//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Mare Nubium // Story: When the Moon's Reaching Out to the Stars // by MagnetBolt //------------------------------// “Was her house always that big?” Twilight asked, looking up at the massive cloud palace hanging above them. It wasn’t just at the center of the disturbance, it was the storm itself, the thunderhead woven into the walls and floors. It was at least as big as Celestia’s palace in Canterlot, though the stormclouds made it an ominous black that crackled with lightning from within. “No,” Fluttershy whispered. “It was always pretty big for a cloud house because Dash kept borrowing extra clouds as the weather team captain, but never like this. I’ve never seen a cloud house that big before. It should be tearing itself apart in these winds!” “Figures,” Applejack sighed. “If she’s up there, Fluttershy’s the only one who can get to her.” “Maybe if I was a common, uneducated unicorn,” Twilight snorted. “Unless you’re hiding wings somewhere, we don’t have much choice. Even if we can get up there, we’re just going to fall right through. And that’s a heck of a long fall.” Applejack looked down. Ghastly Gorge yawned below the thundering palace, the depths lost to darkness even in the glow of the constant lightning roiling among the clouds. “Oh ye of little faith,” Twilight laughed, her horn glowing. A glimmer surrounded her and Applejack for a moment before focusing on their hooves and then fading into near-invisibility. “There. A cloud-walking spell. It’s not permanent like a pegasus’ natural ability-“ she nodded to Fluttershy. “-but with my talent, it will last at least a full day before needing to be recast.” “Well that’s half the problem,” Applejack smiled. “Now we just gotta get up there. Fluttershy, I don’t suppose you’d mind making a few trips?” “I don’t know if I can,” Fluttershy whispered. “You can’t feel it like I can, but there’s a huge static charge in the air. I’m worried if I go any higher than the trees…” she swallowed. “I’ve never seen lightning like this. It’s strong enough to hurt me seriously, and you two aren’t resistant to shocks like a pegasus…” “So it would probably turn us into fried little ponies,” Applejack finished glumly. “No problem,” Twilight took a deep breath. “It’s going to take a little more magic, but I can just teleport us up there.” “Are you sure?” Applejack frowned. “It’s a long way, and you said you’re already-“ Twilight’s horn lit up bright pink, and there was a popping sensation as the three were suddenly right next to the entrance, along with a wide divot of grass that Twilight had accidentally carried along with them. It stared sinking through the cloud, falling freely, and the ponies felt themselves falling with it for a moment until the hit the cloud layer, their hooves stopping as the ground literally left them behind. “Don’t do that without warning!” Applejack yelled. “Oh please,” Twilight snorted. “It’s a perfectly safe spell.” Fluttershy held up the tip of her tail. The last three inches had been sheared off, as if by a razor’s edge. “Mostly safe. Everypony’s fine! And we don’t have time to waste, remember?” “I remember you deciding that on your own,” Applejack nodded. “But we’re supposed to be a team here.” “And I’m the leader, so I decide when something is safe enough or not!” Twilight said, sharply. “I have more experience with magic than either of you. For one thing, I’m the only pony here who actually casts spells! If anypony is qualified to tell if it’s safe or not, it’s me!” “I don’t remember voting for you,” Applejack said quietly, eyes narrowing. “It seems to me like you’re just being as reckless as Dash because you think you’ve got something to prove.” “I’m the Princess’ personal student! That makes me the best-educated, most-powerful unicorn in Equestria. All of this is happening because Nightmare Moon is trying to get rid of me so I can’t stop her! If I can’t even handle this on my own, how am I supposed to beat her?” Her voice quieted as she went on, the end coming out almost in a whisper, barely audible above the rushing wind. “We’ll find a way,” Applejack smiled. “You don’t have to do it all yourself.” “I can’t afford to fail like last time,” Twilight mumbled. “Want some advice?” Applejack asked. “There’s something I learned from working on the farm.” Twilight looked up at her. “The orchard is too big to take on all at once, and if you just think about doing all of it, you’re going to feel like you can’t ever do it. What you have to do is focus on one thing at a time. You just take care of the work in front of you and count your successes one step at a time. You don’t run a marathon with one giant leap, after all.” “Unless you teleport to the end,” Twilight offered weakly, smiling. “Well that’d be cheatin’,” Applejack smirked, slipping back into her country twang. “But since we’re already up against a cheater, feel free to take some shortcuts.” “I think I found the way in,” Fluttershy said. The other two joined her, looking up at huge double doors, already open. Black clouds streamed out from within, feeding the storm around the house. Deep within, Twilight could see a swirl of blue and black, like a spiral hanging in the distance. “Twilight, are you sure you’re up to this?” Applejack asked, worried. “Even if I can’t fight properly, I still managed to get us this far. If it wasn’t for my magic you’d be stuck on the ground wondering what to do.” Twilight sighed. “Let’s do this.” “Alright, then.” Applejack smiled. “Let’s go save Dash’s flank.” “These transitions are rough,” Twilight warned. It’s better if we do it quickly and all at once. On three?” She offered. The others nodded. “One… two… three!” The three jumped into the door, hitting what felt like an invisible veil of cold water that soaked them to the skin. A static shock crawled along their skin as they fell through darkness for what felt like a mere moment and an eternity at the same time. The ponies landed heavily as the moment passed, falling into the clouds under them, the billowing white surface as soft as marshmallows. “That was worse than I remembered,” Fluttershy shivered. “It’s because things have gotten so bad,” Twilight groaned. “All those clouds fueling the storm are coming from the dream world, and so did that copy of Dash and those monsters she attacked us