//------------------------------// // A Nightmare Night's Dream (Part Two) // Story: The Royal Ponyville Orchestra // by Distaff Pope //------------------------------// Unfortunately, I was unable to resume writing yesterday, as Vinyl thought it for the best if I stayed in bed and recovered as opposed to continuing to write. My hoof is feeling slightly better, although it is still somewhat sore. Vinyl says if the problem persists, I should see a doctor, but I see no need to bother this town’s medical professionals with what is nothing more an unusually persistent hoofcramp, now where was I? Oh yes, I was completely unable to move and facing certain death as a horde of monster ponies slowly advanced towards me. How could I have ever forgotten? If I ever expected somepony else to read this diary, I would feel absolutely terrible for leaving on a cliffhanger. As our enemies closed in, I made peace with the fact that I would die in this town, although at this point, facing the inevitability of my demise had become something of a routine, and a part of my mind that was less concerned with the possibility of my immediate demise than the rest of me attempted to tally up just how many times I had been certain I was about to die since arriving in Ponyville before finally settling on three. Thankfully, when all seemed lost, the front window shattered and a white mare wearing a black mask and blouse leapt through, a rapier floating beside her. Before she had finished landing, her rapier slashed through the nearest Grim Reaper Pony and nicked off the head of one of the zombie ponies, “Rejoice, you ruffians, for today you can say you locked blades with the Dread Pirate Rarity. Unfortunately for you, you don’t have a blade and I don’t feel like leaving you around to tell the tale. As the monsters turned to face her, several more found themselves suddenly impaled by the Dread pirate, and finally the only assailant standing was the large green pony. “Well, my brutish friend, it seems it is just you and I left to fight in glorious honorable combat,” she said, brandishing the rapier towards the hulking green pony, “You know you can’t beat me, and I have no intention of harming you Fluttershy, so why don’t you just calm down?” The hulking pony who was… apparently Fluttershy responded with a roar that caused the foundations of the house to shake and tremble. “Very well,” Rarity said with a sigh, “As much as I don’t wish to harm you, I simply cannot let you injure innocent ponies.” As she spoke, she drove her rapier through the green pony’s left foreleg, causing the behemoth to topple to the ground, “Again, I am terribly sorry, and once you are back to your old self, I promise I will make it up to you.” She turned to face us, “Now then, you two, I suggest we take this opportunity to leave before the Reaper Ponies start reforming or Miss Fluttershy recovers from her crippled knee.” “Uhmm, yes,” Lyra said, “Well, as much as we’d like to leave, Tavi can’t really walk at the moment. I was trying to find her wheelchair since she kind of can’t move without it.” “I see,” Rarity said, her horn glowing “Then I suppose we shall just have to improvise.” Before I could even say a word, she had picked me up in her telekinetic field and dropped me onto her back. “Do try to hold on dear, I would hate for you to fall off while monsters are giving chase,” she looked behind her at the several Grim Reaper Ponies who were beginning to rebuild themselves, “Which, I believe they will be doing shortly.” I groaned in acknowledgment, and we were off, racing out of the back door as I wrapped my forehooves around Rarity’s neck, clinging on as if my life depended upon it, which I suppose it did. I briefly considered asking her to slow down, before deciding it would be better for me to be in absolute agony uncomfortable during our trek than for us to be devoured by the monsters which were sure to follow us. I looked behind me, and already were a horde of tentacle monstrosities and several more robots were giving chase. Who in Equestria would dress up as a tentacle beast for Nightmare Night? Vampire, I could understand, wolfponies are perfectly reasonable, and I would expect to see at least a few mummies, but tentacles travesties? Just… why? I’d have to ask Vinyl about it once she was back to her normal self. “Oh, Rarity,” I said, “There is another copy of me running around town, would it be possible for us to find her? I don’t want Vinyl to be harmed even if she is being an absolute pain in the flank right now.” “Of course, darling,” Rarity said as we galloped through the streets, “I will drop you off at the Boutique and then go out looking for her again. Miss Heartstrings, if you care to accompany me, I would appreciate having the extra support in case I run into anything truly nasty.” She flipped her mane dramatically, "Even the Dread Pirate Rarity can be overwhelmed, although it hasn't happened yet." Lyra nodded enthusiastically, “Of course, we can pick up Bon Bon on the way, the two are still probably close together and…” She trailed off in thought, apparently recalling the two’s previous interactions, “We need to find them right now, before Bon Bon and Vinyl do anything they will regret when returned to normal.” “I will be happy to, but first we should drop Octavia off at the Boutique, I don’t think she will be of much use to us right now, and I would hate to needlessly endanger her.” “So somehow dropping me off in your boutique to fend for myself is less dangerous than bringing me with you?” I asked, still struggling to hold on. “Oh, did I not mention that I’ve converted the boutique into a makeshift fortress? As soon as I saw what was happening I started fortifying, and now everypony who decided not to dress up as some horrifying monster can stay there. Well, there or the Everfree.” “The Everfree?” Lyra asked, struggling to keep pace with the encumbered Rarity. “Yes, darling, Discord is allowing everypony to seek asylum in the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and celebrate the holiday with him. Most ponies went with him, and once I have finished patrolling the town I will probably follow along. As they say, there is safety in numbers, and there is also safety in having an incredibly powerful chaos god protect you, even if he is a bit of a jerk.” “You do realize that he caused this, don’t you?” I asked as we neared the Boutique. “It does seem plausible, but he is also offering everypony protection, and so far the offer seems to be genuine. Besides,” Rarity said with a laugh, “I’d rather deal with one monster than a town full of them.” I let out a groan as the doors to the boutique were flung open and Rarity quickly lowered me onto the floor, causing another spasm of pain to shoot up my side. By the time I had managed to recover, Rarity and Lyra had departed, and I was in a veritable madhouse. There was a cowpony with a rifle slung over her back (Based on her orange coat and blonde mane, I assumed she was Applejack), a rock star of some sort, a stallion in a suit (Vinyl suggests he was a character from a series of plays called Mad Stallions?), a pink gypsy (Two guesses as to who that could be), and a pair of ponies who actually appeared to be somewhat normal. The first was a white unicorn with a pink mane and a picture of a smiling sun emblazoned on her flank, and the other was a midnight blue pegasus with a crescent moon for a cutie mark. Apparently, the pain pills convinced me that the two of them were the princesses in disguse. “Hello,” the gypsified Pinkie Pie said as she approached me, “I see you come here after great trial and stand here on the brink of