//------------------------------// // Vanquished // Story: The Star Guard // by Car Cloth //------------------------------// Chapter 8 Vanquished Rumble trotted through the surreal atmosphere of the dreamscape. Despite not having a map, or even knowing where he was going, he could somehow tell which lights belonged to which ponies he had visited. Tonight he wanted to revisit the mare he had seen before. Sailing through the dreamscape, Rumble broke through the barrier of her dream and entered it, happy to see it wasn’t as nightmarish as when he left it. The dream was now centered on the blue glowing river of Hollow Shades. The mare that Rumble had seen before was standing by the water, light reflecting off the ripples and casting odd moving shadows over her. Her off-white coat was still plain and blank… no cutie mark to be seen. Sitting across from her, on the other side of the river, was a beautiful, sparkling snowy owl. Its giant black eyes were fixated on the mare, and it spoke with a warm and inviting voice. “Knowledge is a valuable tool. Those who have it are at an advantage in all of life, not just academia.” The mare vigorously nodded. “Yes, I agree! I want to know more! But… but I’m not sure what I’m doing… Shouldn’t my cutie mark tell me? Isn’t that my destiny? When will I get it? Why does nopony tell me straight? Why don’t they have answers?” The owl shifted on the rock on which it was perched. “Ponies, like all creatures, are afraid of not having the answers. They often make things up, jump to conclusions, or fool themselves into thinking they have a clear grasp of reality. They lie to comfort you, because it’s easier than thinking about it themselves.” Frustrated, the mare glowered at the river in front of her. “I knew they didn’t have any answers…” she muttered to herself. “They never do.” “They have nothing but platitudes and assumptions,” the owl agreed. “But I know much more than they could ever hope to fathom. I have come to help you, child. I have come to give you all the answers you need.” “R-really?” the bat pony mare asked, her head snapping up with a look of surprise. “You know when, or how, I can get my cutie mark? How I can get all the answers?” “Wait!” Rumble interjected, flying over. He opened his mouth to say her name, but he still didn’t know it. “Just, er, wait a moment!” “You again,” she gasped. “What’re you doing here?” Rumble landed next to her and glared across the river at the owl perched on the rock. “I came to help you. I’m a part of the Star Guard, remember? It’s my job to help you.” The mare narrowed her eyes and turned her head with a hmpf! “I already asked you, and you had no idea what I was talking about! You didn’t have any answers, just like all the ponies before you!” “But I’ve been thinking about it. I think I have an answer,” Rumble said, attempting to pull her attention away from the owl. He got a sinister feeling from the animal and suspected it might be the Nightmare Forces in disguise… “Child,” the owl spoke, flying up and eating a firefly as it crossed the river toward the mare. “No need to listen to this pegasus. His whole life he has been relegated to the physical because of his less than stellar intellect. He values strength and speed over wit and perception. Whatever bits of wisdom he gives you are no better than that of a fortune cookie.” “This isn’t a game,” the mare snapped at Rumble, trotting away from him. “I need somepony who knows things to give me the answers, okay? Leave me alone.” The dream, again, began to warp and twist. The blue water of the river became a hue of red, the trees looked like they were collapsing under their own weight, and the fireflies began to desert them. Rumble felt like the whole place was closing in on him. “But I want to help you!” Rumble pleaded. “I want you to get all the answers! Even if… even if I was never good in school, that doesn’t mean I can’t help!” The owl, still as beautiful and lustrous as ever, circled over the mare and laughed. “He knows nothing, child. Anything he has to offer you is most likely just parroted from somepony else much more knowledgeable. Trust me. Sleep here, child, and I will give you all my knowledge. I will help you see everything that the ponies keep from you.” Rumble trotted over to the mare and shook his head. “Give me a chance! Let me help you! I swear, I thought long and hard about your question! It was the only thing I dwelled on because… because I wanted to know the answer too!” Her expression softened. With a swish of her tail, she turned to face him. “Then… tell me, pegasus… When am I going to get my cutie mark? When can I stop trying and join the other ponies who know their destiny? When is