“Well, Twi, only one way out of this!” Rainbow said, smacking her forehooves together.
“Looks like...” Twilight replied, her horn glowing brightly and causing several of the shadow-things to back away. “Hm, they seem to hate light.” She mused. Several more of the creatures began to form around them, some resembling tables with spidery legs, others looking like bent plants. Their glowing green eyes trailed purple smoke as they began to approach, though shying away from the light as they surrounded the two ponies.
“Hang on!” Twilight said, firing a blast of light near the exit and causing the shadows to back away, leaving it open for them to escape through. Immediately Twilight and Rainbow raced for the doors and attempted to push them open.
“Darn it all! It's locked!” Rainbow said, beating her forehooves against the door, then turning and trying to buck them down, only to suddenly get tackled by several more shadows.
“Rainbow!” Twilight summoned another burst of light, causing the shadow creatures to shriek in horror and dissipate into smoke, leaving Rainbow free to get back up.
“We gotta get outta here, Twi.” Rainbow said. “Doors locked, shadow-things everywhere…”
“If we could just somehow light the whole place up we may be able to get rid of them all.” Twilight said.
“Wait! Look!” Rainbow gestured up at the sunroof, which was currently blotted out. “I smash through that, we can get out and light this place up.”
“Rainbow, you sure that’s safe?” Twilight asked.
“This is me we’re talking about, Twi!” Rainbow said with a grin. “Now hang on tight, I’m gonna need ya to use that light spell to clear those things away before we hit!”
Before Twilight could answer, Rainbow wrapped her forehooves around her and began flying upward in a winding, circular motion. Around them, numerous shadows formed wings and began to fly after them. Twilight lit up her horn, firing blasts left and right to keep them at bay as Rainbow flew several circles to gain speed before going straight up.
Up above, the blackness over the sunroof moved, and numerous green eyes formed on it. The thing hissed and lashed out several shadowy tendrils at the two ponies, but Rainbow was too fast for it.
“No department store spook’s gonna keep Rainbow Dash down!” Rainbow shouted proudly as she avoided another tentacle that lashed out at them. “Twi! NOW!”
Focusing, Twilight fired a blast of bright light at the apparition, causing it to burst apart into a swarm of smaller shadow-beings resembling bats, causing the unicorn to panic.
“Bats! Why did it have to be BATS?! Twilight cried out, hugging Rainbow tightly as the numerous creatures flew around them like a cloud, causing Rainbow to falter slightly.
Righting herself, the pegasus flew several circles to regain any speed she’d lost. “Hold on to me tight, Twi!” Rainbow warned, and with a nervous nod, the unicorn complied, wrapping her forelegs around her as tightly as she could. Rainbow immediately stretched her forehooves straight out, and with all her might, flew right at the sunroof. The impact shattered it apart, and the two ponies flew straight out and into the warm, sunny sky. Within they could hear horrible shrieks of pain, and a black smokelike substance spilt from the hole in the roof and evaporated away.
“That was close.” Twilight said, still shaking a little as Rainbow slowly flew them down to the street and set her friend down. “Before she changed, Rarity said something about the Alicorn Statue, and you said you saw Trixie run off with it earlier after you broke its hold over Pinkie Pie. You think it’s connected to what happened to Rarity?”
“I’d bet my wings on it, Twi, that thing’s bad news. And it must have… I dunno… set off whatever effects the Smooze has and super-charged it or something!” Rainbow said. “But that’d mean it’s gotta be somewhere in this city to do something like that to a pony!”
“Well we better go look.” Twilight said before pausing in place. “Wait! Vinyl! We should at least let her know about the diamond while we search for clues.”
“May as well. She should be at the Rock N’ Roadhouse by now, right?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah, she should be!” Twilight replied. “Lets get down there right away!”
~
In a flash of light, the two teleported into the seedy bar, where Vinyl Scratch sat quietly, sulking as she downed a mug of cider. Noticing Twilight and Rainbow, she smiled a little and the two approached.
“Hey, Vinyl!” Twilight said with a smile. “How are things?”
“Ehhh, same old, same old.” Vinyl said, returning the smile though there was sadness in her voice. “How about you?”