despair. I bring you news that you must endure.” “Wait, what?” I asked as I attempted to get on my hooves. “Your position in tonight’s events is key, but to succeed will risk insanity.” I blinked, “Do you actually know what you are saying Pinkie or are you just trying to rhyme?” “Just trying to rhyme,” she said happily, before bouncing away. Apparently some things even Discord’s magic can’t change. “Well, that was enlightening,” I said as I finally got up on my hooves and took a few tentative steps towards the ponies I assumed were the Princesses. “Your Highnesses,” I bowed my head towards them, “What do you have planned?” They stared at me in confusion, “Are you talking to us? We aren’t royalty, we’re just normal ponies like everypony else.” Of course they were, I thought, because obviously the two ponies in Equestria who might be the most useful right now, were currently laboring under the delusion that they were normal. I paused to consider exactly why some ponies remembered who they were before the spell hit and others were convinced that they were their costume. Maybe it was because some ponies had one specific pony in mind when making their costume, like Vinyl, and others had a more abstract idea, like Lyra and Bon Bon, although that still didn’t explain why Rarity seemed to remember her past life. “Of course you aren’t,” I said, managing not to roll my eyes, “It is just a complete coincidence that the two of you have cutie marks and colorations similar to those of the Princesses, and if I had to guess, you are sisters as well, am I right?” They nodded, “But that doesn’t mean we are the princesses, we just happen to have cutie marks that are similar to theirs,” Not-Celestia said. “Sister, why does everyone keep confusing us with the royal sisters, we are mere commoners, like everypony else.” “Well, for starters, most ponies don’t refer to themselves as commoners,” I said, trying my very best not to sound too condescending when addressing Equestria’s royal sisters. Not-Celestia shushed her sister. “Not now, Moonbeam, everypony is just under a lot of pressure right now, and they are looking for anypony who might be able to help them.” The princess then bowed her head towards me, “While we might not be royalty, we would be more than happy to offer what little aid we have.” “Wonderful,” I said, “Feel free to join me when I’m storming the castle in the hopes of convincing a chaos god to change everypony back to normal.” Well, everypony but me, I thought, but I saw no need to bring that up, it seemed rather tacky. “You need only call on us to receive our aid. Although we may not be royalty, we will do anything to defend Equestria,” Not-Celestia said, and any doubt I had about her being one of the royal pony sisters evaporated. “Thank you,” I said, suddenly feeling another twinge in my side and moving to grab another Oxycoltin. “Also, is there any chance we have a wheelchair or something similar around here?” “I don’t think so,” Moonbeam said, “But I did see a fainting couch, would that work?” I nodded my head and Not-Celestia’s horn became ensconced in a magical energy as the fainting couch flew down the stairs. “Whoever owned this had it enchanted so that it can travel long distances quickly without expending much magical energy. It is a very difficult enchantment to create, but I don’t see why anyone would ever need such a thing.” “You obviously don’t know the pony who owns the boutique that well,” I said, before quickly amending the statement, “Or at least, you don’t when she isn’t a swashbuckling pirate gallivanting around town.” “We will have to take your word for it,” Not-Tia said, “Now, we must join the Masked Ranger in guarding the boutique, it would not do to allow the fiends outside to breach our walls.” I nodded my head absent mindedly at that, before sitting down on the summoned chaise, and watched as the ponies who insisted they weren’t princesses and the Masked Ranger (Applejack) opened the door to the boutique and fought off the monsters that had gathered outside. Rangerjack grabbed the stock of the rifle with her mouth and fired several rounds out into the crowd while Not-Celestia caused massive bursts of light to litter the battlefield. In a few seconds most of the monsters had dispersed and the boutique was no longer besieged. “Most ‘a the critters aren’t too bright, so a few loud noises and bright flashy lights tend to scatter ‘em. As for the stragglers, well, we do what we gotta do, though hopefully this whole mess will get undone, and anypony we injured will get back to bein’ okay.” As she spoke Rangerjack frowned ever so slightly and turned to look back at the battlefield.” “So then there have been a few creatures that couldn’t be properly reasoned with?” I asked. She nodded, “Like ah said, ah hope they can get back ta bein’ okay.” I attempted to extend a hoof to pat her on the shoulder before quickly collapsing back into the chaise, “I’m sure that if we can break this spell, we can certainly make Discord amenable to restoring everypony to their proper states through threats of using the Elements of Harmony.” Rangerjack rubbed the back of her head with one hoof, “Uhmm, ‘bout that sugarcube, there might be a bit of an issue, cause…” Before she could finish her sentence, the doors to the boutique flew open, and the Dread Pirate Rarity flew in with Lyra, Bon Bon, and Octy in tow. “I found your friends,” she said, “They were surrounded by thirty of the most terrifying monsters you had ever seen but I gallantly swooped in and fought them all off, rescuing the distressed damsels.” She turned and smiled at somepony nopony else could see, before performing a flourish for her audience, and I stifled the urge to groan. It seemed her costume somehow managed to make her more dramatic. “Well, thank you for rescuing Octy and Bon Bon,” I said, bowing my head in gratitude, “Now what is the plan.” “I believe it would be beneficial if I stayed where it is safe, the world would be far poorer without me in it,” my doppelganger said, her ego inflating with every passing second. “If everypony is heading to the ancient castle, then I feel we should head there and try to get some answers. At the very least, there is safety and numbers.” Lyra said, continuing to serve as the voice of reason. “Also, maybe somepony else dressed as a human!” Mostly. “Again, I have to agree with my counterpart, the more ponies around the greater our chances of…” She paused to lick her lips, “Revelry.” And Bon Bon continued having a terribly debauched one track mind. Hooray. “Well,” Rarity said, "I was planning on moving everypony to the castle sooner or later, so I suppose it might as well be sooner. And like your sensible friend said, it might help us put a stop to Discord.” “Shouldn’t we fetch the Elements before we leave?” I asked, “I assume their presence is the main reason Discord is being allowed to roam Equestria freely, a means of enforcing his good behavior.” Rarity paused in thought for a few seconds, Applejack prepared to say something but the Dread Pirate quickly shushed her. “Yes, the Elements were one of the initial reasons we decided to release Discord. However, it was his friendship with Fluttershy that ultimately enabled his reformation.” “Well, since Miss Fluttershy is currently a hulking behemoth of a pony, I suppose we will just have to make do,” I said, “The Elements will still work on him right? He didn’t develop some sort of immunity?” “No,” Rarity said, her hoof now firmly entrenched in Rangerjack’s mouth, “The Elements would still work, but we might have trouble using them on him as they require all six of us to be both present and