pony skeletons dug their way out, as Lazuli retreated back into the shadows.
Rainbow Dash scowled in frustration as she hunkered down in front of the advancing mob. "Okay, this is just getting ridiculous!"

Lapis Lazuli rushed back down through the caverns to find Nightmare Inferno standing at the ledge, looking out triumphantly over a shattered rock dome—and the roiling magma beneath it. He glanced indifferently over his shoulder.
"What's got you all worked up?" he asked.
Lazuli came to a stop at his side, breathless. "The Elements, they're on their way," she gasped. "I raised up more skeletons to stall them like you said, but..."
"Oh, them," he sighed, and cast one more glance down into the magma before he turned towards Lazuli. "And when they break through the pony skeletons I'll of course be defenseless and they'll kill me at long last, even though you have the Elements?"
Lazuli fidgeted. "It's just...we've come so far and we're so close now and—"
"And if they stopped me, all the years you've spent loyally supporting my plans would be naught but ash," Inferno said, as he slowly circled around Lazuli.
"O-Of course."
"And you would hate them for that."
"W-We've come too far for them to stop us like this, master—"
"And you would hate them for that."
"Yes!"
A ring of flames sprouted up around them as Inferno grinned. "Does that hatred burn within you? Does it pulse and writhe and scream out for blood? Does it haunt your every step, your every moment, your every thought?"
Lazuli began to tremble as the flames rose around them and closed in. "Y-Yes, master!"
"Good," purred Inferno, "then I can give you what you want the most in this world, Lapis Lazuli."
The flames wrapped around them both.

Blackwing howled with pain as one of Luna's blasts struck home in his chest. He whipped around, claws at the ready, and slashed furiously at the blue princess. Behind him, Celestia charged up a blast of her own—but he swung back with his spiked, bladed tail and nearly caught her. The black dragon whirled around, wreathed in flame, and launched a blazing fireball at Celestia that sent her skittering back for distance.
"It takes all of my strength to pierce his scales!" Luna cried. "What are we going to do?!"
Celestia opened her mouth to respond, but Blackwing fired another plume of flame at her. "You will die, is what you will do!" he roared, and brought his claws down in a mighty overhead swipe. Celestia ducked between his fingers and fired back with a blinding pillar of golden light that pushed the massive dragon back—but he returned the blow with his tail, and Celestia barely escaped the attack.
"Last time I had to call on the power of the sun to push him down," she grunted—and Blackwing came at her again with another swing of his tail. She darted over his head, whirled around, and pounded him between the wings with another blast of magic—but he swiped at her again with his tail, then with his claws, and the two sisters backpedaled as he spewed flames. "This time the clouds have blotted it out."
Luna frowned and looked up at the stormy sky. "Clouds or not, the sun still shines. What difference does this make?"
Blackwing came at them again with a roar and separated them with a vicious swipe. Celestia fired back with another bolt of magic, but Blackwing swatted it aside with his hand—and as Celestia's eyes went wide in disbelief, he surged forward again and forced her back on the defensive.
"He couldn't do that last time," Celestia groaned.
"You think I sat in captivity for a thousand years and did nothing?!" bellowed Blackwing. "You are a bigger fool than I thought!"
Luna scowled back. "Not so creative in his insults, however."
Blackwing roared and let loose a mighty storm of flames that sent both ponies scrambling for distance. The dragon gave chase with a thundering flap of his wings; Luna and Celestia rocketed apart and both launched streams of magic at the charging dragon. They hit him square in the chest and stopped his momentum—but he responded only with a swing of his tail, a swipe of his claws, and an echoing scream. The massive dragon closed in with an ear-splitting screech—
And then he lurched forward under a sheet of flames. Blackwing whipped around to his right—just in time for a red scaly fist to slam into his face and send him reeling. He lashed out with his tail, but caught nothing—and instead a vast red shape darted up behind him, knocked him back, and doused him again with flames. The dragon emperor whirled around to face his new foe—and found himself staring down a red dragon almost as big as himself.
And trailing after him was tiny Fluttershy. She drifted over to the two princesses, trembling all over. "I'm terribly sorry, Your Highnesses, I had no idea he was going to be so violent, I told him to be gentle but I guess dragons just get so angry they don't think about how they might be hurting others..."
