//------------------------------// // Episode 10 - L Hath No Fury // Story: My Little Rider: Friendship is Joker // by lilAngel //------------------------------// Applejack was exhausted when she staggered home. She couldn’t wait to sleep for real, even after more than a day of what should have been sleep. She and her friends had been connected to a machine that allowed them to enter each other’s dreams, and they’d roamed from one mind to another fighting the nightmares they found there. She knew she hadn’t really moved a muscle, but there was no way she could convince her aching body of that. It felt like she’d taken on an entire army of monsters alone. And at the end of it all the helpful doctor – Lonely Island, or something very much like that – had said that there was nothing he could do but send them home. Doctor Island said he had all the research data he needed, and it would only be a few days until he could put it into practice. Until then all they could do was wait, and hope that no more young fillies were stolen away in their sleep by the monster that had been terrorising Ponyville. Applejack wanted to be angry at herself, angry at the world for not letting her do more. But right now she was just too tired. She was too tired to care about the drifts of autumn leaves starting to obstruct the road. Too tired to look up and see an awe-inspiring sunset that almost matched the rich orange of her coat. She’d been in a bed for most of the weekend, but Applejack didn’t care. She got home as quickly as she could, and tried to sink into a well deserved sleep. First it was the sounds of the building settling that kept her awake, every creak and rustle giving the impression it could be some unknown pony prowling the hall. Then she couldn’t sleep because she could almost but not quite make out the words behind her little sister’s whimpering as Apple Bloom dealt with her own nightmares in the next room. It would be a safe bet that those worries were about her cutie mark again, and it galled Applejack that there was nothing she could actually do to help. Once the sounds from the next room faded into silence, it was the smell of smoke keeping Applejack from her repose. She turned over, burying her head under the pillows in a vain attempt to take her mind off the sound and the smell. It was maybe three minutes, maybe five, before the screaming of some instinct managed to fight its way through the lethargic fog of her brain. Smoke! it was crying, Fire! The flames gushed up from the chimney, and the wind drawn in to feed them roared a gale through broken window frames. She could barely feel the heat in her own room, but the rest of the farmhouse was like being inside an oven. The smoke was stronger as well, stinging her eyes and burning the back of her throat.  She couldn’t see a thing and charged blindly through the building, banging against walls in her hurry to be elsewhere. It probably only took seconds for her to find a ground floor window she could vault through, but it felt like a lifetime. The family were all outside, staring in shock at the pyre. The whole farm was ablaze now, and there was no chance that any bravery with buckets would be rewarded. Applejack retched for a while, the combination of sudden exercise and the acrid smoke, and then turned to watch the only home she had ever known crumble to ashes. It was still burning brightly when she looked away again, tears in her eyes, and surveyed the crowd. The Apple family had always been numerous, and it might be hard for an outsider to estimate how many cousins and uncles had gathered to help out in a time of crisis. But Applejack knew every face, and she knew in an instant that there weren’t as many ponies as there should have been in the yard. There was just one familiar face missing. She didn’t want to believe it, but turning round a second time confirmed her suspicions. “Where’s Apple Bloom?” She asked Granny Smith, who happened to be closest, “I don’t see Apple Bloom!” “Worry about yourself first!” The elderly pony snapped, “Your sister wouldn’t wake, she was screaming like she was having a nightmare, but we couldn’t make her wake up. There was nothing we could do, there just wasn’t –” Applejack didn’t want to hear that answer.  