our true selves, at least that’s how Twilight explained it to us, which presents a few problems. Chiefly that three of us would be hard to corral and the other three are no longer our true selves. For instance, the very idea of giving away my hard won gems strikes me as a ridiculous proposition, and Pinkie Pie is being slightly more somber than usual. Applejack is the only one of us whose virtue is still wholly intact.” “Also, we had to get rid of the Elements during that big invasion from the Everfree Forest a few months back. Don’t know why Miss Rarity didn’t bring it up sooner.” “Because, Applejack darling, Celestia said that any information about the loss of the Elements was to be a state secret. You do understand the concept of a secret don’t you?” Rarity said, dashing any hopes I had that there might be a somewhat decent resolution to this whole debacle. “Ah know what a secret is, but ah ain’t comfortable lyin’ about it. Tavi here asked ‘bout the Elements and I told the honest truth.” “If you paid attention,” Rarity began, taking a step closer to the earth pony, “Not a word in my explanation was false, it just deflected attention from the main issue. Being honest doesn’t mean you can’t use tact.” “Hah! You used one of them there double negatives you keep complaining to me about using!” “That’s…” Rarity groaned, “Is now really the time to bring this up? The fate of the nation is on the line.” “Well, at least the two of you seem to be somewhat normal,” I said with a sigh, “Maybe there is hope for the rest of us.” Rarity tapped her chin in thought, “I do seem to be feeling somewhat closer to my true self than I had previously. Perhaps being in familiar situations weakens the effect of the magic. I will have to ask Twilight about it when she is no longer trying to kill us.” She must have seen my confused expression and continued, “Oh, did I not mention that? Twilight Sparkle decided to dress as Nightmare Moon due to a shortage of historically prominent alicorns, and she felt uncomfortable dressing as somepony who she was on a first name basis with, so now she is trying to bring about nighttime eternal and end life in Equestria as we know it. If I were you, I would avoid heading anywhere near the library.” “That… sounds like a good idea,” I said after several seconds of thought, “Now in the interest of time, I feel we should start heading towards the castle and discuss a plan on the way. I would prefer to end this situation as quickly as possible.” A column of orange light several blocks away grabbed my attention, “Preferably before the whole town burns down.” After several seconds of thought, a majority of ponies nodded their heads in agreement, with the only counterpart being my doppelganger. Because of course she would. I reminded myself that after all this was over, I would have to have a long talk with Vinyl about how she thought I would behave in emergency situations. Although to give my marefriend some credit, a few weeks ago, there was every chance that I might have opted to hide and wait for more daring ponies to engage in the heroics, and it was only my concern for my friends' well-being that I was stepping up to the proverbial plate. Still, being out trying to do something productive struck me as a better alternative than staying in the boutique, especially as I noticed the fire I spotted earlier was now getting dangerously close to the boutique and an involuntary shiver went up with my spine. “Actually, let’s just get out of here now, I don’t care what we do, but I don’t want to be in the boutique when it burns down for a second time. So come on, let’s go.” The pony formerly known as Celestia nodded her head, “Of course, by now most ponies have either fled the town, are staying in the boutique, or are still prowling the streets, and like you say, the sooner we can get there, the sooner we can stop this madness and restore my kingdom to its proper state.” I stared at her, “And you’re sure you’re not Celestia.” She blinked, “I meant my kingdom in the sense that it is the kingdom that I live in and love. Now enough discussion, it is time we move.” After that, our makeshift group quickly organized itself, and our expedition into the Everfree began. Rarity took the lead, with my chaise staying just behind her, wrapped in both her and Not-Celestia’s aura, with the two taking care to keep an equal distance between each other to, as I understand it, keep the chaise from immediately flying to one or the other and instead keeping it in perfect equilibrium between them. To my side walked Lyra, Bon Bon, and my counter, with Moonbeam and Rangerjack walking next to Not-Celestia. “Has anyone devised a plan for what we do once we reach the outskirts of Ponyville?” “Well,” Rarity said, “I figured I would just walk into, wave my sword around and get Discord to change everypony back to normal. The chaos god is no match for the magnificence of the Dread Pirate Rarity.” I nodded my head, “Speaking of which, why exactly DID you dress as a pirate for Nightmare Night? I didn’t imagine you dressing as a swashbuckler.” “First of all darling, I’m not dressing as A pirate, I am dressing as THE pirate, or more accurately, the Dread Pirate Roberts, from the Princess Bridle, have you read it?” I shook my head, “I’m sorry, I haven’t really had time to read any bit store romance novels lately.” Four of the ponies around me gasped audibly. “Bit store romance novel?” Rarity asked, “The Princess Bridle is one of the most wonderful novels ever written. It has everything, fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, miracles, and simply the most splendid romance ever put to pen. Why, I haven’t met anyone who didn’t like it, and I thought it would be a splendid idea to dress as the swashbuckling hero while adding my own interpretation to the character. Hence, the Dread Pirate Rarity.” “That sounds… interesting,” I said, “Well, if we get through tonight I might have to read it, I will certainly have enough time on my hooves as I recuperate.” “Then I will bring it over as soon as I finish vanquishing Discord,” Rarity said, brandishing her sword and waving it about. “Did this character have a somewhat annoying sense of bravado that infuses everything she does?” I asked. Rarity turned back to face me and flashed a smile, “Darling, it’s not bravado when you can back your claims up. It’s confidence.” Well, I thought as I looked around at the rest of my travelling companions, between her and the ranger, we might have two competent fighters and then… seven ponies that are varying degrees of dead weight, with me sitting at the bottom of the usefulness pyramid, being carried around by ponies far more competent than I, and I began to question why exactly I was here. Yes, I had met with some version of Discord several days ago and he had mentioned that I would do something to foil his plots, but of course, it was entirely possible that he had lied, it didn’t seem out of character for a chaos god. In fact, it seemed more probable that he made something up than the idea that he violated several laws of physics to annoy me. And if, by some miracle, he was telling the truth, then how exactly was I going to stop him while being incapable of doing anything more than yelling at him and hobbling around. I sunk deeper into my chaise as we entered into the Everfree, growing lost in my thoughts. “Lyra,” I asked, “What exactly am I doing here?” “Well, you are coming to help us stop Discord and save Ponyville,” she paused for a second, “Or was that a more general what are we doing here? You know, because my angelic powers might somehow grant me knowledge of the purpose