Celestia and Luna stared back, jaws hanging open.
"A-Anyways," Fluttershy went on, "I should really get back to my friends, that whole Elements of Harmony thing, can't keep them waiting, so, well, um..." She zipped back down towards the ground.
The red dragon let out a howl as it charged towards Blackwing and the two dragons danced through the air in a flurry of flames and flying claws. Celestia and Luna watched in disbelief.
"D-Did Fluttershy just summon a dragon?" Luna finally asked.
Celestia blinked and shook her head. "Yes. Yes she did. And we will come to terms with that later. Right now I think Blackwing needs another thousand years to think things over!"
Luna gathered her wits and the two pony sisters rocketed back into battle.

Fluttershy landed down below just as Twilight finished yanking the skull off the last moving pony skeleton. She tossed the bones to the side and turned disbelievingly towards her friend.
"Did you seriously just bring us a dragon?"
Fluttershy fidgeted. "Well, um, Rainbow Dash suggested it, and I knew he'd gone off to Everfree to sleep, and—"
"Wait," Rarity interrupted, "you just now flew all the way to the Everfree Forest and back? With a dragon?!"
"W-Well, actually, he sort of gave me a ride—"
"You rode a dragon?!" Twilight screeched.
Rainbow Dash landed next to her with a triumphant grin. "And this, ladies, is why Fluttershy is almost as awesome as me!" She threw her arms around Fluttershy. "Way to go!"
"How sentimental."
Everyone turned at the sound of a new voice—and this time they looked up to see another tall black unicorn, this one with a pulsing mane and tail of crackling blue electricity, and those same malevolent reptilian eyes. Twilight dug in her hooves as she watched the Elements of Harmony drift around the new arrival.
"And you are...?"
The mare grinned. "You once knew me as Lapis Lazuli, but now, I am something more!" A wind picked up through the shattered square that drove Twilight and her friends back, and lightning crackled from the pony's mane. "Now I am Nightmare Sky!"
"Oh, come on," groaned Applejack, "another one?!"
"Give us back the Elements!" Twilight demanded, and her horn lit up. "This is your last warning!"
Nightmare Sky grinned back. "Please. You think you can match my power?"
"I know so!" Twilight shouted back. "You asked for it!"
Twilight launched forward a shimmering bolt of magic—only for Nightmare Sky to effortlessly deflect it. Rainbow Dash and Applejack swept in from opposite sides—but a gust of wind drove them back and into the wall. Rarity charged in after them, only for Applejack to crash into her and knock them both to the ground.
Nightmare Sky laughed contemptuously. "Is that the best you can do without your precious Elements?!"
"No!" chirped Pinkie Pie, "this is!"
And then the pink pony dropped down from above and slapped a whipped cream pie into Nightmare Sky's face. She backed away with an eager grin—and then another blast of wind kicked up that sent the whipped cream flying from Nightmare Sky's furious face.
"You dare mock me!?" she screamed, her eyes aglow with furious light.
"Jeez, can't you take a joke?" grumbled Pinkie.
The Nightmare brought down her hooves with a scream and a bone-jarring shockwave rattled out. The wind howled at her command and lightning danced from her mane. "You will pay the price for your insolence!" The six pieces of the Elements of Harmony rose around her, surrounded by crackling lightning. "Feel the wrath of your own magic, you insolent fools!"
"Wait, you don't want to do that!" Twilight shouted.
The Elements shone to life—and then a blinding column of glittering light, flashing with every color of the rainbow, swirled up around Nightmare Sky. The black unicorn disappeared behind its light—and then only a scream came out as the Elements of Harmony activated. Twilight and her friends squeezed their eyes shut as they were all bathed in light, and cringed at the sound of screaming as they turned upon their user.
And then the light vanished and the six Elements clattered to the ground. Twilight cracked an eye open—and found only a pile of ash where Nightmare Sky had stood.
Rainbow stepped up to it and poked it nervously with her hoof. "Was that...supposed to happen?"
Twilight levitated her tiara onto her head with a sigh. "The Elements will set right the closest thing that's out of harmony, and, well," she gestured to the ashes, "there you go." She tossed the necklaces to her friends. "Come on, let's get this done."
"We just have to hit Nightmare Inferno and this'll all be over?" Applejack asked as she adjusted her necklace.
