//------------------------------// // Dreamy Support // Story: The Nightmares That Form Bonds // by Ty The Draco //------------------------------// That night, Rarity had a strange dream. It was night time like it was in real life, but the location was different, yet familiar to her. It was the field where the diamond dogs kidnapped her. "Why am I here?" asked a confused Rarity. She was wondering why she was dreaming of being in this place, especially since she had one bad experience with the diamond dogs herself. For that matter, how did she know she was dreaming? Somehow, it felt natural to her. That's when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She looked and saw it was her mane. It was flowing like it was when she was Nightmare Rarity. She quickly put two and two together and realized she was in her Nightmare form. Thinking back to what Spike said earlier, she thought about trying to return to her regular self, but when she looked again, she was still the same. "Why can't I turn back? Is this part of the dream?" asked Rarity, even more confused now. Suddenly, she heard a scream. Rarity looked over and saw her sister running from a pack of diamond dogs. Rarity quickly ran after them, trying to protect Sweetie Belle. As soon as she caught up to them, she found Sweetie cornered by the dogs and there were two ponies up on a rock above her. "Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Help me please!" screamed Sweetie at the two ponies up on the rock. Rarity quickly realized the two ponies on top of the rock were the two most selfish ponies in all of Ponyville who also went to the same school as her sister. "Ha, like we'd help a blank flank! Good luck getting your other blank flank friends to find you when your chewed to bits! HAHAHA!" laughed Diamond Tiara as the two bullies walked away. The diamond dogs kept slowly approaching Sweetie Belle with what appeared to be a hungry look. Sweetie Belle looked like she was on the verge of crying as she closed her eyes. Rarity, seeing her sister like this, couldn't take it anymore. "Leave her alone!" yelled Rarity as she ran towards the group, getting right between her sister and the dogs, who looked alarmed at seeing her. Rarity, feeling the need to protect her sister, felt something growing deep in her as she glared at the diamond dogs. "I can accept you trying to enslave older ponies like me, but to try and kill a young pony like Sweetie Belle is where I reach my breaking point! You will pay!" said Rarity as her eyes started to glow. Her long horn started to glow brightly as the dogs started to back away. "You aren't going ANYWHERE!" yelled Rarity menacingly as she took aim and launched a huge blast of energy from her horn. Sweetie Belle, not knowing what was going on, slightly opened her eyes and was blinded by what looked like a bright light. The moment the light started to die down, Sweetie started to see the shape of a pony as tall as Princess Luna. She started to head for the pony, thinking it was the princess, but as soon as the light died down enough for her to see what the pony really looked like, she immediately stopped in her tracks. Rarity, as soon as her eyes stopped glowing, looked behind her and saw Sweetie Belle looking at her with a look of fear. "N-N-Nightmare R-Rarity!?" said Sweetie Belle, who was even more scared now. Rarity looked a bit confused at first, but she then remembered Sweetie Belle had yet to see her in this form and only Spike had seen her like this. Rarity soon faced Sweetie Belle and lowered her head down to Sweetie Belle's level, looking her sister, who was still shaking in fear, in the eye. "Are you alright?" asked Rarity, not wanting Sweetie Belle to know it was actually her instead of the actual Nightmare. Sweetie Belle was now confused as to why Nightmare Rarity was asking her if she was alright, but decided it might be best to answer. "I-I think so. T-thank you I guess...this is one weird dream..." said Sweetie Belle. Now it was Rarity's turn to be confused. How did Sweetie Belle know this was a dream? In fact, how did Rarity herself know this was a dream? Unless... 'Am I in Sweetie Belle's dream?' Rarity remembered how the Nightmare forces were able to invade her and her friends' dreams, and came to the conclusion she now held the same power. "But there is something I want to know...how can you be here? I thought Rarity was cured thanks to the Elements of Harmony?" asked Sweetie Belle. Rarity was now panicking since she had no explanation or even knew how to explain this to Sweetie Belle. "Uhh...w-well...I-I guess y-you're still traumatized from the incident when your sister was, uh, possessed and y-you were probably wanting your sister's help, so, uh, your dream made me to, uh, come help you." lied Rarity, hoping her sister would buy it. Sweetie Belle looked suspicious at first, but then she seemed to think about what Rarity had said. After a little bit, Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity with a bit of a small smile. "Okay. That seems logical. Well, thanks for helping me." said Sweetie. Rarity mentally sighed in relief, thankful her sister