of ponykind, and you want some divine insight? Because if that’s the case, then I am sad to say I don’t know.” I shook my head, “I just wanted to know what my purpose is in this little expedition. I’m not exactly cut out for fighting chaos gods… or much of anything right now, actually.” “Oh…” She said, pausing to think, “Well, I mean, we are evacuating Ponyville, and I’m sure you can do something. Ooh! Maybe you can play a song to grant us moral support. Our party needs a bard.” “If I had my cello and I was capable of carrying it, possibly. I’m afraid my singing voice is nothing to write home about.” “Hmm,” she tapped her chin as we walked deeper into the Everfree, in the distance, I heard something howl, “I mean, you helped bring us all together and point us in the right direction, so that has to count for something. On our own, Bon Bon, Octy, and I would still be walking around Ponyville trying to figure out to do, or at least, I’d be trying to figure out what to do. Bon Bon has no shortage of ideas right now, but none of them are particularly useful.” To emphasize her point, she gestured to Bon Bon who was currently trying to seduce the Royal Pony Sisters. I smiled, trying to imagine her reaction once everypony was back in their proper state. “I suppose,” I said, my spirit lifting slightly, “It’s nice thinking that I haven’t been a complete burden tonight.” “Never,” Lyra said, “Besides, we might need you for planning purposes or whatever, I mean, you actually seemed to have some knowledge about what was going on when we were all freaking out.” “Only because Discord might be toying with me for his own amusement,” I said with a sigh, “Either that or I am actually going to defeat him somehow, probably the former.” “Hey, maybe you still have a part to play in this before everything is said and done. I mean, maybe not, but don’t sell yourself short,” Lyra said, “At least you are giving me someone to talk to while we travel, so that’s something.” “Thank you again,” I said, laughing, “It’s a shame we haven’t done more together, you really are a kind pony.” “Of course,” she said, flapping her white feathery wings, “I’m an angel, I think we have to be pleasant. Besides, I know that most ponies find my interest in humans odd, even Bon Bon thinks my obsession is crazy, and she’s my marefriend.” Yes, I did find her interest odd, but she wasn’t an altogether bad sort and I had been neglecting our friendship. Perhaps it was time for me to rectify that mistake. “Still, I shouldn’t have held it against you, we all have our foibles, some of which are odder than others. For instance, I feel compelled to write down everything that happens,” I said. “Hey, lots of ponies keep journals, that’s not odd or weird or a foible or whatever you called it,” she said, patting me on the head in an attempt to be reassuringly. “Lyra, in the past two weeks I have filled up two entire journals. My daily entries take at least two hours to write and that is if the day is mostly uneventful. I will probably spend all day tomorrow just writing down what happened tonight and then I will spend an hour the day after writing down what I did the day before.” While the statement might have been true, I feel the need to point out that I don’t find my proper record keeping to be excessive in the slightest. “Okay,” she said, pausing, “That is a touch excessive.” “Exactly,” I said, “But you don’t hold it against me do you?” She shook her head, “Of course not. We are friends.” “That’s what I mean, we all have our foibles, and it was foalish of me to hold your interest in anthropology against you, in fact-” Our party stopped as the howling from earlier came back, seeming to surround us from all sides. “Stay back everypony,” Rarity said, drawing her sword to her side, “I will handle this.” As the group (sans me, obviously) stepped back, a dozen massive beasts, looking like nothing so much as bulls fashioned from steel and iron jumped out of the underbrush, surrounding the entire group. “Actually,” Rarity said, “Stay close to each other and don’t let them get behind you. Lyra, Sundancer (I assumed that was the pony I had been referring to as Not-Celestia), Moonbeam, and Applejack, make sure nopony else gets hurt. I shall have the fiends dispatched momentarily.” Applejack rolled her eyes, “Course your majesty, anything else we serfs can do for you.” Rarity laughed as she ran her sword through the breast plate of the first beast “Applejack, darling, I hardly think now is the time for sass, especially since… Look out!” One of the monsters had jumped towards Applejack, its claws extended and its fangs bared. The ranger simply grabbed her gun, pointed and… the mechanical bull ceased to be a threat. Also, several coats were dirtied with engine oil. The ponies entered into battle and the several ponies with minimal combat experience huddled close to each other as our ring of defenders kept the dire wolves from closing in on us. After several seconds and one more fatality, the nine remaining attackers backed up and circled around, searching for any weaknesses in our defenses this probably would have worked out then if my doppelganger hadn’t started to panic. “I knew this was all some sort of mistake,” she said, “Everything would have been fine if I just stayed inside, but these ponies just had to drag me outside and bring me along on some pointless adventure. What do you all even need a cellist for? I’m… I’m not going to die here.” Lyra and I tried to grab her, but before any of us could do so, she had bolted from the circle and was running back towards Ponyville, past Applejack and Moonbeam and straight towards one of the iron bulls. After that, things happened quickly, the other bulls lunged towards the defenders while the one Octy ran into closed in on her. I looked around. An iron bull was stomping around wildly on top of Vinyl as she struggled to dodge the beasts hooves, Rarity and the other defenders were working to fight off a renewed assault, and the rest of our group was in no position to do anything. I would very much like to say that my next decision was a calm rational one, but in truth, I only have snippets of what happened next. The feeling of the dirt against my hooves as I galloped, the air blowing against my face as I leapt into the sky, somepony (later confirmed to be me) screaming in absolute rage, and bone and steel shattering as my forehoof collided with the iron bull's face. Next, I was on top of the dire wolf, raining down a series of blows upon the beast while shouting, with a blow punctuating each word, “You. Will. Not. Touch. My. Marefriend!” The last blow knocked the creature unconscious and I quickly amended my statement, “Even if she is being absolutely insufferable right now.” After I finished, my body quickly remembered the fact that it was broken in several places and I fell over, writhing and screaming and cursing myself for charging the metal bull thingy like a complete fool. What in Equestria made me think that I could go hoof to hoof with a monster when I could barely get out of bed? Especially since its hooves were made of iron. At least the bull had fared worse than I did, I thought as I wrapped my newly shattered forehooves towards my chest my chest. Several minutes later, the rest of the group had gathered around me as the last of the dire wolves retreated into the forest. “Y’all right there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, as the others used their magic to lift me to the chaise. “I mean, I know yere not all right, but that just looked… You punched out a bull made of metal.” I wanted to say, “I am aware of what I did, I was there,” but