enough, enough? Tell me. I want to stop thinking about my cutie mark and move on to my true calling in life.” Rumble took a deep breath. He was afraid of sharing his answer. What if she didn’t like it? What if it upset her further? Should he try and make it sound nicer? Better than it really was? Would that be helpful? Rumble sighed to himself. No, I should tell her like it is. She’s practically an adult. No need to hide my answer. “The answer is…” he began nervously. “You can never stop trying. Enough… there is no such thing.” “See, child?” the owl darkly laughed. “He has no answers for you!” The mare continued to stare at him, right into his eyes. Rumble swallowed and continued. “Once you get your cutie mark, it’s only the beginning. Although the mark will make you good, you’ll still need to master your craft. You’ll have to compete with others, or try and present your talent in a new way. And… and your mark doesn’t define you completely. You may join a singing group, or have another hobby… You have to try then, too. And, if you ever stop… you’ll fall behind. You’ll lose it. All your effort will be for nothing. That’s why you can never stop trying. There is no such thing as enough, not if you want to matter. Not if you want to be the best.” The silence between them stretched on. Rumble looked at her in concern, hoping he hadn’t upset her. He wanted to give her a solid answer. He wanted to tell her that she only needed a few more weeks of trying and then everything would be set, but… Rumble knew that wasn’t true. He had tried forever to be as fast as his brother, but it wasn’t like his brother was a static goal to achieve; his brother was always trying as well. So it was with everything. Only those that kept trying made it to their goal, and even then, they didn’t get much rest before they had to continue on. The bat pony mare looked away, her eyes unseeing as she stared off into the distance. “I was afraid that was the answer,” she whispered. “But it’s not the answer!” the owl hissed. “I have the power to give you a mark, child! I can give it to you now! All the answers to anything you could ever ask! Join me! Know what I know! You can never know as much without me!” “I-it’s so daunting… I was afraid this was the answer, so I thought… I thought I would just push it off on others. Make them tell me, and hope they had some other answer…” She looked up at Rumble and frowned. The dream was becoming more nightmarish with each passing second, but Rumble held his place. He wasn’t about to leave her. “It’s daunting thinking about all the thousands of ponies I have yet to help,” Rumble earnestly chuckled. “But that’s not what I do. I just have to help one pony at a time, and keep moving forward. Someday, I’ll have helped them all, but today isn’t that day.” The mare rubbed at her eyes and smiled. The owl was losing its luster and sparkle. It flew around them, angry and growling. “Aren’t you afraid of the unknown? You’ll never have enough energy or time to learn it all! Never!” Before Rumble could reply, the owl began to shift and morph. There were sickening sounds of bones cracking and flesh ripping as the owl grew in size. It was a black, skinless dragon-like creature with the feathers of its owl form in small patches all over its body. The head of the owl form was perched on its left shoulder as a second reptilian head sprouted forth. The hulking monster was now standing a pony over Rumble in height. The mare backed up and trembled. “W-what is that?” “Look out!” Rumble shouted as he pushed the mare out of the path of the owl-dragon’s swipe. Its claws were long and jagged, and when they collided with the trees, they exploded outward. The eyes of the beast emerged like ice cubes rising to the surface of a drink. They spun in place and then locked onto the mare. They were red and glowing with an unparalleled hate. “What a-are we going to do?” the mare stammered, horrified by the nightmarish creature in front of her. “Stay behind me,” Rumble said as he gently pushed her back. “I’m with the Star Guard, remember? I’ll take care of this. You needn’t worry.” Even though Rumble could feel his legs slightly shaking, his voice held an air of confidence that surprised him. However, it achieved Rumble’s desired result; the mare was obviously less afraid than she was before. Rumble turned his attention back to the monster. Although he could no longer alter the dream, his being was just like it was when he was in the waking world. He was strong, and with his strength, he gained confidence. Leaping into the air, Rumble flew at the monster and collided with its head. Stomping down, Rumble could hear the crack of bone. The creature was so weak… When it swiped