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// Chapter 8: The Nightmare is Real 
// Story: Under the Black Sky 
// by ChronicleStone 
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     You know, it’s just not the same this way.  No pony to share this journey with.  Few of my travels have been just to have a good time, but at least travelling with somepony else made them a bit less depressing.
Try as he might, Sky couldn’t bring himself to view his current situation in any other light.  But there had been no choice.  The Chimera was going to bring the mountain down upon Canterlot.  There had been no time to warn everypony.  And yet, in the solitary blackness of night, Sky wished he would have at least taken a moment to ask his friends to join him.
Every time he had fought the Chimera up to this point, he had been with somepony.  The first time, he had been with Spike and Twilight, who were directly responsible for giving Sky his magical abilities to begin with.  And in the frozen north, Lily had basically saved his life.  But Sky had no such luxury this time.  Loneliness was his companion.
Far to the northeast, Sky could see Cloudsdale, a soft silvery glow radiating from it in the black night.  Deep in his chest, he felt a sudden urge to return to his colthood home.  He wanted to see the wispy spires of the city, the grand coliseum where the Wonderbolts performed, the cloud factories…and his old house.  If it was still there.
But a quick flash of glowing crimson eyes in his mind snapped his attention back to the task at hand.  No, he thought.  I’ve come this far.  No turning aside until I’ve seen this through.
A few miles ahead, Sky could see what appeared to be a forest that was so full of color, he could make it out in the darkness.  Reds, blues, greens, yellows…every tree looked like the seed of a rainbow, just waiting to sprout into the sky.  For a moment, Sky wondered what he was seeing before he recalled a familiar voice from the recent past.
“Syrup?  It’s straight from the Painted Forest, and they say that’s the best place for it!”
“Ah,” Sky muttered.  “So this is the Painted Forest.”
The colors were so vivid, Sky almost felt the need to squint as he observed the ever-nearing forest.  The gentle swaying of the trees seemed to put Sky’s nerves at ease.  He felt a certain warmness wash over his body as he made his approach.  I wonder if Lily’s ever actually been here.  When I see her again, I’ll have to bring her on a visit.  It’d make her day.
The hypnotic movement of the forest had drawn Sky’s attention so fully that he very nearly missed a small, shadowed object move just at the edge of the trees.  The movement was so sudden and unexpected, Sky’s heart skipped a beat and his wings’ rhythmic beating stopped for a full second.  He began to descend before he caught himself, curious as to what was moving at this time of night, but remaining cautious as he approached.  When you’re sneaking away from Canterlot to face a monstrous creature of nightmares, it’s probably best to not be seen, Sky surmised.
He had to strain to even get a fix on what it was, but after a few moments of adjusting to the darkness of the night and the vibrant colors of the forest beyond, he was able to pick out the distinct figure of a lone pony.  Its color was difficult to see, but it seemed to be a light shade of brown to Sky’s eyes.  The mane and tail had to be white: they had that same silvery quality about them that Cloudsdale had.
A prickling sensation caused every hair in Sky’s mane to suddenly stand on end.  The pony’s tail was short, but a bit longer than normal for an earth stallion.  Sky had seen that style quite commonly in Polarmino, where longer tails were preferred to help combat the frigid temperatures.  A cold sweat began to break out on Sky’s forehead.  He was too high up to make out the design of the pony’s cutie mark, but he didn’t have to.  By this point, he knew exactly who he was seeing on the ground below.
Grandpa Grain.
He hadn’t forgotten that face.  He had only seen it once: when the Chimera had shifted into his body after their fight in the windigo realm.  And yet, that face had consumed his thoughts ever since that moment.  He had sworn to make the Chimera pay for what it had done to Grandpa Grain and Grandfather Clock.  And now, he was staring down upon the pony he had vowed to avenge.
Or his body, at least.
Sky watched as the pony turned its head and looked up in his direction, apparently aware of the pegasus’ approach.  It was hardly a surprise.  If the Chimera had been luring Sky here, how could he have hoped to sneak up on it?