“Well, we found something that should clear your debt.” Twilight replied. “We went into the mines, had to deal with those diamond dogs and save the ponies working in there. The gem they let us keep should be enough to pay off how much you owe.”
“Really?” Vinyl asked anxiously.
“Yes, Vinyl. Just keep quiet about it till we make it over. Rarity’s gone missing and once we’ve found her we’ll come by.” Twilight answered.
Vinyl looked down at her drink for a moment. “Thanks… it really means a lot. Can’t wait to get outta this place.”
“Hey, we won’t leave you hanging! That’s a promise!” Rainbow said, patting the unicorn deejay on the shoulder.
“Alright. Just bring it to the Bridleway Theater when you get the chance.” Vinyl said, looking noticeably happier now. “I’ll be waiting for ya!” With those words, she got up and trotted outside. Seconds later, however, she returned. “Hey… you girls may wanna see this.” She said, turning her head and gesturing to the stairs leading back outside.
Glancing at one-another in confusion, Twilight and Rainbow followed the deejay upstairs.
Outside, several ponies were gathered around something in one of the alleys.
“Hey, what’s going on here?” Rainbow wondered, flying over the other ponies and spotting two familiar faces sprawled out in the street.
“Flim? Flam?” Rainbow asked, shocked to find the two travelling salesponies like this.
“What happened to you two?” Twilight asked, nudging her way through the crowd.
“Oh my… look who’s found us, brother…” Flim said weakly.
“The pegasus and… another of her little friends, dear brother!” Flam replied, out of breath. The twin salesponies looked noticeably roughed up, and oddly without their strange contraption they often rode on.
“Where’s your Cider Squeezy thing-a-majig?” Rainbow asked, landing in front of them.
“Fancy Pants… ponies in suits… took it from us…we tried to get it mass-marketed in exchange for the Alicorn Statue.” Flim answered. “They… conned us of all ponies! Crazy, huh?”
“So he has the Alicorn Statue?” Twilight asked.
“Yes! Indeed he does…” Flam replied.
“Then where is it? Back in his office?” Rainbow asked.
“Heh… you would think that… wouldn’t you, you headstrong pegasus?” Flim said with a chuckle. “No, he… keeps it hidden… somewhere else.”
“Where?” Rainbow demanded, her patience running low.
“Word on the street… is he frequents the Rock N’ Roadhouse of all places! Somepony we were chatting with… said he… goes there to ‘get away from it all’, but it sounds like horseapples to me!” Flam said. “I bet that’s where he… keeps the statue! Gotta… marvel at such a… beautiful thing after all!” The stallion grinned for a moment, recalling its splendor.
“Yes, yes indeed he does frequent it! We staked the… place out to see!” Flim said. “We spotted him and… some… tall mare in a cloak going into the Rock N’ Roadhouse not… long ago! Lucky devil, I’d say from the way her mane and tail billowed, those slender flanks, that grace in her step… she’s quite a catch, wouldn’t you say, brother?” He asked, grinning at Flam weakly.
“Oh… indeed she is!” Flam said, grinning back. “Wonder… what her… name is…”
“It must be Rarity!” Rainbow whispered to Twilight.
“That doesn’t make sense. I never saw them when I came in.” Vinyl protested.
“You wouldn’t… they messed with… one of the shelves behind… the bartable and… that’s when we got jumped by their goons!” Flam said.
“You must have showed up after they took us, but before they dumped us out here!” Flim said with an amused chuckle. “Ohhhh that a beating it was, brother of mine!”
“Indeed, brother of mine!” Flam responded in a weak yet upbeat tone.
“We better check out the Roadhouse again, Rainbow.” Twilight said before looking back at the two brothers. “Are you guys alright? Do you need to be taken to the hospital?”
“Not at all, we’ll get ourselves there in no time!” Flim said, and before Twilight could respond, the two got up and danced around them.
“I’m Flim! He’s Flam!” Flim sang, and the two immediately began a little song as they held out their hats and danced off down the street, singing in perfect unison.
We’re the world-famous FlimFlam Brothers!
And with injuries we’ve sus-tained!
It’s best the both of us re-mained!
In the nearest medical fa-cil-i-tyyyyyy!