with. It’s stronger, so the barrier was harder to get through.” “This place is a heck of a lot bigger than it looked,” Applejack muttered, looking up and around them. Unlike the barn, which had stretched like a snake into the distance, Dash’s home instead reached upwards into infinity, columns like a cathedral formed from framework of solid clouds and glowing ice that reached into a dark sky. “It’s infinitely large, in theory,” Twilight said. “But that’s complicated by- well, it’s not important.” She sighed. “The important thing is that we probably have to go up to find her. These things have been pretty straightforward.” “More like straight-upward,” Applejack frowned. “There’s no way you can teleport us the whole distance.” “You’re right about that,” Twilight agreed. The three looked up, as if they were standing at the bottom of a well lined with storm clouds. “There has to be an easier way.” “A mare like Dash wouldn’t throw down a challenge then leave us in the lurch,” Applejack said. “Even if it’s her evil twin or whatever, it’d be a poor imitation if she was just going to leave us here. I’d at least expect some gloating.” “Maybe about how all you little ground-huggers couldn’t keep up with me if your lives depended on it?” asked somepony above them. Applejack rolled her eyes. “That’d be her presently, then.” “More like a bunch of her,” Fluttershy whispered. Twilight and Applejack followed her gaze to where seven ponies looked down at them. Each of them looked like Rainbow Dash, except for three differences. First, each of them was wearing a black and purple uniform with matching yellow goggles that glowed in the eerie light from around them. Second, instead of Rainbow’s signature mane and tail, each had theirs as a single flat color, as if the prismatic mane had been divided up among them. Lastly, they all bore different expressions, some that none of the ponies could ever remember seeing on the pegasus’ face. “So which one of you’s the real fake Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked, frowning. “If you want the boss, she’s a long way above you,” snorted Red angrily. “Just where she belongs,” agreed Indigo calmly. “Dash was always the best pony,” Orange laughed. “And now she’s all ours.” “They came to try and take her away!” Yellow gasped, with an expression of terror. “These three?” Green glanced down at them, raising an eyebrow. “They don’t have a chance.” “Oh, I don’t know,” Violet grinned, batting her eyes at the three. “I think they’re cute.” “Cute or not, they’re no match for…” Blue smiled, posing dramatically. The others joined her with varying amounts of enthusiasm, lining up in a series of poses that made them look equally silly and intimidating. “The Shadowbolts!” They yelled as one. “I’ll bet you twenty bits that Dash practiced those poses in the mirror,” Applejack said flatly. “That’s a sucker bet,” Twilight laughed. “Hey! Don’t think you can take the Shadowbolts lightly!” Red yelled. The mare flew down, landing heavily on all four hooves just to make a bigger sound as she stomped on the cloud. “I can take you on myself. You hear that?” She looked up. “I got first dibs on taking out these dweebs!” “As you wish,” Green shrugged. “But it’s on your own head when you fail.” “Hah. As if.” Red laughed. “So, which one of you am I gonna beat down first?” She grinned and looked between the three mares before Applejack stepped forwards. “Fluttershy, you keep Twilight safe so she can keep resting up for something more important than this little chicken.” Applejack smirked. “I reckon I can take care of her without breaking a sweat.” “You’ll be too busy with a broken neck to worry about a broken… sweat,” Red countered. A few of the Shadowbolts above laughed at her lame joke. Most of them were clearly laughing at her instead of with her. Posing aside, they didn’t seem like they were much for teamwork. “We’ll see,” Applejack said. Masquerade appeared, porcelain mask gleaming in the light. Applejack frowned, touching the necklace around her throat. “Still that darned white color… there must be some way to get that power back that I had before…” “Take this!” Red shouted, charging at Masquerade head first, bowling it over. The two rolled on the ground, Red bucking it with both hooves as she took off again, flapping wildly as she launched into the air with the power of the recoil. Applejack grunted, feeling her ribs bruise from the impact. “That’s disappointing,” Applejack said. “You have a seventh of her hair color, but only a tenth of her strength. The real Rainbow Dash hits a lot harder than that.” “Why you little-“ Red growled, rushing down at her. Masquerade headbutted her as she was going for Applejack, the construct’s mask staying solid while Red’s goggles took the brunt of the blow, a lens cracking. “Seems like you’re just as hard-headed,” Applejack complained, rubbing her forehead. “A blow like that could never stop her,” Blue called out. “Of course not,” Violet yawned. “She doesn’t need anything between her ears. Make sure she doesn’t hurt Applejack. I want to have my way with her once she’s all exhausted~” “I really hope that’s not part of Dash’s subconscious,” Twilight groaned. “If we find out this is all because she’s trying to keep us from finding out she’s a fillyfooler, I’m going to slap her. It’s not like she’s fooling anypony!” “I’m going to tear you apart!” Red screamed, pouncing on Masquerade’s back and bucking her in the back of the head before taking off again to circle around. Applejack winced at the spike of pain, like a dagger of ice between her eyeballs. “Darnit, I need to be faster…” Applejack closed her eyes. She’d had that power before. She just had to remember how to use it. She’d been able to focus before. It was there, just out of reach. She’d needed strength, and she’d had to reach for it and hang on with both hooves. Now she needed to be fast. She could almost taste it. “That’s it!” Applejack gasped, her eyes shooting open. “It exists in my mind! So I have to be able to clearly picture it in my mind. I can’t just want to be fast or strong, I have to be able to picture it so vividly it becomes true!” The white gem that represented the flesh of the bitten apple around her neck gleamed and turned to a bright sapphire blue. Masquerade’s mask smoothed out, flowing and rounding out until it had streamlined