//------------------------------//
// Night of Nightmares 
// Story: A Touch of Chaos 
// by Written Out 
//------------------------------//

"Even as we speak, every sleeping creature in Equestria is experience terrible nightmares; facing their worst fears and deepest shames..."





Thump. Thump.

Her hooves solidly struck the side of the tree with a pair of pleasant thumps. No bell could ever be as sweet to her as the sound of hard work. The oversized Stetson hat that she wore - that was far too big for her - fell down over her face, forcing her to stop and push it out of her eyes. A loud crash came from behind the tree, and she peered around it to see her brother in a pile of debris that used to be a cart. She laughed as he extracted himself. "You alrigh' there, Big Mac?" she asked, her voice squeaking with the high pitch that could only belong to a filly.

"Yup," he said, stopping short as his tail caught under a piece of wood. He gave it a firm tug but it stubbornly refused to move. He frowned at the offending plank of wood. "Just fine."

She went to help him free himself. "You nervous?" she asked, grabbing his tail in her teeth and tugging it loose of the cart.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. Ah know Granny said Ah shouldn't be, but..." he trailed off, staring at the hat on her head.

She saw where he was looking at and the smile slid off her face. She gripped her hat, holding it tightly as if to ensure to herself that it was there. "After what happened to Dad..." She shook it off and her smile returned, though it was weaker than it had been before. "It's supposed to happen any moment, right?"

He turned his head to look in the direction of the farmhouse. "Yeah. Granny said she'd let us know when it starts."

She giggled happily, bouncing off the ground in her enthusiasm. "Ah'm so excited! A new sibling! Ah can't wait to meet her!"

A deep chuckle boomed from him as he watched her antics. "That's probably why Granny chased us outta' there," he teased her playfully, laughing as she blew a raspberry at him. Their sibling banter ended when the front door swung open with enough force to slam into the opposite wall. An elderly green mare dashed out of the building, a worried expression on her face.

Big Mac frowned nervously. "Somethin's wrong..."

The green mare stopped upon seeing the two of them. "GET HELP!" she screamed, her voice hoarse with panic, tears pouring down her face. "GIT TA TOWN!"

"Granny?" Applejack asked as Big Mac ran off, not even waiting to hear the answer. "What's wrong?"

"Applejack?" Granny Smith wrapped her granddaughter in a tight hug and pulled her inside the building. "It's... it's your mother," she choked out past the tears.

"Granny?" Applejack asked nervously, looking up the old mare. "Is something wrong with Apple Bloom?"

Granny Smith choked out a smile. "No dear, your sister's perfectly fine."

"Granny?" Applejack repeated, reaching up to wrap her hooves around her grandmother's neck. "What's th' matter?"

"...Granny?"





Beautiful large eyes reflected back at her from the mirror before her. A brush ran itself through the carefully cared-for coiffure of the mare in the mirror, surrounded by the same gentle glow wrapped around her horn. "...so then I told him 'If you're going to be that way, then I'll simply take my business elsewhere.' Such an offensive stallion. Don't you think, dear?" 

"Oh yes," the butter-yellow pegasus sitting at the table behind her agreed half-heartedly. "He sounds quite... rude."

The brush stopped its rhythmic movements as its wielder glanced behind her to look at the other mare present. "Fluttershy, are you listening to me?"

"Of... of course I am!" Fluttershy protested, but her flushed cheeks and flustered demeanor told a different story.  

"Really?" The brush restarted its movement. "Then who was I just talking about?" Seeing that the pegasus was unable to answer, the mare in the mirror gave a small, ladylike sigh. "Are you still scared from the wedding?"

Fluttershy remained unresponsive for several seconds, but she eventually nodded her head. "It's just... those changelings..." She was shaking so hard she was unable to finish her sentence.

The brush was dropped, forgotten, and Rarity swooped in to wrap her hooves comfortingly around Fluttershy's quivering form. There was silence for several seconds as a pure white hoof was calmingly run through a pink mane. Fluttershy was the one to break the stillness.

