//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders Nightmares, Yay! // by LostUmbrella //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash stared down at her hooves for a long minute, then she pushed open the door she was standing in front of and entered the throne room with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, the latter limping slightly. The two fillies kept their eyes downcast, knowing that their time had come. "Apple Bloom!" exclaimed Applejack seeing her sister. Even though there was only relief in her voice, the yellow filly flinched. Yet, her gaze stayed on the ground. "Where's my Sweetie?" asked Rarity "Where is she, Rainbow?" "She... I'm sorry Rarity, she teleported away..." answered the pegasus hanging her head. "What?" asked Twilight stupified "How?" Soon started a discussion between the two unicorns and the cyan mare about whether Sweetie Belle was able to teleport, which then became a way to decide if the trio was guilty or not, gaining the contribute of every adult in the room. Apple Bloom looked like she was about to break in tears, Scootalo closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "SHUT UP!" shouted the small pegasus at the top of her lungs. The eight mares looked like they had been frozen as their eyes fixed on the filly, eyes expressing surprise and confusion. "Yes, we attacked Diamond Tiara, her goons and princess Luna; I don't know about nightmares but its likely we got one on our hooves; yes, Sweetie can teleport, about how I haven't got a clue; yes, I threw her down the waterfall, because I knew she would survive; and yes, she's alive, we're sure thanks to our telepi... Telepo... Our mind link," said Scootaloo stomping a little hoof at every sentence "Now, send us to the moon and let's get this done." "Just be quick..." begged Apple Bloom looking up for the first time, her eyes teary like her friend's. Silence fell on the room. "The moon?" asked Celestia crooking an eyebrow. "Uhm, yes... Didn't you send Nightmare Moon there?" asked Scootaloo exchanging a confused glance with her fellow crusader. "That is the truth," said Luna noticing her sister's uneasiness "But our sister had no other option, since we held control on three of the six elements of harmony." "So, yer not sendin' us on the moon?" asked Apple Bloom. "No," said Celestia in a motherly tone offering a sweet smile. "It would be impossible anyway," continued Luna chuckling in a forehoof "Unless thou have some link with the moon like us." "Luckily for us, this time the elements can be used," said the white alicorn. "Wait just a second, princess" protested Applejack "Yer asking me to fire what defeated Nightmare Moon, an immortal alicorn like yerself, to mah lil sis?" "Yes, that more or less summarizes the whole plan." "Ah hope yer pullin' mah leg..." "Applejack is right, princess," said Twilight "The element are the probably most powerful weapon at our hooves." "Yeah, and we all heard Nightmare Moon crying in pain when we hit her," enforced Rainbow Dash. "We were there too," stated solemnly Luna "But we felt no pain whatsoever... It is the parasite who suffers, thou have not to worry." "Uhm, princess Luna, you're not sayin' it's safe only to punish us, right?" asked Apple Bloom looking up to the much larger mare. "We... I am the last pony that could blame thou little ones for thy errors," said the midnight alicorn lowering her head to the filly eye level "I found forgiveness having done far worse, thou deserve no punishment." The six ponyvillian mares exchanged glances then, in perfect synchronization, shrugged. "I reckon we have a deal, princess," said Applejack "I beg yer forgiveness fer doubtin' ya." "You were in the right seeking the good for your family, Applejack, you don't need to apologize," said Celestia with a graceful smile "I'll be taking the elements now." Less than five minutes later, the six mares were using the elements for the second time, a rainbow hued beam of light and magic surging from their floating bodies to crash down on the fillies. Like Luna had said, the two crusaders felt no pain, yet screams of pain, in a voice that sounded like a distorted eco of their own fused together, could be heard clearly. After the light had died down, both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked just fine, like they did before the whole ordeal. "Hey, it didn't hurt at all!" said Scootaloo beaming. "We have to tell Sweetie!" said Apple Bloom. Both concentrated on telepathically relying the message to their friend, only to be hit by realization a second later: no nightmare meant no telepathy. Meanwhile, the nightmare's remnants had regrouped into a small purple cloud that was trying to sneak out of the room. "That's the djinn-Ah mean, the nightmare!" shouted Apple Bloom pointing a hoof at the cloud, who bolted away. "It must be going to where Sweetie is!" said Scootaloo running after it. "Rainbow!" said Twilight. "Already on it Twi!" said the cyan pegasus flying after the fugitive cloud. --- Sweetie Belle woke up in one of the many thicket that adorned the mountain side, the waterfall roaring a bit further on the left. "Right, I teleported away from Rainbow," stated the filly gazing at her surroundings. It was night, and the moon was bathing the landscape in her silver glow. She tried to use telepathy to contact Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, but couldn't feel nothing. "Either they're sleeping or the moon is out of range..." She rolled her worlds in her mind, like a d candy too bitter to swallow. Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm alone." And with that she started crying. She cried for her friends, banished on the moon to save her. She cried for herself, alone and forced to run from family and friends. She cried for how stupid she had been when they met the nightmare. She cried for all the crusades and fun stuff she wouldn't be able to do. She cried in anger for the monster she had become. She felt suffocating, as if her armor had been crafted in lead. She took off the helm and threw it away. It clanged empty on the rocks, like a melancholic bell. Piece by piece she took the armor off, slowly making her way in a random direction, leaving behind a trail of glistering metal pieces. It made her easier to track, but she didn't care. With her breathing made uneven by the sobbing, she trekked on the rocky ground of the mountainside. She went on like that for a time that she couldn't define, suffocating in her anger and sadness, when she heard a noise she could not define: a strange mix of rapid wingbeats and rustling of wind. It wasn't until the noise had gained considerable volume that she could locate its source: Rainbow Dash, flying like a madmare after a purple cloud. Sweetie didn't waste another second and started running, only to stumble and fall after a few steps. "Run Sweetie, run!" shouted Rainbow Dash. The filly turned around and fixed her reptilian eyes on the cloud, unable to even tear her gaze away from it. Until it was too late.