Sky slipped into a wide, deliberate downward spiral that brought the ground ever-closer to his hooves.  The pony on the ground continued to watch him with a strangely passive interest.  The eyes of Grandpa Grain tracked the pegasus as he slowly made his descent.  With each loop, Sky’s heart pounded harder and harder, until it was like a heavy dance beat that rattled his brain with every thump.  Beads of sweat rolled down his neck and through his mane, with each passing second seeing a dozen new drops appear on his forehead.
When his hooves finally touched the ground, Sky’s mind finally flashed to blank.  No images, no memories, no preconceptions.  No past, no future.  Just the present.  This was it.  He had been waiting for this moment.  And it had come.
The eyes of the pony opposite him were eerily empty.  They were a misty gray, without color, pupils, or even any hint of white.  Slightly unsettled, Sky forced a neutral face.  “I’m here,” he announced in an even tone.
An alien, otherworldly voice responded, “I know.”  Suddenly, a burst of blackness erupted from the body of Grandpa Grain.  It persisted for only a second before dissipating, revealing another familiar form: Grandfather Clock.  “I know,” it repeated.
“Uh…” was all Sky could manage.
Yet again, the body of the elder pony was engulfed in the black flames of transformation.  And again, after a few moments, it faded.  But this time, a pony that Sky did not recognize filled the place where Grandfather Clock had once stood.  It was a white unicorn with a lavender mane and tail.
“I know,” she said in the same unnatural voice.
Sky’s eyes grew as he realized what he was seeing.  The transformation happened again.  Another unfamiliar pony.  The same haunting message: “I know.”
It happened several more times, and the rage in Sky’s mind grew hotter and hotter.  Finally, after the sixth or seventh such event, he had seen all he could handle.  “That’s enough!  You’re nothing but a coldblooded monster!  Devouring helpless, innocent ponies…and for what!?  Just because you can?  I didn’t come here to look at some macabre slideshow…I came to turn you into a grease stain and do Equestria the favor of making sure you never taint its ground again by stepping on it.”
Black flames once again swallowed the body of the pony.  Sky watched intently as the form that was revealed was the one he expected—the same one that had haunted his dreams and consumed his thoughts for days.  Three heads, four legs, all grotesque.  “And we did not come here to be lectured by one as young and impetuous as you,” it replied coldly.  “We came here to show you the utter futility of resisting and fighting against us.  Equestria will succumb to us—none can stop it.”
“You’re ignoring me.  Dangerous move.”  Sky’s eyes leveled off as he lowered his head and stamped.
All three heads leaned forward and smiled cruelly.  “Show us,” they whispered.
Sky closed his eyes and pooled all his emotions together.  His dreams and ambitions…his memories of friends and family…his love of home and newly-found companions…his sense of belonging…
And, to Sky’s surprise, a strange emotion he had not expected came to him.  It filled him with power, but it made him feel uncomfortable.  It was cold and bitter, but it was all his own.  There were no friends or happy memories to tie to this feeling.
This…this was hatred.
It was hatred for the pain caused by the Chimera.  It was hatred for his own failure to prevent that pain.  It was hatred for whatever sense of justice in the world allowed this creature to exist.  It was hatred for the Chimera itself.
And Sky grabbed it.
With a crack of thunder, Sky shot straight ahead, planting his hooves into the Chimera, driving it straight off the ground and through the air at breakneck speed.  He stared into one of the surprised faces and felt his anger take hold.  This is for Equestria.
They continued through the air until the Chimera collided with a tree, crashing with such force that the trunk cracked and bent at an awkward angle.  Acting quickly, Sky spun in the air, bringing both of his rear hooves around in a vicious kick that slammed into the foremost of the Chimera’s head.  Pressing his advantage, he completed his turn and drove another hoof into the lion’s neck, mustering all his strength into the blow, as if he could push a hole right through the body of his foe.
He barely saw the claw approaching.  Reacting as fast as he could, he retracted his leg and dropped to the ground, managing to duck the brutal swipe by centimeters.  The Chimera began to lean forward as it attempted to recover from Sky’s early onslaught.  Sensing another opportunity, he rose up and brought his body into a complete backflip, causing his rear hoof to connect with the Chimera’s foremost chin again, forcing its entire body to rise off the ground.