"Sorry," she mumbled out, her mane covering her face and hiding her expression from view.

"It's quite alright," Rarity replied, releasing her friend. "Those freaky bug things creep me out, too."

"I would never have guessed."

Rarity couldn't tell if she had just been made fun of or not, so she bravely soldiered on. "And with that shapeshifting ability, they could look like anypony. They could replace any of our friends, and we would never know." Seeing that Fluttershy was shaking again, Rarity quickly tried to steer the conversation to safer waters. "But I'll protect you."

Just as she hoped, Fluttershy's trembling stopped. "...Really?" the timid pegasus shyly asked.

"Of course, darling," Rarity promised. "Why, if those brutes did anything to you, I'd hunt them down to the ends of Equestria if I had to in order to make them pay."

Fluttershy smiled, letting herself lean into Rarity's chest. "Thank you, Rarity," she said quietly. "You really do love me, don't you?"

Rarity paused at Fluttershy's odd choice of words, but shrugged them off. "Of course I do. You're my closest friend, after all."

"I know." Fluttershy sat back up straight, her eyes staring directly into Rarity's own. Her suddenly GREEN eyes. "And your love is just... delicious."

Rarity didn't even have time to scream before the pseudo-Fluttershy's fangs pierced her neck.





She bounced through Ponyville's streets, her poofy mane and tail bobbing with every step. She hummed a tuneless - but cheerful - song as she looked up and down the empty streets."Who should I make smile today?" she asked aloud before giggling to herself. "Wait, that's such a silly question. I'll just make everypony smile. Then I don't have to worry about it."

"You always worry about it," a cold voice devoid of any sort of emotion rang out. There was no sense of malice or pleasure in the voice. It was only stating a simple fact.

She stopped in mid-bounce, looking for the source of the voice. "Well, that's a silly thing to say. Of course I always worry about it. I'm always thinking about what I can do to bring a smile to pony's faces."

"I know," the voice stated. "You're always thinking about the ponies that you can make smile. That's why you never think about the ponies that you can't make smile."

A wide smile blossomed across her face. "Well, it sounds like some grumpy pony needs a smile." She looked around the empty street, searching for the source of the voice. "Why don't you come out, so that I can make you smile, too?"

The voice heaved a dull sigh. "You're not listening. And I'm not interested. I spend enough of my life surrounded by other ponies' smiles. Surrounded by their happy faces. It's a very empty feeling. But you know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you?"

Her smile flickered for an instant before it was back, bigger than before. "Oh, don't be such a silly goose. I love being surrounded by the smiles of ponies. It makes me feel-"

"Happy?" the voice interrupted, carelessly cutting her off. "Is that what you think? Or just what you tell yourself? You make them smile because you feel like you should. Because you feel it gives your life meaning. All while wearing a fake smile of your own because you don't want their smiles to fade. Such an empty existence."

Her smile broadened, to the point that it was hurting her cheeks. Even a foal would have been able to tell that it was fake. "You're certainly a rude one," she sing-songed, peeking under an empty apple cart in her search for the voice. "I think you're just in need of a smile. That'll make you feel all better."

"Do you? I don't." The voice sighed again. "I spend my life surrounded by smiles, desperately trying to make them smile. In their smiles, I search for the meaning of life. Laughter. Friends. Fun. Such simple words to describe us. Fitting."

Her smile started to crack at the personal assault, but it refused to crumble. "Well, if you're thinking that way, it just means you're not happy enough. You know what would make you feel better?"

"A party?" the voice asked dully, brimming with disinterest.

"I was going to say coming out where I can see you." The smile finally crumbled, and Pinkie frowned at the buildings surrounding her. "So why don't you stop hiding in the darkness like a Meanie McPantserpony and stop hiding from me?"

"But I'm not hiding at all." The air in front of Pinkie shimmered and rippled, and another earth pony come into view. She was an exact copy of Pinkie, from her vibrant pink coat to her baby blue eyes all the way to her balloon cutie mark. The only difference between her and the real Pinkie was that her mane and tail hung limply and lifelessly. "How could I possibly hide from you?"

