Chaos and Crusaders

by Neon Icy Wings

Of Nightmares and Mysteries

Back in the safety and secrecy of the clubhouse the Crusaders and Enigma huddled together. "Alright crusaders." Applebloom started as she put her hooves on the shoulders of her friends, "Ah don't know how long Ah can keep Applejack, so, tomorrow we have to find ways to make everypony not question him bein' here."

Sweetie frowned and rubbed the side of her head. "Um, how do we do that exactly? It's not like we can summon up some parents for him."

Scootaloo hopped up and down as an idea struck. "I know! We could get him into school with us! That way ponies won't find it weird seeing a foal outside on school days."

Enigma continued his ever present smile and turned to Scootaloo. "Why does that sound like a threat?"

Sweetie ignored Enigma's comment and tilted her head. "And how do we do that?"

Scootaloo clopped her hooves together, smiling. "We could forge a letter from his parents saying to Cheerliee that he needs teaching!"

Sweetie Belle planted her hoof firmly on her forehead, sighing, "Scoots," She said as she lifted her head, "Not only is that probably illegal, none of us know how to forge an official document or even know how to spell cleanly to forge a document."

Scootaloo laughed as she placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder, "Don't worry Sweetie Belle, I'll figure something out." Sweetie simply gave Scootaloo a deadpan stare, prompting the pegasus fidget. "Uh, why're you staring at me like that?"

"Because getting Enigma into school with us isn't going to keep ponies from questioning things."

Enigma frowned, somehow keeping his upbeat look in spite of the frown. "Why not? Sounds like a plan to me!"

Applebloom hummed, beginning to make her way to the Club House door. "Ah think Sweetie means that ponies will still be thinkin' 'Where the hay are his parents?' more than 'Why the hay is this colt outta school at this here hour?'"

Scootaloo appeared partially deflated at such lines of logic. "Yeah, I guess. So do you have a better idea on what to do to keep ponies from thinking those things?"

Applebloom cantered over to the door and opened it to the nightly air. "Ah don't know, but Ah think we shouldn't rush any one plan too much. We take it slow, and maybe once ponies start questionin' things, then we can forge the letter. Maybe fake a letter day after tomorrow to delay his 'parents' from comin' to Ponyville or somethin'."

Scootaloo got up, stretched and walked to the door. "Yeah, sounds good. Geez, it's late, I think my sis is gonna strangle me."

Applebloom giggled as her friend passed her. "Well, she hasn't done it yet."

Enigma scratched his head in confusion. "That reminds me, I met everypony else, but, not your sister Scootaloo. Why's that?"

Scootaloo groaned as her wings drooped and turned to him. "Can it wait? I'm tired and Skates' gotta be waiting up at home like a vulture."

Enigma smiled and nodded causing Scootaloo to grin. "Well, Crusaders, see ya tomorrow."

The rest of the crusaders exited the club house, leaving Enigma all to himself. He tapped his hooves against the wooden floor in contemplation. He had no idea what to do now that he was alone. He smiled wide, well maybe one idea, and he thought about his magic, got up and braced himself! Only to strain to no avail and slump back to the floor with a frown, and a puff of dust. He sighed as he recalled his promise to Scootaloo, how they would help each other with their natural abilities that weren't coming so naturally. He wondered when they'd follow through on that agreement, a tad eager to get his magic rolling.

He got up off the floor and started to pace, brushing past the podium they left out, in front of the window and taking a sharp left of the open closet. He kept that same, circular path for some time, he didn't exactly know how much time passed, all he knew, as his eyelids drooped halfway, was that the sugar filled confectioneries he consumed at the party were wearing off and he himself was finally being consumed by drowsiness.

He haphazardly trotted towards a bundle of blankets and gently huddled in them, accepting the gentle embrace of sleep.

Only his dreams felt strange. Much stranger than they had been the night before which had proved quite relaxing.

A feeling of uneasiness and paranoia were the first things Enigma felt inside his dreams. Things were hard to discern inside his sleeping mind. Only fading flashes stuck out enough to even be called visual stimuli that slowly defined into two different sights.

It was as if his dream was split into stereo. Like seeing two distinct points of view from a single pair of eyes, with one being a blur of green that gave way to sleek white and back to green.

The other, it held darker colors, blues and blacks with dots of brighter color that brought feelings of annoyance through his being as they moved amongst the darker beauty.

The green twisted and turned as he stalked similar dots back and forth, this time bringing forth feelings of amusement and success, especially as one by one the colored blobs became muted and faded.

Things on the one and the other continued as such. In one the colors twisted into various other bright colors, bringing joy to himself, in quantities never before felt.

