//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: Nightmare Derpy // by Little Woona //------------------------------// Nightmare Derpy Chapter Three: From Bad to Worse “D-Derpy? W-What happened?” The Doctor was sweating nervously, unsure if that dark tall mare was still his friend Derpy or not. Yet if she was still Derpy, then there remained a chance to help her. “Oh hi, Doctor –” Derpy stared at the Doctor with a suggestive look “– do you like it? It’s my new makeover. Pretty sweet, huh?” “Oh well… I…” “Mommy! You’re ok!” Dinky interrupted, jumping in front of Derpy and hugging her neck, crying with relief. “We thought that you were being hurt and I was so scared and I wanted to help you but I didn’t know how and when you fell to the ground like that… I thought I wasn’t going to see you again.” “Shhh… it’s alright my little muffin, I’m okay.” Derpy calmed her returning the hug with one hoof. “How about you, Doctor? Aren’t you going to hug me?” asked Derpy again, with that suggestive look she had given him just a moment ago. Derpy left Dinky on the floor and approached the Doctor; she circled around him, teasing him by brushing her tail on his nose. The Doctor kept calm as he analyzed the situation. “Derpy, whatever’s happened to you, it can’t be good; it totally changed your physical appearance and it might also have affected your mind. I need you to come with me to the TARDIS so I can analyze you properly and find out what’s going on.” “Boring! Why don’t you analyze me in bed instead?” suggested Derpy, stepping closer to his face. The Doctor blushed intensely. “Derpy!” “Mom!” Both Dinky and the Doctor exclaimed in shock at what Derpy had just said. “Dinky, this is a conversation for big ponies. Go to bed!” ordered Derpy, raising the volume in her voice. “B-but… mom-” “Dinkamina Sparkler Hooves! I said now!” “Dinky, get behind me!” the Doctor ordered. Dinky followed his instructions immediately. “How dare you contradict me!?” hissed Derpy. “She’s my daughter and she will do what I’m telling her to do!” Derpy’s vocal volume continued to increase and the room grew darker; the lights were being consumed by the same black smoke that had taken possession of Derpy’s body a while ago. “Both of you! Come here, now!” Derpy stomped a hoof on the ground. Her eyes began glowing dangerously once again as the amount of smoke in the room also quickly increased. “D-Doctor? What are we going do?” asked Dinky in a shaky voice. “Under the circumstances I'd suggest...” the Doctor gave a glance to the furious Derpy and the whole room being consumed by the dark smoke, “Run! Quickly! To the TARDIS!” Immediately Dinky ran upstairs followed by the Doctor, with the black smoke just behind them. The lights in the hallway were switched off as they got closer to the attic. As soon as both of them entered the TARDIS, the Doctor closed the door and the smoke surrounded the TARDIS completely. “Uff… that was close!” said the Doctor. “We’re safe. They won’t be able to enter here.” Suddenly, the whole TARDIS started to shake violently; the creatures of the smoke were trying to enter by force. “Hang on, Dinky!” Dinky nodded at him and tried to hold still as the Doctor reached the controls. Thinking quickly, he programmed a new destination in the TARDIS’ console. “COME BACK HERE!” Derpy’s yelling managed to pierce the inside of the TARDIS just before it disappeared; leaving behind just an empty attic with Derpy and her living black smoke. On the outskirts of Ponyville, the TARDIS materialized and Dinky and the Doctor stepped outside, glancing toward the town. “I think we’re safe for now,” said the Doctor approaching Dinky who was still trying to process what had just happened. “Dinky, are you ok?” “My mom, s-she she attacked me…” whispered Dinky to herself, ignoring what the Doctor had asked her. “S-she really tried to hurt me…” Dinky lay on the ground and began to cry inconsolably. I swore to never interfere in the affairs of other ponies or planets – the Doctor thought looking at the little filly crying on the ground – unless there’re children crying. With that thought, the Doctor re-entered the TARDIS and called Dinky from the inside. “C’mon, Dinky! Dry those tears and let’s save your mother.” “Thanks, Doctor.” Dinky smiled again, rubbing her cheek with a hoof. Dinky entered the TARDIS and as soon as she closed the door, the TARDIS began to disappear in the air until it was completely gone. “Ugh! They got away!” Derpy whined as she inspected the now-vacant spot where the TARDIS had been... Suddenly from the black smoke, two creatures began to take shape in front of Derpy. One of them, Darkshade, asked “Would you like to send the troops to look for them, my queen?” “No, if I know the Doctor well, he’ll be back.” Derpy said confidently. “Right now, we have more important things to do.” Immediately, the rest of the smoke flew and covered Derpy in specific areas of her body; her hooves, her chest and part of her head. The smoke hardened and became more solid and darker until it resembled a completely black pearled armor that fitted perfectly on Derpy’s body. Spreading her wings, Derpy took flight - breaking through the ceiling - and made her way to the center of Ponyville. Derpy arrived at town hall and landed in the middle of everypony that was still awake. Derpy looked at the whole crowd of nervous ponies that were startled by her emergence and an evil smile began to dawn on her face. “Hello, everypony. I hope you enjoyed your day, because it will be your last.” Panic in town started to grow out of control, ponies scream with terror and ran in circles; Darkshade and Shadowfright appeared at Derpy’s sides. “GOOO!” Darkshade yelled at the night sky; the stars were consumed by the darkness, the waning moon turned suddenly into a full moon and black meteors fell from the sky. Some ponies had the bad luck of being knocked down and the others that landed on the ground took the shape of different creatures and proceeded with the invasion. “This night is going to be perfect!” declared Derpy proudly. Meanwhile in the library of Ponyville… “…And that’s why a bat pony and a crystal pony wouldn’t be able to truly love each other. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight finished her report to the princess. “Alright, Spike, you can send it.” Spike rolled up the report and sent it to the princess using his magical fire breath. “It’s on its way, Twilight.” “Good job Spike. Now let’s hit the hay, it’s been a long day.” Twilight gave a big yawn and went upstairs to her bedroom. “Heh, I thought you’d never said that,” muttered Spike as he followed Twilight upstairs. Both Twilight and Spike reached their respective beds and prepared themselves for sleep. “Good night, number one assistant.” “Good night, Twi.” BOOOM! CRAASSH! THE HORROR! THE HORROR! EVERYPONY FOR HERSELF! “WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON OUT THERE!?” Twilight jumped out of bed immediately and glanced out of her nearest window to take a look. The sky was lacking of stars and the full moon shone more than ever before. The streets were covered with ponies lying on the ground. The few ponies that were still running without hope were being hunted by many strange creatures; that apparently were made of the same black smoke which covered almost the whole town. “SPIKE!” the terrified Twilight alerted Spike, who gave a jump out of the bed, startled. “Get up! We are all in danger!” “Twilight, are you ok? What’s going on?” Spike said worried trying not to panic. “We’re being attacked by clouds!” Twilight said still controlled by her fear. “Iknewthiswasgoingtohappenthecloudsarealiveandtheygottiredofbeingkickedbythepegasiand Now. They’re. Taking. REVENGE!” “What are you saying, Twilight!? Slow down, you’re making no sense!” Spike tried to reason with Twilight against her panic attack. “I bet all this is Discord’s fault! I knew we shouldn't have trusted him!” Twilight continued with her rant, ignoring what Spike had told her. “Twilight?” “Keep sane Twilight, this isn’t how Discord works. No, it must be a new villain.” Twilight kept talking to herself and walking in circles around Spike. “Twilight!” *gasp* “What if King Sombra has returned and instead of being a shadow, he now has a shadow army!?” “Hey, Twilight!” “I need to find my friends! But what if it’s too late!?” Twilight started to panic again. “Twilight, listen…” “I don’t want to lose my friends!” some tears leaked down Twilight’s cheeks. “TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled finally getting Twilight’s attention. “Listen, everything will be fine, you’ll find a way to fix this. You always do. You just need to calm down.” “Thanks, Spike –” Twilight gave Spike a hug with a hoof “– I don’t know what I would do without you. Oh, but this is bad, this is really really bad,” Twilight tried to calm herself a bit and started to make a plan. “Call the princesses, both of them; we need all the help we can get. I will look for my friends. I just hope it isn't too late yet." “Understood, just… be careful, ok?” Spike warned. Twilight nodded at Spike and galloped downstairs to the principal door. Before exiting outside, she cast an invisibility spell on herself so nopony would see her approaching. Twilight slowly opened the front door, left the library and quietly made her way to the house of her nearest friend: Rarity. Spike had already sent the emergency letter to Canterlot when he was going downstairs. He noticed that the necklaces and the crown of the Elements of Harmony were still stored in the glass shelf where Twilight had left them. “Oh no, Twilight forgot to take the Elements with her, she will need them.” Suddenly, all the windows were crashed and the front door was demolished by a huge black cloud that invaded the library and turned off all the lights. "THEE EELEMEENTSSS!" “Hey! What the…aaaAAH!” Spike was thrown against the ceiling and then against the glass shelf which broke in pieces, leaving Spike almost unconscious on the ground. “T-twi….he-help…m-me….” “Your highness, we have the Elements of Harmony.” From the black cloud, Darkshade materialized with the Elements floating at his side covered in a black magical aura. “What shall we do with them?” "Hide them." A gray mist entered the shattered library and took the form of Nightmare Derpy. "Hide them where nopony will find them." “As you wish.” Darkshade and the Elements disappeared into thin air, leaving Shadowfright alone with Derpy to take her next command. “Orders, your highness?” asked Shadowfright. Derpy noticed Spike’s now-unconscious body and instead of answering, she approached where Spike lay. *sigh* “He was just a baby…” Derpy rubbed Spike’s head softly with a hoof. “We’re done here, let’s go to Canterlot, we have an appointment with royalty.” Meanwhile in the TARDIS…. “Doctor, are sure you know how to help my mommy?” Dinky asked innocently. “Absolutely sure, Dinky! As sure as the face of Boe is a billion years old.” The Doctor kept pushing buttons in the TARDIS master console. “Umm… okay? I guess.” “Aha! I knew there was something fishy in all this stuff!” the Doctor pointed at the monitor of the TARDIS. “What is it, Doctor?” Dinky jumped with happiness and tried to see the monitor screen. “Moonoids Cloudians, an intelligent living air form which usually lives on the dark side of the moon. They need a cold and dark environment to survive and apparently a leader to follow,” the Doctor explained. “Is it bad? Can we still save my mommy?” Dinky asked worried. “Of course we can save her!” said the Doctor confidently and grabbed a lantern. “All we need to do is enlighten her with this super-concentrated sunlight simulator and she will be back to normal.” “Super-duper …what?” Dinky asked totally confused. “It’s a lantern with a light which shines as bright and warm as a real sun.” The Doctor explained. “Will it hurt?” “Of course not. Don’t worry, it only adversely affects Moonoids.” The Doctor pulled a lever in the TARDIS and everything began to shake. “Now let’s search for and save your mother! Allons-y!”