Chapter 7: Like A Fallen Angel In Disguise
---{???}
Ponies have hopes. Ponies have dreams. But do they have ultimatums? None can wield this power properly. Yet, power must find a controller. Power must find a host. This power cannot act on its own. It must be taken hold of by strong hooves, by strong wings.
Whose dreams soar above the clouds? That is where this power shall proceed. That is where her hopes... shall crumble beneath the soft ground upon which she sleeps!
---{Dilan Shier}
"I think this 'color of food equals color of tail' theory can be discarded," I regretfully informed the ever-hopeful vam-pony guard, "I mean the first time I actually ate red rose petals was out in the garden. Nothing happened out there."
Faith Shield's ears flopped down. The corners of his mouth followed suit.
"Sorry, uh, Mr. Shield," I stammered. "I didn't... What I meant to say is thank you for trying."
"S-Sure, no problem." He rubbed a hoof against the back of his neck sheepishly.
Spirit Sword coughed. "So, what will you do now?"
I sighed. "I don't know. At this point, I'm just sort of making things up as I go."
As if to answer an unspoken prayer, an orb of light shone forth and burst in the middle of the room. I may have gone blind, or perhaps it was just that bright. Either way, the flash ended as quickly as it began.
"Your highness!" Spirit Sword exclaimed before taking a bow.
"And your highness," Faith Shield added before following suit.
Sure enough, both of the princesses I had met today were standing right there. I could have sworn I saw Princess Celestia taking heavy breaths while Princess Luna was holding her own chest. Though, the supposed actions quickly ceased and they resumed what must have been their regal stances. I also thought I saw a couple of scuff marks along their hides.
"At ease, gentlecolts," said Princess Luna.
Both of the vampire guards stood back up.
"How do things fare in the Crystal Empire?" inquired Spirit Sword.
"It turned out to be a minor issue that has been dealt with effectively and swiftly," responded Princess Celestia.
Princess Luna looked like she was going to add more, but decided against it. "How about the happenings around here? Has she caused you any trouble?"
Everyone present easily saw where her hoof was pointed to when she said "she".
"Nothing we couldn't handle," Faith Shield offered with a smirk.
"Care to elaborate?" Princess Luna followed up.
"She showed signs of an unusual backache and headache," told Spirit Sword, "Additionally, her tail has become an odd shade of crimson. We haven't yet determined the cause or reason for the change."
That seemed to perk Princess Celestia's ears. "Crimson?"
I chose that moment to turn a little so that my tail was in view. "It's about as red as the color red can get."
Princess Luna narrowed her eyes. "What kind of trickery is this?"
In lieu of arms, my wings shrugged for me. "Your guess is as good as mine, your majesty."
She bit her lip. A couple feathers on her wings scratched her sides rapidly. She closed her eyes. She breathed rather loudly. I wasn't sure, but I think I saw a blood vessel threatening to burst on her forehead.
In contrast, Princess Celestia lacked any forehead wrinkles at all. Her eyes were closed too, but her lips were neutral. I couldn't even hear her breathing. Was she meditating on her feet or something? I didn't know.
"I can't deal with this right now," muttered Princess Luna. She marched over to the table's end and promptly sat in one of the large seats. (Holy sleet! How did I not see those chairs when I first came in here?) "Rose petal banana flambé, and make it drown!"
"But of course, your highness," responded the maid mare as she trotted into what I could only assume was the kitchen.
I heard someone else sigh. I turned to look, but the only one in that direction was Princess Celestia.
She opened her eyes and shook her head. "I guess she doesn't want that ice cream after all."
"Huh?" I tilted my head. Then, I quickly shook it dismissively. "Princess Celestia?"
"Yes, Dilan Shier?"
"May I ask where you went?"
"No need," she insisted. "I'd be more than happy to talk to someone about today."
---{Luna, third P.O.V.}
Thankfully, her subjects were punctual with meeting her requests. The blazing dessert was slid on the plate in front of her. Upon her earlier command, extra rum was poured onto the burned slices and petals. She had been warned about the dangers of intoxication previously. However, she was not in the mood to speak with her health advisor anytime soon. Food and drink stood no chance against her Royal palate.
