//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders Nightmares, Yay! // by LostUmbrella //------------------------------// Having decided that going back to sleep wasn't the right thing to do in that situation, Luna opted to begin her duties early and pointed towards the throne room. As she pranced through the luxurious (and in certain points even decorated by hoof-painted drawings) halls and corridors of the palace, she found herself unable to shake off the feeling that something was wrong, and not the obviously out of place foals. But it was only when she entered the throne room that she was able to name that feeling. There, scattered around the room, were the limp bodies of ten guards, all still alive but too battered to even stand; and in the center of such devastation, too busy staring at the throne (and discussing if Rarity's couch would be better) to notice her, were three armor-clad fillies. "Thou..." hissed Luna clearly feeling the presence of the nightmare. At those words the three fillies swiftly turned to regard her. "Wait, who is this?" asked the orange one pointing a hoof at her "How the hay did we get the wrong alicorn? I didn't even know there were two of them!" "Language Scoots," sternly reprised her the white one. "She's princess Luna, the one that our sis saved from Nightmare Moon," explained in a thick southern accent the last one "Don't ya read newspapers?" "You read newspapers?" asked the one called Scoots crooking an eyebrow. "No, mah big bro does." "SILENCE!" ordered the booming voice of the princess "What art thou doing in our throne room, nightmares?" "Nightmares? Is she talking about us?" whispered Scootaloo to her light yellow friend. "Ya ask me? Ah'm not some kinda oracle, ask Sweetie." "I don't know what you're talking about," said Sweetie Belle ignoring her friends "But I can tell you that we are the cutie mark crusaders and we are here to detronize you and your sister!" "Thou have fallen low, nightmare, using clueless foals for your nasty plots..." sighed Luna "Don't thou worry thyselves, little ponies, we shall banish that foul creature and -" "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: GOD SLAYERS, YAY!" the three fillies shouted in unison cutting short Luna's words and charging towards her. Moving much faster than the princess expected, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo got right next to her, reading themselves to hit. Luna would have likely avoided such a direct attack, hadn't it been for a hooffull of emerald green threads emerging from the floor had blocked her right forehoof, forcing the princess to hastily summon a cerulean shield around her. While the pale dome was enough to stop the pegasus' charge, it did a poor work against Apple Bloom's solid buck, which smashed through the barrier connecting with the alicorn left shoulder. Luckily for Luna, the hit had lost all its force in piercing the shield. Repelling the damaged shield the alicorn managed to knock back her assailants, while she freed herself from the bindings and took flight. "Hey, that's cheatin'!" protested the earth pony stomping a hoof. "Don't worry Bloom," said Sweetie "We're getting her back down." And with that more threads erupted from the ceiling and the walls. Luna nimbly maneuvered through the wriggling dedalus until she let out a cerulean pulse of magical energy that dissipated the threads. Sweetie frowned. "Scoots, get her!" she snarled. "On my way!" said the pegasus bolting at a speed that would have made her idol proud. Meanwhile, the small unicorn decided to go for a more blunt tactic: "Get ready Bloom, you're going up!" "What?" asked the earth pony right before being encased in her friend shimmering aura and thrown at the princess. But right when Apple Bloom realized she would miss the alicorn and fall, a pair of frail looking ethereal wings appeared on her back, keeping her aloft. She looked down to see her friend, visibly taxed by all those spells but still winking at her. After a pair of awkward flaps, the yellow filly charged too, joining Scootaloo in the aerial battle. Luna didn't expect to see the yellow filly in the air, so she was very surprised (and pained) when she received a buck in the right side; it was a hard hit, but nowhere near enough to defeat the alicorn, who, after taking a moment to understand what had happened, caught Scotaloo's tail in her magical grasp and unceremoniously flung her at her friend. With a loud "Ouch!" both fillies went plummeting, only to be caught in Sweetie's grasp. "We think thou had enough of this, right?" asked Luna landing in front of the trio, her imposing form towering over the smaller fillies. While Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had only some minor bruises and were ready for round three, Sweetie Belle was showing clear signs of exhaustion. Girls, when I shout, we go with plan R, ok? mentally said Sweetie panting. R? Already? asked Scootaloo I can go on! Sweets can't. To mah right, ok? asked Apple Bloom. "NOW!" shouted the unicorn before releasing a green flash from her horn, which forced Luna to shield her eyes with a hoof. When the light died down, she heard three loud noises of broken glass. She opened her eyes only to find three filly shaped holes in the stained glass window depicting Nightmare Moon's defeat. --- Spike was running as fast as his short legs let him towards the large white mare in front of him. He had been sent back to the library to retrieve a volume on scrying magic when the letter had erupted in the usual fashion: in a burp of green flames and smoke. "Princess!" wheezed the little dragon trying to catch his breath "There's a letter for you, it's from princess Luna." "Lulu? I wonder what might be reason to write me, and in the middle of the afternoon too..." she said expressing her thoughts before regarding her student's assistant with her usual graceful smile "Anyway, thank you Spike." Celestia took the scroll in her golden aura and started reading it. The more information she took from the parchment, the deeper the frown on he forehead became. "What is it, princess?" asked Twilight who had been scanning some maps next to her mentor "Has something happened?" "Dear Tia," started reading Celestia aloud "I just had a close encounter with a trio of fillies possessed by the nightmare," she lowered the parchment and regarded Twilight "I believe Luna has found your friends little sisters, and it's for the best that we hurry back to Canterlot. Fetch your friends, we depart as soon as possible"