Everypony stared in silence for a moment as the two brothers took off in the direction of the hospital, then the crowd slowly dispersed.
“Well, I better get back to the theater, I’ll see you two later!” Vinyl said, giving Twilight and Rainbow a wave before galloping off down the street, leaving the two to themselves.
“Well, let’s get going.” Twilight said, heading back down into the Rock N’ Roadhouse, followed by Rainbow Dash.
“Well… Nothing seems out of the ordinary.” Twilight said, looking the shelves over.
“Heeeeyyyy, check this out!” Rainbow said with a grin, holding up a bottle of Apple Clan Rock-Hard Cider.
“Rainbow, we don’t have time for……..” Twilight suddenly froze, staring off into space.
“Hey, Twi? What’s wrong?” Rainbow asked, waving her hoof in Twilight’s face and then turning to see what she was looking at. “What’re you loo-ooooo-ooooo…..” Rainbow’s eyes glazed over as well, her stare fixed on the hole in the shelf where the hard cider bottle had sat. It seemed to grow bigger, and bigger, and they were being pulled into it… reality itself suddenly seemed to twist and contort, ponies all around becoming stretched and wavy along with everything in the roadhouse, and then everything spun around into the blackness like water down a drain.
~
Reality un-twisted itself, and took on strange, psychedelic colors that seemed to flow and flash all around, forming into various shapes and forms until it resembled a bizarre, colorful mockery of the Rock N’ Roadhouse.
“Whoa… Twi… where are we?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head and looking around. It looked like the Rock N’ Roadhouse, but every surface was solid black, outlined by everchanging, glowing colors of all kinds. The lights in the tavern were now just floating orbs of tie-dye color, giving the place an odd, and, given the blackness that made up most of where they were, ineffective illumination.
“I don’t know, Rainbow…” Twilight said, looking at the bar patrons, all of which did not seem to be aware of anything out of the ordinary. “Excuse me… where are we?” Twilight asked the bartender, who simply grinned and cocked his head.
“Welcome to Moonhattan… We mecol na tta hno oM to!” He said, his grin never wavering.
“Moonhattan?! Don’t you mean Manehattan?” Rainbow asked.
“Of course I do mean Manehattan!” The bartender said, cocking his head again.
“Then why’d you say Moonhattan?” Rainbow asked, annoyed.
“Because this is Moonhattan.” The bartender said, grinning again.
“Twi, I think we’d better get out of here, this place is kinda weird.” Rainbow said.
“Agreed.” Twilight replied, and the two ponies immediately hurried down the stairs and outside.
Emerging from the basement floor upside-down and turning right side-up as they got outside, Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared agape at the world around them. It was just like the Roadhouse had been, everything solid black but outlined and illuminated with random and changing colors. Lights were all warped, colorful orbs, and the moon itself seemed to flow with weird coloring like soapy water. Signs had lit-up arrows that pointed up and down, others had arrows that spiraled into a random direction, and one simply read “Spinach”. an equally bizarre music of some kind seemed to come from all around, making the place all the creepier.
“Yeesh, it’s like Discord got really drunk and forgot to turn on the lights!” Rainbow said, staring at a fire hydrant that was bouncing around on the streets.
Suddenly, the hydrant paused and hopped towards them, then stopped a few feet from them and stared up at them with large green eyes.
“Uhh, can we help you?” Twilight asked nervously.
“WASHY-WASHY!” The fire hydrant shouted, and suddenly both ponies were hit with a powerful blast of water, sending both of them tumbling backwards onto the sidewalk. The hydrant giggled like an enthusiastic child and hopped away, chasing after a giggling ball of fire.
“What was that all about?” Rainbow protested angrily.
“We need to get to the bottom of this. We’re in some kind of alternate reality, I think. It has to be where Fancy Pants and Rarity are!” Twilight replied.
“Well let’s ask somepony if they saw them!” Rainbow said.
“Hopefully they’ll be a little more helpful.” Twilight said, spotting what looked to be a pink pony with spiral eyes and a beanie on her head, twiddling her lips with her hoof as she hovered about in place despite having no wings. Her cutie mark appeared to be a screw and a baseball.
“Uh, excuse me…?” Twilight asked. The pony grinned at her and Rainbow.