She broke away and went to ask one of her other relatives, but their answer was all the same. It took hours, and she asked every single member of the extended family. Nopony had seen Apple Bloom leave the house. They’d tried to wake her, but she wouldn’t let go of her nightmare. She dreamed she was walking through the Everfree Forest, searching for a way to change a cutie mark that wasn’t what she’d looked forward to. She couldn’t get over her fears and wake up until she found out what was really bothering her, and deep in the mists of that dream there hadn’t been time. There was no way she could have escaped before the flames crept into her room. In a very real way, the fire wasn’t to blame. That was a natural disaster, it could have happened any time. All farmers knew that sometimes you lost everything to a fire, and you just had to rebuild. But those dreams, they weren’t natural. It was the dopant’s fault, everyone said. But Applejack knew in her heart that it was her fault. She’d let the monster get away, hadn’t thought of a way to stop it more quickly. This… it was all down to her. “Not even a real nightmare,” Big Mac sighed, “Just worrying about the future, ain’t we all done that when we were younger?” “Yeah,” Applejack couldn’t even find the words to describe her grief. It was all too much for her. “No! Applejack, why are you moping?” “It’s Apple Bloom, she–” “No she didn’t!” Pinkie Pie was practically yelling, “Look around! How does your family know what she was dreaming about? Why are they all here, when half of them live miles away? Why has nopony even thought to ask what started the fire? None of this makes any sense!” “Yeah, I didn’t even… So what…?” “Don’t you get it yet? You’re still dreaming. This is your nightmare, the thought of letting your family down. You just need to recognise it, and you can change it.” Applejack tried to imagine that this wasn’t real, tried to force herself to stop seeing what was in front of her, but she didn’t know how. Then Rainbow Dash flew in, pulling a gaggle of fluffy white clouds that could surely never have contained so much rain. The flames were gone instantly, and the coating of soot on the house’s timbers quickly started to wash away, revealing that the structure beneath was in a lot better condition than it had looked. The doors swung open and Fluttertwi walked out, carrying the still-sleeping Apple Bloom. She didn’t seem to have been harmed at all. “We need to find a way to wake up,” Twilight spoke calmly, “The dopant appeared and said that he doesn’t want to hurt anypony, and he’s just doing this because it’s the only way he can dream now. But even then, he should just do the experiments or analysis, whatever he thinks will work. He said that if he can find a way to dream by analysing us, then he won’t force these fillies into nightmares any more. But we’ve been thinking about it, and we’re not willing to gamble so many ponies’ safety on that.” “Studying dreams?” Applejack thought back for a moment, “I don’t want to say this, but I think we maybe missed something really dumb.” “What do you mean?” “When we came to the hospital, Dash said about how we’re trying to rescue these kids, and we think there’s a monster behind the nightmares.” “Yeah?” Rainbow Dash said as she touched down, “I thought I made it kind of dramatic, more likely to get them to help.” “Then the nurse showed us to that doctor, Lucky Island, and he said he’s sure there isn’t a dopant behind it. It’s got to be a disease or something,” Twilight got it at last, so disappointed in herself for taking too long to spot what was right in front of her, “But Dash doesn’t call it a dopant. I use the right word because I learned about them from the Princess, but most of you guys still just call them monsters. So where’d the doctor hear that word, unless he’s already met one?” “Right,” Applejack nodded, “And you just said the monster – dopant, I mean – this time wants to study dreams. It’s him, isn’t it?” “I guess it looks that way. But that doesn’t help us much. We still need…” Twilight went silent as she made a connection. The others just waited for her to speak again. “I got it. He wants to analyse our dreams, right? The dreams altered by the Elements of Harmony, to see if they have the same strangeness as a dopant’s dreams. But he couldn’t just go out and make us fall asleep, he can only get into our dreams if we’re already asleep. Right?” “I guess so?” Pinkie said, “He said my dreams were weird anyway, the same as the fillies who don’t wake up. Was he telling the truth about that?” “Maybe. But I think more important now is that I used the Driver to enter Fluttershy’s dream. My body’s asleep in the same way yours usually are when we’re fighting, but I’m not dreaming right now.” “So if you take off the Driver, you can smash the machine and–” “And leave all these poor fillies to die in their dreams?” Lucky Island yelled, appearing behind the four as if from thin air, “Maybe you could wake up, but you couldn’t find my real body quickly enough to save anypony.” “I thought you said you weren’t a