//------------------------------// // Discoveries // Story: Mare-Do-Well: Dark Reflections // by VampDash //------------------------------// “WAIT BOSS! YAH FERGOT SOMEPONY!!” Quickdraw yelled at the empty sky where Negamare last flew off towards her fortress. She couldn’t believe it that after all those years of service to that nag she was left behind like a broken toy with two fighters from the resistance. As she continued to yell at her boss both Gilda and Mare Do Well walked forward confused as to how to approach this situation. “I say we kill her. What use is she to us?” Gilda sneered. “No. We can use her to find out what we can about Negamare. She seems like she’s pretty closely connected with her.” Mare Do Well said firmly, flying at the outlaw pony and suddenly striking her from behind with her hoof. Quickdraw tumbled across the ground, her astonished buffalo looking on and unsure what to make of this. “Don’t get up.” Mare Do Well warned. “Watch me!” Quickdraw retorted, getting back up and drawing another lasso from her saddlebags. With a quick jerk, she lashed the rope forward. Mare Do Well jumped into the air, narrowly avoiding getting snared by it. Gilda cocked her head and watched in amusement as Mare Do Well flew straight at Quickdraw, grabbing the end of the rope and flying circles around the earth pony, winding it around her and leaving her bound in seconds. “Get lost. All of you.” The costumed pegasus said coldly to the buffalo thugs, who nodded nervously and fled immediately. “As for you…” She said, looking down at Quickdraw as several other members of the rag-tag hero group Gilda had been with, along with several townsponies came outside. “Let’s see who you are…” She said, swiping off the other pony’s hat and mask with her hoof and was stunned along well as several other townsponies as they saw who she was underneath, “A-Applebloom?!” Mare Do Well gasped at the yellow coated mare. The former filly was somehow now a full-grown mare about her sister’s age now. It didn’t seem possible given nopony else she’d run into looked any older. “How?!” “NONE OF YER BUISNESS MARE DO WELL!” Applebloom yelled at her, “AND DON’T CALL MEH APPLEBLOOM! SHE WAS A WORTHLESS LITTLE BLANK-FLANK! AH AM QUICKDRAW!” Mare Do Well was stunned by the anger the mare had and almost didn’t see her about to to cut her way out. “Oh no you don’t!” Razorbeak said as she punched Applebloom hard enough to knock her out. “....Thanks.” Mare Do Well said flatly. “I guess we’d best bring her inside, decide what to do with her next. Maybe we can figure out how she got like this.” “I’ll give ya that one, Dash.” Gilda said coldly. “Negamare got loads of mojo when she took over. It’s no stretch she can use an age spell to help lame-o fillies be a little more age-appropriate for whatever she wants to use ‘em for.” “Hm, makes sense I guess…” Mare Do Well replied. “Let’s get her inside. Something tells me there’s still more to this.” Negamare couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she arrived at her stolen castle. After all these years, her takeover, her reign, and the only opposition was a pathetic group of wannabe-vigilantes and this escapee who thought she could actually pose a threat to her. But then this new pony shows up and actually has the gall to play dress up as a wannabe hero, but NO not just any hero THE MYSTERIOUS MARE BUCKING DO WELL! The thought alone was enough throw her into a maddened state that would force her own troops to tremble as they moved out of the way. “M-my queen! Is there a-anything w-we can do to h-help?” One asked. “Yes, step back before I take my anger out on one of you!” Negamare shouted, the guards obeyed immediately. Taking a few breaths, the pegasus eyed a decorative column and bucked it, shattering it completely. She breathed a little easier now that she had destroyed something. As she walked towards the throne room she looked around a few times before ordering her guards to leave, under threat of death, and then pressing a button on her throne which opened up a secret room that contained her prized “War Criminals”; those who spoke out against her and did extraordinary things that managed to incur her wrath. Among those imprisoned were Derpy Hooves, who tried to use Propaganda to turn the whole of the planet against her. Blueblood, she did this just because he was annoying to her. But her personal favorite was Twilight Sparkle and her pathetic BBBFF Shining Armor, the sentiment was adorable and idiotic to Negamare at the same time. Twilight was imprisoned due to her being among those who fought against her in the first few minutes of her reign and Shining was in it due to