fins like a sea serpent, the white surface staining blue. This time, as Red swooped in to attack, Masquerade moved out of the way with all the speed and ease that Applejack could imagine, the farmer having to picture every movement, just as she’d had to feel the force behind the blows before. “She’s using Earth Pony magic,” Twilight muttered. “The same way Eventide was using my spells, and Sky Skimmer uses your pegasus magic. Earth Pony magic is all grounded, about being strong and fast and tough. She’s channeling that through her construct.” Masquerade stomped a hoof on the ground, and a sapling grew from the cloud floor, twisting up into a tree two paces long and only an inch and a half thick. As Red came back around for another pass, she grabbed it in her teeth, pulling it free from the ground. Branches and leaves sheared free from the tree, leaving only a straight rod of living wood. Red didn’t have time to react as she was batted away, the long staff hitting her chin with the combined force of Masquerade’s blow and her own momentum, sending the Shadowbolt into a column to explode into red dust that swirled up to color the clouds. “Not nearly as tough as the real Dash either,” noted Applejack. “She would’ve taken that and come back for more with a smile on her face.” “Right,” Green sighed. “No more playing around. Now that we know your tricks, it should be a simple matter to beat you.” “Will it?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. “Unlike Rainbow Dash I don’t go showing off all my tricks at once. Now we ain’t got all night, so get down here so I can kick your flanks.” “Oh, I hope you do more than just kick it…” Violet grinned, hopping down. “What if we’re not good enough to beat her?” Yellow whispered. Orange cuffed Yellow with a hoof and dragged it down to the ground. “Don’t be stupid.” “I’m sorry about this, but we can’t let you pass,” Indigo added, Blue landing next to her. “I give us better than even odds. We outnumber her and Rainbow Dash was always able to match her in contests,” Blue noted. “Together, then,” Green ordered. “Shadowbolts, rise up and attack!” The six remaining Shadowbolts charged Masquerade, the masked pony jumping into the air and over their attack, slamming the pole down like a spear into Indigo, the Shadowbolt screaming as it exploded into colored dust that joined the clouds, a wind starting to blow around them in an updraft. As Masquerade landed, it spun, sweeping with the rod in its teeth, knocking the rest of the Shadowbolts back. Blue and Orange recovered first, charging at Masquerade from opposite sides. Applejack focused, Masquerade letting go of the wooden rod as its mask changed from blue to red, the gem in Applejack’s amulet shifting to a ruby. Masquerade grabbed Orange by the leg with powerful hooves, swinging her like a new weapon into Blue, both of them collapsing into sparkles as they hit with bone-crushing force. “That’s impossible!” Green spat. “You two, get her!” She looked at Yellow and Violet. “N-no! We can’t win!” Yellow shivered, cowering in fear. Violet just laughed. “Why would I ever want to hurt her, especially after seeing just how strong she is? I want to rub myself all over those muscles~” “Useless!” Green screamed. “You know, Granny Smith said this: ‘Once you know the real thing, you won’t be fooled by an imitation.’” Applejack smiled. “You might look like Dash, but that’s as far as it goes. I told you already that you don’t have what makes her special.” Green flew up, looping and diving back down, the air compressing in front of it. Masquerade looked up and jumped, golden energy crackling from its back hooves as it spun in midair, the topaz apple in Applejack’s necklace lighting up like a torch. There was a violent explosion as the two met, Green’s scream of rage turning into a mere echo of despair as she vanished. Masquerade landed gracefully, twirling like a ballerina, looking away as the green mist faded. “That was amazing, Applejack!” Fluttershy gasped. “I didn’t know earth ponies could do that kind of thing,” Twilight admitted. “It saved us a lot of trouble.” She looked at Yellow and Violet, the two Shadowbolts waiting, neither looking like they were up to continuing the fight. “We still need a way up,” Applejack noted. “I think these two might just be our ticket,” Twilight said, smiling. “Fluttershy can fly as long as she doesn’t have to carry both of us, and they can get us to the top themselves.” “W-why should we help you?!” Yellow squeaked, cowering. “Because if you don’t…” Twilight’s eye gleamed, and Eventide appeared at her side, looking more solidly real here in the ghostspace. Yellow curled up on herself, trying to hide. “Almost reminds me of you on a bad day, Shy,” Applejack snorted. “I’d be perfectly willing to help… as long as I get to carry you~” Violet had managed to sneak up on Applejack, the tip of a hoof running along Applejack’s cutie mark, making the farmer flinch in surprise. “Great!” Twilight smiled. “Now, take us to your leader.” *** “This is extremely uncomfortable,” Applejack mumbled, wishing she could shift away from Violet’s hooves. After careful consideration and a glance down, she decided she’d rather be subtly groped than fall to a certain doom. “We could find somewhere private and get very comfortable~” Violet offered, whispering into her ear with a hot breath. “If you keep doin’ that I’m gonna get outta here even if it means I turn into applesauce at the bottom!” Applejack snapped, her cheeks turning pink. “I’d love to taste your applesauce-“ Violet started, stopping with a laugh as she saw Applejack’s scowling face. “Fine, fine. We’re almost here anyway.” The small group finally reached the top of the well of clouds, the night sky yawning above them, a half-moon shining silver light down from the chaotic swirl of blue and black overhead onto a landscape of clouds. “It’s a map of Equestria!” Twilight gasped. “Look! There’s Neighagra Falls! And Galloping Gorge! That flat spot must be the San Palomino Desert!” “Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked, getting tired. “I have a feeling we’re heading there.” Twilight pointed. There were lights shining from what looked like a real castle hanging on the side of a sheer cliff on a steep mountain range studded with rainbow waterfalls. “Canterlot?” Applejack guessed. “It’s