monster!” Pinkie spat back, her voice unusually bitter, “Besides, I had an idea too, I think I know why you can’t dream!” But rather than giving any further explanation she turned and ran for the closest hill. “JOKER!” The Driver sang out as it appeared on Pinkie’s breast. She levitated her Element using unicorn magic, not caring that she didn’t have a horn. She knew what it felt like well enough from previous times she’d shared Twilight’s body. She didn’t break stride as the armour appeared around them. “LAUGHTERᏔJOKER!” (“I figured that like this you can tell me what you thought of without him overhearing,” Twilight’s voice entered Pinkie’s consciousness, “I’ve been studying the Gaia Memories we’ve recovered for months now, I could maybe help to clear up any details.”) (“That’s what I was thinking. Great minds think alike!” Pinkie cheered back) Lucky Island raced ahead of them in the form of a black mist, and tore the hillside apart. A moment later there was nothing but void in the direction of Ponyville, but Twinkie didn’t let this disturb them. They jinked and hurried down a path that they might almost have missed, and dived into a tunnel in the fast disappearing farmland. (“Did you see the fire demon behind us? As soon as we put out the barn it was growing again, but we didn’t have to fight it because Lucky Island showed up. It was the same in Fluttershy’s dream, it’s a nightmare based off when your biggest fear is and it turns into a monster if you challenge it. But Rainbow Dash didn’t have one of those.”) (“So, what does that mean? Dash was having bad dreams because of the competition coming up. Maybe the dopant can’t affect somepony who’s already got nightmares, or something?”) (“Eactly! He even said that, he said that me and Rainbow Dash shouldn’t be in this experiment because our dreams are normal nightmares!”) (“But your nightmare, that’s… that imaginary friend, she’s got to be the dopant’s influence.”) (“Exactly! But not this dopant! He said that as well, he thought I was a dopant who’s found a way to dream, and we thought he was just talking about the Elements being Gaia Memories, but what if he isn’t? Imagine a dopant with some incredible power, but you can’t dream any more. He’s a scientist, so he went into a load of ponies’ dreams and looked for the difference. But if he’d been more like an artist, maybe he would just find one dream he likes and stay there. Find somepony whose dreams are more predictable, and a dopant could hide away from the world, enjoy a life in dreams and never have to fight anypony or deal with whatever they were so angry or scared about. I think there’s two of them with that power, and that’s why he couldn’t get in my head. Another one beat him to it!”) And just as she finished that surprising revelation, they emerged from the long white corridor into the Library again. The other three were shortly behind them, with the dark mist that was Lucky Island in hot pursuit. “Lock the doors behind you!” Pinkie yelled, “He can control dreams but he can’t control my dream! That should keep him out for a half hour, and that’s all we need!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash leapt into action, grabbing a heavy door made from what looked like stone and dragging it in front of the portal. “Can’t you imagine something that would keep him out forever?” Rainbow Dash found it hard to believe, “After you made a tunnel right through the earth and it came up in Cloudsdale?” “That’s the way things work here,” Twilight explained, “We just have to work with it, and I’m starting to understand. Just trust us on this, we can keep the nightmare out for half an hour, and that’s all we need. If we can’t beat him at his own game then hiding here forever would be no help.” “So what do we do?” Applejack got straight to the point, as always. “We talk,” Twinkie answered, speaking in a strange harmony now that they were agreed on their plan. “Talk quick?” Fluttershy’s lips moved, but no sound emerged as she stood frozen in terror. Black smoke was battering ineffectually against the grating in the door, but now her attention was entirely focused on a dark shape beyond several rows of books. “There’s already… a nightmare…” “We know,” Twinkie stood confidently, “That’s who we’re talking to. You there! You’ve been here for long enough, if you want to fight us then come and fight. If you want to gloat over how brilliant your master plan is, then here’s your chance.” The books rushed aside, keeping formation as if they were on an invisible shelf fitted with wheels. And the huge, dark horse strode towards them. They were all afraid, there was no way not to be. But Pinkie and Twilight both