"After all," Pinkamena said, "I am you."

Pinkie gave her copy a curious stare. "No you're not," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm standing right here. That means you can't be me, because I can't be in two places at the same time. And since I can't be in two places at the same time, that means you're not me. Only I'm me. Unless... Are you a clone?"

Pinkamena rolled her eyes at her double's antics. "No, Pinkie. I'm the part of you that you don't want to accept. The part that you try to forget about by surrounding yourself with others’ fun and excitement, all while you ignore your own insecurities. And before you ask," she added, raising a hoof, "we're in a dream right now, so that's why I can talk to you."

"Huh." Pinkie walked over to one of the many buildings that lined the street. A perfect replica of Sugarcube Corner, the bakery Pinkie lived and worked at. "So I'm dreaming right now, right?" Seeing Pinkamena's nod, Pinkie swiftly swooped in and took a large bite of the house. "I'f alvays vondered vat dat thastes like," she said through a mouthful of wood splinters.

Pinkamena's eyelid twitched. "I wonder if this is your nightmare or mine."





Her wings beat at her sides as she soared through the air, a show of prismatic light left behind in her wake. "Aww, yeah," she said, watching the ground pass by below her at amazing speeds. "Nothing new for Equestria's most awesome pegasus." She saw her friends watching from below, and smirked as she decided to show off for them.

Quickly climbing as high as she could, she snapped her wings to her sides. The momentum she had built up continued to increase for several seconds before it ran out and she began to fall to the earth like a stone. Pointing her muzzle towards the ground, she smiled and closed her eyes.

This is what it's all about, she thought, knowing all eyes were on her. When enough time had passed that she knew she would have to control her descent or risk crashing, she snapped her wings open.

She continued to fall.

Her eyes shot open and she looked at her back to see a completely smooth coat, utterly devoid of any wings. Her legs flailed in a hopeless attempt to stop her fall before she smashed into the ground with enough force to plow a wide furrow in the dirt.

There was silence, then she heard a voice calling out for her. "Dash, you okay?"

Dash groaned, holding her head. She had a pounding headache, but that was about it. "Yeah," she said though the pain. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh good," Twilight said, stepping into view. "I would hate to think anything important had happened."

"Twilight?" Dash asked, blinking confusedly at the purple unicorn. "Are you okay?"

Another voice rang out. "Oh, don't mind her," Rarity said, as she and the other four all came into sight. "She's just not good at talking to ponies that aren't her friend."

"But of course I'm her friend!" Dash protested, bouncing to her hooves despite the ringing pain in her skull. "I'm Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pegasus in Equestria."

"Then where are your wings?" Applejack asked.

Dash grimaced as she looked at her barren back again. "I'm not really sure, but we can get through this, right AJ? AJ?" Applejack had disappeared. She hadn't walked away or anything, it was like she had simply vanished from existence.

"If you don't have wings, then you're not a pegasus," Pinkie said, before she, too, vanished.

Dash stared at the spot Pinkie had just occupied before swallowing nervously and turning to look at the others. "Well, so what? I mean, Twi can look in her books and find some eggheaded solution to this, right? No biggie."

"If you're not a pegasus, then you can't fly," Rarity intoned, before vanishing like the others.

Dash laughed nervously, desperately looking at the only two remaining. "Come on, guys, you're scaring me. Of course I can fly. I'm the most awesome... pegasus..." She hesitated at realizing there was some truth to what they were saying. If she didn't have her wings, if she couldn't fly anymore, then what did she have?

"If you can't fly, then you can't be Rainbow Dash," Twilight said before popping like a burst balloon.

Dash looked at Fluttershy in desperation. Fluttershy, her oldest and longest friend. They had known each other for so long that they were practically sisters. "Fluttershy!" she begged, grabbing on to the yellow pegasus' hooves. "You won't leave me, right? You still got my back?"