only a model,” Twilight mumbled. “The real castle is at least three times bigger.” “That’s w-where the boss is,” Yellow shivered, almost dropping Twilight. “She’s gonna be really upset…” “You’re just mad you didn’t get to carry Applejack,” Violet teased. “But I suppose Twilight is cute too, and we practically have matching manes…” “No, no, no!” Twilight yelled. “I am not being hit on by a nightmare creature created by the imagination of a mare I barely know! Applejack, no offense, but if she doesn’t stop, I’m blasting her.” “Twilight if she doesn’t stop I’m gonna let you blast her,” Applejack said darkly. “You’re no fun,” Violet sighed. They flew on in silence the rest of the way, the castle looming larger. It didn’t seem as bright as the real castle either. Twilight looked over it carefully, her sharp mind picking out details. The white stone had been either replaced or changed, now a gray like granite, showing black specks and the glimmer of crystals trapped in the mineral. All of the gold details had shifted to a dull silver. Black velvet banners had replaced the flags and emblems of the castle. “Is… is that what it really looks like now?” Twilight whispered, wondering. “At least there aren’t any spikes or skulls,” Applejack said. “But I guess she’s saving the skulls for after we’re all dead of starvation with nothing growing. Plenty to choose from after that.” “Hey, the boss has been busting her flank trying to-“ Yellow started, before Violet interrupted. “You know the boss wants to give the explanations herself,” Violet said, as they circled the castle courtyard before coming in for a landing on the cobblestones. Twilight noted that it wasn’t quite like the real thing, the cobbles too regular, the stone completely seamless. It was the kind of castle somepony who had only seen it a few times might imagine. Not enough to fool a pony who spent her entire childhood living and learning in its corridors. “So where is she?” Applejack demanded, pulling away from Violet as soon as she could. “We’re not leaving without Dash.” “The throne room, of course,” Violet said, leading them. Twilight followed, knowing the way quite well. “Look,” Twilight whispered, pointing at the stained glass windows. “They’re all different.” “They are?” Fluttershy asked. Twilight sighed. Sometimes she forgot that these ponies were just peasants living their lives out in the sticks. “Yes! That one should show Princess Celestia banishing Nightmare Moon. Instead it shows…” Twilight felt herself getting sick. The image had been reversed, Nightmare Moon rearing and standing tall over a fallen Celestia. “I don’t like this,” Applejack mumbled. “Do you think it might be the main mare herself? This is definitely the kind of castle she’d have.” “Behold!” Violet declared, as they got to the huge silver doors to the throne room. The Shadowbolt pushed the door open, revealing the long hall, empty suits of black armor standing where the royal guards should have been. “Well look who it is,” Dash snorted, from where she sat on the throne, glaring at them with draconic eyes. A spotlight shone down on her, leaving the rest of the chamber in gloom. “A whole castle to yourself, huh?” Applejack asked, walking in and looking around at the empty suits of armor. “I didn’t think even Dash’s ego was so big that she thought she’d need a throne.” “We’ll get to that in a minute,” the nightmare copy of Dash said. “You know, if there’s one thing I hate – and I mean really hate – it’s traitors.” She looked at Yellow and Violet. “And you two are definitely that.” “Boss, I was only-“ Yellow started, before lightning roared through the windows, lancing through the two Shadowbolts as they screamed and vanished. “They were more trouble than they were worth,” Nightmare Dash said, yawning. “You really can’t trust anypony these days.” She sat up and looked at the three mares. “So, you’re here to save Rainbow Dash, right? I mean, it’s not like I need to be saved, with my cool cloud castle and stuff.” “That’s nice and all, except for the fact you’re not Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said, eyes narrowed. “You should know by now that you’re wrong,” Dash said, frowning. “You’re an honest pony. Tell me why you’d come here to try and save somepony as pathetic as that!” She pointed, and another light appeared, illuminating a rainbow-maned pony bowing to the black throne. Chains rattled as she shied away from the light, obsidian restraints keeping her prostrate. “R-Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy whispered. “You guys think you’re so cool, going around saving one or two ponies, but you know what?” Nightmare Dash stepped down to run her hoof through Rainbow’s mane. “She saved the whole town! If it wasn’t for her, you’d all be wiped off the map by Nightmare Moon.” “That’s impossible!” Twilight yelled. “Is it?” Nightmare Dash asked. “Nightmare Moon beat Celestia. Celestia could totally turn Ponyville into a crater, right? So Nightmare Moon could do it easily. You gotta ask yourself, why didn’t she? I mean, if you’re such a giant threat to her, Twilight, why doesn’t she just come out here and stomp your head in?” “Well… I…” Twilight hesitated. “Don’t strain your brain too hard, egghead, or you’ll get all scrambled.” Nightmare Dash laughed. “It’s because I saved your flank. You can start thanking me now. The funny thing is, this part of me-“ Nightmare Dash grabbed Rainbow’s mane and pulled hard, lifting her as far as the chains would allow. “She’s mortified by what she did to save you!” “What did she do?” Applejack asked, her eyes going wide. “I wasn’t lying when I said that Nightmare Moon and I have a kind of understanding,” Nightmare Dash said, letting Rainbow go, the pegasus slumping to the ground silently with tears streaming from her eyes. “Rainbow Dash has been helping fight against Nightmare Moon!” Twilight countered. “Sort of,” Nightmare Dash agreed. “Do you know what I did? I pledged my loyalty to her. I flew all the way to Canterlot and begged her to spare Ponyville and all my friends. All those times I was going into dreams with you? I was watching you so I could make reports to her!” She pointed to the black throne. Lightning crashed through the window, an invisible shape casting the shadow of a huge pony across the empty seat. “You’ve been… reporting to her?” Twilight