The other continued its darker shades, bringing a comfort from the darkness that the bright blobs seemed intent on destroying. Things weren't bad, but she knew that to allow those foolish blobs too much leeway it all would come crumbling down.

The silly blobs continued their quest to defy him, well, blob, as the final non muted color led the others to try and futilely win the game. Of course they failed, they had played into his grasp and the final color became muted, he didn't even need to see it. He had better things to do. Funner things to do.

The foolish blobs dared to enter her domain on foolish false hope, and of course the pathetic fools failed. Victory was guaranteed, the blasted stones were destroyed and nothing could dream to stand in her way any longer.

Wonderful, fantastic chaos wound all around in a glorious symphony. A hilarious sight quickly appeared before him as the six silly ponies seemingly thought themselves able to oppose him. How daft!

The lead fool was jabbering on about something with such bravado and optimism. The elements were destroyed, there was nothing left to stop her beauti- The broken fragments of the elements floated up in multicolored sparkles in impossibility, striking a spark of stark terror through her.

Those silly ponies actually believed to have overcome his machinations, sure their little elements were in place and their colors were back. Bah, bah, what a waste of time. They were distracting him from the beauty of chaos. Might as well amuse them, he figured, and send them on their way.

The fragments flew to the fools and somehow reformed beyond their shard forms, injecting panic further into where victory once stood. Threatening all the effort, all that time. Wasted. Doomed.

Chaos

Him

He felt his body tremble before freezing in place
as the rainbow ran around and through him
A prison of his very flesh encompassing him

Enigma was torn from his eclectic dreams with a scream from his own being. He lay there, panting as the vivid, dual dream lingered within his mind. The horrific feeling of being torn in two and frozen in his own skin continued to crawl along him like a phantom.

The faintest of thoughts spoke within him, asking if those visions were the unconscious cause for his unease around Rarity and Twilight's homes. But that confused the deeper reaches of Enigma's mind that were capable of pondering beyond the dream visions. He wasn't there, wherever there were. He had awoken a mere two days before. Though he would have enjoyed that funny world and even the forest appeared less intimidating as a shadowy specter.

But even those positive thoughts lay buried underneath the turmoil of his mind. It wasn't a memory, it couldn't be. Was it a warning? Was it a prophecy?

The answer mattered little as he trembled amongst his rags. He almost wanted to dig the sleeping bag back out from the previous night but quickly shot the idea down at the thought of being suffocated inside it. So he just lay there, though he was unsure for how long, so engrossed into his thoughts and dream memories that the outside world, the club house, the orchard beyond that and the town beyond that were of little consequence to his mind.

Looking back on that night Enigma wouldn't remember if he returned to slumber by his own volition or if he simply passed out or the like. Despite the silence that followed his return to sleep, he would not feel calm or rested within his cold black dreamless void. Even in the blankness of dreamless sleep the dream visions lingered in spirit, leaving Enigma with the feeling of eyes upon him from within the depths of his own mind.

Princess Luna stood on a balcony to Canterlot Castle, overlooking Equestria as it was wrapped inside her night. It might not have been all that long since her return, in truth, and even a shorter period of time that she returned to controlling the night alone. But she felt blessed to serve Equestria again, even more so to be accepted by the ponies of Ponyville. The memory of that Nightmare Night bringing a smile to her face amongst the peaceful nightly breeze. Equestria's night was at peace.

At least, until she felt a spike on incredible fear within her realm of dreams. If it were any other nightmare should would have taken to the dreams of her poor little pony to ease them back into a restful sleep, or even help that pony through whatever issues summoned forth such terror. But there was something off with the spike, as almost as soon as she felt the fear a pulse of magic struck from what felt like all around her, stealing the breath from her lungs, almost sending her to her knees.

She caught herself and did her best to maintain her composure in spite of the anomalous pulse that left an all too familiar feeling within her psyche. A feeling she thought she would never feel again. The dark touch of the Nightmare's magic, though weaker and different in some aspects, unmistakably the same. She searched quickly for the spike of fear, to try and hone in on it, but it was gone from her senses.

Her composure broke slightly at the thought that the Nightmare was trying to retake control, but it quickly faded, faster than the pulse did. The fear was not from her, it had come from out, in Equestria, undoubtedly connected to the Nightmare's power.

She took a few moments to breathe before gazing out over Canterlot and Equestria beyond. "Sister should know of this. Twilight Sparkle too. It may be nothing, but w- I will not allow her to threaten Equestria ever again." She was a princess of Equestria, and she would protect it, most especially from the failures of her past. No matter what.