Fluttershy daintily pulled her hooves out of Dash's grip before speaking in the same detached monotone as the others. "If you can't fly, and you're not Rainbow Dash, then what use are you?" And she vanished.

"Guys?" Dash looked around the plain, desperately trying to find hide or hair of her friends. An empty field greeted her in all directions, utterly devoid of any forms of life.

"No!" Dash gasped, utterly distraught. "This can't be real! This has to be a dream! Wake up! Wake up!"

"...Please... Just let this be a dream..."





She sighed.

The oppressive rock walls of the tunnel seemed to press down on her from all sides. The sound of dripping water echoed through the cavern with steady regularity, beating a drumbeat she knew all too well.

"This dream again..." she muttered quietly, looking down the pitch black passageway. As expected, two individuals came into sight the moment she looked, both of them walking side-by-side. The larger was a stallion, his large hoop earrings swaying with every step. The smaller mare beside him had a lantern balanced on her back, which softly illuminated the tunnel with its pale yellow light.

"Where are you, my dear?" the mare said, peering down the tunnel. "Come out now, do not fear." 

The larger stallion glanced down at his rhyming companion. "I'll never understand how you can talk like that, Zecora," he said, playful teasing in his voice. "Doesn't the rhyming get difficult?"

The young zebra mare smirked at her older companion. "I've told you, teacher, my daughter likes it. Besides, it's excellent training for guile and wit." From her light-hearted tone, it was clear that it was an old topic between the two. "You should try it, you might find it fun. At least then I wouldn't be the only one."

The stallion chuckled deeply, his eyes twinkling with merriment. "That's not for me. I'm old, and far too set in my ways to try something new like that. I mean," he lifted a hoof up to his mane, running it through the proud Mohawk he wore. "Just look at all the white hairs I've got."

Zecora gave the old stallion a blank look. "You're a zebra," she said flatly. "You've always had... um... er...  phooie." She heaved a sigh, realizing she couldn't think of a proper rhyme to finish with before glaring up at the smug grin he was wearing. "Not a word," she told him dangerously.

"Wasn't thinking of it," he smirked. In their banter, the duo walked right past where the third one stood, simply continuing onwards without even a flicker of an eyelid acknowledging her presence. She knew that would happen, just like it had happened all the other times. She was only a witness.

Following behind them, she tuned out what they were saying. It wasn't like they were going to say anything she didn't already know. The young mganga-in-training and her master were searching for Zecora's young daughter, who had last been seen running into these very caves. Being able to bear children was an important capability for female zebras, and all zebra mares were expected to have at least one foal before they were accepted as a proper member of society.

Zecora hadn't even known the name of her daughter's father. He had been a simple stud, performing the services she had needed of him before he left and she had never seen him again. That was fine with her. He had given her a daughter, whom she loved with all her heart. Between the young child and the old stallion, Zecora had enjoyed a quiet life in preparation for when she would take over her teacher's role.

But that all changed on this unforgettable day, when her simple life ended forever.

The dreamscape shifted and warped around her, switching to a different location. When the changing colors coalesced, she was left standing in the middle of a large open cavern. A hole in the roof allowed sunlight to illuminate the room, letting her see the area perfectly if she really wanted to. Despite this, there was only one object  in the entire cave that was of any interest to her.

It overwhelmed the area, demanding her full attention with its mere presence. The sunlight filtered through it, casting the room in an eerie green glow. Despite having long since accepted it, she stared at the object in quiet sadness until a loud piercing scream shattered the silence.

The zebra mare she had just seen rushed past her, grabbing the object in panicked hooves. "No! NO!" she screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks. The witness ignored her, for her eyes were locked onto the object in the center of the room.

A tiny young zebra foal floated in the bright green changeling pod. Her expression was peaceful, a small smile curling the corners of her lips. Despite her peaceful appearance, she wasn't moving.

Watching the dream, Zecora knew her daughter would never move again.