felt her heart freeze in her chest. “That’s right. I hate traitors, Twilight, but it’s what I had to do to keep this place from being wiped off the map!” The Nightmare growled, kicking Rainbow Dash. “I hate myself for it!” “I-I’m not- I wouldn’t-“ Rainbow’s eyes opened, looking frantically between the Nightmare and what little she could see of her friends over her shoulder. “I didn’t! She’s just lying to you! Hurry up and blast her with magic or something!” “It’s not a lie!” Nightmare Dash snarled, tearing Rainbow free of the floor, holding her nose to nose so they were looking into each other’s eyes. “I bowed to Nightmare Moon and offered her everything I was. I sold out my friends for safety and power. And I’d do it again!” “That’s not true!” Rainbow shouted. “You’re wrong! You’re not me!” “You idiot,” Twilight sighed, as the Nightmare started glowing and changing, tossing Dash aside as it went wild. “You’ve seen this twice before and instead of doing anything smart you make sure it turns into a fight.” “When it happened to me it felt like… I couldn’t stop the words,” Fluttershy whispered. “Like they were forced out of me,” Applejack agreed. “I mean, you must have felt something like that when you got Eventide, right?” “Huh?” Twilight frowned. “No, it was… it was different.” Twilight worried about that for a moment before shaking her head and dispelling the fear. So what if it was different? That was just because she didn’t have anything important to hide. She wasn’t afraid to face herself. The only enemy in her dream had been Nightmare Moon herself. It was probably why she’d been chosen in the first place. It made sense to her. She was special, after all. Much more important than the other ponies in this two-bit town. Applejack stepped back. “No time to argue,” she said. Nightmare Dash floated into the air, wings extending as they flapped, her whole shape smoothing out, back legs merging into a long whiplike abdomen like a dragonfly, a bone helmet with a long spike like a unicorn’s horn appearing over her face. Her coat was replaced with a silvery skin, and she looked almost more like a sea creature than anything that belonged in the air. “I’ll show you guys how awesome I can be when I’m not holding anything back,” Nightmare Dash said, her voice echoing and amplified as if by a spell. “First thing’s first – we’re gonna take this outside!” Nightmare Dash flapped her huge wings, which were continuing to grow even as they watched, sending a hurricane-force burst of wind through the hall, throwing the ponies in the throne room out through the windows, the panes shattering into frost and snowflakes instead of glass. “I hate flying!” Applejack yelled, looking at the approaching cobblestones. “Come on,” Twilight whispered. “I can make this work!” Eventide appeared between the falling mares, her ethereal wings hanging open. A magenta bubble surrounded them, and the fall suddenly slowed, like the air had turned into molasses. “I knew you just needed a little rest,” Fluttershy smiled, as they touched down safely, the bubble persisting until all of them had all four hooves on the ground. “Of course,” Twilight said, letting out a breath that she’d been holding. When she continued, she sounded more sure of herself. “I mean, obviously I could do it. A simple spell like that is no big deal for Celestia’s personal student!” “Keep goin’ and next time we can just use your ego to cushion our fall,” Applejack snorted. Above them, the wall of the castle exploded as the Nightmare burst free like a butterfly being born from a cocoon, wings spreading wider and wider until it wasn’t even clear if they’d fit in the courtyard. “This isn’t the time to argue with each other!” Fluttershy said firmly, looking at Applejack. “We need to get Rainbow Dash out of here!” “What does it even matter?” Dash mumbled, face down in the dirt and not even trying to get up, her whole body limp. “My life is over…” “The only way we can get her out of here safely is to beat that thing!” Twilight pointed at the circling nightmare. “If we separate them again, the storm outside is going to get worse and worse until… well, I don’t know if it’ll ever stop getting worse, but eventually it’s going to be bad enough that we won’t even be around to complain about it.” “Can it get that bad?” Applejack asked, quietly. “Pegasai call it Heavy Weather,” Fluttershy whispered. They could hear the capitals. “I-it’s an old legend about how the world would end. A storm that never stops growing, like a tornado covering the world, filled with lightning and razor hail and…” She meeped and hid her face, her story even scaring herself. “Here I come!” the Nightmare shouted, the words rumbling like thunder. It turned and banked towards them, a contrail of dark storm clouds behind it. As it dove towards the courtyard, a white cone of condensation formed in front of it. “I’ve never seen anything that fa-” Twilight started before she was cut off as the warped pegasus rushed past. For a moment she thought it had simply missed, but then a crack like the loudest whip in the world shattered the air around her, a shockwave forcing her to her knees. The contrail of dark stormcloud hung just overhead before it exploded into lightning, bolts raining down around them, Twilight feeling her mane stand on end as a painful, burning shock washed through her body. “W-what in the hay was that?!” Applejack yelled, swaying unsteadily as she tried to stand. Her voice was distant and hard to hear over the ringing in Twilight’s ears. The whole castle felt like it was tilting this way and that. Rainbow Dash whispered something that Twilight couldn’t hear. She narrowed her eyes, trying to focus and read her lips. “Sonic boom?” Twilight guessed. “It… broke the sound barrier? That’s impossible! The only time it was done in living history was over a decade ago, and nopony even knows who did it!” “It was Dash,” Fluttershy said, recovering more quickly than the others. “It was a long time ago, but-“ “But nothing!” Twilight shouted, barely able to hear her own voice. “She would have been a filly, and that makes it even more impossible!” “She’s comin’ around again!” Applejack warned. Fluttershy bit her lip, Sky Skimmer appearing and flying up to intercept the Nightmare, a wall of butterflies spreading out to hold her back. The Nightmare laughed