//------------------------------// // Chapter Eight // Story: The Terror of Nightmare Night // by Vanilla Mocha //------------------------------// The group of friends stared at Eclipse in awe, wondering why he threw the Thaumaturgy Gemstone at the mirror Vanilla Mocha was trapped inside of. The red stone lay on the ground, shattered. The mirror, which was underneath the broken amulet, had a long crack running all the way across it, with broken shards of glass sitting beside it. The Terror sat up, and her jaw dropped when she saw what had happened. Minutes of silence passed. "Uhm... Eclipse? What in Tartarus did you do?!" Shadow Wing asked, doing his best to keep in his anger. "Frost was right." "What?" Shadow asked again. Paradise trotted over to The Terror. "I think I know what he's doing," she said as she stuck her hoof out. Smiling, she extended it even closer to The Terror. The Terror looked up at Paradise Oasis. Taking hold of her hoof, she stood up. As The Terror stood up, Paradise said, "He's befriending The Terror. The mirror is a dark, dank prison. Nothing that should be kept." The Terror was completely standing, but she appeared different than before. Instead of being Celestia-alicorn height, she was the size of a normal pony. Her dark green eyes did not glow at all. She seemed powerless... She seemed normal. Galaxy trotted over, Charming Thunder behind him. Breeze flew beside Thunder, and the three ponies looked down at the mirror. "How do we get Vanilla back?" Quillton asked, trotting up beside them. "I don't know..." Thunder replied. "I do." The Terror's quiet voice said. Everypony turned to face her. Glancing at the ground, and then back up at the group, she said, "The only way t-to get her back is to retrieve her from the mirror... And... Well, the Thuamaturgy Gemstone contained the magic allowing time-space transportation. See, my plan... It was so perfect..." She sighed and hung her head low. "Well, if we're going through space and time, count me in!" Galaxy smiled. "But, how's that possible?" Tacitus asked. The Terror looked up. Sighing again, she replied, "I was building my own... World, if you would. An alternate place of existence, that I'd send all my desired subjects. The scariest place, saddest place... A place of hopelessness and fear. Maybe then the hole in me would be filled and I would reach my high... And stay there. Vanilla Mocha is in there, and if you are truly willing to go... Then fine." "Whoa! Totally awesome! Finally, more epic-ness!" Breeze exclaimed. "I've waited my whole life for intergalactic travel, dearie." Quillton grinned. "When are we going?" Paradise asked. "Wait! There is not enough magic for you all to travel at once. Trust me, if it was stable enough I would have sent all of you there to begin with. But, then again, scaring you here was just as fun. Ahem... Only five can go at a time. That means, the other... One, two..." She stopped to count, "The other six of you will have no choice but to stay here." "I cannot miss this opportunity, it's been my lifelong dream!" Quillton said. "And not only do we both have the same dream, but that's my 'sister' in there! I've gotta save her!" Galaxy added. "Forget sister, that's my marefriend!" Eclipse exclaimed. "I've known her ever since I moved to Ponyville. She was one of my very first friends here, and best of all, did not even get mad when I ate all her food!" Garfield said. "She's also a very loyal member of the library I run," Paradise said, "I will help my friend, no matter what it takes. After all, somepony's gotta carry Garfield if he eats something poisonous again!" Paradise Oasis winked to the cat, whom smiled sheepishly. "That leaves Charming Thunder, Daffodil Spark, Breeze, Frosted Shard, Shadow Wing and I to stay here. Oh, and The Terror." Tacitus said. "We'll do our best in keeping things running. I'll make sure that The Terror doesn't get up to no good." Daffodil smiled. "We'll throw a totally awesome party!" Breeze exclaimed. "Without getting things out of hoof." Charming Thunder glanced at Breeze. "Brilliant! We can use the party to better befriend The Terror," Tacitus whispered amongst the group, "Maybe then things go back to normal sooner than later." "Frost, will you keep everypony in order?" Eclipse asked the pegasus. "W-what? Me?" A shy Frost asked. Nodding, the stallion replied, "Yes, you. You gave us the inspiration to be friends with The Terror. Keep it up, and make sure everypony listens to your advice. Life Charming and