With nary a second thought, she levitated a spoonful of the sweet dish into her mouth. Her pupils briefly dilated before expanding over her irises. Warmth spread throughout her body. Her legs felt heavy. Yet her magic was still shining brightly. Another spoonful of banana goodness was shoveled down her throat.
---{Dilan Shier}
"So even Princess Luna doesn't know how she defeated this Sombra guy?" I reiterated.
"I'm afraid not," Princess Celestia confirmed.
"Well, that's a -hic- bummer." I immediately lifted a hoof to my mouth. What the heck? Where did that come from? I smacked my lips. And why does it vaguely taste like rose petals... and beer?
My hoof fell back to the floor. My whole body felt heavier all of a sudden. My cheeks felt like they were burning up, but they felt good. I could have sworn that I was wearing the most spit-faced grin right then. The room felt like it was wobbling around me. I struggled to keep my head straight.
"Are you feeling all right?" asked the blurry after-image of the princess in front of me.
"Uh-huh," I mumbled back, "In fact, I feel really... mellow for some reason."
My left leg slipped from under me... or was it my other left leg? I didn't know. I could have been hallucinating. Perhaps it was a right leg that someone slapped onto my left side. But that was okay. The floor wasn't that painful on my heavy chin. In fact, I was able to stand shakily back up in less than a second. It was all good.
"Dilan, have you been drinking?" Princess Celestia was giving me a combination look of confusion, concern, and worry.
"That's not possible, Cinpress Lecestia." I shook my right wing for a no. "I-I-I haven't had a shingle drop of booze for the past week." A hiccup betrayed my trust. Well that's just fan-tipping-flastic. Why is my body trying to make a liar out of me?
"Mm-hm," she murmured, though her deadpan face said otherwise.
Maybe I heard the other princess sighing in relief. Maybe I didn't. I couldn't tell in the blurring sound of nonexistent background music. I didn't understand her. Why had she set perfectly cooked food on fire?
"I fell into a burning... ring of fire." I reminisced before giggling.
---{The sober ponies, third P.O.V.}
Celestia watched her sister continue to indulge herself with the spirit-possessed fruit. Her eyes kept scanning back and forth between Luna and a loopy armored mare in front of her. It appeared that with each of Luna's bites, Dilan Shier the Nightmare Moon showed another sign of intoxication. Though how this transference of effects was happening, she couldn't quite fathom a reason.
Meanwhile, Faith Shield had already rushed over to his princess. His temp-ice-fabric was in wing before slapping it onto Luna's forehead. While that was going on, Spirit Sword was trying to hold her back.
"I believe you've had enough, your highness," Spirit stated unquestioningly.
"No! Your princess commands you to let us eat our sweets in peace!" Luna swatted with her hoof, but all she hit was thin air.
"Princess, you're drunk." Even Faith couldn't find this situation funny.
"I'll get as want as I drunk-a be." Luna let out a most unroyal belch.
As the other night-related alicorn fell onto her side, Celestia promptly trotted over.
"It's getting late anyway," she pointed out. "You should get some proper rest."
"I don't wanna," moaned Dilan, shaking her front hooves as if competing in a slap fight. Her opponent, however, turned out to be nothing but the air next to her.
"Dilan, you're inebriated," Celestia said while standing safely out of hoof-range.
"But I wanna stay up late, Mommy," not-Nightmare whined.
"Mommy?!" Celestia's eyes snapped open. She actually flinched her hoof in front of her. Just how out of her mind is she right now?
"Oh, why must I be punished?" asked Dilan.
"Your mind is clearly in a confused state." Celestia regained her composure. "You need to rest."
"Okay." The not-Nightmare smiled. In a split second, her muzzle collapsed against the floor. Her eyelids snapped shut. A loud snore buzzed.
Celestia sighed before concentrating her golden magic. She lifted Dilan up and over herself. She then looked back at the guards and their lady. By this point, Luna had fallen asleep with her mouth open.
"Could I trust you to take care of her?" Celestia asked.
"Do you even have to ask?" Faith Shield smirked.
"This isn't the first time we've had to assist Princess Luna move to her quarters," added Spirit Sword. "It won't be the last, either."
"Thank you." Celestia nodded.
---
Celestia quietly closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes and audibly exhaled.
"Princess Celestia?"