all I managed was a pathetic, mewling whimpering noise while my eyes watered up. How had I even managed to punch out the bull in the first place? Actually, how did I manage to leave the chaise in the first place? I let out another groan as our group resumed their trek and my forehoof searched for another pain pill, cursing myself all the while for being such a monumental idiot. “Perhaps I misjudged you,” my doppelganger said as we continued our journey, “While I still don’t believe you are the real version of us, you have proven to be possessed of admirable courage and bravery, and perhaps it would not be so terrible if you were the real Octavia Melody.” “Thank you,” I said, lifting my head up from the chaise, “And for what it’s worth…” I shook my head, unable to finish the thought. “No, you make an absolutely awful me, but once we put a stop to this you will make a wonderful Vinyl Scratch.” She frowned, “That isn’t quite what I expected you to say. I imagined you would say something to the effect of ‘it wouldn’t be terrible if you were me either,’ not a confirmation that you thought me terrible.” “I know,” I said as we walked deeper into the forest, “But since the night started, you’ve fought me at every turn, attempted to hide in Ponyville, and almost gotten yourself killed. While I am certainly not a noteworthy pony, I am doing everything I can to help in this situation.” Although to be fair, if Vinyl hadn’t been affected I probably would have just stayed home, apparently my new found altruism only extended towards Vinyl and had she been unaffected, I would have been happy to let Ponyville burn. On reflection, Vinyl’s Octavia was probably more accurate than I had originally thought. Octy tapped her chin as we walked, clearly deep in thought, “You have a point, I suppose, and I will endeavor to perform admirably the next time. It will not do if my doppelganger is a better version of me than I am.” At least that’s something, I thought as I nodded my head in agreement. If she was willing to try to be better, then I could at least play along with her fantasy. “And we can’t have that, especially when your doppelganger can barely get out of bed.” “Then it seems we are agreed on something, we shall both work to be the best Octavia possible, and… if you are my doppelganger, which I think is rather likely, I would still enjoy being friends with you once you are back to normal. That is, assuming you aren’t a DJ or something scandalous like that,” Octy said and I struggled not to smile. “Yes, I suppose one of us befriending a DJ would be rather scandalous, I don’t know how we could bear to face the public.” I said, doing everything in my power to keep a straight face. Around me, Lyra and Rarity began to giggle, having finally become aware of our conversation. “Oh, I agree,” Rarity said, “Our dear Miss Octavia is far too elegant and poised to ever harbor any secret tawdry affections for a common DJ.” “Could you imagine the horror of that? And I bet if they were they would be absolutely adorable together and I’d ask them to go double dating with Bon Bon and I, and we would go to Anthro Con together… they would be the cutest couple…” Lyra rambled, just missing the joke. “Yes, quite,” I said in an attempt to silence her, “Rest assured, that I am not a DJ.” “But this Vinyl Scratch pony you believe me to be, isn’t she?” She said, her face falling. I nodded. “The same Vinyl Scratch that you are dating.” I nodded again. “And you have all of these beliefs and ideas and memories while I just have a few vague ideas that inform me of who I am… Could it be?” She stopped, letting out a deafening shriek that stopped our party in their tracks. “I’m a common DJ, a plebian, possessing all the musical talent of a rock! My entire life is a lie.” She began to sob uncontrollably, before adding to her statement, “Oh, and apparently, I’m not real. But more importantly I’m a DJ!” After that she completely broke down and refused to be moved. Eventually, Rarity added her to the fainting couch, and I head the unpleasant experience of sharing a couch meant for one with my sobbing doppelganger who quickly expanded to fill most of the couch, leaving me pressed between her and the back of the seat, desperately struggling for breath. Between my head being shoved between a mare and a sofa and said mare sobbing inconsolably, I was left in the dark for most of the trip, only hearing the sounds of sobbing and occasionally somepony’s efforts at consoling her. However, I highly doubted anypony would manage to convince Octy that her being a DJ was somehow bearable… or that her sudden loss of self wasn't as bad as she was making it out to be. Besides, even if she was a DJ, she wasn’t JUST a DJ, she was absolutely the greatest (albeit only) DJ I had ever seen. “Yes, Vinyl Scratch is a DJ,” I said, pulling my head out of the sofa and patting myself on the back, “But she isn’t just a DJ. She is the greatest DJ I have ever known, and if I am being completely honest, I envy her creative ability. Vinyl takes pre-recorded sounds and turns them into something wholly original that is greater than the sum of its constituents. I wish I was that creative.” Octy sniffled, “You’re just saying that because you are dating her.” “You’re right,” I said, “My relationship with Vinyl biases me, but if I can be in a relationship with a DJ, then you must be able to approve of her as well.” She paused for several moments, mulling over my words, before her mouth twisted into a wan smile. “When put in those terms, it seems I lose a leg to stand on, and as for the other… the idea that we are not the proper Octavia, I cannot fully come to terms with the idea of being completely unmade, but perhaps there is an optimal solution that will allow for Vinyl to return and me to still exist in some capacity. Perhaps I could even meet her one day.” I shook my head at that, “Even if I could come to terms with the fact that my marefriend would be meeting a more attractive version of me, I have to veto the idea on the grounds that if Vinyl saw two of us together… I am not prepared to cross that bridge.” “Perhaps that would be for the best,” she said, “And… thank you for helping me even though I’ve been nothing but horrible to you.” I smiled at her before pushing her off the chaise. “I wasn’t helping you, I was helping myself.” My doppelganger took that with far too much good cheer for me to be comfortable, but at least she allowed me to have the chaise to myself for the duration of the journey, and my good luck continued as there were no other major calamities as we finished our journey to the abandoned palace. Unfortunately, that bit of good luck dissipated as soon as we finished crossing the rope bridge into the ruins proper, and we gazed upon a revolting tableau. In front of us, ponies and things that were formerly ponies acted with wild abandon, dancing and feasting, tearing each other apart only to be reborn seconds later, made whole again. Music piped in from some unknown source, and the few dancers who were unmolested moved to an alien rhythm that seemed completely removed from what any sane pony might consider dancing (I even accounted for the bizarre moshing I encountered several days ago). At the center of the maelstrom sat Discord, ensconced upon a throne of obsidian, with various scenes from Equestrian mythology carved in it. Needless to say, none of the scenes were of a wholesome nature. The draconequus turned to face us, waving amicably with his paw. “More guests, please come in, make yourselves at home, you will find that this castle is a safe haven for everypony tonight..” “You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Lyra