as it slammed right through, the butterflies shattering and Sky Skimmer flying away with enough force that Fluttershy was sent tumbling into the stone wall behind her, the breath knocked out of her lungs. The shockwave of her passage slammed Twilight into the ground again, the contrail bursting a moment later into shards of ice that rained down like falling razorblades. Eventide managed to shield Twilight, but Applejack took a nasty cut across her neck as Masquerade failed to block all of the hail with its spinning staff, blood dripping down in a steady stream. Fluttershy was ironically protected against it by an overhang of the wall she’d been forced into. Rainbow Dash was either incredibly lucky or the Nightmare was intentionally avoiding hurting her, the razor hail missing her entirely. “There has to be a way to fight it!” Twilight backed up to the wall, ignoring Fluttershy as the pegasus slowly got up. “Maybe I can use my magic to throw Applejack at her…” “Forgive me if I’m not a huge fan of that idea!” Applejack yelled, holding her scarf to the cut on her neck to control the bleeding, the white fabric staining red. “If you’ve got a better idea I’d love to hear it!” Twilight shouted. Eventide’s horn started to glow as she readied a blast of force. Most of her spells were just too slow to use against the Nightmare, the copy of Rainbow Dash moving faster than Twilight could even think. “I have half of one!” Applejack said, galloping towards a set of stairs leading up to the top of the wall around the courtyard. “Something moving that quickly can’t make a turn without tearing itself apart! Dash told me once trying to turn at high speed is like hoof-wrestling with a bison!” Applejack looked out across the cloudy landscape of the miniature Equestria, watching as the Nightmare banked and came in low again, speed building as she dove. Masquerade’s mask shifted and turned blue as a wooden rod grew next to her, the construct grabbing it to brandish the weapon. She needed to have absolutely perfect timing. Masquerade jumped into the air. At the same time, Eventide released the wave of force that it had been building up, shoving the Nightmare’s wake back and slowing it as it rushed towards them, the cone of effect just barely missing Masquerade. Twilight’s eyes went wide as she realized the long horn on the Nightmare’s mask was pointed right at Eventide’s heart, and she was never going to get away in time. Masquerade brought her staff down on the Nightmare’s wing with a satisfying crack, the hardened edge of the limb cracking. The Nightmare started to spin in midair, the edges of the crack peeling in the face of the strong wind and wave of magical force from Eventide, armor ripping free. The spin moved the horn away from Eventide’s heart, just barely deflecting it in those last few paces. Twilight screamed as the construct’s left shoulder was pierced, a deep wound opening on Twilight’s body. The horn snapped off of the Nightmare’s mask, remaining embedded in Eventide as the wounded construct fell to the cobblestones. The Nightmare screamed and flipped in midair, out of control, before slamming into the castle backwards, going through the stone wall. “That was almost like teamwork. Think I cracked a molar, though. Nice work, Twilight.” Applejack turned. “Twilight? Twilight!” She rushed over to the fallen unicorn, Twilight scrabbling in a panic at the cobblestones and unable to stand, her left foreleg totally limp. “It’s bad! It’s really bad!” Twilight gasped. “I’m in shock, so I can’t feel it yet, but when I do I’m probably going to do a lot of screaming and passing out! You have to- you have to do something! I can’t remember what! I read it once but…” Twilight whimpered. “I can’t remember! Everything’s so…” she started to hyperventilate. “Okay, we just have to…” Applejack swallowed, thinking. “We need to put pressure on it and get you to the darn hospital is what we need to do.” “Maybe I can do something,” Fluttershy said, limping over with one wing hanging at her side, the other spread wide for balance. “I’ve taken care of animals that were hurt like this after they were attacked by predators, and… I feel like Sky Skimmer might be able to do something.” “At least try to calm her down and keep her safe until I can make sure we’re well out of this and done,” Applejack whispered. “I got a bad feeling that one hit isn’t gonna be enough to finish off a pony as stubborn as Dash and twice as crazy.” She looked over at Rainbow Dash, who had curled into herself, sobbing in a tight ball. “I’ll take care of her too,” Fluttershy said, smiling bravely. Applejack nodded her thanks and bolted for where the Nightmare had slammed into the castle, the dust still clearing. “If you have any sense in that stupid head of yours, you’ll stay down,” Applejack warned, as she looked up at the hole in the high wall. The screech from within was more like a giant bird of prey than any sound a pony could produce. “I’m going to assume that means no.” Applejack sighed, smirking a little as the rubble shifted and the Nightmare emerged. It was definitely worse for wear, the silvery skin ripped and torn, cyan feathers dripping from the rifts like a torn pillow losing its stuffing. It spread its wings wide, the wall shattering as it broke free, shattered stone falling around Applejack, Masquerade batting a few chunks aside with her staff. “I’ll show you what I can really do!” Nightmare Dash screamed. She launched into the air, trailing a sickly rainbow of flames, the colors washed out and corrupted. She circled the courtyard, keeping her altitude too high for any of the ponies below to reach her. “What’s she planning?” Applejack muttered, watching. The Nightmare picked up speed, a strong updraft starting to grow in strength. The cloud landscape around them distorted, being drawn up into a growing cyclone, the courtyard in the center as walls of mist built up into the night sky. Thunder rumbled as lightning jumped from one side to the other. “Maybe Nightmare Moon will give me a bonus for this!” Nightmare Dash shouted, the voice coming from all directions as she circled with the winds. “After all, I’m her most loyal servant, aren’t I?” A fish fell out of the sky, landing next to Applejack. She did a double take, her brain not registering it the first time. Another joined it, then