"Hopefully," Twilight said.
"Wait a second," Rainbow said, and she fluttered over to Trixie. "You. You're gonna stay out here while we go harmonize Inferno."
"Wha—why?" sputtered Trixie. "Just because I don't have my magic?"
"Well, yeah," Rainbow said. "You can't do anything like this. And if Inferno kills you, then Twilight would be upset—and if Inferno kills you, then I can't kill you for making Twilight upset. So you're staying out here, where it's safe."
Up above, Blackwing roared as he grappled with the red dragon.
"Safe," deadpanned Trixie.
"You know, relatively," Rainbow added with a cringe.
"We just don't want you to get hurt," Rarity added with a nervous smile. "You're our friend, after all."
"Tell you what, I'll stay out here too," Spike spoke up. "Where it's, you know, 'safe.'"
Twilight stepped up in front of Trixie with a sad smile. "It's for the best. We'll be back out before you know it."
"And then we'll have the most enormously amazing party ever!" added Pinkie as she flailed in midair.
Trixie glared back at everyone. "Fine."
Twilight pulled her close for a kiss. "No regrets, okay?" she whispered as she pulled away. Trixie nodded haltingly, and then Twilight turned back towards her friends. "Alright, girls, let's get this over with."
The six Elements of Harmony went racing off into the cavern. Trixie sat down in the square as they left, with Spike watching them go.

Princess Celestia cringed as she watched the red dragon reel from a hard blow from Blackwing's tail. The black dragon laughed triumphantly and blasted the red one with a wall of flames—but that was just long enough for Luna to slam Blackwing from the side with a blast of white light. The red dragon flung itself out of the flames and rammed its shoulder into Blackwing's chest.
Luna darted back to her sister's side, gasping for breath. "Even with this red dragon bearing most of the burden, Blackwing is still too strong!"
Celestia watched carefully as Blackwing swung back at the smaller dragon and came up empty. He brought down his bladed tail—but the red dragon caught it in one hand, yanked Blackwing closer, and decked him across the face with a bone-crushing left hook. Blackwing slashed back with his claws to drive his adversary back.
"He's tiring," Celestia said quietly; Luna blinked in surprise. "We must get him to expend as much energy as possible, so that we can seal him back inside the mountain."
Luna arched an eyebrow. "Why can we not just slay him? We would never have to worry about him again if we did so."
Celestia narrowed her eyes at the howling monster. "I have a better use for him than that. He controls the volcano underneath Canterlot—so he's going to be the cork that stops it up. Come on."
The two ponies swept down towards the two battling dragons. The red dragon spun away from another hard hit from Blackwing's tail—but then Celestia and Luna darted through the larger dragon's field of vision and pounded him from behind with a pair of pulsing magical blasts. Blackwing screamed in rage and whirled around after them, a fireball building in his throat—only for the red dragon to ram him from behind with its shoulder and send his flames careening off course. The two princesses appeared behind him again for another blast between his wings, and when he turned to face them, the red dragon kicked him in the back.
"Enough!" Blackwing roared—and then he lunged up and began to fling blazing fireballs from his clawed hands. Celestia and Luna yelped in surprise and darted apart as the fire rained down.
"That's new," Luna said with a grimace.
"New," Celestia agreed, as the red dragon charged through the flames with a shriek, "but tiring. He will wear himself down yet. And when he does, we have to push him back down into the mountain." She steeled herself for another attack. "So when we do, just follow my lead."

Picking their way through a crumbling cavern inside a trembling mountain, Twilight led her friends down through the caves towards the ledge where Nightmare Inferno stood. The magma down below pitched and roiled like a stormy sea, and the mountain shook as the earth raged.
"Got past Lazuli, did you?" he asked with a smirk, turning to face the Elements of Harmony. Twilight landed with a thump.
"End of the line, Inferno! We have the Elements back, and you have nothing!"
"Really now," chuckled Inferno—and then the mountain rattled, rocks came down from the ceiling, and Twilight and her friends squeaked with fright. Twilight turned her eyes back towards the magma pool behind Inferno—where the molten rock was beginning to churn. She looked back up at Inferno's triumphant smirk.
"Blackwing was never your plan," she said quietly, as horror began to wash over. Inferno arched an eyebrow in anticipation. "This was! You were going to set off the volcano and cover all of Equestria with molten lava!"
