Chapter 5
Training
(Heroes' POV)
(Sweet Apple Acres)
The heroes and Nightmare Moon were all gathered in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres.
Lightning activated the 3D projector of the planet, "We're here." She said pointing at a flashing red dot.
"And that is where the first portal is going to be created." Hikari said pointing at a small flashing black dot, "However, when we saw the site, we saw at least 10 beefy guards, 4 mage looking guys, and a lot of normal soldiers."
"We can take them. C'mon guys. Let's go." Sonic said about to run out the barn doors, but was stopped by an unknown force, "What?"
Nightmare Moon shook her head, "None of you are ready yet."
"What? Why not?" Silver asked.
"It's not called the Nightmare Kingdom for nothing." Nightmare Moon said, "Before you encounter anymore Nightmare Soldiers, you must train yourselves to face your worst nightmares. Or the soldiers will use it against you."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Shadow asked.
Nightmare Moon smirked and looked at Sonic.
Sonic's eyes widened, "Oh no. No no no. I'm not going to be the first one."
Nightmare Moon then turned into dark blue mist and began to fly towards Sonic.
"Ah!" Sonic said running away from Nightmare Moon.
"Come back here, Sonic. You must be trained to face your nightmares." Nightmare Moon said getting closer to Sonic.
Shadow saw Sonic running towards his direction. He began to whistle and stuck his foot out.
Sonic didn't see Shadow's foot and tripped on it, "Whaaa!"
Nightmare Moon then entered Sonic's head.
Sonic's eyes then widened in fear, "NO!"
(Sonic's Nightmare)
(Play Breaking Benjamin - Angels Fall)
Sonic was falling out of the sky, again, "Why does this always have to happen!?" Sonic whined as his face was buried into the ground.
Sonic pulled his face out of the ground, and then shook the dirt out of his face, "Uhg. I hate it when that happened." Then Sonic noticed he was a Hedgehog, "I'm back in Mobius?"
"Sonic!" Rainbow Dash's voice called out.
"Rainbow!" Sonic yelled running towards the sound of Rainbow's voice.
When Sonic got to the place he heard Rainbow's voice, he gasped.
Rainbow was being held by her throat by Metal Sonic.
"Why hello, Sonic." Eggman said in his Eggmobile, "Look what we caught today."
"Sonic. Help...me." Rainbow said reaching her hand out towards Sonic.
"Rainbow!" Sonic shouted, but when he took a step, Eggman stopped him.
"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you." Eggman said, "Otherwise, your precious girlfriend's windpipe will be crushed in Metal's hands."
Sonic gasped, "Don't do it Eggman."
"If you want her to live, then you must first give me the Chaos Emeralds." Eggman said holding out his hands.
Sonic's eyes widened.
"Don't do it, Sonic. Save yourself." Rainbow choked.
Then a voice spoke in his head, "This is it. When you either conquer your fear, or it conquers you." Nightmare Moon's voice said.
Sonic's head began throbbing, "If I don't hand him the Chaos Emeralds, then he'll kill Rainbow." Sonic thought looking at Metal, "But if I do give him the Chaos Emeralds, then he'll take over the world."
"Time's a wasting, Sonic, hurry up before I have Metal kill her now." Eggman said, "I am surprised that you picked her to be yours. She can hardly defend herself."
That's when Sonic's eyes widened, 'This isn't real. Rainbow is 100% capable of defending herself.' Sonic then smiled, "I won't give you the Chaos Emeralds. I don't fear this anymore, because I know Rainbow is capable of taking care of herself."
Then Rainbow's body began to glow, then she smiled. She kicked Metal Sonic's core, causing him to let Rainbow go.
Rainbow then jumped back next to Sonic, "Great work, Sonic. You conquered your worst nightmare"
Then everything began to blur and fade away.
(Real World)
Sonic woke with a start, "Whoa."
Everyone was gathered around Sonic, staring at him.
Then a blue mist slipped out of Sonic's head and reformed into Nightmare Moon, who looked semi-tired.
"Great work, Sonic. You did it." Nightmare Moon said, then she looked at the others, "I can only do one more, then I have to wait for a while. Who will it be?"
"I will." Rainbow said stepping forward.
Nightmare Moon nodded and turned into the blue mist, "Lie down and relax."
Rainbow lied down and closed her eyes.
Nightmare Moon then entered Rainbow's head.
Rainbow gasped in horror, "Gah!"
(Rainbow's Nightmare)
Rainbow was lying in her bedroom, "Huh? Where am I? Wait a minute. Why am I in my room?"