She opened her eyes and looked around. "Oh, Faith Shield. Where is your partner?"
"Last I checked, Sword was undressing Luna," Faith replied.
Celestia's mouth twisted uncertainly. "Uh..."
Faith facehooved. "Yes, yes, I realized it the moment I said it."
Celestia coughed. "She's sleeping that deeply, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid so."
Celestia took a moment to concentrate her magic aura. To the onlookers of the outside world, the evening sky gave way to pale moonlight. The small cycle barely took more than a few seconds.
"Sorry that you had to raise the moon by yourself again."
Celestia waved a hoof dismissively. "You don't have to worry about that. I completely understand how Luna can be when she's... indisposed."
"Speaking of drunkenness, how did Nightmare Moon manage to get wasted?" Faith wondered. "I was watching her all afternoon and she didn't so much as look at one drop of a hard drink."
"Well, don't quote me on this," she spoke softly, "but I might have seen a clue as to how that happened."
"You have?" His ears perked up.
"Just before Nightmare started behaving in such a manner, Luna was devouring a large quantity of rum. Normally, the alcohol would have been cooked out by the fire of that dish, but she had specifically asked for extra liquid after the fact."
"But what does Luna's poor choice of meal have to do with Nightmare's health?" He tilted his head in confusion.
"First, let me ask you this: While you were watching her today, did she happen to eat a violet petal sandwich?"
Faith's eyes widened before blinking twice in rapid succession. "Y-Yeah. How did you know that?"
"Call it a hunch," she continued, "After we had our encounter in the Crystal Empire, Luna made a stray comment about how she disliked the taste of a violet sandwich."
Faith put a hoof to his muzzle and lowered his head. "Come to think of it, Nightmare looked pretty disgusted after she was done eating."
"I believe that my sister and Nightmare Moon have a connection tied by their very souls," Celestia proposed. "One of these connections resides in their taste buds."
"And another is in their sobriety?" he reiterated as he looked back up. "That seems like a bit of a stretch."
"If it were just one coincidence," interrupted a new voice, "I'd be inclined to agree with you, Partner."
Celestia and Faith Shield looked to the side. Spirit Sword trotted over toward them.
"However, multiple coincidences seem to make such a magical connection more likely," he concluded.
"I don't know, man." Faith scratched the back of his neck. "It's a bit of a shaky premise."
"Do you have a better explanation?" Spirit asked rhetorically.
Faith shrugged with one hoof and his opposite side's wing. "My angry demon theory is still on the table."
To this, Celestia raised an eyebrow. She stared at Faith Shield before turning her eyes to Spirit Sword.
The latter closed his eyes and waved his hoof dismissively. "Trust me, your majesty. It's best if you don't ask. He'll end up talking about his horror drama novels all night."
---{Dilan Shier}
*Drip!*
I scanned my dark surroundings. I didn't understand why everything was so dark. Clouds of various shapes floated around before leaving my sight completely. An arch, a lightning bolt, and the outline of a Pegasus were among those cloud shapes. After that came some whispers. They sounded like gusts of wind, yet I could still make out some of the words.
"Name's Lighting Dust."
"Squirt, what's wrong?"
"I'm not brave like you are, Rainbow Dash!"
"Couldn't someone else be your jousting partner?"
"No pony beats Rainbow Dash, not even some pony that looks like me!"
"I'm an egghead."
"That's Commander Hurricane to you!"
"Let's show them how to party, Ponyville style!"
None of them really made sense to me. Though, if I was picking up the slight inflections properly, then it stood to reason that these were somehow related to Rainbow Dash. The strange wind in this dark realm was picking up speed. Either that, or I was floating forward a lot faster. A giant obstacle came barreling at my face and I only had a split second to form a thought.
Is that a Darkwing Duck mask?
*Poof!*
---{Luna}
She could sense that there was trouble originating from this pony's dream. Even so, she hadn't expected the subconscious entry to be quite this shaky. This didn't feel like the solid barrier of a pony using mind protection spells. The entrance had felt more like strong turbulence than anything else.
Some pony has purposefully allowed me in while trying to reduce my powers inside this dream, she thought. Well then, they will be quite disappointed.
---{???}
Are you really okay with how they think of you?
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash looked around the sky. "Who said that?"