at him, he flew back and charged again, slamming into its chest. The chest caved in, the ribs puncturing the insides. The monster turned its head and bit Rumble on the wing, tearing flesh and feathers. Rumble hit the ground and rolled, managing to stand before the monster could attack again. Certain the beast was on its last legs, Rumble rushed and jumped, stamping his hooves into the already weakened chest. The feeling of his hooves breaking the skin and sinking into the owl-dragon sent a shiver down his spine, but the sensation was fleeting, and he jumped away as the creature fell to the ground. Backing away from the feathers and scales, Rumble watched as the owl-dragon's body began to melt and turn to smoke. The red hue of the river became blue once more and the suffocating pressure of the dream let up. He and the mare were safe, and the nightmares at bay. “You did it,” the mare breathed in relief. “You really are with the Star Guard.” She galloped to him and wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Rumble gently patted her on the back and laughed in relief. He couldn’t believe it! He had been successful! For a moment there… Rumble shook his head. No, it’s just like Pip said. The Nightmare Forces feed on fear, hate, bitterness… When she wasn’t as afraid, the monster lost most of its power. She parted from Rumble and rubbed the last of her tears away. “Thank you so much, Rumble.” “You remember my name?” he asked with a smile. “And I’ll never forget it.” Rumble blushed. “I don’t think I ever got your name.” “My mother wanted me to grow up to be something great… so she named me Starlight Apogee. I thought that meant I needed to find my cutie mark in order to start studying what it was that was my destiny…” She laughed and smiled. “But I realize now I was never interested in one thing. I wanted to know everything… and finding the answers are half the fun. Thank you, Rumble. Thank you for helping me.” Rumble took a step back and pointed at her flank. “I think you found your destiny.” A mark had appeared on her off-white coat. It was the picture of an open book with one page written and a quill poised over the other, ready to write. Starlight Apogee turned to look at it, and began tearing up once more, but this time out of joy. “Well, you’ll be safe now,” Rumble told her. “And I need to be getting to other ponies.” “You’re going to help everypony? By fighting the darkness?” “That’s the plan.” “Is… is there anything I can do to help?” “Maybe spread the word about the Star Guard,” Rumble nervously laughed. “I don’t think many bat ponies like us very much.” “Of course! I’ll tell everypony I know about you!” Rumble nodded to her and flew off to the edge of the dream. While he flew he realized his wing hurt, even in the dream. It confused him for a moment, but Rumble pushed it from his mind. Tonight was a night to celebrate. One pony down, hundreds to go. One pony at a time, Rumble. One pony at a time. --- “Kid? Kid, where are you?” Scootaloo glanced around the dreamscape. She had originally planned to avoid coming here, but what had transpired haunted her thoughts. The kid had seemed so upset… She didn’t like upsetting foals. Where is Onyx? He should be here… “You want to be a hero, don’t you?” “Yes! Of course! I do!” The second voice… Scootaloo recognized it immediately as Onyx’s. She ran through the dream toward the voice, hoping everything was okay. She was running through a landscape of hills and long swaying grass. In the far distance was a classic stone castle. The sky was beautiful, a picture-perfect display of stars. Reaching the top of a hill, Scootaloo was surprised to see Onyx sitting in front of a male alicorn. He looked like a gender-swapped bat pony Celestia; white, beautiful rainbow mane, a long horn and leathery black wings. He was clad in gold armor, smiling down at the foal with fanged teeth. “Do you know what all heroes have in common?” the bat pony alicorn asked. “They have the power necessary to defeat their foes.” Onyx smiled and leaned in closer. “Really? That’s what I want! I want to be taken seriously! I want to be remembered and… and I don’t want to be made fun of anymore!” “Well, you’ll always be made fun of,” the alicorn said with a hint of pity mixed with contempt. “W-what?” Onyx asked, stunned. “Just look at you,” the alicorn motioned to his mud colored coat and small stature. “That isn’t the body of anypony worth remembering. Don’t you understand, child? Ponies want their heroes to be, and look, a certain way. You’re nothing.” “You’re nothing!” Scootaloo interjected as she ran across the hill. As the alicorn turned to respond, Scootaloo didn’t slow. She rushed him and slammed his smug, perfect