“HELLO! And…. GOODBYE!” The strange pony said, and before Twilight or Rainbow could respond, they felt the bizarre city scroll past them from one place to another in fast motion.
“Okay, that was weird.” Rainbow said. “I’m gonna fly up and take a look around.” With that, she flew straight up, as high as she could so she could overlook the city. As she did, she noticed an odd pillar of green light flowing into the sky from where a structure resembling the Equestrian State Building stood. As she flew towards it to get a closer look, however, the strange, red clouds formed a pair of gigantic lips that smiled down at her.
“Better go back down, babe, or I’m-a EATCHA!” It said in a deep, base voice similar to the one Fluttershy briefly got thanks to the poison joke. Rainbow screamed in alarm and flew back down as the lips opened wide and bit down, barely missing her before fading back into clouds.
Landing, the pegasus breathed heavily as Twilight trotted over to her.
“You okay, I heard you screaming up there.” Twilight said, looking back up at the clouds.
“The clouds… they tried to EAT me, Twi!” Rainbow said.
“In a place this strange, I guess I can’t be surprised.” Twilight replied. “Find anything that might lead us to Rarity?”
“Yeah, there’s a weird light coming from a skyscraper that looks like the Equestrian State Building.” Rainbow said. “So how do we get over there? I can’t fly us or the clouds will come after us again!”
“We can try teleporting!” Twilight said. “Hold onto me.” Rainbow complied and Twilight’s horn began to glow. However, right before they could vanish, the strange pink pony appeared and smacked Twilight upside the head with her forehoof.
“Not in my house!” The pony said, laughing maniacally while spinning in the air.
“Well I guess that’s out, too.” Twilight said. “So now what?”
“HELLO… and…”
“Oh no, not again!” Rainbow said, shaking.
“…GOODBYE!”
The city scrolled past them at high speed again, and they found themselves right in front of the Equestrian State Building.
“Well, I guess that did save us some trouble.” Twilight said as they approached, only to be stopped by what appeared to be a wonderbolt in a tie-dye colored uniform, licking a lollipop.
“Can I help you two?” He asked.
“Hey, look can we go by, we kinda gotta get over to that building.” Rainbow said with a grin.
“Hmmmm…. Can’t do that. I’m not leaving this spot till I got that delicious pie with the warm crust and the smily-face drawn on it out of cherry paste I’ve been promised back at the hotel!” The wonderbolt said, popping the lollipop back into his mouth and folding his forelegs as he hovered in place, looking down at them in disdain.
“We don’t have time for this, let us through!” Rainbow said angrily, swinging her hoof at him. The wonderbolt easily caught it, then flung the pegasus into Twilight, sending them tumbling across the black streets, weird hot pink dust trailing from them.
“Pie first, then you pass.” The wonderbolt said, striking a ridiculous martial arts pose.
“Come on, Rainbow.” Twilight said. “Let’s get to the hotel and find where this pie is.”
~
“Why is this building upside-down?” Rainbow asked, staring at the black building with the neon-green outlines and glowing pink windows, a sign next to it read out “We NEVER Have Vacancy!”
“You’re questioning the logic of a place that clearly doesn’t have any?” Twilight asked, an eyebrow raised at the pegasus. “Guess we can go through this window.” She said, noticing one of the rooftop windows which sat on the ground was open.
Walking in, the two found the room itself to be right side-up, and stairs nearby led up. Following them, they found themselves in a hallway that seemed impossibly long for the building’s size. Like everything else, all the surfaces were completely black, save for blue and green outlines, and the odd ‘splashes’ of color that appeared with every hoofstep Rainbow and Twilight made. Pictures on the walls featured strange objects in them, such as records, fire hydrants, grinning mouths, mushrooms, and a book that said “An Earthbound Journey: WIP” on it. As they came to the end, there was a large portrait of Trixie that took up where a door should be.
“Am I Great and Powerful?” The painting asked, looking down at the two.
“Uhhh, yes?” Rainbow asked. The painting scowled.
“HOW DARE YOU!” It yelled, its mouth opening and a massive, green and blue-striped snake slithered out at them.
“I’m thirsty!” The snake declared as it coiled itself up, then lunged at them. “Let me DRINK YOU UP!”