said, stepping towards him, “But this doesn’t exactly seem safe, ponies are being torn apart right in front of us.” Discord shrugged, “Perhaps, but the pop right back up with no scars or other existing traumas. As far as they are concerned, they are in perfect health. Trust me, I would never do anything to harm one of Celestia’s little ponies.” As if on cue, Sundancer stepped forward, “A pony is more than just flesh Discord, there is a spirit to consider as well. How long will it take them to recover from the nightmare of being torn apart?” “Not long at all,” he said, bowing slightly, “And might I say, you look absolutely splendid without the wings. Most alicorns can’t pull it off, but then, most alicorns don’t rule Equestria, and you’re so tiny I just want to take you home with me and rub your little pony head.” Ha! Even an elemental chaos god thought that Sundancer was Celestia’s disguise, I wasn’t hallucinating. “I am not Celestia,” Sundancer said, fooling absolutely nopony, “And you have yet to explain how exactly these ponies won’t be traumatized by the events of the night.” “Simple,” he said, “Once the spell ends, everypony will wake up and the events of the night will feel like nothing more than a dream. In fact, I am feeling so magnanimous I will fix up any buildings that were damaged during the festivities. Pre-existing conditions won’t be covered, of course.” “Glad to hear it,” Rarity said, leaping into the center of the fray, “It would be a shame if I had to harm innocent ponies in order to stop you.” She brandished her sword and sliced into the nearest creature, a strange bipedal creature, and in doing so elicited a shriek from Lyra. “Was that a human?” I asked, turning to look at her as the rest of our group watched the fray. Lyra nodded, staring mutely at the freshly bisected bipedal, now that I was seeing one in the flesh, it was actually… it was quite disgusting, with no coat to speak of and a short mane on the top of its head and absolutely no muzzle to speak of. Then there was the short protrusion in the middle of the things face that might possibly be related to a muzzle except the creature's mouth was located just below it. Even if I was somehow ignoring its face, the thing’s body was lumpy in places that shouldn’t be lumpy and its spine bent in unnatural ways. If it weren’t for the digits at the end of its forelegs, I wouldn’t understand Lyra’s obsession at all, but seeing those tiny sausage like protrusions, fingers to use the proper vernacular, almost made the rest of the creature bearable. They had a kind of soft strength to them and seemed capable of bending the world to their will. Looking at them, I found myself thinking that if everypony had access to a pair of hands then the unicorn hegemony would quickly evaporate, but such thoughts are merely the idle musings of a drugged mind. Despite Miss Heartstrings misgivings, Rarity quickly cut down the ponies that dared to charge her and soon Discord’s court learned to stand well clear of the prissy white unicorn as the ponies who had already reconstituted themselves crept back into the shadows, no longer inclined to taste the Dread Pirate’s blade, leaving just her and the chaos god, who was now clapping enthusiastically. “Oh, well done, I do so enjoy a display of swordsmanship, and you milady are absolutely stunning. In fact, to reward you, I will give you one free attack of your choosing.” Without a second’s hesitation, she slashed the draconequus in two. Unfortunately for her, the top half stayed floating in the air, the same smug smile sitting proudly on his face as the bottom half fell downwards. “Absolutely splendid, I tip my hat to you and such,” he stopped then to bow before the Dread Pirate, “Now as much as I enjoy this game, you are interrupting the festivities of the night, and I would hate for somepony not to enjoy themselves, so I have to ask you and your friends to go to the VIP section.” He snapped his fingers and the rest of my group suddenly found themselves in a cage made of what appeared to be magical energy. I say appeared because I was mercifully spared from his trap. “I take it I don’t merit any sort of special containment procedure,” I said, struggling to my hooves and taking a tentative step towards Discord. “You are barely capable of walking, why should I spend time containing a pony who is incapable of moving on their own?” “Because,” I said taking one more step towards the draconequus, “I am going to make you turn everypony back to normal, or at the very least change my marefriend back to normal.” He laughed, “Aww, that’s so sweet I think you just gave me diabetes. I’ll tell you what, you make it to my throne and I will hear your petition. Until then, please enjoy the party.” Discord snapped his fingers and appeared, fully formed, at the throne in the far end of the palace several hundred paces away as the party guests crept back from the shadows. The same party guests that Rarity had just finished enraging. Some of the less savory creatures licked their lips and took a step forward while those without lips just took a step forward. Doing my best to ignore the creatures, I took two more steps towards Discord while a giant monster made of a thousand mouths began to circle around me and other creatures began fighting it for the honor of attacking me first. “Well Octavia,” I said to myself, “If you’re lucky, they will be too busy fighting each other to-” I was interrupted as a set of fangs punctured the back of my neck and crushed my spine. That worked out about as well as it had any right to, I thought as I fell towards the ground, feeling blood run down my backside. A part of me wondered exactly how I would cheat death this time but as the seconds ticked on, a worrying thought continued to grow, that this was the end for me, that there would be no last second miraculous saves, that my time in Ponyville was finally coming to an end. It wasn’t fair, not that I was dying, although that was rather bothersome, but that I had only had friends for a few weeks. After finally learning how wonderful having friends and being loved could be, the jaws of death would snatch them away from me. My eyes closed and the few friends who were still in their right mind sobbed. Eventually everything descended into silence. “Uhmm, Octavia darling,” Rarity said, breaking the silence, “Not to pester you, but your wounds seem to have healed. At least, the ones caused by the bite have, I can’t really speak for your ribs.” She was right, I thought as I opened my eyes, over the past few minutes, the pain coming from my neck had subsided and my coat was no longer slick and sticky. Right, Discord had said that his spell wouldn’t allow anypony to die during Nightmare Night. So the good thing was that I no longer had to worry about the possibility of dying on my walk to Discord’s throne. The counter to that was that I could be killed very easily and there was no shortage of monsters who were more than eager to make that happen. I would prefer not to dwell on the particularities of the next few hours as each flaying, dismemberment, burning (Of all the ones I want to ignore, that is the one I want to ignore most), freezing, beheading, devouring, crushing, and exploding is a trauma I would prefer not to dwell on, and doing so would slow this narrative down to an unbearable crawl. It will suffice to say that after every death, I managed to get back up on my hooves and take a few steps closer to Discord. I endured every pain that night and persevered because I knew it was the only way I could save my marefriend and the rest of the town. It