//------------------------------// // Trials - Confrontation // Story: Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon's Tiny Adversary - Chapter 4 Part 2 “You big meanie! Who do you think you are, eating my friend like that?” Fluttershy demanded, sounding akin to a mother scolding her child. “You should be ashamed of yourself, picking on smaller creatures and bullying them like that.” The manticore stared back, its chewing immediately stopping. It soon found that it couldn’t pull away from the firm, disappointed glare that the yellow pegasus was giving it, nor could it stop the wave of shame rushing through its being. “Now you are going to let her go, and don’t let me catch you picking on my friends ever again. Understood?” The manticore nodded hesitantly, spitting out a small magenta sphere onto the ground before pouting like a hurt puppy. Fluttershy beamed happily at it. “It’s okay. I’m not mad,” she said calmly as she nuzzled the manticore’s paw. She turned towards Overwatch with a bashful gaze. “Um… if it isn’t too much of a bother, could you please release your magic and let his legs go?” The unicorn guard let out a sputter, looking fearfully between the giant beast and the demure pegasus flying confidently in front of it. She shot Fluttershy a pleading look, biting her lower lip nervously as she tried to mentally beg the pegasus to drop the request. A few moments passed before Overwatch finally let out her breath and lit her horn. When she had dispelled her bola from the manticore, the unicorn guard separated herself silently from the group, sitting down and staring intently at the moonlit sky. Fluttershy gave the retreating guard an apologetic smile before she turned back to the manticore, specifically the wound inflicted by Overwatch’s bolt on its paw. She looked back at the group and asked, “Err, does anypony have medical equipment?” Most of the ponies before her were staring at her with their mouths open, especially Rainbow Dash, who rubbed her eyes with her hooves before continuing to look between Fluttershy and the manticore who was pointedly not mauling her. It took a moment before somepony finally replied. “I do. I have plenty in my saddlebags, just in case Twilight needed any first aid,” Steel Blade said, his attention flickering towards the bubble of magic on the ground. “I’m assuming you need some?” Fluttershy nodded, landing and walking calmly towards the guard, who opened his saddlebags to allow her to grab a few bandages with her wing before returning to the manticore. She began patching up the burn, and despite a few whimpers from the beast, it was completely content with the attention. “Now, I know you’re still hungry, but I don’t have anything on me right now,” Fluttershy said as she finished wrapping her bandage around the manticore’s paw, keeping another draped across her back. “But...” she said, remembering what she had seen while she was looking through Steel Blade’s saddlebags, “I think I can still give you a little something to keep you happy.” The yellow pegasus trotted back over to Steel Blade and this time produced a trio of chocolate-chip cookies from his bags. “Now, I know it’s not meat or fish, but I hope you’ll like them. I’ll bring some more food next time,” she continued, stroking a hoof through the manticore’s mane as it gobbled up her offered gift. Fluttershy gave the manticore one final pat on the head, smiling as it purred at her, before she turned her attention to the tiny ball of magic on the ground. She took the other bandage on her back with her wing and lowered her head to ground level, bumping the sphere a few times with her hoof. “It’s okay. You can come out now,” she said soothingly. A few seconds passed with no reaction, so Fluttershy shook the ball of magic a bit more insistently. “You can stop hiding now. That big scary kitten isn’t going to hurt you anymore,” she said a touch louder, but without losing her gentle tone. The barrier vanished slowly, and Twilight stood up shakily. She had several bruises and a few bite marks on her saliva-covered body, her expression a strange mixture of fear and disgust. Fluttershy moved a hoof closer to the mare, who flinched back at the unexpected movement. “Shhh… it’s okay. You’re safe,” she said as she began using her tail to wipe off the worst of the spit. Twilight gave her a sheepish smile, looking distastefully at the saliva sticking to Fluttershy’s tail. “Aheh… S-sorry about that.” “It’s fine. I’ve had worse than just a little spittle,” she said, motioning for Steel Blade to come a bit closer. She reached in with a wing and popped out a bottle of antiseptic, uncapping it deftly before sprinkling some onto a few of the bandages and dabbing at Twilight’s open wounds. “T-thanks…” the tiny mare said, wincing at the contact. “S-so what happened? The last thing I remember was being eaten by a manticore, which is… wait, where’s the manticore? How did you get me out?” Her eyes suddenly widened as she suddenly noticed the great head of the beast hovering right above Fluttershy’s oblivious head. “W-watch out!” Twilight charged her horn to protect her savior, but her concentration