Twilight and Rainbow jumped out of its way, Twilight turned quickly and fired a blast of magic at it. As soon as the blast impacted, the snake exploded into brightly colored confetti that fluttered off down the hall.
“What in Tartarus?!” Rainbow asked, staring agape and wondering what had just happened.
“Am I Great and Powerful?” The painting asked again.
“No.” Rainbow said.
“Oooh THANK YOU! I know I'm not!” The painting said, clapping its hooves. “You may pass.” It then swung open like a door, leading into another strange room. Inside was an odd filly and what looked like Bulk Biceps.
“You like my painting? The filly asked, smiling at the two ponies as they walked in and showing off a blank canvas.
“Uh, no.” Twilight said, going with what she’d been gathering how this place communicated.
“Yay! You just made my day!” The filly cheered, bouncing around and scooping up her canvas. “Be sure to bring that pie to the bolter-wond at the Equestrian State Building!” She said, prancing out the doorway and it disappeared behind her.
“What pie? I don’t see a pie…” Rainbow said, looking around.
“Must be some-WHOA!” Twilight fell over something invisible and landed flat on her face. “What the hay?!” She turned and saw a faint ripple, as if something transparent were there where she tripped.
“NO!” Bulk cheered from the corner, flexing proudly.
“Hm, it feels warm.” Twilight said, moving her hooves around the shape and finding it to be circular at its base. Cocking her head, she attempted her magic on it and the outline of a pie floated in her magical aura.
“Hey! Careful! Hard to keep my cherry paste smile with you floating me up so quickly like that!” A cheerful voice said.
“Uhhh… Rainbow? I think I’ve found the pie.” Twilight deadpanned.
“Well that’s great, but how do we get out of here?” Rainbow asked, noticing there were no doors or windows in the room. Approaching Bulk, she stared up at the gigantic pegasus. “Hey, can you get us out of here instead of just standing there doing nothing?”
“NO!” The pegasus yelled back, snorting loudly. The room’s neon outlines suddenly broke apart, Twilight and Rainbow rushed over to eachothers sides, holding eachother worriedly as the outlines reshaped into a huge, grinning face before changing into the city streets, right outside the hotel.
“Okay, Twi, seriously? I’ve had enough of this crazy place!” Rainbow said.
“Tell me about it, Rainbow.” Twilight said with a roll of her eyes.
“Hey! Are you two marefriends?” The filly from before asked, trotting over to them.
“No!” Rainbow answered instinctively.
“Awww, congratulations!” The filly said, patting their backs before trotting off in a sideways motion and up a building side.
“Well she seems sweet! Eh-hehe! Makes my crust all nice and warm!” The invisible pie remarked as Twilight and Rainbow immediately let go of eachother, cringing from the awkward moment the strange filly brought upon them. “Well, we have the pie now. Let’s get back to the Equestrian State Building and find Rarity.” Twilight said. “Now if we can just find that weird pony agai—”
“HELLO!” The pink pony shouted from behind them, tapping both ponies on the head.
“Oh, there you are! We were just—”
“annnnd… GOODBYE!” The pony said, and the city once again scrolled past Twilight and Rainbow at high speed, and they found themselves near a few black trees outlined with glowing green light right near the Equestrian State Building.
“Ooh! There he is! There he is!” The pie’s voice said happily.
“Let’s get rid of this thing, fast.” Rainbow said, and the two approached the pony in the colorful wonderbolt costume.
“Ooh! My pie! You found my lovely pie!” The pony said, grabbing at the invisible space with his teeth and set it down. “So, Pie, wanna go share some drinks?”
“Absolutely! You know I love a good cider as much as the next pastry!” The pie said, and the strange wonderbolt picked the pie back up and flew off.
“Well, the coast is clear now!” Rainbow said, and they began to approach the entrance to the building, where a pony in a hooded cloak stood before the Alicorn Statue.
“Hey, you!” Rainbow shouted. The hooded pony turned, his hood falling back and revealing a rather startled Fancy Pants underneath.
“Oh my! I-I do say! Wh-what are you two ladies doing here?” Fancy Pants asked.
“Could be asking you the same thing! Now why don’t you step away from that nasty statue you got there and tell us where Rarity is?”