certainly wasn't pleasant, but Equestria needed me, and I wouldn't let it or my friends down. “Well, well, I’m impressed Miss Octavia, I didn’t think you would make it this far, and I do hope you don’t mind that I took the liberty of reading up on you while I waited for you to make your way over here.” He raised his paw up to reveal my diary, “It’s a very fascinating read, and I dare say that it is the best journal of a madmare that I’ve read in a millennium, although Miss Sparkle’s diary is a close second. Now what do you want?” He leaned in close as if appraising me as he spoke that last line. “I want you to change everypony back to normal,” I said before collapsing in front of him, not particularly caring that he had read my diary. “Oh, is that what all this fuss is about? I was going to do that anyways. As soon as the night is over everypony will go back to being their normal boring selves.” “L-lies,” I stammered, “Why should I believe a chaos god?” “Because I’ve reformed,” he said, readjusting his position on his throne, “Didn’t you get the update that I am a good guy now? Now tell me, what are you supposed to be? You are the second uptight cellist I’ve seen tonight.” “I am not anything, some of us don’t happen to celebrate Nightmare Night, I just came here because I wanted you to return my marefriend to her normal state,” I said, finally getting back on my hooves. The chaos god smiled at that, and I suddenly felt as if I said the exact wrong thing. “You mean to say that you came to MY costume party without wearing a costume? That simply will not do. Now since your marefriend dressed as you… Yes, I think matching costumes is just what the draconequus ordered.” He snapped his fingers and then things became rather… strange. First an ivory, technically it was a very light yellow that is easily mistaken for white, horn sprouted from my head, and a streak of electric blue mane suddenly obscured my vision. Then the more distressing changes began to occur as I suddenly became acutely aware of the beating of my heart. Its thudding filled my hearing, and with it the rest of the world filled with music. The tapping of hooves on stone, the breath of a nearby dragon as it danced, the crackling of flames as said dragon incinerated another pony, their anguished screams. All those sounds mixed and mingled with each other, but they merely accented the base thudding of my heart. In Vinyl’s mind, the world took on a decidedly primal light. The voice in my head telling me just why I shouldn’t do something had faded to a dull whisper while every urge in my body was magnified. My eyes turned towards my other self, and I found that she was simply… No, there were no words for that feeling, just a primal drive fueled by the drumming of the base, and I wanted nothing more than to dance with her to the pounding of our hearts. Her world was wonderful and it would be so easy to be consumed by it. I wanted to don Vinyl’s glasses and dance the night away with my marefriend, to dance and enjoy and revel and forsake the cares of Octavia Melody, but I had to resist. I had to stay strong and remember who I was. My body took several steps towards the cage Octy was in, my hips swaying to the music that filled the world. The monsters ignored me as I walked towards Octavia, and I found myself wishing I had my DJ equipment with me. A spooky castle filled with monsters would make for a great gig, and the best part was that Tavi would be there with me, although something seemed off in the back of my mind, like I was forgetting something important. I shrugged and walked it off, right now I had to dance with my marefriend. “Hey babe,” I said as I reached her, “Having fun?” Tavi tilted her head at me, a look of utter confusion on her face, “Babe?” She asked. But… I paused, that wasn’t right Tavi was… She wasn’t Tavi, but she was Octavia, and I called Octavia Tavi, so that had to be right. I took another look at her, her eyes had their usual hard edge, but they didn’t seem to recognize me at all, and that wasn’t right either. Tavi was… well, she wasn’t always happy to see me, and we had had our fights, but she at least recognized me then. Why? And why wasn’t she Tavi? Because she was Octy and somepony else… was Tavi. I shook my head, trying to clear away whatever fog had fallen upon my mind, and the last few hours came back to me. I was Tavi, Vinyl was Octy, and I rested my head against my forehoof. It had almost worked, but I was Octavia Melody, I loved Vinyl Scratch, and I would apparently risk my safety and sanity for her well-being, even if it was a monumentally bad idea, I thought as I turned back to face the chaos god. “Did you think I’d be dealt with so easily?” I asked as I marched back towards the chaos god, grateful that his transformation magic had mended my ribs even if it had scrambled my brain. “Now change us back.” “I’m sorry,” he said, “But how exactly did you get your mind back to normal? I didn’t see anypony use magic on you and you don’t exactly seem the sort to just snap out of one of my spells. I laughed, “You’re right, I am weak and silly and some ponies might even say dangerously unbalanced, but I had something far greater than myself powering me, a power that would compel a mare who can barely get out of bed to journey through the Everfree Forest, a power that could compel the same mare to assault an iron bull twice her size, and a power that gave me the perseverance needed to face death several dozen times while approaching your throne. It’s love, and it’s stronger than any of your chaos magic.” If not for the circumstances, I would have laughed at myself for saying something so incredibly trite and cliché, but I had not been having a pleasant day and I feel that most ponies would excuse me for indulging in such sentiment considering the circumstances surrounding my display. Discord yawned, apparently unimpressed by my impromptu lecture, “Yes, yes, save the friendship speech for somepony who cares, believe me I’ve heard it all before, although I feel the need to correct you on one point: Chaos magic is far stronger than any silly equine emotion, and perhaps an instructional lesson is in-” He was interrupted as an alarm clock suddenly sprang into existence besides him, ringing shrilly. “Or perhaps not,” he said, shrugging, “It seems my dear, that my time is up and if I keep this spell going for much longer I will be in violation of the promise I made to Fluttershy.” The draconequus snapped his fingers and a burst of magical energy quickly enveloped the castle before spreading out to destinations unknown. Around me, the sea of monsters reverted to their normal equine forms, as did my adventuring party and I felt my body return to its normal state. As I prepared to make my way back to Vinyl and the rest of our group, I suddenly felt somepony jump on top of me and wrap their forelegs around my neck. “Oh my gosh, Tavi, are you okay? That was… I mean… you died! A lot.” “Vinyl… Ribs…” I gasped, wheezing for breath. “Right, sorry,” she said as she quickly leapt off me, leaving me collapsed on the floor. “Let me get you back to your fainting couch.” I nodded my head weakly at that as the mare picked me up in her magical aura and carefully deposited me back on the fainting couch, my mind processing what just happened. “Are you alright?” She asked. “No," I said as I realized that every last pain I had suffered that night had been completely and totally pointless. I rolled over and buried my head in the chaise's cushions. "What's wrong?" She asked, nuzzling my neck, "You aren't freaking out because you had to be me for a few minutes are you?" "No Vinyl, I'm 