face with her hoof. The alicorn was rocked back, obviously not expecting such a rash action. “Don’t listen to this piece of trash!” Scootaloo shouted over her shoulder to Onyx. “It’s just a nightmare!” “What’re you doing?” Onyx shouted back. “That’s Prince Supernova! He’s a good guy!” The colt ran to the alicorn’s side and fussed over his injury. Scootaloo could hardly believe her ears. “That’s no prince! It’s a disgusting monster in disguise! Get away from it!” The alicorn rubbed at his muzzle. “Do good guys usually strike an unsuspecting opponent?” Scootaloo galloped over and pushed Onyx back, furious this creature would even try to school her in proper battlefield honor and etiquette. “You’re lying scum,” she hissed. “I heard what you said! Trying to tell some kid he was nothing! You’re sick!” “I don’t need to lie,” the alicorn said, lifting an eyebrow. “Don’t heroes always preach the truth? You should know the bat pony behind you has done nothing worthy of recognition. He is, in fact, a nobody. Completely lacking in accomplishments and- Argh!” Scootaloo had bucked him in the gut mid-sentence, sending him to the ground. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to you pontificate! You’re wrong! He’s just a kid! Kids don’t need accomplishments to their name! They got potential, bub!” “Stop it, stop it!” Onyx ran over to the body of the alicorn and knelt beside it. “I’m so sorry… You’re right… I know you’re right.” “What’re you talking about, Onyx? Are you just going to let him say those terrible things about you?” Onyx turned to her with a frown. “I thought you were a princess! You’re acting more like Emperor Dastardly! Didn’t you hear Prince Supernova? I don’t have anything that sets me apart from everypony else… It’s true! He’s telling the truth!” “You’re a kid,” Scootaloo repeated. “Stop it!” Onyx barked back. “Stop calling me kid! I don’t want to be just the kid! I want to be somepony!” His lip quavered, betraying his true feelings. “What did I tell you?” the alicorn asked Onyx as he got to his hooves. “They will always treat you this way. Unless…” “Unless?” Onyx asked, eagerly awaiting the reply. Scootaloo glanced around the dream and groaned. The grass was dying, the sky filling with black clouds, and the distant castle slowly, silently crumbling. What was she doing wrong? Why didn’t the colt realize this was just a terrible nightmare? “Unless you have power, child. Power is the key to being important. The key to being remembered. The key to making them recognize you.” The alicorn smiled, flashing its fangs. “Aren’t you afraid of the bullies? Afraid of being forgotten? Afraid the darkness will get you and you’ll be helpless to stop it?” Onyx’s eyes went wide and he took a step back. He couldn’t speak, his fear apparent. Scootaloo again jumped between them, angered that this thing continued to speak. “He doesn’t need to be afraid! I’m here! I’m not going to let anything happen to him!” The ground began to shake and Scootaloo took a few steps back. “You’ll protect him?” the alicorn asked in a mocking tone. “Can you even protect yourself?” Rising out the ground, slowly and without signs of stopping, was a mass of pony bodies. Dead, rotting bodies… all stitched together to form a worm of a creature. Body parts made up its circular maw and formed the body. They were warriors; Scootaloo could tell by the pieces of armor and weapons stuck and poking out of the grafted flesh. The irreverent display of horror that was the worm hovered over them, legs of fallen ponies sharpened to the bone in order to make its “teeth”. Onyx caught his breath and fell to the ground, unable to look away. The monstrous mass of dead bodies was gigantic, easily the size of a castle or Tatzlwurm. The smells of rotting flesh and death caught Scootaloo off guard. She had been able to remind herself it was just a nightmare until that moment… “What’re you going to do?” the alicorn asked as it took to the sky. “A colt and a crippled pegasus have no chance!” The undead worm began to fall forward, intending to eat both Scootaloo and Onyx in one bite. Breaking from her trance, Scootaloo turned on her hoof, grabbed Onyx, and ran. The monster smashed into the ground, cracking the earth. Ahhh! Help us! Please! The wails that followed caused Scootaloo to stop and look back. The bodies of the ponies that made up the beast were crying and screeching for help. Sweet Celestia… The alicorn laughed. “Nothing fuels nightmares like the terror of children!” Scootaloo galloped across the rolling hills, her wings furiously buzzing, and Onyx holding tightly to her neck. Her plan was to escape the dream, somehow take the colt with her someplace else, but if that would