knew that if their speculations were right, putting on a brave face might be their only chance. “THOU DARE TO ADDRESS ME IN SUCH VULGAR TERMS?” the sheer volume of the shadowy dopant’s voice was enough to push them back, “KNOW YOUR PLACE, AND BOW CORRECTLY AS YOU ADDRESS YOUR SUPERIOR!” “We don’t know how to address you,” Pinkie quipped, “You haven’t introduced yourself, you’ve just been lurking in my library and watching us. Where’s your manners?” The dark mare drew herself up, and for a second the Champions thought they might have to fight this terror, but then she lowered her head just a fraction. “VERY WELL, I ADMIT YOU MAY NOT HAVE RECOGNISED MY VISAGE, SO I WILL ACCEPT THIS APOLOGY. KNOW, THEN, THAT I AM THE EMPRESS OF THE DARK SKY AND RULER OF ALL DREAMS, NIGHTMARE MOON!” (“Makes sense,” Twilight offered a little internal dialogue, “The changeable energy of the moon was once said to be responsible for dreams, and from her name we should probably have guessed she could get here.”) Twinkie dropped to her knees and lowered her head, a deep bow that only royalty might have expected. There was a moment of indecision between the others, but then they too followed her example. “We apologise, your majesty, for any disrespect,” Twilight took the lead now, as she had a lot more experience speaking with nobles from her time in Canterlot, “But if we may ask? You have been in Pinkie Pie’s dreams, combining yourself maybe with a forgotten part of her imagination from long ago in order to go unrecognised. Do you intend to return to fight us, to continue tearing down everything that Celestia has worked to create? Or is this, to you, a respite from a battle that no longer entertains you?” “THOU QUESTION OUR MOTIVATION?” “I question if you are our enemy, your majesty.” Twilight tried not to let her nervousness show, as she prayed that their wild guess was correct. It was possible they would now have two dopants to fight, and that would be a challenge even given Pinkie’s abnormal mastery of her dream space. But if there was even a chance that Nightmare Moon had found a way to hide in dreams, then the same method could allow Lucky Island to have everything he wanted, and set his victims free. “Can you ask her to talk a little quieter, too?” Applejack muttered, “We’re practically going deaf back here.” “WE ARE NIGHTMARE MOON, WE ARE THE TERROR OF THE NIGHT. YOU THINK WE WOULD BOW DOWN AND ACCEPT THE TYRANNY OF OUR SISTER’S RULE? But perhaps,” the decreasing volume was as much a surprise as the original echoing yell, “You remind us of ourselves, so many years ago. You wish to know if we are an enemy to you? Then you should know how we came upon this form.” Twilight had so many questions to ask then, but she knew they only had one chance to make peace here. Whether a monster could even consider leaving others in peace was open to debate, but it seemed possible when the great Nightmare Moon had watched from here for so long without causing them any harm. They still weren’t even sure that she was actually a dopant, and not some other form of magical being. But Twilight held her tongue, knowing that if they just listened they would get all the answers they needed, maybe even to questions she wouldn’t think to ask. “So Nightmare Moon is just a dopant?” Rainbow Dash didn’t have the same sense of restraint. “NO!” The deafening voice was back for just a moment, “We are so much more. Once upon a time, we were a Champion of Harmony. We fought the dopants, the monsters, every evil that crawled beneath the sun and the moon. With our sister we shared the six Elements of Harmony, and as our power grew we came to hold all nine. There was nothing that the two of us could not do. And finally, we were able to replicate the feat that Skull had achieved centuries before: we sealed the Gaia Fountain, cutting off the source of the Gaia Memories, and left Equestria in peace.” There were so many questions in everypony’s mind then, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t think what to ask and Pinkie quickly reminded Twilight that they didn’t know enough to ask the right questions right now. They waited, and Nightmare Moon continued her speech. Her words were often archaic and her grammar was stilted. Later, Twilight would have to translate for the others if they wanted to fully understand. The story was twisted, too, through the perceptions of a pony who saw spite everywhere. Nightmare Moon could control the Gaia Memory within her, but it still would  not allow her to understand the kindness of others. Still, the events she described seemed clear enough, and Twilight did her best to extract the truth of the tale. Nightmare Moon