Was it truly you that needed to learn the lesson?
"Show yourself!" She jabbed a few empty sockets of air. "I'm not scared."
Not even of your friends?
She lowered her hooves while her wings kept flapping. One eyebrow rose. "What the hay are you talking about?"
The sky changed drastically to midday. Dash widened her eyes when she saw the ponies floating around her.
"Aren't my hooves the strongest you've ever seen?" An Applejack look-alike was wearing a sneer and a full Mare-Do-Well outfit.
"Can you name any pony else with the Pinkie Sense?" A Pinkie Pie double with the same outfit grinned wickedly.
"Isn't my magic the best?" Twilight Sparkle asked mockingly.
"I can just fly by better than you." Fluttershy waved her hoof frantically and energetically.
"My costume design is simply perfect." Rarity stood on a stone hill looking down.
Dash felt very cold all of a sudden. She could even see her breath as she wildly turned her head to look at the ponies all around her.
"What the feather?" she wondered, "What are you guys talking about?"
"It's perfectly fine when we show off," Twilght's voice lectured.
"But when you brag, it ain't," claimed Applejack with half-lidded eyes.
All five of the Mare-Do-Wells laughed into a cacophony.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Rainbow shouted while pressing her hooves against her head.
The scene spun around her into a blurry mess. Meanwhile, a cloudy figure floated down and rested on Dash's shoulder.
Why didn't they trust you enough to at least try to talk with you first?
Dash lowered her hooves and her head. "Well, I am kind of a fetlock head."
That doesn't mean you never listen.
She rose her head back to normal eye level. "That's right. When it really counts, I am willing to listen."
Doesn't it upset you that they would go for the error through example approach rather than starting with a talk?
Dash nodded. "Yeah, it does."
Doesn't their message contradict their actions? They brag about their accomplishments and then claim that you shouldn't.
"Yeah! They're such hippo... hypacro... er... They're such dips!"
Are you angry?
"I'm firing mad!"
Do you hate them?
"I was going to say, 'I really, really, really, really, really dislike them,' but that works too."
Stew on that hatred for a while. Let it build up and consume you. I will guide it to a good use.
"By the way," Dash paused, "you never told me who you are."
Me? Oh, I'm just a friend to the poor, unfortunate souls.
---{Dilan}
I didn't know why, but I couldn't move and couldn't speak while the whole debacle took place right in front of me. A bunch of storm clouds were circling that cyan Pegasus. Simultaneously, strangely colored sparks were pulsating all around her. I'm pretty sure I saw some erupting from inside of her.
"Rainbow Dash!" called a familiar voice. In spite of the rest of my uncooperating body, I was able to turn my head enough to see Princess Luna flying into view. She didn't look very happy when she spotted me.
"What have you done to her, Nightmare Moon?" she demanded, "Answer me!"
"Me?!" I exclaimed, "I didn't do anything! She was like this when I got here."
Oh hey, my voice is back, I thought, Though, that would've been nice about ten seconds ago.
*Kra-kow!*
The sound effect of a lightning strike caught the attention of the princess. She and I turned to look at the cloudy pseudo storm. The sparks seemed to be erupting at a much faster rate. Seeing what happened next didn't make me feel any more at ease.
Rainbow Dash's mane and tail looked like they were losing solidity, a hairy sublimation. Her hide started to turn a much darker shade to the point where blue was no longer visible. I wasn't quite sure from this angle, but she looked like she was growing taller. The cutie mark symbol faded from a white cloud with a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt to a gray cloud with a green, purple, and orange lightning bolt.
Her eyes snapped open. Even from here, I could see that her magenta irises were slit.
What the heck? What the heck? What the heck? I floated there, not knowing what else I could do.
"No!" Princess Luna shouted as she flew down toward the storm. But before she could do whatever she had in mind, a gigantic lightning bolt lashed out from the clouds. She was pushed back, beyond the dark sky and out of sight.
"Princess Luna!" I yelled. I turned back to the conglomeration of Rainbow Dash and the storm. Her giant wings opened wide and flapped once. I could feel the power of the wind she had made. I didn't know what being in a tornado felt like, but I'll be darned if this wasn't a close second. I held up my front hooves defensively, but the guard movement didn't do squat against the wind's sheer pushing force.
