//------------------------------// // Sugar Rush // Story: Something Sweet to Bite Too // by Knackerman //------------------------------// The sound of wings vibrating against segmented carapaces echoed in the skies over Canterlot. At first the Changelings had been swarming the palace, responding to screams for help. Soon, however, as time went on the smarter ones were flying away as fast as they could. They left in droves, in every direction, in any direction so long as it was away from Canterlot. The Queen was dead, and for much of the colony that's all it took for their plans to collapse. Inside, those who more stubbornly swarmed their matriarch's killer were finding that there were some situation where their superior numbers were of little advantage. The palace was flooded with the sticky green substance that passed for changeling blood, bits and pieces of chitinous carcasses lay strewn through the halls. They had tried using their powers and abilities to fool the monster, to make her think they had all fled, but she could smell the difference between them and the real ponies they masqueraded as. Once Fluttershy had their scent it was all over, because then she just had to have a taste. Their shrieks as she ate them alive were loud enough to shatter glass, and many stained-glass windows lay crumbled from her hungry work. Their flesh was a little bland and snotty beneath their exoskeletons, Fluttershy thought, not proper meat at all. But the way their limbs crunched between her teeth was kind of irresistible. Once she popped one it was hard to stop. By now her wings and hooves were candy shod, the same as her teeth, letting her smash and tear through her prey with ease. She also found, now that she'd given herself over completely to her hunger, that she was much faster and stronger. Her body almost sung with energy she never knew she had. Fluttershy didn't remember feeling this good, even when she was still alive. Three changelings attacked her flank, and she effortlessly sliced them to ribbons with candy coated wings, each feather a razor sharp quill. Another stood before her, fangs bared, horn glowing with green plasma. She bit off the front of his head with a single crunch. He stumbled, but remained upright. It was amazing how long the Changelings could live without their frontal lobes. Though it did keep them from struggling as she ate the rest of them alive. It wasn't long before she found herself chasing what was left of the Changelings through the palace halls and deep into what seemed to be the dungeons below. A verdant glow suffused the crystalline walls. Pods hung from strands of slime, some huge, others small. They were arranged in no particular order, stretching down into the caverns below. Her prey, having taken Fluttershy's hesitation as their last chance of escape, had climbed the walls and scurried into the shadows. Forever more, Canterlot would be known as a death trap for Changelings. Without really trying, Fluttershy had done more to protect Canterlot from that particular threat than any other pony in history. She paid no attention to them as they fled, instead her glowing red eyes were drawn to the figures hanging lifelessly in the pods. A crackle of black lightning played across her wing tips as she looked closer. They were ponies! The entire city of Canterlot must've been brought down here. She had stumbled into the Changeling's larder! Licking her lips with a long candy striped tongue, she realized this was her larder now. How kind of the changelings to leave it to her. The curse was spreading faster through her body now, soon she'd be completely candy coated, inside and out, another mindless puppet of the Candy Mare. But every now and then there was a spark of dark magic, the last vestiges of borrowed power granted her by the Alicorn Amulet that now sat heavily in her gut. Devouring Trixie had been one of the most pleasant experiences she could remember, much more satisfying than crunching her way through Queen Chrysalis foul tasting corpse. She'd decided to eat every last scrap of the pair, however, not wanting Trixie to suffer being raised as part of the Candy Mare and not caring to ever see Queen Chrysalis again. Though she'd managed not to eat the Changling's silly little crown, she'd lost herself to her hunger once she'd started devouring the Trixie's corpse. The magical artifact inside her was doing odd things to her curse, accelerating it in parts of her body and slowing it down in others. Still, without Zecora's potions, the outcome was inevitable. Or at least so it seemed until Fluttershy laid eyes on the largest, juiciest pod in the entire dungeon. It glowed from within like the sun. Her eyes widened as she took in it's glossy sheen. It seemed as though it was fit to burst. The pony inside would make an excellent victory meal, she decided. She flew up and enveloped the pod with her wings, as a bat would envelope a moth, and started to gnaw. She could feel whatever was inside squirming to get away from her teeth, and that only excited her further. Until a burst of magic exploded from the pod, sending her hissing into the darkness to escape the burning