//------------------------------// // 5.11 - Face Your Fear - Adventure; No Spoilers // Story: Pony Stories: Season 5 // by lunabrony //------------------------------// "It's really nice of you to let us come explore your castle with you, Twilight." Twilight Sparkle was leading a little expedition down the hallways of Friendship Castle, with Rarity and Rainbow Dash following along behind her. Although the castle had stood for quite awhile now, it was an enormous construction, and none of them had ever really fully explored it. There were rooms upon rooms that none of them knew what they were for, and exploring the monstrosity was not a small task. "How about this one?" Rainbow asked, gesturing to a large door on the right with a white skull for a handle. Rarity shivered. "Ugh, how tacky. How about no?" She asked. "Nothing good could possibly be behind that door. Look at that handle, it's disgusting. I won't even touch it. I won't!" She stuck her nose up. "Fine, then I will," Rainbow said, turning the skull handle. "This is Twilights Friendship Castle, there can't be anything dangerous in here." She swung the door open, and all three of them peered inside. The room was empty, except for a giant wardrobe at the back of the room, made of some dark red sort of wood paneling. "Oh, a closet!" Rarity exclaimed, suddenly forgetting about the handle and darting inside. "A closet means clothes, maybe I'll just take a peek." She trotted forward to the wardrobe, in the lead now, and flung open the closet doors. There was a sudden rush of wind that slammed the main door closed behind them. The wardrobe was filled with nothing but perfect darkness, and booming laughter came from within. A pair of red eyes glowed out at them, and then the room slowly filled with a thick black smoke in the shape of a giant horse, its red eyes flickering and smoking hooves prancing and kicking at the air. "Oh, no," Twilight said. "I've heard about this! It's a NightMare!" "What haven't you heard about?" Rainbow asked. "NightMare's are really rare," Twilight said. "But they cause hallucinations and visions of your worst fears!" "Pfft," Rainbow said. "Bring it on. I'm not scared of anything." That was a good thing, then, because the NightMare shrieked loudly, rushing down to grab at them in its tendrils of smoke, and all three of them were pulled forward into the closet. The doors slammed shut with a loud clattering. --- The trio woke up in an almost completely dark room, the only light coming down from a single bulb that hung from the ceiling. There were no visible walls, the room seemed to stretch into infinity. "Okay, egghead, what now?" Rainbow asked, looking around. "Do we fight this thing or what?" "You can't fight a NightMare," Twilight said. "And I'm not an egghead! We step into the light, face our fears, and it lets us go. It's supposed to be therapeutic." "Well then," Rarity said. "I shall be the lady and advance first. After all, what's the worst it could possibly do?" She stepped forward into the light, and the glare of the bulb blazed down on her. The air in the room became hazy and distorted, as if gazing through a heat wave, and suddenly the walls of the Boutique popped up around them. An exact replica, supposedly, except that the walls were now painted a stunningly bright, neon orange. Rarity twitched. "What is this?!" She exclaimed. "No! This is not acceptable!" "Rarity, it's just a mirage," Twilight began. "It's not-" "UNACCEPTABLE!" Rarity screamed again. The vision continued to get worse, with clothing now appearing on all three mares, splattered with multi colored polka dots. Rarity shrieked so loudly that Twilight felt her ears ring, and Rainbow Dash leaped forward, shoving Rarity out of the way and taking her place under the light. The walls and clothing evaporated immediately, and nothing else took their place. "See, told you." She grinned. "I'm not afraid of anything." She took a step forward, and something crunched under her hoof. She blinked, and looked down. "Is that an envelope?" Rarity asked. "Yeah..." Rainbow sounded hesitant. "But why? I'm not scared of envelopes." "Open it," Twilight said. Rainbow Dash did open it, pulled out several papers, and looked down at them. Her eyes scanned the contents, growing wider and wider as she read, her face getting paler and losing color. Her legs looked rubbery, and she sat down on her hindquarters with a heavy thump. She said nothing but made a choking noise, tears spilling down over her face. Rarity reached for the papers, but Rainbow snatched them away. "What is-" "Nothing! It's nothing!" Twilight teleported the notes out of Rainbow's grip into her own vision, and Rainbow Dash lunged for her. "No, don't! It's nothing!" "Your application for the approval of the adoption of court case #13817 Name: SCOOTALOO has been reviewed following investigative procedures and unfortunately has been denied. Being as though you are a single mare with no reliable source of income, it is inadvisable at this time for adoptive proceedings to continue," Twilight read. She put the papers down. "Rainbow Dash, you never said..." "It's none of your business," Rainbow huffed, and crossed her forelegs, looking away. Twilight put the papers back in the envelope, and glanced at Rarity, who shrugged, before stepping forward into the light. The envelope faded out of existence, and the wavering mist began again as something new appeared down between Twilight's front legs. Twilight looked down, paled at once, and let out a terrified shriek, before teleporting several feet away and galloping full speed into the darkness. Rainbow Dash and Rarity both looked down at what had caused such a reaction in their friend, and exchanged a confused glance. "Is that a quesadilla?" Rarity asked. "She's weird," Rainbow said.