work was still up in the air. The ground was cracking all around her. All she could see down the cracks was an endless dark void. Scootaloo could feel herself sweating. The longer she was in the nightmare, the more it felt like reality. What if… what if she died here? What would happen then? Pip hadn’t mentioned that… Nopony had mentioned that… “I can give you the power to defeat any enemy, Onyx,” the alicorn sweetly offered, flying along through the sky, watching Scootaloo as she attempted to outrun the monster while avoiding the chasms. “You could end this if only you had the strength.” Scootaloo leapt over a crack, but just barely made it to the other side. The Nightmare Forces were trying to scare the child into agreeing… Using fear and terror… Scootaloo had hated the Nightmare Forces before, but now they were irredeemable. How could they target a child like this? How could they fill his mind with fright? Everything in the dream was twisting and becoming sinister. The stars in the sky were now unblinking eyes that followed the duo as they ran. The grass had turned to snakes, and they hissed as Scootaloo ran by, threatening to strike at any moment. The once classical castle was now a dystopian prison. Why was it getting worse? Scootaloo could feel Onyx’s trembling through his shaking legs. His sobs were the terrible melody that brought the whole scene together. What am I going to do?! Galloping at full speed, Scootaloo finally saw the edge of the dream. Just as she was entering the final stretch, a chasm ripped open in front of her, preventing Scootaloo from leaving. She skidded to a halt before plummeting into the darkness, and held Onyx close. There was no escaping. She couldn’t fly, and the chasm was too far to jump. The snakes at Scootaloo’s hooves struck, but she jumped away. The ground rumbled with the weight of the undead mass slithering its way closer. “I-I want my dad!” Onyx sobbed. “Where’s my dad?!” “It’ll be okay!” Scootaloo immediately replied. “You just hang on tight! Princess Speed-Demon will get us out of here in no time flat!” With her path blocked and the monster on its way, Scootaloo could see no way out. Gotta stay strong. No matter what. --- “… And Princess Luna picked you to be the captain of this all-important guard?” Pip slowly nodded. Explaining everything to Phantom Shade had taken a while, but the bat pony had patiently listened as they soared through the open dreamscape together. Pip didn’t like how hard it was to read Phantom Shade. He could never really know what the bat pony was thinking… He was a mystery to Pip. “I have had experience in the dreamscape with Luna. Plus, I was one of the few ponies in the nightmare world,” Pip said with a shrug. “Which is why I asked you to come here tonight. You fought your way out of the nightmares… You fought Nightmare Moon… Please, join the Star Guard. We need you. I know you’d excel; you already did when you were Captain of the Night Guard.” Phantom Shade, unnecessarily flapping his wings, mulled everything over. “And Princess Luna gave you a piece of her magic and placed it inside the Fragment of the First Night?” “Yes,” Pip said, not understanding where Phantom Shade was going with this. “And the Nightmare Forces attacked only her for all these years because of her unique dream stalking ability?” “Er, yes…” Phantom Shade looked at Pip in disbelief. “Do you realize what this means? You’re literally carrying the only thing the Nightmare Forces need in order to haunt the dreams of ponies forever! This whole mission will be for naught if you lose that object!” Pip stopped mid-flight and swallowed hard. He had never thought of that. It seemed so obvious now. “I…” “Did you even stop to think?!” Phantom Shade lambasted him. “You’re just an earth pony! It can easily be taken from you! You’re putting us all in jeopardy!” “Somepony has to help Luna!” Pip retorted. “And I’m one of the very few ponies who can do it!” He hated being reminded of how weak or pathetic he was. This wasn’t the time for that. He knew he needed help… he didn’t need to be chastised. Phantom Shade suddenly became quiet and turned his head. He stared at one of the light bubbles in the dreamscape, his golden eyes flickering with interest. “What’s wrong?” Pip quietly asked. “Something’s wrong. Can’t you see it? Can’t you feel it?” Pip shook his head. “No…” But I’ve been trying to learn to do that this entire time! Phantom Shade just knows? “You said we can enter these dreams?” “Yes,” Pip said, flying toward the dream Phantom Shade was staring at. “If something is wrong, we should go do something about it.” With the power of his fragment, Pip knew the dream had a pony already inside it. Scootaloo.