Inferno's eyes lit up. "You are correct, ma'am! Ten points to the unicorn for finally figuring it out—but minus a zillion because you're too late to stop me!"
Twilight dug in her hooves, and her friends did likewise. "I don't think so!"
"Well that's too bad," Inferno said—and then ground broke open in front of Twilight and her friends, and an ear-splitting shriek tore its way from the earth as a hulking griffin skeleton freed itself from the darkness and landed with a crash. "Because I think he has a say in all this too!"
"Oh come on, not another one!" groaned Rainbow.
Twilight blew out an angry breath. "Quick, activate the Elements, before—"
The griffin shrieked and launched itself forward; Twilight and her friends scattered under the blow. Applejack vaulted up towards its neck, but the griffin easily backhanded her away; Rainbow Dash swept down from behind, but it snared her out of midair with its tail and flung her into the wall; Pinkie Pie brought the party cannon to bear, but it knocked her off her feet by slamming its fists into the ground.
Twilight ducked between its legs and lunged towards its chest, horn lit up with a powerful blast—but the griffin grabbed her by the tail and hurled her back to the ground, sending her blast sailing uselessly into the ceiling. Rarity yanked her out of the way as the griffin brought its claws down with a screech.
"Okay, fine, just have to immobilize it long enough to get its head off," Twilight grunted. "One more time!"
"You got it!" Applejack shouted; she bounced off the wall and charged towards the griffin. It lashed at her with its tail; she jumped over it, ducked under its claws, and barreled into its legs—but the griffin merely kicked her back, swatted Rainbow Dash out of the air, and then grabbed a pie-wielding Pinkie and flung her into Rarity and Fluttershy. It turned its sight towards Twilight, claws raised for a finishing blow—
...but instead, a shining bolt of blue magic blasted through its chest, shattering the skeleton, and then slammed into Nightmare Inferno. He whipped around, eyes wide in fury, and Twilight looked over her shoulder in disbelief—and there near the entrance of the cave stood an equine figure swathed in smoke, hide flickering between blue and black, eyes flashing between purple and reptilian green—and surrounded in crackling blue magic. At its side stood Spike, looking terrified.
"What?!" Inferno cried.
Twilight's eyes widened in horror. "Trixie!"
Wreathed in the Nightmare's power and twitching with pain, Trixie gathered up her strength and charged forward to lock horns with Inferno. The fiery black unicorn backed up in shock.
"What on earth are you doing?!" he screamed. "How—?!"
"Consider this my way of repaying you," Trixie answered through gritted teeth.
Inferno's mane flared as his eyes flashed with fury. "You ungrateful little failure!" He shoved Trixie back and his horn lit up with blazing magic. "You weren't even strong enough as a Nightmare to destroy Twilight Sparkle, and you think you can defeat me?!"
Trixie smirked back. "I don't have to."
Inferno blinked, and Trixie threw herself to the side—and then, up ahead, Twilight and her friends activated the Elements of Harmony. A blinding wave of rainbow light washed out from the six ponies in the center of the cave—and Nightmare Inferno reared back and screamed as the light swirled around him.

The world shook and the mountain of Canterlot glowed as the telltale rainbow light of the Elements of Harmony blazed out of every crack and crevice of the mountain. Blackwing looked down in disbelief—and Celestia and Luna seized their chance. The red dragon stormed forward and rammed its knee into Blackwing's chest; the black dragon doubled over and belched a cloud of flames, and then took a thundering uppercut to the chin.
Celestia and Luna swooped in from above, horns lit up, and flew tight circles around the dragon to cast shimmering lines of magic around his body. Blackwing thrashed at their hold and Celestia winced, her horn burning at the strain—but she looked across to Luna, they both nodded, and the two princesses of Equestria flung Blackwing down into the open summit of the mountain.
Blackwing roared with fury and reached after them as he fell into the darkness—but the rocks above him came down with a crash, the mountain closed around him, and his screams went silent.
Together, they landed on the summit and poured their magic into the mountain. Blackwing's malevolent presence far below struggled and fought as it descended into the earth, into the seething magma, but now, with the power of the sun and moon together coursing through them, Equestria's princesses cast a shining barrier over Blackwing's head—a barrier he could not break, with all his strength and fire.