snapped as soon as the manticore began licking Fluttershy’s laughing face. “Oh, you're just a cute little kitty, aren’t you?” the yellow pegasus cooed as the manticore gave her a light hug. “Oh yes you are! Yes you are!” The little mare watched the whole scene speechlessly until the manticore finally released her friend. “H-h-how?” she asked, hardly managing to get even that one word out of her mouth. Fluttershy simply smiled warmly as she maneuvered the tiny mare onto her back and began trotting back to the group. “I just asked him to release you and showed him a little kindness, that’s all,” she replied. Twilight stared at the yellow pegasus in disbelief. Just that morning, this pony was treating her like a pet and being annoyingly overprotective, but to think that she would face a manticore to save her, not to mention taming the terrifying beast in a matter of seconds, would be inconceivable if she hadn’t just seen it happen. *** Steel Blade let out a sigh of relief. Even after running into a manticore, Twilight had come out mostly unharmed in the end, thanks to those few mares from Ponyville. He smiled as Fluttershy walked back to the rest of her friends with his charge in tow, but only a few seconds passed before he realized that there was still something weighing on his mind. “Overwatch?” he said as he approached the charcoal mare, who still had her back to him. “Are you alright?” Overwatch took in a deep breath. “Yes… Yeah, I’m doing fine. Why aren’t you looking after Twi? I suspect she needs your company a bit more than I do.” “She’s doing fine. That yellow pegasus, Fluttershy I believe, seems to have done an admirable job of calming her down,” Steel Blade replied, waving it off. “I’m a bit more concerned about you. What happened back there?” The unicorn guard finally turned to look at Steel Blade, a melancholic expression on her face. “Just something I thought I got over years ago, though judging by how I froze up like a foal just then, apparently not,” she said caustically as she got up and began to trot back to the rest of the ponies. “Are you sure you don’t need to talk about it?” Steel Blade asked, giving her a weak smile. Overwatch let out an amused snort. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine. I just needed a little time to myself, but I’m good to go now,” she said, half to herself and half to her comrade. “You sure you don’t want to talk about it? N-not that I want to pry or anything, but—” “Remind me later,” the charcoal unicorn said dismissively. “For now, we should get back to Twilight. What happened to the manticore?” “Ahh, right,” Steel Blade said, suddenly stopping. “Well, umm…” Overwatch furrowed her brow, turning to look at the pegasus guard intently. “Is this something I should be worried about?” “Well…” Steel Blade said hesitantly. “Fluttershy may have persuaded it to leave us alone by offering it a few… cookies.” “Cookies? Where’d she get cook—” Overwatch suddenly stopped in terrible realization, dashing over to Steel Blade’s saddlebags and proceeding to rummage frantically through them. “No no nonono! I can’t believe it! That slimy, traitorous mare did not just—” “Hey, they got that manticore away from us, didn’t they? And relax,” Steel Blade said, rolling his eyes. “Similar to how I keep emergency medical supplies for Twilight, I also keep emergency cookies for you. They’re in the other bag. Left side.” Overwatch let out a loud gasp of pleasant surprise, her eyes wide. “I’m prepared for a lot of crises,” the pegasus guard deadpanned. The charcoal mare let out a happy squeal as she lunged across Steel Blade’s back to ransack the other saddlebag. She came up moments later with a few cookies that she immediately stuffed into her mouth, a contented smile on her face. The stallion smiled back at Overwatch before shooing her off with a flutter of his wings. “Alright alright, it’s good to see you back to normal too. Now come on; didn’t you say we should get back to Twilight?” *** A few quick healing spells later, Twilight ended up surrounded by a group of ponies scolding her for her reckless behaviour, and she was eventually compelled to tell them why she ran into the forest in the first place and what her goal was. “Ah can’t believe what Ah jus’ heard. You’re telling us tha’ ya' went into the Everfree Forest alone, knowin’ about all the things in there that would love to gulp ya' down fer a midnight snack, just so you can help the monster who fought the princess?” Applejack exclaimed in disbelief. “Well, wait just a minute, Applejack. Nightmare Moon is Princess Celestia’s sister,” Twilight replied hastily. “Her real name is Luna. If we leave her be, she’s going to go down fighting. Only the Elements of Harmony can purge her hate and anger.” “But you could get hurt! Or die!” Fluttershy added. “Think of all the friends and family that you’d leave behind.” “Yes. Princess Celestia and Cadence would be devastated,” Steel Blade added. “Overwatch and I would never forgive ourselves if something happened to you.” “Not to mention we won’t be able to have your ‘Thanks for Saving Us’ party and we might have a ‘We’ll Miss You, Twilight’ party instead if something really really bad happens to you, and those aren’t very fun parties at all!” Pinkie Pie pointed out. Twilight shook her head. “But Princess Luna is far more important than I will ever be. She’s—” “Twilight, you’re the most valuable pony in the world to me!” Spike yelled, fuming. “I couldn’t care less about some princess I’ve never seen or heard about.” “B-but I can’t just wait and do nothing. Princess Celestia had planned for me to use the Elements against Nightmare Moon before she, well, changed her mind. Knowing her, there must have been a reason why it had to be me,” Twilight said, pausing to take a deep breath. ”It’s completely possible, likely even, that the princess took me in as her student so she could prepare me to save her sister, and I cannot fail her!” “Woah, hold on a second there,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “I know you think you’re all cool and brave, and you’ve proven that you can take care of yourself, but sometimes you can’t do everything alone. Even the Wonderbolts can only do some things as a team. Trust me, I’ve tried doing some of their stunts solo. It’s not something I’m eager to try again.” Twilight wanted to reply, but she was cut off by another voice. “For once, Ah agree with Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said. “Ah don’t know what ya’ve been doin’ under the princess, but Ah’m darn sure that goin’ to save Nightmare Moon on yer own is stupid.” “That’s right!” Rainbow Dash said. “So unless you grow a few meters and tear your way to the Elementawhatsits with your kick flank magic, we’re coming with you,” she continued, crossing her forelegs with a note of finality. Twilight massaged her forehead with a hoof. Enlarging herself slightly would help her fight off potential threats while still retaining much of her stealth advantage, and the princess could always shrink her again once Luna was safe. Or after a few years in the dungeon. She shivered. Would her mentor even shrink her after going against her orders? Or would the princess consider her return to normal size punishment enough for disobeying her? Twilight shook her head. There were other issues to think about. “Look, I can’t let you all risk your lives to help me. I am Princess Celestia’s protege. I have trained hard under her wing, and it is my royal duty to save her sister or die trying.” Rainbow Dash scoffed. Unexpectedly, using the tip of her wing, she flipped Twilight up off the ground to land on her nose, glaring at the tiny unicorn intently. “What's your problem? I get that you want to do everything yourself, but you can’t, and you definitely don’t see other ponies as capable of doing anything to help!” Dash berated with a scowl. “You knew that you couldn’t beat a manticore at your current size, but the moment we tried to rescue you—successfully too, if I might add—you thought that you needed to protect us.” Twilight let out an inaudible squeak as Dash continued to lock her down with a withering gaze. “Do you have any idea how humiliating it is to be protected by a pony who barely goes up to your knee? How disrespecting it is when a pony ten times smaller than you thinks that she needs to protect you? Do you really think that we’re so useless and incompetent that you need to take the punch for us?” “I… I…” “Thats right,” Fluttershy said firmly, picking up Twilight from Dash’s nose and setting her on Steel Blade’s back. “Did you think that we would just sit aside when our friend was in danger? Did you consider how we felt when you pushed us away thinking that we couldn’t help you?” “Friends always look out for each other! No matter how big or small!” said Pinkie Pie with an indomitable smile. Applejack stepped up next to Rainbow Dash to speak with Twilight. “Ah’ll be completely honest with ya. When Ah first met ya, Ah found out that you’re a tough, forgivin’, and hard workin’ little mare, and—Ahem, wait til Ah’ve finished, sugarcube,” she said, stopping the little unicorn with a hoof when she tried to speak. Twilight was taken back by the interruption, but nodded to the farm mare and sat back. “After ya' stood up against Nightmare Moon to save everypony, all of Ponyville owed their lives to ya, not to mention the fact Ah have my own debt to pay for how roughly Ah treated ya. Even though Ah’d rather just kick Nightmare Moon back where she came from instead of this whole business with savin’ her, Ah’ll be at yer side til mah last breath.” “But Applejack, what about your family? I cannot—” Rainbow Dash smirked. “If you think we’re not good enough for you, then come on; grow back to your normal size, and I’ll show you what Rainbow Danger Dash is capable of,” she said, hopping on her hind hooves as she punched the air in front of her. “And once our quest is done, the treasure found, the world saved, and Nightmare Moon redeemed, we can throw a great, big ‘Welcome to Ponyville, Nightmare Moon’ party! Or maybe it should be a ‘Welcome to Ponyville, Luna’ party.” Pinkie stopped, tapping a hoof to her chin for a moment before she lit up with an idea. “That’s it! It’ll be a ‘Welcome to Ponyville Nightmare Moon and Luna