him trying to raise a similar resistance army but was stopped soon enough that it didn’t matter. “How’s everypony been?” Negamare asked as she trotted in, smirking under her mask as she looked over her captives. None of them responded. “Oh, why the long faces?” She asked, laughing from her own bad joke. “No, really, feel free to chat.” “Why should we?” Twilight asked. “It doesn’t make a difference now.” “In your position, no. But you should know a new would-be hero popped up. This one’s wearing that old costume you used to mess with your friend.” Negamare said. “Why… why tell us that?” Shining Armor asked. “Isn’t it obvious? I want to get your hopes up again, so I can take them away just as easily.” Negamare said as though the answer were obvious. “But I know you won’t do anything. You’ll keep the barrier up around my place because you know that otherwise you’ll live just long enough to see your marefriend get executed.” She explained to Shining Armor. “She says hi by the way… though I admit waiting a day or two on that one.” Negamare waited to see if Shining would react, but he didn’t, prompting her to sigh a little. “Whatever. Just do your part and I’ll do mine. I’m not COMPLETELY disloyal on keeping my word after all!” As she said that last part Negamare turned around and left her little prisoners behind. The moment the doors closed though Shining nearly charged the doors at a desperate attempt to break free. “YOU MONSTER! YOU PSYCHOTIC MURDERING MONSTER!” “Aw Shiny Whiny that’s supposed to be me!” A high pitched voice came from the shadows. Shining retreated back to his spot and tried to keep his and Twilight’s breathing steady as the newcomer revealed her self. The mare’s grin was impossibly wide, or perhaps it was not beyond her abilities. Letting out a fit of giggles and tossing back her flat pink mane, the grinning mare pranced around them with glee. “Sounds like somepony needs their frown turned upside-down!” Outside, Negamare closed her eyes and smiled contently as she listened to the screams behind her. Her personal favorite scream though was when her “happy” friend arrived at Twilight, the sounds of Twilight screaming practically lulled her to a peaceful sleep half the time. “AH TOLD Y’ALL ONCE AND AH’LL SAY IT AGAIN! AIN’T RATTING OUT MAH BOSS!” Applebloom shouted angrily as she lay on the floor tied up. “Good.” Gilda remarked, swatting her again. “I could use a little stress relief.” “That’s enough Razorbeak!” Rainbow growled at her. The griffoness merely shrugged as she took a step back. The masked mare then walked forward as she leaned towards Applebloom. “Do you know who I am?” She asked her. “DUH! Yer that yellow bellied coward who left town when mah boss showed her face.” The yellow mare responded. “Not exactly.” Mare Do Well said, pressing her hoof into the mare’s chest. “Then yer just another dead pony!” Applebloom replied coldly. “That seems to be a common belief.” Mare Do Well said, unmasking herself and glaring at the astonished “earth pony. “D-Dash? B-but yer supposed to be-” “Will everypony I meet stop saying that! I swear to Celestia that gets irritating!” “Well get used to it, because it was pretty big news when Negamare took over.” Cheerilee replied dryly. “Now, Applebloom, why did you sell out to Negamare? What’s in it for you? Murder and tyranny aren’t exactly admirable cutie marks to be earning.” Rainbow said coldly. Applebloom soon had tears in her eyes as she looked from Rainbow and Cheerilee alternatively. “Ah-Ah had no choice! She was gonna kill mah sister! She threatened Applejack!” Applebloom cried. “Funny, I seem to recall you saying the other elements were dead.” Rainbow said. “Ah lied, alright! Negamare told me to! Ah don’t know where mah sister is!” Applebloom insisted. Before she could say another word, the pegasus lifted her up and flung her into the nearest wall. “Rainbow Dash! Stop!” Cheerilee pleaded. “No.” Rainbow said. “Applebloom… you’ve really gone and made a huge mistake.” “But…” The other mare pleaded. “Quiet. Has it ever, EVER once occurred to you what the rest of your family would think? What your best friends would have thought?” Rainbow asked as she approached her. “Ah… but ah…” Applebloom began to shake, her head suddenly twitched in an odd, unnatural way. “Answer me!” Rainbow hissed. “Tell me RIGHT NOW, if they saw you, if Applejack saw you right now, would she be proud of you? Would she think you’re brave? Would she think you made a right decision? Or would she be furious with you? Call you an idiot and a coward for selling out to a tyrant? You’ve insulted her memory for what you did. You may not have realized it, but you did.” Tears began