rays of power that had emanated from within. She huddled behind the pods, for it was as if the sun itself had suddenly taken up residence beneath Canterlot. She gnashed her teeth and screamed as the magical radiance spilled over her again, shattering the candy shell off her body and causing her to violently vomit up all she had eaten. Fluttershy felt herself purging, gurgling, bringing every rancid hunk of Changeling from her bile soaked throat. Everything, including the Alicorn Amulet, gathered in a filthy pool beneath her. Her eyes lost their focus as something loomed from the light. Something familiar. There were words spoken, but she couldn't hear them. She'd stayed up all the previous day and night, but at last, sleep was just about to enveloped her. Princess Celestia whispered, "Fluttershy?" Transfixed by the glow around her monarch, the yellow pegasus could only whimper. "You don't get it, do you?" grinned the Candy Mare. "The forest witch is stumped! Oh don't worry, I doubt your injured little Harmony bearer or my plaything from Ponyville know what to think either. The Harvest Ceremony isn't my goal, you silly thing! It's a means to an end. You little morsels are so obsessed with your tiny lives, with your own petty problems. I've seen how you crawl through the mud, through the centuries, dragging yourselves from one problem to another like worms writhing between coffins. Each crisis looming before you like the greatest threat to your generation. As if your lives are all that matter." "So what? You've seen something larger at work, is that what you would have us believe?" asked Zecora. "What good is such perception to a loathsome creature like you?" "What good indeed! But don't discount my words witch, they are likely to be the last you hear," As she spoke, more candy ponies suddenly emerged from the darkness. Big Mac was the first to go down, forced to the ground by a caramel coated pony and a marshmallow mare. He struggled, but the more he bucked the more the candy ponies enveloped him. Next was Zecora, smashed in the back of the head by a lump of fallen masonry wielded by a purple candy shelled pony. Rainbow Dash turned to help them, but found she couldn't move her hooves. A warm, sticky sensation rose up her legs. What looked like a pink mass of bubblegum and cotton candy slowly spread up her body. The monster that held her let out a high pitched giggle as Dash struggled in vain to pull herself free. The Candy Mare's voice dropped to a low rumble as she chuckled. "Since we're finally meeting face to face on this most auspicious of nights, I think it will be entertaining if you were to know exactly what's about to happen Rainbow Dash. Not just to you, or even your little world, but every world and every squirming little life that stains existence." "Hey, get off me!" yelled Rainbow Dash as she fought to free herself. The more she struggled, the more sticky pink pony seemed to spread over her. When she got a good look at the candy ghoul's face leering up at her, she froze. The creature had blue gumballs for eyes and a toothless mouth full of stringy mush, but Dash knew immediately who it was that held her. Pinkie Pie! Dash's eyes darted around the room. The two that had Big Mac bore a distorted resemblance to Applejack and Rarity, though one dripped and melted all over her brother while the other was just a crumbly marshmallow mess. The last candy coated monstrosity that smiled at her from the shadows, head dipped low over Zecora's body, was familiar as well. Twilight Sparkle's grin widened at the recognition on Rainbow Dash's face. They all turned their gaze to Dash and laughed. The pegasus screamed. "What's the matter? Aren't you pleased to be surrounded by your friends once again? Isn't it magical?" asked the Candy Mare in Twilight's voice. "Don't listen to her Rainbow Dash! Ya gotta get free! Remember the plan! Remember the-" Big Mac's words were cut off as a caramel apple was jammed into his mouth. "Oh, but you should listen Rainbow dear," said Rarity's dainty voice from a grinning mouth in the Candy Mare's shoulder. "If your hostess is generous enough to let you live, don't you think you should at least hear what she has to say?" "Say whatever you want, freak!" cried Rainbow Dash, talking tough even as her eyes continued to dart between her dead friends, "You don't scare me!" "Don't make me laugh!" said another of the Candy Mare's mouths with Pinkie Pie's high pitched giggle and snort. A third mouth opened and drawled "Sugarcube, we all know that's a lie," in Applejack's familiar tone. The Candy Mare slowly slunk down the pile of jack-o-lanterns, bits and pieces of her candy body clattering over the hollow half-rotted gourds as she moved. In her dead friends voices the monster said, "We've feasted on your fear for a long time now. Sipping your soul away as you slept. You've felt it, haven't you? Would you like to know how much of yourself is still left in that fragile frame you call a body? Would you like to know just how much of you we've taken as you slept, keeping our souls burning bright through the long, cold nights?" "I don't know what you're talking about," muttered