Daff said, we don't want things out of hoof." "Well... Ok!" Frost smiled softly. Picking up the mirror, Shadow whispered, "I'll keep the mirror in my reach at all times. I don't think any more damage needs to be done, and I don't want... You know who," he tilted his had towards The Terror, "to turn her back on you when you're gone." "Alright, we seem ready to go!" Galaxy smiled. "Please, stay safe!" Daffodil begged. Hugging her friend Paradise, she backed away to leave room for the ponies to enter the magical portal. "Tell us all about it when you return!" Breeze waved. "Don't worry about us, just keep everything under control here until we return." Eclispe smiled. "Will do!" Frost replied. The four ponies, and one cat, slowly stepped towards the mirror. The Terror lit her horn, and a light green aura filled the room with light. The mirror began to glow, and red magic, identical to the magic used with the Thaumaturgy Gemstone, was getting brighter and brighter from the inside. The five friends froze as the red light abducted them into the mirror. ~~~ Wind slapped their faces as they were pulled through time and space. The world around the five began to get darker and darker as they were pulled rapidly through the mirror and through what seemed to be a never ending tunnel in space and time. Not even realizing they were screaming, they landed in the other universe. To their surprise, it was not what they had expected. ~~~ A bright light blinded the four ponies and cat as they fell onto the new, foreign ground. Sitting up, the friends began to take in the world around them. They could barely see; everything was dark. The floor was hard and cold, but they could tell they were not inside any buildings. The dark, cold area made the place less inviting. "What... Is this?" Quillton asked, sitting up taller. The air was dry, and there were no scents at all. "A place of terror..." Paradise Oasis answered quietly, "She was right, this is a bit creepy... There' nothing here, we're alone..." She shivered. "How are we supposed to stay alive?" Garfield asked. "I don't know where the fridge is." Galaxy Nebula sighed. "Garfield, don't just think about food. We have to find-" "Mocha..." Eclipse whispered to himself. Everypony looked at him. "Mocha!?" Eclipse shouted. He looked around. "The light is so dim," Paradise said, "How can you see?" "I'm part bat, remember? I can see in the dark a lot easier than regular ponies." Eclipse said back, smiling a little. His smile faded when he looked back out. "Mocha... Where are you?" He mumbled. Garfield put his nose into the air. "I can't see, but I can hear. And smell." He smiled. "I can hear a faint dripping noise in the background, huh. Kinda like a sewer, isn't this?" "Nevermind that, everypony here hears that. But, wait? What'd ya smelling, Garfield?" Galaxy asked. "Mmm! Food!" Garfield exclaimed before running off, following his nose. "Garfield, wait!" Paradise shouted. The orange cat did not wait. He ran into the darkness, leaving the ponies behind. "After him! We can't loose two of our friends in this mess!" Quillton said, running after Garfield. Galaxy ran beside Quillton. "Buddy, wait! We can't even see! I can't see!" "I don't care! I'm not getting lost, you know we're going to have to follow him." By this time, Eclipse and Paradise were also beside them. "I can see," Eclipse said, "Just stay by me." The ponies continued running. Not too far ahead of them, the ponies heard Garfield exclaim: "Ouch! Hey, what gives? You're not food!" Eclipse smiled widely as he got closer. He ran as fast as he could to where Garfield had lead them. "Vanilla Mocha!" The stallion exclaimed. Vanilla Mocha sat, her deep eyes looking forward into the darkness. Not moving her eyes, but instead turning her head to look at Garfield, she asked in a dry voice, "Who are you?" "I'm Garfield!" The orange cat said, smiling. "How'd you find her?" Paradise asked. "I followed the smell of coffee," Garfield explained, "She smells like pumpkin latte. Makes sense, I mean, she was helping Tacitus back in the shop before she was taken here." "Mocha...?" Eclipse asked quietly. He stepped forward, and Mocha's head lifted up, looking at him. Her eyes seemed dull; a far away look made her seem bored and tired. Turning her head to look at the other ponies, Vanilla slowly turned back to Eclipse. "Who are all of you?" Her monotone voice asked again. "We're your friends, you know us!" Paradise Oasis smiled, trotting forward. "Hey, 'Nilla, remember the time