To put it lightly, I was flung for a spin.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
---{Split-screen, Dilan and Luna}
Her eyes snapped open.
The Element of Loyalty is in danger!
---{Dilan Shier}
“Me?” I choked on my own breath. “What do you want me to do?”
“For the time being, you shall accompany us for observational purposes only,” explained Princess Luna, “Whether your presence aids or hinders the nightmarish entity will mostly depend on you. If you can somehow weaken or remove the Nightmare layer that exists over Rainbow Dash, then that would be appreciated. On the other hand, your dark energy may attract the essence and you'll become a disposable target. The situation is win-win.”
“That doesn't exactly sound like a victory.” I grimaced. I would have crossed my arm-hooves, but I quickly remembered that I needed at least one on the ground to remain standing.
“It won't come to that.” Princess Celestia gently shook her head. “Luna has a very dry sense of humor.” She smiled, though I couldn't immediately tell if it was genuine or forced.
“Yes,” muttered Princess Luna through gritted teeth, “That must be it. Dry humor.”
Nobody in the room laughed, unless one counted Faith Shield’s nervous coughing as laughter. Said vampire tossed a blue helmet my way. I had nearly forgotten about that thing. With a touch of hoof and mane, I was about as covered as I was going to get.
At that moment, Spirit Sword cleared his throat. “Your Highnesses, the emergency?”
“Of course,” Princess Celestia said with a nod, “This won't take more than a moment.”
Her golden magical aura shimmered along the outline of her horn. Simultaneously, a white light blocked out my vision of anything else.
---
Why do I feel weightless? I looked down. Oh.
"Woah!" By some miracle, my wings remembered how to recover and maintain my altitude. "How did we get up here?" Though when I looked up in front of me, that question was quickly replaced with a different level of surprise. "Woah."
It looked like a huge storm. But I don't think anything that I could say would describe what I was seeing with justice. There were giant clouds raining, hailing, and snowing all around a much larger black, cloudy fortress. A few waterfalls were scattered around the floating structure, but they looked like one of those awareness raising banners. How did this water capture the full visible light spectrum?
"Dill Anne."
I turned to see Princess Luna and the others. "Yes?"
"You will go in first," she said without request. "Spirit Sword and Faith Shield will cover the sides."
"Understood!" reported the guards in unison.
Right, Princess Luna considers me expendable, I remembered. Here goes something.
Like rotating arms, I flapped my wings and advanced toward the fortress of storms. Immediately, I had to squint as I was bombarded with a harsh downpour. Immediately following that, a barrage of hailstones came. They weren't much larger than pencil erasers, but all of them together added up to total pain.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I exclaimed after getting passed that cloud. I muttered, "Why didn't Nightmare Moon think to forge some armor for her backside?"
I caught a glance of the vampires following me. They somehow timed their wing flaps to cut through the clouds and avoid the worst of the solid precipitation.
Show-offs. I smiled wryly before returning my gaze to the floating structure in front of me.
"Well, what do we have here?" asked a calm, almost seductive voice. "Some pony to gaze upon my awesome sky?"
My smile vanished and my eyes opened wide. There, standing at the doorstep of the cloud fortress was that creature from the dream.
"R-Rainbow Dash?" I presumed.
The shadowy creature shook her head. "Rainbow Dash is no more. You may refer to me as... Nightmare Spectrum."
While my wings were occupied with keeping me airborn, I scratched my neck with a hoof. "Yeah, that name doesn't really work when compared to Nightmare Moon."
"Ah, yes." The creature smiled. "The young Pegasus' memory feeds me well. You were the cause of commotion the other day." A single flap from her giant, dark wings brought her up close and at eye level. "What's your reason for being here, impostor?"
"Impostor?" I echoed as I leaned my neck back.
"I can tell that you aren't really me," continued not-Dash. She started circling around, riding on some invisible current. "Your body may resemble my original form, but that heart and soul of yours reek of innocence. It's disgusting."
To that comment, I raised an eyebrow. "How the heck do you know what my heart and soul smell like?"
Nightmare Spectrum rolled her eyes as she resumed floating in front of me. "It's a figure of speech. What I can sense is simply from your eyes. While the draconic stare is pretty, your gaze lacks hatred... jealousy... any thirst for power. All I can see when I look at your eyes is a sense of foalish curiosity."