Then Rainbow noticed her bureau was different. All the things she had gotten from Sonic, weren't there anymore. The photo of her and Sonic at their first dance was smashed and ripped.
"What's going on?" Rainbow said getting up out of her bed.
Rainbow walked downstairs and saw Dark and Sunset sitting at the table on opposite sides, but they didn't look too happy.
"Hey guys." Rainbow said to the two.
Dark only growled at Rainbow.
Sunset said nothing.
"What wrong with you two?" Rainbow asked.
"You are my problem. So much for being loyal to your friends." Dark said, "You weren't there when we needed you, Rainbow. It's no wonder Sonic is leaving you."
"Wait what!?" Rainbow shouted in shock.
"Don't act surprised, Dash. Of all of us, you hurt Sonic the most." Sunset said.
Rainbow didn't understand, "Where is Sonic now?"
"Probably heading over to see Spitfire. At least she is more loyal to her friends." Dark growled.
"Spitfire! Not her!" Rainbow said running out the door.
Rainbow ran through the city, trying to find Sonic.
Then she saw them. Sonic and Spitfire were taking a walk through the park, holding each other's hands.
"No. It can't be." Rainbow said as tears formed in her eyes.
Spitfire then looked over and saw Rainbow. She said something to Sonic, and he turned towards Rainbow.
Sonic and Spitfire walked over to Rainbow, who was still tearing.
"What do you want?" Sonic half growled.
Rainbow began to cower in fear, "What happened? What did I do?"
"Hmph. How many times do we need to tell you this story?" Sonic said, "Because you weren't there when we needed you to fight Mephiles, Shadow ended up losing his memories, Silver ended up in the hospital, and Ace has been missing." Sonic glared at Rainbow, "You never cared for any of us ever. So I don't want to be with you anymore."
Rainbow's eyes became puffy and she began to cry.
Then she heard a voice in her head, "It is time. You either conquer your fear, or it conquers you." Nightmare Moon's voice said.
Rainbow then thought to herself, 'I clearly can't have Sonic anymore. But I should be happy for him right? If he's happy, then I should be happy.' Then Rainbow smiled, "I just wanted to say congratulations to Spitfire. She is a true and better friend for Sonic. I'm just happy if Sonic's happy."
Just as Rainbow began to turn, Sonic and Spitfire began to glow. Sonic then smiled and walked over to Rainbow, grabbed her hand, and then gave her a kiss, "I will never abandon you again."
Rainbow smiled and cried into Sonic's chest.
"Congratulations, Rainbow Dash, you have conquered your worst nightmare." Spitfire said.
Then everything began to blur and fade.
(Real World)
Rainbow woke up, her eyes felt puffy.
"You ok sugar cube?" Applejack asked, "You were bawling like I've never seen."
Rainbow rubbed her eyes, "Yeah I'm fine, AJ."
Nightmare Moon's mist slipped out of Rainbow's head and reformed back to her human form. She now was looking more tired than before, "Congratulations. Sonic… Rainbow… you two are ready to face the Nightmare Warriors guarding the first Nightmare Portal."
Sonic and Rainbow looked at each other and nodded.
"But what about the rest of us?" Silver asked.
"I told you, I can only do two a day. At night, my powers will begin to regenerate." Nightmare Moon said, "But now my powers must rest." Then her eyes began to droop and she began to turn into blue mist.
"But…" Dark began, but was stopped by Sonic.
"Let her sleep." Sonic said, "Let's get ready to storm that portal."
"No, the only people capable of going there are Sonic and Rainbow Dash." Hikari said, "The Nightmare Warriors will use our nightmares against us. Only Sonic and Dash are prepared for that. So they will attack the first portal."
"YES!" Lightning suddenly cheered, causing the others to stare at her, "Sorry. But I found the next portal!"
"Sweet. But like I said, only Sonic and Rainbow can fight the Nightmare Warriors right now. Until who knows when." Hikari said.
"For now, we'll worry about only the first portal." Sonic said, "Let's go, Dash." Then he picked up Rainbow and dashed off to the first portal location.
"Wait! I need to give you these." Lightning said, but too late, the two were already gone.
"What was it you needed to give them?" Shadow asked.
"I needed to give them trackers, but I guess I can just use my spy hawk." Lightning said tapping a few buttons on her wrist control-panel.
A robotic hawk flew in and landed on Lightning's arm. She pointed at the trail of dust Sonic left. Then the hawk flew off in that direction.
"Let the Night Wars begin." Twilight said as the sun began to set, and night began to rise.