that you and I, and Daffodil, and Surprise- remember when we went to Saddle Arabia?" She chuckled, "That was so crazy! Seems like just yesterday we got back from that voyage." Vanilla slightly tilted her head. "Huh?" "Dearie, do you really not remember us?" Quillton asked. "...Dearie?" Vanilla frowned her face into a confused look. "No, 'dearie' is my word." Quillton stood up taller. "Your word?" "Yes, dearie." Vanilla tilted her head even further. Galaxy stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Let me try to get her memory to work," he said. "Hey, sis. You know us, don't you?" Before Mocha could reply, he interjected, "Yes, of course you do. You are my younger sister. No, not really. But that's just how great our friendship is! If you did not know us, Paradise wouldn't have had that adventure with you. In fact, I bet the one here that knows you best is Eclipse because he's your coltfrie-" "Paradise? Eclipse?" She asked. Galaxy sighed. "Yes, that one is Paradise," he pointed to the pegasus mare, "And that's Eclipse," he pointed to the stallion hybird. "And that one is Dearie?" Mocha looked at Quillton. "No, dea- Mocha, I'm Quillton Brooks. I call everyone 'dearie', but not myself. That is weird." "Oh..." Mocha said. "And I'm Galaxy Nebula, you know, your brother-like friend." Galaxy smiled. "Hey, you forgot me!" Garfield said. "Um, you already told her your name," Paradise Oasis said. "Oh, yeah! But still, the name's Garfield." Mocha lowered her head. "This is... A lot of information... I don't think I can memorize all of that..." Galaxy chuckled. "Memorize? No, you already know it... Right?" "Uhm..." Mocha paused to think. "Why can't she remember anything? What's going on? Did The Terror wipe her memory?! Was this a trap, so that she can do that to us, too?!" Eclipse began to panic, "What if this isn't even her? What if it's another Changeling?!" "Woah, calm down!" Paradise said, "Just... Woah..." Eclipse didn't seem to hear Paradise. "How can she not remember us, she's only been in here for a few hours! What... What if she never remembers us?" "Dearie, I assure you that she wi-" Quillton began. "What if she gets her memory back, but doesn't love me anymore?!" Eclipse formed tears in his eyes. "What if I never see the real Mocha again?" "I'm sure everything is fine, Eclipse." Galaxy sighed. Eclipse reached over and hugged Vanilla Mocha. Mocha looked around and felt awkward... She didn't remember what a hug was. "You're squeezing me..." "Too bad..." Eclipse hugged her tighter, then suddenly let go. "Mocha... Your fur... It's c-cold, and damp!" Vanilla turned her head down to look at herself. "Oh." "Now that I notice it, her eyes look red around the edges." Garfield observed. Gasping, Paradise added, "You're right! And they're a little puffy, too." "Mocha... Were you crying?" Eclipse asked softly, wrapping his hooves around her again. "I... Don't remember..." Gasping, Galaxy said, "Wait! What if... What if there's an unbalance in this universe? Mocha needs to go back to her shop to regain her memory as soon as possible!" "That does sound rather accurate." Quillton agreed. "Alright, this is enough! Let's go back. Mocha, you're coming!" He picked up his marefriend and held her close. Flapping his wings, he began to take air. Hovering above the group, he said, "We're leaving! I-I can't stand this place!" "Me neither; but... Where do we go to get out?" Garfield asked. "I've been on plenty of journeys, but none as confusing as this." Quillton said. Galaxy nodded in agreement. "I think we came from... That way." Paradise said, pointing her hoof into a patch of vast darkness. "How can you tell?" "All of our backs are turned to that direction. Plus, there was a dripping noise where we started- as Garfield said, 'like a sewer'. If we don't hear it, we'll keep on walking until we do. That's the best I've got." Everyoony looked at her, then at each other, then at Mocha who was looking into the deep darkness once more. They turned their attention back to Paradise. "Ok," Galaxy said, "I'm ok with that." "Seems to be the only thing that'll work." Garfield added. "Paradise, you lead us." Quillton nominated. "Oh- um, alright!" Paradise stood up tall, and she proudfully trotted through the darkness, the stallions, Mocha, and cat behind her. After more trotting, the group found the dripping area. "Here we are! Time to go back!" Paradise smiled. "Um... Just one question. The Terror let us in... But who'll let us back out?!" Galaxy exclaimed.