Sharing One Body’ party! Nah, too long. I’ll think of something.” “I-I… I will just… tag along,” Rarity said hesitantly, shifting her eyes away from Twilight “Don’t bother wasting your time trying to get rid of them,” Overwatch said, smiling warmly. “I doubt you can dissuade them from their rather heartfelt commitment to aid you.” Steel Blade puffed his chest up and beat a hoof against his breastplate. “And don’t you dare leave us behind again!” he shouted, causing Twilight to cover her ears temporarily. “We’re here to protect you, whether you like it or not.” Spike crossed his arms. “See Twilight? You’re stuck with the rest of us, and whether you decide to stay tiny or return to your original size, we’ll be here to help anyways.” Applejack nodded, transferring Twilight to her own back. “After everythin’ ya' did for us, we’ll stick with ya' to the ends of the Equestria,” the farm mare said. Twilight let out a sigh as the group moved on, sitting on Applejack’s back as they made their way to the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Sisters. She never had many problems with cooperating with her mentor or foalsitter. She trusted Spitfire, Soarin’, and many other Wonderbolts with her life on many dangerous exercises or missions during her stint as their medic. Even the snowball war from so many years ago showed the trust she had for her team. So why had she refused help when up against a powerful beast? Why put her life on the line when there was a way to get everypony out safely? Why had she disobeyed the princess’s orders and ventured into dangerous forest on her own? Was it because she wanted to prove herself? Had she wanted so badly to be useful to her mentor that she forgot everything she knew about trust and teamwork? Had her self confidence in her own skills made her underestimate the danger she faced as a one kilogram mare? Maybe Dash and Applejack were right about her underestimating others. Twilight’s ears drooped down slightly. This whole time, I’ve been trying to prove to everypony that they don’t need to worry about me. That I can take care of myself. Today, I was crushed that my mentor didn’t have faith in my abilities, while I showed the same distrust of the abilities of others… Twilight chuckled, her mood quickly brightening up. Rainbow Dash was right. When a pony the size of a large rat tries to protect you, it is even more embarrassing than being protected when you’re small. The group of shadows did as their mistress ordered, doing all in their power to scare off everypony who dared intrude upon the old castle ground. One of their attempts to stop a group of ponies from reaching the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters was to infuse themselves with the trees of the Everfree Forest, turning an already dangerous forest full of monsters into a living nightmare. The path flanked by trees looked as if they had been grown in Tartarus. It was a good effort, but to the shadows’ disappointment, an overly optimistic pink pony sang a song that encouraged the group to keep moving, and one by one, the shadows left the trees as it became clear that they weren’t getting anywhere with this approach. The entire group walked on a steady pace. Twilight was quietly humming Pinkie Pie’s song as she rested on Applejack before a familiar voice grabbed her attention. “T-Twilight, can I have a moment of your time, please?” Twilight turned towards the source of the voice, finding the white unicorn trotting right behind her with an expression of discomfort. “What is it, Rarity?” the tiny mare asked stiffly. “I hope whatever you want to talk about has nothing to do with Canterlot.” “Oh no, it’s umm… it’s a more personal matter,” Rarity replied hesitantly. Twilight looked around briefly before turning back to Rarity. “Well, we have several minutes of walking before we reach our destination, and I’m not going anywhere, so I guess we can talk for a moment,” she said cautiously. “Oh thank you darling! I promise, you’ll not regret it,” Rarity said cheerfully. Twilight gave her a serious stare, and the white unicorn immediately reined herself in and cleared her throat. “What I mean is... umm, I’d like to thank you from depths of my heart for protecting us at Town Hall. I don’t know what dreadful things would have happen to us had you not calmed that monster—” “It’s Nightmare Moon!” Rarity stumbled back for just a moment. “E-Excuse me?” she said in confusion. “First off, her name is Nightmare Moon, though you could probably say that it’s also Princess Luna who had been possessed a thousand years ago. Second, she is not a monster. Under her frightful appearance is a proud soul who cares about her ponies and just wants to be loved and respected,” Twilight lectured with a twinge of annoyance. “But of course, a noble mare such as yourself wouldn’t bother to look beyond appearance.” Rarity cringed, and Applejack turned her head to intervene. “Ah don’t think you’re bein’ fair, sugarcube. Rarity went with us to help ya' and repay ya' for savin’ us.” The little unicorn rolled her eyes. “Applejack, your life and the lives of others were never truly in danger. I