the azure flyer. The trickle of ice down her spine said otherwise. Was this why she had changed so much in such a short time, going from the competitive free spirit she used to be to a depressed loner? Is this why she found herself jumping at shadows and unable to even conceive of a life for herself outside of her duties? She tried to focus on freeing another hoof rather than the Candy Mare's sadistic words. "I think you know exactly what we're talking about Rainbow Dash," laughed the candy ghoul as she stood towering over the trapped and struggling pegasus. A child's voice bubbled up through the madness, "I've never made it a secret from you, after all. I've been showing you exactly what will happen night after night after night." she said, putting one hoof under the pegasus chin and lifting her eyes to gaze into her own, " Rainbow Dash... You're going to burn. You'll be devoured, still very much alive, and you will be ever so sweet. And the best part? It will never stop." Her tongue slid out over her candy corn teeth and lapped a single tear that slipped from Dash's eyes. The Candy Mare turned her back toward her then and gazed up at Luna, suspended over her pumpkin patch. "Nightmare Night isn't just a special night of the year where little fillies and colts hunt for candy, you know. It's not even just the anniversary of my unfortunate creation. It's the one night each year when the barriers between realms are paper thin. With the right push, one can speak with the dead, see the unborn, or walk in realms where hooves were never meant to tread. There is a mirror in the possession of your Princesses that forces this state of being on the universe, letting them pass between different moments in time and different possibilities, one by one. But I'm not interested in just one world, just one realm, flitting from moment to moment like a fly on a midden heap. Luna, you see, showed me another way. She taught me a valuable lesson when she banished me into constant nightmares. All life dreams. All life, from the tiny ant to the massive dragon, slumbers in one way or another. It's this Dreaming that connects us all." "Is that what you're after then?" asked Rainbow Dash, trying not to draw too much attention to the fact that two hooves were free now and frantically searching for flint and tinder. "You've found a way to touch everypony through dreams? Is that why you had to wait? Last Nightmare Night you captured Luna knowing full well how powerful she is, since she's the one that put you down in the first place. But you couldn't take her over completely the way you could a regular pony, could you? It's because she's so strong, isn't it? Because she was an Alicorn, you had to force feed her bits of yourself in order to get what little control you have. It's taken you this long to do what? Corrupt one pony's dreams? To just give me a few nightmares? To torture me for whatever sick soul sucking experiments you've been conducting?" "Is that what you think?" asked the Candy Mare. "No, no my dear. Everypony on this world has experienced your dream, in one way or another. All of you will be fuel for my fire. Some of the dreamers even enjoyed watching you writhe, eating your flesh, or being eaten by your friends in turn. But don't worry, you haven't been alone. Your friends have been there by your side the whole time, suffering right along with you. The Elements of Harmony are indeed a potent source of power, even fragmented by death. Using Luna's power to reunite you with your friends and pervert the power of the Elements was indeed a difficult undertaking, but that goal was met long ago! Combined with the rest of the souls in Equestria, I think we'll have more than enough power to punch a hole into the Dreaming. Tonight, Nightmare Night will live up to its name! I will walk through the dreams of every creature, in every place, in every time! I will take every life I touch! They will all belong to me! Only a few more sacrifices and the Harvest Ceremony I started last year will be complete. An even greater harvest shall follow, and I'll be the one wielding the scythe!" She licked her candy lips, as if just the thought of such bounty at her hoof tips were enough to wet her appetite. "You don't understand what you're doing!" panted Zecora woozily, blood trickling from her head. "Your madness blinds you! The Dreaming is an integral part of every living thing! You'll be killing yourself along with everypony else if you follow this path!" The Candy Mare looked quizzically at Zecora, "I very much doubt that. I'll be burning an infinite amount of life force. I will be painfully close to what you morsels refer to as a god. Yes!" That idea seemed to please her, "A gluttonous deity to rule over every burning soul! Won't that be better than struggling to stay alive? Won't that be better than fighting the fruitless life long war with death? I will grant each and every one of you eternal life," whispered the Candy Mare, her eyes flashing with mischief, "as you writhe in my guts!" "Nope!" roared Big Macintosh, having bitten through the apple in his mouth and spat the candied fruit into the marshmallow Rarity's