He didn’t even hesitate.  As soon as he hit the ground, his wings were open.  Taking off with the force of a cannon, he surged into the body of his foe, driving it once again into the battered tree trunk.  But this time, he kept driving, piling on the force until he felt the tree entirely give way.  The Chimera’s body ripped through the tree, severing the trunk cleanly in two.  Sky saw a blur of brilliant red pass above him as the tree’s canopy fell to the ground.
The Chimera coughed and spat, obviously dazed and off-balance.  Sky forced himself on, driving his foe higher and higher into the night sky.  Finally, after ascending high into the air, Sky rolled out from under the Chimera’s body and planted himself against his foe’s back, giving a quick jab to the goat’s head while he was there, just for good measure.
As the Chimera’s momentum finally gave way to gravity, Sky coiled up like a spring and kicked his hind legs straight downward, causing the Chimera to bend unnaturally around the point of impact.  In an instant, it was hurtling back to the ground, roaring in agony, pain, frustration, and who knew what else as it made its uncontrolled descent.
But Sky wasn’t done.  He wasn’t even close.  The red bomb in his brain had exploded, but it had only lent him new strength.  With a quick motion, he turned into a dive and shot straight for the Chimera.  Every flap of his wings felt like it left ripples in the air.  He could feel the wind press up against his hooves as though he might punch a hole in the sky at any moment.  He was a living lightning bolt.
And his wrath would be unleashed.
The Chimera and the winged bolt hit the ground at the same time.  The ground shook with the force of the impact.  Birds, awakened from their sleep, took off into the air, startled and confused.  Trees swayed in a breeze that hit like a shockwave.  A deafening peal of thunder caused rocks to rattle.  Calm ponds and lakes were suddenly disturbed by ripples that came from nowhere.
The dust was still settling when the shadowy image of a lone pony rose from the wreckage.  Sky straightened up and stood erect, catching his breath.  He looked at his hooves, noticing the scorch marks trailing from them along the ground.  Turning back, he saw a deep crater with risen walls, smoking and steaming.  Nearby trees had been uprooted or turned up at an angle in the wake of the impact.  He approached calmly, yet cautiously.
“I think that’s a good warm-up,” he said confidently.  “How about we get serious?”
He wasn’t surprised when no sound was heard.  That had been a veritable beatdown he had just laid on that monster.  Nothing could just get up from that.  For all he knew, he could have vanquished it.
Then the black flames rose from the crater.  Sky instantly drew back, wings spread, legs splayed.  C’mon, Sky, you knew that wouldn’t beat that thing.  Don’t get cocky.
The flames drew up, higher and higher and higher, until they towered above him.  The stars blinked out as the blackness drowned them in shadow.  Deep in Sky’s heart, he felt the terror of this new form of menace, but his stubborn determination locked him where he was.
Suddenly, near the top of the shadowy flames, three pairs of crimson eyes opened and turned their gaze upon the small pegasus back on the ground.  Sky’s eyes grew wide and his breath was stolen away.
My dream…it’s my dream.
He gritted his teeth and fell into a crouching position.  Then if this is my dream, I already know what comes next.
To Sky’s surprise, the eyes merged into a single pair of hate-filled gaps in the blackness.  He looked on as the flames began to subside.
And he stood in awe of what they revealed.
Huge claws.  Green, scaly skin.  A mouth wide enough to swallow an entire group of ponies whole. 
And those blasted red eyes to boot.
A dragon, Sky realized.  Well, why not?
The dragon’s mouth opened slightly as it spoke.  “I agree,” it boomed.  “Let us fight for real.”
Deep in his mind, Sky heard the echoing laughter of the Chimera as it escaped from the windigo colony just a week ago.  He clenched his teeth and felt his body tense up as the swagger he had displayed mere moments earlier gave way to a new rush of rage and anger.  “You asked for it,” came his simple reply.
And, true to his dream, he rocketed into the air, headed for the face of his foe, screaming as he came.