believed her and still had no clue it was actually her and not a creation of her dream. "You're welcome. So who were those ponies who left you for dead?" asked Rarity, feigning ignorance to sell her story as she laid down next to her sister, ready to listen, even though she knew who those ponies were. Sweetie soon got a bit of an angry look on her face. "Those two..." Began Sweetie, flinching a bit from thinking about their names, but continued anyway. "...Their names are Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon...and they are the most selfish ponies in all of Equestria...they don't care if somepony gets hurt or not as long as they get enjoyment out of it...and they target me and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders the most. Me, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo have been able to get one over them many times. But they won't stop...and today...they really got to me..." explained Sweetie. This confirmed Rarity's suspicions from earlier when she thought something was wrong when her sister came home before she went to Pinkie's party with Spike. "Can you tell me what they did?" asked Rarity. Sweetie seemed hesitant to show it, but she soon nodded. Rarity expected her to say something, but Sweetie just turned around and showed Rarity her flank. On it, where a cutie mark appears when a pony finds their talent, was a burn mark. "We were working on helping with fireworks for the upcoming Ponyville Festival when they set one off. It hit me right there and they told me a burn mark would work well as a cutie mark...since I seem to burn everything to ashes when I try to use magic..." said Sweetie, who let tears fall from her eyes. Rarity felt something growing deep in her...the same thing she felt when her sister was cornered by the diamond dogs. Anger. Those ponies had hurt her sister and even made fun of her for her bad use of magic. And Rarity also felt guilt for not knowing this before. How could she miss that burn? 'How dare they...those fillies hurt my sister...and I failed as a sister to not even notice my sister's pain...' silently thought Rarity. She felt the anger deep in her. It felt like a raging fire that was ready to burn down anything that would hurt something close to it. At least that's how it felt to her since she felt like doing the same thing. But then Rarity heard her sister sob a little bit. Rarity quickly pushed her anger back into her mind as she brought her sister into a hug. Sweetie Belle was surprised when Nightmare Rarity hugged her, but she was feeling so upset that she didn't care right now. The young filly started to cry into Rarity's foreleg as the older sister held her close, doing her best to comfort her. Sweetie Belle cried for minutes before she finally stopped, but Rarity still held her close. "...Are you feeling any better?" asked Rarity. Sweetie Belle sniffed and rubbed tears out of her eyes before she answered. "...Yeah...I think so..." said Sweetie. Her eyes seemed bloodshot from the crying, and Rarity wanted nothing more than to help her sister feel better in any way possible. Still, she couldn't do that much thanks to this funny feeling that she didn't have the whole story, and she didn't want to act until she knew everything. "Good. Well, I better go." said Rarity, thinking it was best for her to leave her sister's dream. Plus she had a feeling the longer she stayed, the more of a chance she'll run the risk of Sweetie Belle finding out what's really going on. As she got up and began to walk away, getting ready to leave, Sweetie suddenly grabbed her hoof. "Wait!" said Sweetie. Rarity looked at her with a confused look, wondering what Sweetie wanted. "...Will I possibly see you again?" asked Sweetie. Rarity smiled as she came up with an answer to her sister's question right away without giving herself away. "As long as you want me to appear in your dreams, I'll keep coming." said Rarity. Sweetie seemed content with that as she gave her a nod and a smile, happy to have made a friend in her dreams. Rarity then walked away and as soon as she was out of sight, she tried to use her magic to leave her sister's dream. Rarity closed her eyes to focus on doing so and she felt a small tingling sensation. After a while, Rarity opened her eyes and saw she was back in her bed and back to normal. She sat up and was met with sunlight coming off her mirror and into her eyes. She shielded her eyes from the light as she used her magic to push the mirror away. It was morning now and soon, her sister would be up. She knew she was going to talk about her dream during breakfast, but right now, she didn't care how boring it was. "Well...better see what I can do for her..." said Rarity as she got up, hoping to give her sister a surprise this morning as she made her way to the kitchen. But as soon as she got downstairs, she saw a letter on the table. She used her magic to open the letter and immediately recognized the writing as Twilight's. Come to my home as soon as you can Rarity. You have some explaining to do. -Twilight. "Oh dear..." said Rarity quietly, hoping that this wasn't what she thought it was.