more as it picked up. “What…” Applejack whispered, confused. “A rain of animals…” Twilight groaned, trying to get up. “It’s extremely rare." “That ain't possible,” Applejack said. “Fish don't just fall from the sky!” “There have been recorded events in dozens of places,” Twilight said, wincing as a minnow bounced off of her nose. “It's not normal weather, but nothing about this is normal!” She held a her injured leg above the ground, unable to put weight onto it. Applejack knocked a large salmon out of the way. “Twilight I think they're getting bigger!” Her eyes went wide as she looked into the descending maw of a shark, rows of razor-sharp teeth glinting in the light. Masquerade jumped to buck it aside, the shark exploding into motes of light and mist as the blow connected. “They're not real?” Fluttershy asked, looking down at a trout she was trying to give CPR to. The fish dissolved away as she stopped. “Of course not,” Twilight snorted, as if magically created fish falling out of the sky only to shatter into dust was the most obvious thing in the world. “They're just part of the dream, like everything else around here.” Applejack frowned, ignoring the unicorn and focused on the Nightmare circling above. Twilight focused and the wounded Eventide appeared at her side, firing a wave of telekinetic force upwards. The fish raining down were shoved back upwards into the storm, colliding with each other and exploding into a rain of sparkling dust. “We have to find some way to get to her!” Twilight yelled, trying to be heard over the wind. She tried to stand and gasped at the pain, Eventide dissolving again. Fluttershy supported her, helping Twilight up and letting her lean onto her side, bearing most of the unicorn’s weight. “Fluttershy, you can fly! Get up there and find some way to bring her down!” Applejack shouted. Her scarf whipped around her, almost entirely red now from the trickle of blood leeching into the fabric. “I can’t fly in a storm like this!” Fluttershy protested. “My wings would get torn off! And I don’t think Sky Skimmer can get that far away from me…” She reached out with a hoof and the construct appeared, flying up and halting only a dozen paces away, apparently unable to go further. “Great,” Twilight groaned. “Fine, plan B. I throw Applejack at her.” “No offense, Twilight, but let’s head down to plan C,” Applejack said. Masquerade shifted to her blue-masked, faster form, the staff appearing in front of her just in time to deflect a barracuda flying towards her head. “In fact, I think I just got an idea. It’s gonna be just like bucking apples into baskets. I just need to be accurate…” The staff fell from Masquerade’s mouth as her mask changed again, shifting all to one side in a sweep like a wave, leaving only a domino mask on one side and the other a delicate webbing like a butterfly web reaching up to her ear and along the edge to end in a point. A horrible-looking deep sea fish - all teeth and gelatinous flesh and fins – fell down towards Masquerade. It was almost a sphere, bloated and black with smooth skin like an eel. Applejack looked up at where the Nightmare was flying in a spiral at dizzying speed, Masquerade following her gaze with the calculating vision of a machine. It moved, turning and kicking with one hoof. The fish was sent skywards, a horseshoe imprinted in its soft flesh as it flew against the wind in a swift, tight arc, impacting on the roaring Nightmare as she flew through the typhoon. The fish exploded into sparks like the rest, the force of the impact knocking the Nightmare off course for a moment. The winds slowed as it started to drop down. “Hey! Do you know who you’re messing with?!” The Nightmare yelled down, wings trailing smoke and lightning as it struggled to regain altitude. “Yeah. A cheap copy of one of my best friends,” Applejack said. “You make it out like she just betrayed us like it was nothing, but I know it had to be the hardest thing she ever did!” Masquerade stomped on the ground, a ripple of golden energy surging in a ripple like a stone dropping into a pond. A tree grew to hang above her, curved and crooked with one strong branch. “Watch out!” Twilight yelled, as lightning crashed down around them from the Nightmare’s cloud seeding, the bolts surging along the ground as if being drawn to Applejack with magnets. Eventide appeared above her, a segmented shield wrapping itself around them. The electricity crackled along the edges, the shield crackling and starting to buckle under the strain. “We have to ground it!” Fluttershy yelled. Sky Skimmer rushed out, wings glowing blue. A spire of ice shot up into the air, the lightning curving towards it through the wet air and impacting the growing ice, blasting it apart. “Hope you’re ready for this one,” Applejack said, as the tree in front of Masquerade bloomed, a perfect golden apple forming on the curved branch. It swelled up, sparks running along its skin. Masquerade watched the Nightmare intently, waiting for the perfect moment. “Applejack!” Twilight yelled. “If you’re gonna do something, do it now!” “A farmer has to know the right time for the harvest,” Applejack said. She could feel it coming. “Just a few more seconds…” The Nightmare came screaming around the curve towards them, banking up and turning, exposing its underside. The fruit fell from the tree in front of Masquerade, the tree dissolving into sparks even as the golden apple fell. Masquerade bucked the falling fruit, hooves trailing sparks of green and gold. A ripple of power surged out from the blow, and the apple was sent skyward like a cannon shot. The Nightmare hadn’t even been watching, too busy with its maneuvering. The golden apple impacted against its body, right in the sternum. There was an explosion of hot, metallic sparks, like fireworks going off. The winds were torn apart as the Nightmare spiraled towards the cobblestones, completely out of control, its wings shredded and body broken. It impacted with a dull, rumbling thud, smashing through a wall and digging out a trench as it skidded across the ground to a halt, smoking and steaming like a broken machine, a trail of bloody blue feathers behind it. “Gotcha,” Applejack said. “Easy with all the practice I had bucking the real Dash out of my trees.” “Is it over?” Fluttershy asked. The broken form of the Nightmare suddenly