and Celestia had been the Champions of Harmony, fighting dopants who threatened Equestria. They had been allies, not rivals, and Nightmare Moon insisted that they had actually been sisters. But when the Gaia Fountain was capped, there could be no more dopants, and their powers were no longer needed. Without an enemy to fight, the sisters agreed that they no longer needed the Elements. One of their Memories had developed a life of its own, so they used their great skill with magic to make it actually live. The others were to be returned to the Tree of Harmony, so that they could be purified ready for whichever heroes rose up when the Gaia Fountain’s seal broke in the unimaginably distant future. Celestia handed her Elements – Metal, Joker, and Trigger – back to the tree, and settled on a new role as Princess of the Sun. Her sister would have become the Princess of the Moon, protecting their subjects during the hours of darkness. But she could not bring herself to sacrifice the one Element that spoke to her heart most deeply. She had become the benevolent Princess, but she had secretly kept one of the Elements of Harmony in a silver chest beside her bed, where nopony would ever know about her moment of weakness. The years passed. Two Princesses ruled Equestria, and both gave everything they could for their subjects. But the ponies praised Celestia during the day, and only slept by night. Celestia said that their subjects would be just as thankful in their dreams, but the Element that held power over dreams was sealed in its box, and she could never hear their adulation without the Driver. Until one day, curiosity grew too strong for the younger princess. She thrust one of the Elements of Harmony into her flank without a driver, as Twilight herself had so nearly done when she first uncovered them. The Princess of the Moon had become Nightmare Moon, one last dopant after the others were destroyed. Celestia couldn’t do a memory break without the Driver, without two Champions of Harmony. For all her magic, she knew for sure that only one Gaia Memory could break the others. She had retained the Driver, also in secret, but that alone was not enough to save her sister from the Memory’s curse. All she could do was freeze her in time, turn her into the dream she so desired to see, and banish her to have her soul combined with the moon from which she drew her power. She could see why her sister had done that. She could understand that in a thousand years, the Fountain would be unsealed and maybe Champions would arise who could finally release her from the Memory’s curse. But Nightmare Moon was consumed, still, by rage. Because she felt she had been punished for keeping one of her Memories, and yet Celestia had also kept the Driver in secret. Claiming to do the right thing, Celestia had nearly doomed the next generation of champions to the same fate which had befallen her own sister, because the Tree of Harmony had failed to spawn a new Driver. She had broken free, at last, when the Fountain released enough power. Celestia could have banished her forever, but did not. She wanted her sister to be redeemed, but after a thousand years in magical exile, watching as the bond between their souls kept her sister alive just as long, there was nothing but jealousy and anger in her heart now. She hadn’t been able to kill them at the Sisters’ Castle, though. She’d been torn between laughing at their unpreparedness, and crying over the tragedy that was inevitably coming for them. She stormed out, sacrificing as much dignity from the situation as she could. And then she infiltrated Pinkie Pie’s library of dreams, waiting for a chance to destroy them. She said that the library wasn’t a dream, whatever Pinkie thought of it. It was something else entirely, that must have required a great amount of luck to be created, and for that reason she could stay there even when Pinkie was awake, and watch their progress in battle. And the more she saw them fail, only to come back stronger, the more she was reminded of herself and Celestia. Their bonds had been the important thing, more so even than the incredible magic of the Elements of harmony. It was their trust in each other that had allowed them to grow to the point they could be the Princesses of the Sun and Moon. “We watched,” Nightmare Moon continued, “We saw you grow. And we could not hurt you. You are too much like us, as we could have been. We are jealous, and we will never outgrow the hurt of seeing the Driver that still recognised us perverted into an implement of exile. But now, our wrath is spent. We truly have no fury with which to engage this generation’s Champions of