'freaking out' as you put it because I died several dozen times tonight, and unlike you I wasn't in costume when those deaths occurred so I have to remember every last moment of them. Now can somepony tell me exactly why we let the chaos god on the loose?" “Perhaps I can shed some light on that issue,” Celestia said, standing where Sundancer was a moment earlier. If I hadn’t been recovering from a night filled with both physical and mental trauma, I might have commented on how incredibly paper thin her costume was. After standing up to Discord, the fear of antagonizing the solar diarch had lost some of its edge. “About a month ago,” Celestia continued, “Miss Fluttershy wrote me to ask if Discord could play a few pranks on Nightmare Night. Considering how well his reformation had been going, I saw no harm in it. Obviously, I was mistaken. “Come now, Celestia, you stipulated that nopony could be harmed by my prank and that it had to expire at dawn. I followed those instructions to the letter. Why, I even tried to preserve property. Given the circumstances, I feel a medal is in order, maybe even one of those stained glass windows you are so fond of,” Discord said, popping up next to me and Vinyl. “You! Nopony was harmed? Do you know what I had to…” I paused as memories of a night filled with fangs and claws and fire returned to the forefront of my mind and I lost all semblance of composure. My body shook as full wrenching sobs escaped my throat and my face became stained with tears. From here I must transcribe the story Vinyl told me as I was too indisposed to pay attention to my environment. “Yeah you jerk,” Vinyl said, taking up the charge for me, “Does that look like ‘nopony was harmed’ to you.” As she spoke, she pointed her hooves at me. “Well that’s…” He stammered, “An outlier, no harm would have happened to her if she had properly celebrated the holiday. You can’t hold me responsible for her lack of holiday spirit.” A small smirk appeared on Celestia's face, "Perhaps you are right. Every situation has a few unavoidable injuries and Miss Melody is of sound body. Perhaps there is no need for me to take drastic action this morning." “What!?” The other ponies around me yelled in unison. “Tia, you can’t possibly be serious, Octavia suffered severe mental and physical trauma and as she wasn’t in costume, she was not protected by the mental wards present in Discord’s spell.” “Yeah!” Vinyl chimed in, “You don’t get to hurt my marefriend like that and get away scot-free, we’ll beat you up ourselves if that’s what it takes.” Behind her, the rest of my friends nodded in agreement, “She could have stayed home tonight and been perfectly safe, but instead she came out here to try and help us all out. She didn’t have any powers, in fact, she could barely walk, but she still faced certain death because she cares about her friends, and now it’s time for her friends to return the favor.” Actually, most of my efforts were directed at saving Vinyl, but obviously I wished to help the rest of my friends as well. “Now, everypony,” Celestia said as her smile grew, “Discord was very clearly following the letter of our agreement, and I believe that his behavior is so meritorious that I should inform Fluttershy of what her friend did tonight.” The princess flapped her wings several times before flying off to Ponyville as the blood drained from Discord's face. A few seconds later he flew off after the Princess, desperately begging for mercy. “Certainly… there is no need to inform Fluttershy. My actions weren’t that praiseworthy,certainly nothing to bother her about. In fact, I concede that I might have been just a teensy bit in the wrong. Just… don’t inform Fluttershy, I will do whatever you ask, in fact, I promise I will make it up to you… I'll make it up to everypony, just...” Discord voice faded as he followed after Celestia and the two vanished into the distance. According to Vinyl, Luna tried to speak with me several times, but I was apparently inconsolable until Vinyl wrapped me in her gentle embrace, careful not to upset my broken bones. “Hey now, Tavi, it’s safe now, nothing bad is going to happen,” she said. I laughed. I shouldn’t have, but I did. I didn’t stop laughing for several minutes. “Nothing bad is going to happen? Vinyl, something terrible has already happened. This whole night has been a series of terrible things.” I sobbed some more, “I felt my entire body be ripped apart by dragon fire only for it to reconstitute itself a second later. That sensation is permanently engraved in my mind, and then a second later I was crushed to death by a hydra, and that is stuck with me as well. But I persevered because I knew it was up to me to save you, and then it turns out it wasn’t. I could have spent the entire evening sleeping in bed and the world would be a better place for it, we’d both be fine and I wouldn’t have to…” An involuntary shudder ran up my spine. “I can still feel that monster’s teeth digging into my spine, the dragon fire incinerating my flesh, I can feel every last death suffered at the hands or hooves of Discord’s monstrosities, and what was it for? What was all the pain and violence and death for? Nothing. I died over and over and over again for nothing. I…” More sobbing, “Why couldn’t I have been the hero? Why couldn’t I have done anything right? I just… I just…” I trailed off and began to sob incoherently even though I was still surrounded by other ponies. Again though, I must ask for some leniency considering the circumstances leading to my break from decorum. Death is not easy for a mare to come to terms with especially when the deaths in question are her own. Vinyl patted the back of my neck, careful not to upset my ribs which were still trying to mend. “I know, and I’m sorry, and maybe you weren’t a hero, but you tried, and that’s more than most of us can say. I mean, I wanted to-” She cut herself off, quickly remember exactly what she/Octy wanted to do. “It doesn’t matter what I wanted to do, what matters is that when everypony else was panicking you tried to do something. You risked your life to save the town, to save me, and that’s… that’s why I love you.” With that, she planted a soft kiss on my cheek. I wish I could say her words of encouragement were enough to pull me from my despair, but at least they took the slightest edge off of my pain. "Why do I keep suffering Vinyl? I didn't do anything wrong tonight so why did I have to die over and over again? What is so awful about me that I have to keep suffering so? Do you think the gods of fate just enjoy seeing me in pain for some reason?" I asked between sobs. The mares I had spent the night working to help rushed over to comfort me and they soon had me surrounded in one group hug, careful not to squeeze me too tightly. Each one offered me their sympathy, some promising to help me recover, others praising my valor before Luna finally spoke up. “And I wish to promise that I will do everything in my power as Princess of the Night to make up for the injuries you have suffered here today, but for now, all I can do is offer you the gift of slumber free from nightmares,” Luna said as her horn started to glow with magical energies and my mind began to drift towards blessed oblivion. As felt my eyelids grow heavy, I looked around at each of my friends, maybe my heroics didn't accomplish anything, but at least my friends were willing to care for me after I had fallen. Right before I plunged into unconsciousness, I could have sworn I heard Fluttershy yelling "HOW DARE YOU!" and I permitted myself to smile at the strange hallucinations an exhausted mind such as mine could come up with.