reared up, knocking the stone and debris from its body as it spread its wings. “I won’t let it be over!” The Nightmare struggled to get up with only two legs, tail limply trailing behind it. “I can’t let you win! I gave up everything!” “It’s already over…” Rainbow Dash said, finally speaking up. She didn’t move from where she was lying. “It was over the second you opened your stupid mouth and told them.” “So you really were working for Nightmare Moon, weren’t you?” Twilight asked. “I don’t understand… why would you do that? She’s going to kill all of us with this stupid eternal night!” “Because if I didn’t, she was going to destroy Ponyville!” Dash shouted. “After you screwed up trying to stop her, I went all the way to Canterlot to fight her myself! And you know what happened? There’s no big resistance, no army rising up against her. She threw everypony that could stop her in the dungeons and let everypony know that the first town to rise up against her was going to burn with everypony still in it.” “That’s not…” Twilight paled. “She’s not ignoring us because she doesn’t think we’re a threat,” Dash said. “She’s ignoring us because it’s the deal I made! I tried to keep us safe! I told her I’d do whatever she wanted as long as she spared us!” Dash wiped at her eyes, trying to hide her tears by looking away from the others. “Granny Smith always said that somepony who steals has lost something even more important,” Applejack said quietly. “You lost your pride, Dash. What, didn’t you think we could protect ourselves?” “We can’t!” Dash yelled, standing up. “We had a shoot at Nightmare Moon and all we did was run away! If she came here and was serious about it, she’d take us out so fast even I couldn’t get away from it! I thought – I thought it was the only way to keep everypony safe.” She looked down, tears freely falling from her face now. “I didn’t want anypony to die because of me.” The Nightmare version of Dash collapsed at her words, struggling to breathe. “I just… I thought if I did what she wanted… I could keep Scootaloo safe…” “She doesn’t have anypony else,” Dash whispered. “And I saw what the Nightmare was willing to do to ponies.” “Dash, if we don’t stop her, we’re not going to make it,” Twilight stated firmly. “I know. I was just running away from the truth,” Dash said, ears flat. “I wanted to just keep moving, like if I didn’t think too hard it would be okay. It’s all I could do, and every time I stopped to think about it, I felt worse and worse. I didn’t think it would matter if I was telling her everything you were doing, since it was better than you dying. Then I was spending time with Applejack and… it started to hurt too much. She’s been working and sacrificing so much, and here I am stealing from her and working for the mare that ruined everything. I tried to quit and… things went bad.” “They were already bad,” Nightmare Dash whispered. “I was stalling and I didn’t have a way to recover from it.” “I’m sorry,” both Dashes said, at the same time. Rainbow continued. “I’m an idiot. I betrayed everypony. She’s just… she’s the part of me that said yes when Nightmare Moon made that offer. I pretended like I didn’t care about anything except keeping Ponyville safe, but part of me still thought that if I did a good job and impressed her, maybe it would mean something. Like I could still be important and special.” “Dash you’ve never been anything but important and special,” Applejack said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “You’re not my best friend because you’re the fastest flyer in Equestria or a future Wonderbolt, you’re my best friend because of what’s in here.” She touched Dash’s chest. “You’re loyal to a fault. You made a mistake about how to keep ponies safe, but your heart was in the right place. I promise we’re gonna make this right, and we’re gonna stop her before she can do anything to Scootaloo.” “I-“ Dash sniffled, unable to continue. “Also, if you do anything this stupid again, I’m gonna buck you so hard you can make your next report to Nightmare Moon in person when she gets banished again.” Applejack’s kind smile turned into a smirk. Dash mirrored her expression, the small joke helping her a little. “Thanks,” Dash whispered. The Nightmare version of her finally started to break apart entirely, the metallic skin rusting and turning to dust as feathers spilled out in a pile, until there was nothing left but sky blue-feathers that were quickly taken by a gust of wind, twirling in a tight tornado and shifting color from blue to a soft pink. A bolt of blue lightning crashed out of the now-clear sky through the feathers, the stars above vanishing as the midnight black was replaced with sunshine. “Woah…” Dash whispered, as she looked at what had been revealed. A pink pony, with jagged stripes of blue like a zebra pattern of lightning bolts. She extended her wings, two pairs growing from her back like feathered dragonfly wings. Feathers replaced her fur in patches, like freckles on her cheeks and a long plume down her spine where her mane should have been, the ruffled feathers the same sky blue as Dash’s, with the tips fading to navy blue. Her rear half was almost as strange as her front, an odd combination of feline and insectile features, clawed paws armored in blue and pink chitin and a long leonine tail tipped with a bulbous segmented thorax as big as her head that was glowing with a green-yellow light from within. Red lightning crackled around Dash’s neck, a necklace ringing her throat as the light faded away, the ruby at the center gleaming with internal light. “Firefly,” Dash said, looking up at the construct. “That’s her name.” “Great,” Twilight said, frowning. “Now can we please get out of here? I’d really like to get medical attention for this giant hole in my shoulder!” She started hyperventilating. “Maybe, if we’re lucky, the next time this happens the pony will be willing to just deal with their personal problems without us having to beat them into submission!” “Twilight, calm down…” Fluttershy said, putting her hooves on the unicorn’s shoulders. “You lost a lot of blood. You have to take deep breaths and relax, or else you’re going to-” Twilight’s eyes rolled up and she fell over, Fluttershy catching her. “…pass out. I was going to say pass out.” Fluttershy sighed. “Can somepony help me carry her?”