face. The monster reeled back in surprise, giving the earth pony the opening he needed. With every muscle bulging, he tore himself free from the sticky embrace of his dead sister, and threw himself at the Candy Mare. The pair fell struggling into the pile of jack-o-lanterns, the ancient monsters shape changing into a flailing mass of tendrils, claws, and pincers as dozens of mouths howled and bit at her attacker. The stolid one eyed pony took the punishment without so much as a grunt, even as his stomach burst like a water balloon and his limbs were torn to shreds. "Now!" he bellowed through the pain, "Do it now!" Without needing to be told twice, Zecora threw a chain of glass bottles. Star fruit bombs. As the glass containers shattered to the floor the potions exploded in a series of flashes, sending light racing in every direction at once. The candy ponies shriveled and shrunk from the strobing rays, putrefied and stinking flesh exposed beneath the crumbling candy coating. The living corpses shambled back into the shadows, their laughter replaced by screams of pain. Zecora tried to stand, but found she was still too dizzy from the blow to the back of her head. "Rainbow Dash, it's up to you! You have to finish it!" Though the Candy Mare had shriveled like her puppets, down to the size of a filly, she was still in the very midst of her seat of power. The jack-o-lanterns pulsed and groaned as flames gushed from their gaping mouths to bath the Candy Mare in their power, in the life force she had stolen from the ponies of Equestria. Big Mac, his cloak stained with his own blood, looked at Rainbow Dash with one sad eye. Though his body had been torn to pieces, the barrels he carried on either side of his back remained intact. Dash had managed to reignite the pilot light on her flame thrower. The wand shook, weaving a complicated pattern back and forth between the Candy Mare's quickly reconstructing face and Big Mac's own haggard expression. "Do it," he whispered. Rainbow Dash blinked back tears,"I'm so sorry, Big Mac." Mercifully, perhaps, he was already dead. The burst of liquid flame engulfed the Candy Mare and the earth pony at the same time. The monster howled, terror and frustration choked off by a whoosh of flames as her body became a pillar of blue fire. The barrels Big Macintosh had carried all the way through the ruins burst. At that moment, a light could be seen in the Everfree Forest that pierced the oncoming night like a beacon. As the candy castle crumbled, there were those far off who took the light to be a sign, a portent or omen. Good or ill, none could say. But as the light from the explosion faded, so too did the last rays of the setting sun. The day was over. At last, Nightmare Night had truly begun. The protective spell that shielded Zecora and Rainbow Dash glowed a bright, searing yellow. All around them, the world had transformed into a blinding inferno. Even through closed lids, Dash could see the light and feel the heat from the flames. Yet she didn't burn, nor did the blaze rob the air from her lungs. This hadn't been part of the plan. Big Mac wasn't meant to make the ultimate sacrifice. They should've been far away when the kegs were ignited, the Candy Mare and her twisted cohorts taken care of by the star fruit grenades. Whatever magic could withstand such a blast as the kegs produced was truly potent. As quickly as the world had flashed into flame, the explosion receded, spreading out into the rest of the ruins. Even with the absence of the blaze, however, they were not left in darkness. The explosion had torn through the upper levels, leaving the cavern now an exposed hole in the earth. Though they could see the evening sky high above them, it was as though the sun had risen in that pit they found themselves in. Celestia graced the cavern with her presence, an entire battalion of armed pegasi Palace Guards at her back and Fluttershy by her side. Clearly Celestia had been the one that had protected Rainbow Dash and Zecora from the explosion, along with the rest of her followers. Such, of course, was foal's play for an Alicorn Princess who commanded celestial bodies on a daily basis. "It would appear we have arrived too late," she said sadly, her eyes moving over the charred remains that had once been Big Macintosh. What was left of him was scattered amid a pile of burned and shattered pumpkin shells, their candles at last extinguished by a greater flame. "His sacrifice will not be forgotten. Nor will your bravery Rainbow Dash, or your great help Zecora. Today has been a day of terrible tragedy for the pony's of Equestria. But at last we are free of the shadow that would reach beyond death to harm our people. Let us have a moment of silence, to honor those who have given their lives for this to be possible." All that were gathered there bowed their heads. In that moment of reverent silence and remembrance, there was not a single pony living who did not feel as though a great weight had at long last been lifted from their hearts. That is, until they heard the roar that chased after the dying light. "NiGHTtMAre NIGHt...WhAt a FrIGHt...GiVe Us SoMEthing...SweET To BiTE!"