flowing from Applebloom’s eyes as she began to curl up, despite being bound. “A-Applejack… ah’m…ah’m sorry…ah didn’t…” Applebloom suddenly let out a loud scream as she began twitching and shaking. Then, she began to spasm like she were choking on something. “Whoa… what the hay?!” Rainbow asked, backing away. “Dude…” Gilda muttered. Applebloom tore out of the bindings, her eyes flashing red briefly then her body arched up, and she let out another scream as a strange purple smoke burst from her orifices, the smoke formed into a deformed, screaming face before dissapating, and the earth pony mare collapsed to the ground after. “Applebloom?” Cheerilee asked. “M-miss Cheerilee? Is that… what happened?” Applebloom asked. Though still a young mare, her features were much softer now, much more innocent. “Nightmare possession.” Cheerilee observed. “That explains a lot…” At the mention of the name ‘Nightmare’, Rainbow suddenly had an epiphany. “That’s how she’s doing it.” Rainbow said. “That’s how who’s doing what?” Gilda asked suddenly interested as she removed her helmet. “Think about it. Who else has enough power to take on both Celestia and Luna at the same time?” Rainbow asked but obviously from her tone of voice she already knew the answer. “Twi did a lot of research on ‘em after Nightmare Moon was beaten, as she kinda tends to whenever we run into something new… blame the egghead part of her…” Speaking of Twilight did, however, cause Rainbow’s voice to tremble a little as she worried what Negamare was doing to her. She shook her head and got back into her groove “Anyways the group called themselves ‘The Nightmare Force’ and they were the reason that Luna became what she was a thousand years ago… kinda didn’t pay attention to the rest as Twi rambled on about ‘em but still… I know enough about ‘em, I had a big fight once where they tried to get into my head… and I was able to reject them… it was thanks to Luna, though.” “So what you’re saying is that maybe this Negamare nag joined with these ‘Forces’ and thats how she was able to beat the Princess and kill you?” Vinyl asked. “Makes sense, Luna as Nightmare Moon used that sort of power to seal away Celestia. Maybe the Nightmare has that sort of power.” Cheerilee said. “But it must depend on having some kind of vessel or host, or surely we’d have seen more of it.” Rainbow recalled her encounter with Lightning Dust, when her former teammate in the Wonderbolt Academy had become the deadly Shadowbolt. “Yeah… they do. I wonder…” She mused. “Maybe that’s what she did to the others if they’re still alive!” “Ya think then maybe mah sister’s under their control too?” Applebloom asked, taking a moment from admiring her adult form in a discarded mirror and looking back at them. “If she is, ah gotta help ‘er!” “Applebloom, you may be a young mare now, but you don’t have the experience we do.” Cheerilee warned. “Don’t ah? Ah may not be bad anymore, but ah still remember all ah can do!” Applebloom said, taking up a discarded piece of the rope she’d escaped from with her tail and doing several tricks with it. “Besides, it’s mah sister, so ah’m gonna help get ‘er back whether ya want me to or not. Ah owe ‘er as much for the kinda choices ah made back there.” A bit of saddness was in her voice as she finished doing her rope tricks. Then Zerok walked forward passed the others and towards Applebloom. “Just how much do you remember young one?” He asked her “Not much… it’s all blurry before the Nightmare…” “Well… you may not like this but focus on me…” Zerok said, placing his gnarled hoof on Applebloom’s forehead and suddenly in his place stood Applejack. Applebloom’s eyes widened and she instinctively hugged what looked to be her sister, her eyes suddenly flashing green as the changeling’s hold over her came instantly. “Right here, lil’ sis…” The fake Applejack said, and the duplicate’s eyes widened. Applebloom’s mind was a mess… ponies fleeing, panic in town. The sky in permanent twilight, then Negamare flying down. Another flash, and Applebloom was watching in horror as Applejack was held down, and some dark, smokelike being flew into her. Applejack flailed helplessly and suddenly her coat turned a grayed tint. “Applejack! No! Ah’ll help you! Please! Don’ take mah sister!” Her voice pleaded, as Negamare looked towards her. At that moment, the flashback ended. Zerok reverted back to normal and walked away. “I think we know what we need now. Her sister has been taken as well, and is also possessed by Negamare’s Nightmare Forces.” “Well let’s get ready, then.” Rainbow said. “But where could she be?” Applebloom asked. “Knowing how this has gone, I’m sure she’ll come to us.”