“Oh, I don’t know… I… wonk t’nod I, ho….” Fancy Pants said, his voice suddenly becoming distorted and he blew away in the wind like dust.
“That wasn’t him… then what’s going on here?” Twilight wondered.
“Isn’t that the question of the ages, darling?” An echoing, menacing, but still familiar voice asked above them. Looking up, the two ponies saw the ‘Nightmare Rarity’ reclining on the archway, staring down at them with a fanged grin and glowing blue eyes, her white and purple mane and tail billowing around her as she stood up. “Welcome to my new world. I rather like it here, such lovely colors, and delightful ponies and things, wouldn’t you say?” She asked, around Twilight and Rainbow, several odd shapes approached, revealing themselves to be trees, fire hydrants, mailboxes, signs, and the like. “Now, now, boys. These two are mine to play with.”
“Rarity! Snap out of it!” Twilight protested.
“The only snapping that will happen today is your necks, my little ponies!” Nightmare Rarity declared with a laugh, her horn glowing brightly and wind began to blow around them, forming a glowing purple cyclone that propelled Twilight, Rainbow Dash, the Alicorn Statue, Nightmare Rarity, and random debris high into the sky and onto the strangely-colored moon’s surface, and a strange, otherworldly music began to echo all around them as the sky itself changed into several undulating colors pulsing around where the statue stood.
The Alicorn Statue’s eyes glowed green, and Nightmare Rarity’s horn began to glow again and she fired a blast of blue magical lightning at Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Twilight hurriedly put up a magic barrier, blocking the lightning blast, but it proved too powerful for her and shattered the barrier, sending her tumbling across the moon’s surface and into a fallen mailbox that had landed amongst the rest of the debris that had been brought there with them.
Nightmare Rarity chuckled. “You’re out of your league, foals!”
“Don’t be so sure, Nightmarity!” Rainbow shouted, flaring out her wings.
“That’s Nightmare Rarity to you! Or MISS Nightmare Rarity!” The unicorn shouted angrily, firing several blasts of magic at her. Rainbow weaved around them and flew straight at the demonic visage of her friend, then flew around her, spinning several circles around her to create a cyclone. Nightmare Rarity looked left and right, seeking out the swift pegasus as she flew around her faster then she could follow. Growling, the corrupted unicorn let out an angry yell and a burst of black energy erupted from her, sending Rainbow Dash tumbling.
"Come on... Rarity... you gotta break free..." Rainbow pleaded. "This isn't you!"
"Oh? But it feels positively delightful Rainbow Dash! You should try it!" Nightmare Rarity said, using her magic to float Rainbow off the ground and toss her about like a rag doll.
“Don’t you see? You have no chance against me here! King Sombra shall win, after you both have been crushed… unless you wish to join his court as his next Nightmare envoys!” the dark pony sneered, her mane billowing around her and growing longer, snagging Rainbow off the ground and lifting her up high.
“Not…a bucking… chance…” Rainbow said, gritting her teeth as she struggled to free herself from Nightmare Rarity’s prehensile mane as it grew tighter around her.
“So be it.” Nightmare Rarity sneered, her eyes narrowing with glee as a current of dark magic channeled through her mane and shocked the pegasus, causing Rainbow to cry out in pain.
“Hey, Rarity!” Twilight’s voice shouted, causing the corrupted unicorn to turn towards her in confusion.
“What is it, insect?” Nightmare Rarity asked. “If you’re so eager to die you’ll have to wait your turn, it’s quite rude to be so impatient!” She said with a laugh.
“Not exactly. I just wanted your attention.” Twilight said, firing a fully-charged fire spell at Nightmare Rarity's mane, severing the part holding Rainbow up and sending the pegasus falling down to the prismatic lunar surface.
“MY MANE!!!” Nightmare Rarity shouted, and glared at Twilight with a look that could make any lesser thing explode. “I. WILL. DESTROY YOU!!” She yelled furiously. The Alicorn Statue’s eyes glowed again, and the image of a small diamond appeared on the tip of Nightmare Rarity’s horn. Dark magic formed rapidly around it as she aimed at Twilight, who hurriedly summoned a magical barrier to protect herself as a beam of powerful magic was fired at her, blasting Twilight backward despite the barrier.