"Hey, I hate plenty of things," I countered, "like clams and the Teen Wolf series... and dubstep."
The black Pegasus simply stared back with a tilted head, as if she were saying, "What the heck are you talking about?"
Wait, why am I defending my inner hater? I thought, I just recently escaped Hell. I should cherish any signs of innocence I have left.
After an awkward pause, I tried changing the subject. "What happens now?"
"Now?" The confusion left Nightmare Spectrum's face as she chuckled. "I'm going to spread my thunder!"
The unnecessary flashes and booms from the nearby clouds emphasized her point. A couple quick, white bolts decided to literally drive the point into me. I couldn't exactly describe what happened during that time other than saying that a lot of 'g's and 'j's escaped my throat just then.
Isn't there some scientific law that I can't be struck by lightning twice? I lamented as I lost altitude. I crashed onto something soft, yet weight-supporting. I felt the worst burst of static ripple through my front right hoof. I only hoped it was that electrical spark that I was hearing and not a bone cracking. Considering the status of my struggling nerves, I couldn't verify one way or the other.
"Not so fast!" called Spirit Sword as he zoomed by. It sounded like his sharp wings sliced through something. A yelp from Nightmare Spectrum verified his successful attack. However, her form quickly blurred out of sight. Both the vampire guard and I gasped in shock.
"Not so fast?" echoed the mare's disembodied voice.
A shaded, yet colorful trail passed by Spirit Sword. He winced. The rainbow-ish trail rushed by again... and again... and again. Soon, the trails were crossing him from every thinkable direction. As quickly as they came, however, they stopped passing. Spirit groaned and held his front hooves against his stomach. Behind and above him, the current enemy reappeared.
"I've taken control of the fastest flier in Equestria!" Nightmare Spectrum cackled. "But if you really want things to slow down, I suppose I can help you oblige."
She flew up and pulled down a small, dark gray cloud. Then, she proceeded to hop up and down on the cloud. A large cluster of snowflakes poured out of the cloud at once. How did snow even work like that? In any case, a recovering Spirit Sword took the full blizzard all over himself.
The impromptu snowstorm ended almost immediately, but I let out another gasp at the effect. Spirit was encapsulated in a block of ice. With his wings stuck in a fixed position, his frozen body fell. Luckily, it wasn't any further than I fell. Though, I'm not sure how he didn't fall through the cloud we were lying on.
Wait, I'm on a cloud?
I looked down. Sure enough, the soft ground I was resting on was a pile of dark fluff that resembled the other light gray clouds in the general vicinity. The sight surprised me enough that I leaped to a standing position. However, the occasional electrical shock that zapped me earlier gave each of my legs an unpredictable wobbling pattern. To say that my stance was shaky was an understatement. My left eye shut as I gritted my teeth against the shock.
"Hold on guys!" called Faith Shield. "I'm coming!"
I looked up to the other vampire pony. But a certain dark pegasus materialized in front of him before he could get any closer. It made him jump back in the air while gasping in surprise. His golden gaze was filled with worry.
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Nightmare Spectrum rhetorically while staring at the stallion. "You'll miss out on the next cold front."
I didn't know why, but Faith Shield reminded me of a scared puppy. I couldn't just stand by and watch this puppy be cornered like this.
Move, Dilan! I internally screamed at myself while whipping my tail in a moment's frustration.
---{Third Person Narrator}
Nobody could have anticipated what happened next. Just as the Nightmare controlled Rainbow Dash was about to strike Faith Shield, something towered over and struck her away. Faith blinked at what he saw. Spirit Sword's eyes moved around to peer through his icy containment. Nightmare Spectrum shook her head and held a hoof against it while wondering what hit her.
They all stared in shock at the tall, dark crystal structure growing out of a cloud. Although, none of them were quite as shocked as Dilan. She struggled to find words as she gazed the length of what had just been conjured. Eventually though, she averted her gaze and focused instead on her long, smoky, and red tail.
"Okay, angry demon," she addressed her initial doubt, "who are you and what do you want with me?"
The deep, graspy male answer was not what she wanted.
"Fill... me... with... her... hatred."