admit that with the limited information I had, I thought that Nightmare Moon was going to kill everypony or something equally dark and gruesome, but it turns out that she never intended such things, so you girls don’t owe me anything,” Twilight declared. “She may not have wanted to kill anypony, but she might’ve hurt a few fellas if it weren’t for you, Twilight. Ya' thought she would hurt us, and ya' sacrificed yourself so that we could escape. It was a mighty fine gesture, even if it wasn’t necessary in the end,” Applejack said. “I know Applejack, and I’m really grateful that you girls not only came to help with Nightmare Moon, but also saved my life from the manticore,” Twilight said with a warm smile. “In the end, I owe you girls a lot more than you owe me.” Applejack smirked.”Ah don’t wanna hear it. Ah still owe ya' fer the beatin’ Ah gave ya.” Rainbow Dash flapped a bit closer to add, “And besides, going on an adventure with you is waaaay better than sticking around in Ponyville. It’s a nice place and all, but it’s way too calm and peaceful sometimes.” “Too calm and peaceful? Well, maybe one day when I’m released from the dungeon that the princess is gonna lock me into, I’ll ask her to shrink you too,” Twilight said with a smirk, giving the pegasus a challenging look. “Trust me, Rainbow Dash, the love of adventure is one of the main reasons why I’m still so small, and I’m never bored.” “Umm… T-Twilight, dear,” Rarity said hesitantly, drawing Twilight’s attention away from her conversation with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. “Oh right, I forgot about you for a second. If you don’t mind me asking, why are you even following us? It is, after all, a life threatening mission. Not exactly the perfect place for a pony like you,” Twilight stated. “Now hold on a second there. Why’re ya' so mean to Rarity? Did somethin’ happen between the two of you?” Applejack asked, cocking an eyebrow at her passenger. “You could say that, Applejack. I had a rather unpleasant welcome from Rarity,” Twilight stated, eliciting another small twinge from the fashionista. “If ya' recall correctly, so was mah welcome, Twilight. Ah tried to crush you ‘cause Ah thought you were a prank set up by Rainbow Dash or Pinkie,” Applejack added. Rainbow Dash let out a gasp of realization. “Wait a second, so Applejack tried to turn you into a pancake... because she thought that you were a prank? Don’t tell me, she thought you were some kinda doll or puppet, and that I was… hahaha!” Rainbow Dash quickly burst into guffaws, much to Applejack’s annoyance. “That's too rich. I would pay anything to see AJ’s face when she found out that you were a real unicorn.” “Laugh as long as you want, featherbrain,” Spike said with a huff. “Your welcome was no better. You crashed into Twilight and dumped her into the mud. She’s lucky you didn't break any any of her bones.” Spike looked around at the other ponies with a frown. “Actually, I don’t think any of you girls have endeared yourselves to Twilight at your first meetings. Fluttershy was overprotective to the level of creepiness, and Pinkie Pie’s surprise almost made Twilight deaf.” Everypony blushed with embarrassment, Fluttershy in particular hiding behind her mane with an eep. Applejack took in a deep breath, putting on a chagrined expression. “We’re all awfully sorry, but ya' don’t seem mind our poor welcomes at all, sugarcube, so why’re ya' so angry at Rarity? Surely she didn’t do anythin’ ya' can’t forgive?” she asked, giving Rarity a curious look. The white mare herself was following silently, looking at the ground with her ears flat against her head. Twilight shook her head, scratching Applejack’s back with her tiny hooves as if giving a massage. “Applejack, I forgave you because you apologized. Your apology was honest, and you and your family gave me a welcome that more than made up for the original tangle.” Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, “The ride on you was enjoyable as well. We’ll have to try it again one day. If I will get the chance, that is,” she said, smirking at the little wink Dash gave her. She looked at Fluttershy. “I may not like it when other ponies worry about me, but if it wasn’t for you, Fluttershy, I would be a manticore’s snack by now.” “And Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, “although it wasn’t really the best time for a party, I really like parties, just… no surprise parties please. My ears can’t take it when everypony screams ‘surprise’ at once, especially if I can’t set up my soundproof barrier in time.” “Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie said as she continued bouncing, the smile never leaving her face. Twilight let out a sigh, finally turning to the fashionista. “As for you, Rarity, I‘ve already forgiven you for treating me like a rat because I understand that it was a misunderstanding,” she said, bringing a hopeful expression to Rarity. “However,” Twilight began harshly, “trying to buy my friendship with gifts and false praise just because I’m the princess’s student is not something I can overlook so easily... I... I need some time to think about it.”