Celestia let out a breath and slumped down to the ground tiredly. Down below, she could see the skeletons that Inferno had raised clattering to the ground, dead once more. Obviously Twilight and her friends had succeeded. She blinked at the feeling of a draft from above—and she and Luna both looked up in surprise at the red dragon, glowering down at them.
"Now," he growled, "will you infernal ponies finally let me sleep?!"
The two princesses exchanged a confused glance. "I-I'm sorry...?" Celestia started.
The red dragon jabbed a claw at the city below. "That yellow pony found my cave and woke me up," he rumbled, smoke curling from his nostrils, "and used some manner of sorcery to convince me to come help you defeat this dragon."
"Sorcery?" Luna asked.
Celestia frowned. "Do you mean 'asking you nicely,' perhaps?"
"Whatever it was, it was a terrible ordeal I wish never to repeat," the dragon sneered.
Celestia and Luna smiled knowingly, and the solar sister bowed her head. "Whatever the case may be, Equestria is forever indebted to you."
The dragon sniffed contemptuously. "If you are so indebted," it grumbled, "then leave me to my slumber."
And with that, the red dragon turned and soared away towards the Everfree Forest. Celestia and Luna both let out their breath—but Celestia turned her gaze below.
Luna frowned. "Sister...?"
"We should go find Twilight and the others," Celestia said, and together they glided back down towards the city.

The Elements went silent, the cavern ceased to shake, the magma vanished into the darkness, and the six ponies landed softly on the ground as the rainbow light faded away and left only a pile of ashes where Nightmare Inferno had once stood—and as soon as her hooves hit the ground, Twilight raced over to Trixie's side, horn lighting up to apply the suppression spell. Trixie trembled with pain, eyes screwed shut, struggling to contain the Nightmare; she cracked an eye open as she felt Twilight's spell at work.
"Trixie!" Twilight cried. "What happened!?"
Even under the pain, Trixie cracked a smirk. "Y-You didn't think I was...going to l-let you have all the g-glory, did you...?"
"What happened?!" Twilight cried, as the tears began to flow. "Why is the Nightmare back?! You could have been killed!"
"She brought it back herself," Spike spoke up, and Twilight looked over in shock and almost lost control of the spell. "She...said she wanted power, to...you know, to help you."
"Trixie..." Twilight slammed her eyes shut and poured her power into the spell—but the Nightmare snarled and writhed against her influence. "It's not working! Why isn't it working?!" She shook her head. "Trixie, why did you do this..."
Trixie ground her teeth as the Nightmare's power flashed around her. "That thing...was about t-to kill you..."
"But the Elements might have hit you too!" Twilight wailed. "Or Inferno, or—I can't let you trade your life for mine!"
"I-I'm not dead yet," Trixie growled.
"And I'm going to keep it that way!" Twilight yelled, and the light from her horn flooded the cavern. The Nightmare thrashed against her power; Twilight ground her teeth as her horn began to burn with overexertion—
And then the Nightmare shuddered and began to recede, sinking back into the depths of Trixie's mind. Twilight opened her eyes—and she sat back in surprise at the sight of Celestia and Luna, horns aglow, casting the same spell over Trixie. The smoke and the flickering hide faded away, to leave an exhausted Trixie underneath it all. Twilight immediately scooped her up and squeezed her in a terrified hug.
Celestia looked over the scene—including the pile of dust that was left of Nightmare Inferno. "So," she said, "what exactly has happened here?"
Rarity stepped forward and nodded towards Trixie. "We were fighting against one of Nightmare Inferno's skeletons and Trixie appeared, and..."
"I called up the Nightmare's power, and used it to distract him," Trixie finished.
The two princesses blinked in surprise. "Called up the Nightmare's power?" Luna echoed. "How?"
"I..." Trixie glanced shamefully at Twilight. "I thought of everything that had turned me into it, and then I...don't know, resisted its hold on me, long enough to distract Inferno so the Elements could hit him."
Silence descended over them all for a moment as Celestia stared down pensively at the two unicorns. "That was very brave, Trixie," she said, "but also very unfortunate." Trixie's ears went flat. "Because now we have a new problem." She glanced back at Luna. "It's time we got rid of this last Nightmare, once and for all."