“You can’t hold it up forever, Twilight!” Nightmare Rarity said with a triumphant laugh, charging up her magic and firing several more blasts as Twilight did her best to dodge and block them with barriers as best she could, though she was beginning to show signs of fatigue. "And now this ends..." The dark unicorn said with a grin, but was suddenly socked in the face when Rainbow swooped down and decked her with her hoof, sending Nightmare Rarity tumbling onto her side.
“That’s why she’s got me to watch her back.” Rainbow said with a smug grin as Nightmare Rarity lay there, dazed.
“Now for the finishing move.” Twilight said, floating what she’d found inside the mailbox she’d hit earlier and revealing it to be a rather large bottle rocket. Using her magic, she lit the fuse and the big bottle rocket zipped straight at Nightmare Rarity, who promptly ducked down, then realized too late that Twilight wasn’t aiming at her.
A massive explosion went off behind the pegasus and the dark unicorn, and Nightmare Rarity cried out in horror. For a second, her eyes changed from the reptilian appearance to Rarity’s normal deep blue as she looked at the Alicorn Statue, which now had a huge hole in its chest and numerous cracks all over it from where the bottle rocket had hit it. Glaring, her eyes became reptilian again and glowed brightly. “You’re going to pay for that. Both of you!” She shouted, charging up a magical blast to aim at Rainbow, but was suddenly engulfed in an aura of magenta magic courtesy of Twilight.
“Now, Rainbow! I can’t hold her any longer!” Twilight yelled, just before Nightmare Rarity emitted another aura of dark magic that broke her hold over her. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, flew straight up and swooped down, as fast as she could; an aura of prismatic color beginning to surround her as she picked up speed to strike the Alicorn Statue where it had been damaged. Upon impact, a burst of colorful light emitted from Rainbow Dash, and the Alicorn Statue shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, scattering all over the place.
Down below, Moonhattan began to twist and contract, like a swirling vortex. Nightmare Rarity screamed out in pain as her body turned completely black and shrank back down, the blackness billowing off of her like smoke and revealing an unconscious, but normal again Rarity underneath. The warped music that had filled the strange world grew more distorted and slower, before finally fading altogether, and in a brilliant flash of light, everything vanished around the three ponies.
~
The light began to fade, and the three found themselves in what appeared to be a storage room of some kind in the Rock N’ Roadhouse. Boxes of various things, including food, drinks, toys, and even a few bottle rockets and other such oddities lay strewn about. There was no sign of Fancy Pants, or anypony other then a confused barpony staring at them through a doorway.
“You three okay? I came in here and found ya just kinda standing there all spaced out.” The barpony said.
“We’re fine, thanks. Never been better.” Twilight said with a smile.
“Uh, yeah, sure. But I’ll have to ask you three to come on back out here, you’re not supposed to be in here.” The barpony said.
“Yeah, sure.” Rainbow said, getting up and heading for the door, but not before noticing the shattered remains of the Alicorn Statue.
“That was beyond weird, Twi. Whaddya make of it?” Rainbow asked.
“The Alicorn Statue, it must have created some kind of illusion, and I suspect when Rarity was under its power she was brought here to guard it.” Twilight said as she followed Rainbow to the door, carrying Rarity on her back.
“This is serious, Twi. Sombra’s able to just… tap into our dark sides like Discord was able to?” Rainbow asked. “What about me? What if I have some dark part of me he can bring out?”
“Calm down, Rainbow. If we’re gonna stop Sombra, we have to be strong. It’s weird but I haven’t heard anything from Celestia lately, I’m gonna send her a letter when we get back to the hotel. Rarity needs some rest and we can decide what to do next afterwards. Since the statue’s destroyed, she should be okay until we can get that book and make the potion I need for her.”” Twilight said as they headed up the stairs and back outside.
“But if we’re gonna get that book, we’re gonna have to storm the Equestrian State Building and get it from Trixie ourselves!” Rainbow said, smirking at the idea of giving the arrogant showmare some long-awaited comeuppance. “But I guess you’re right, Twi. A little rest first is probably a good idea. That whole experience back there was just way too screwed up for me.” She said with a shudder.