Harmony. We will watch, and make sure you are safe from treachery among your number, but we will not be your enemy. And if you can find any way to remove the Gaia Memory that is our closest friend without destroying it, maybe then you will face us.” It didn’t seem like it had taken so long to hear that story, but with a great crash the door swung open and vanished. “You will not defy me!” Lucky Island screamed, “You will tell me how I can dream, or everypony in this nightmare will die. Do you want that on your conscience?” “SILENCE!” Nightmare Moon screamed, and this time there was genuine fury in her voice. In the real world, it would have shaken trees a mile away. “I AM THE PRINCESS OF THE MOON, RULER OF ALL DREAMS, AND YOU WILL BOW BEFORE ME, LITTLE DOPANT. THE DREAM MEMORY CAN PREVENT A PONY FROM WAKING, BUT ONLY OURS CAN KILL IN THE LAND OF DREAMS. SO DO NOT TROUBLE US WITH EMPTY THREATS.” “Thank you,” Twilight nodded, and reached down to eject the Element of Laughter from the Driver. A moment later, she was shaking her head back in the real world, crouched in the corner of the sleep lab. Rarity smiled for an instant as her collar glowed faintly. If Twilight was switching memories, then she only had to make the connection and she could call for the others to rescue her. She reached for the collar with her magic, and only then realised that the Driver wasn’t on her breast, and the Element of Generosity wasn’t in its usual place on her collar. Maybe the residual imprint of the crystals could let her see when the others were transforming, but there was nothing she could do to get a message to them now. She could do nothing but worry, wait, and think about how they could avoid this situation in the future. She lay there and thought, occasionally trying to manipulate the cords, but thwarted by her injuries. She needed to ensure that none of them was alone with a dopant ever again, especially one smart enough to recognise the Elements as the secret of their power. It was nearly half an hour, and the collar flashed even more briefly and faintly. A few moments after the last flash, a door somewhere behind her creaked open. She braced herself for more pain, not knowing what the mad doctor had in mind for her. But it was Twilight’s voice that called out as she heard hooves running across the uneven tiles: “Oh Celestia! Rarity! Are you okay? I tried calling with the collar but you didn’t answer, I couldn’t stop worrying.” “It’s Dr Island,” Rarity found it hard even to talk, her whole body bruised by the dopant’s assault, “He’s crazy, he took my Element, I can’t…” “Don’t worry,” Twilight was firm and businesslike, holding back her tears until she’d done what was needed. She could see the knots well enough, and could use her magic without being distracted by physical pain, but even so it took her three or four minutes to loosen the bonds sufficiently and allow Rarity to sit up. “We knew it was Lucky Island, AJ figured it out. But he said he’d kill the sleeping fillies if I woke up, and we weren’t willing to call his bluff. I didn’t even realise he might have hurt you until I woke up and saw there’d been a fight in the lab.” “Not much of one, I’m afraid. He became the monster from my nightmare, I couldn’t even scratch him.” “It’ll be easier together. We’ve already fought one of his dream forms, but I’m not sure what we can do. He’s in his office now, I peered through the keyhole. Your Element wasn’t there, I didn’t know he’d taken it. We can check the lab and the observation room, but I suspect if he’s smart enough to take it, he wouldn’t leave it lying around. And Pinkie and Fluttershy can’t wake up, it seems that if they’re asleep our minds go into the dream space, rather than waking them up.” They were right to be cautious. Lucky Island was sitting in his office still when they peered through the keyhole again. He had some lab equipment out on his desk, though it was nowhere near the  complexity they’d seen in the sleep lab and observation room. He was trying to take apart the Element of Generosity, though from the frustrated scowl on his face he wasn’t having much luck. “We’ve got to get it back,” Rarity gasped, “What if he breaks it?” “Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan.” Lucky Island flung open his office door at the sound of a crash from down the corridor. He wouldn’t normally have cared, but that was the direction of his sleep lab, and he had no idea where he could find the troublesome Twilight Sparkle right now. He saw her banging against the door with a heavy axe. Locking the room had bought him some time to study, at least. He pulled the Dream Memory out of his pocket, no longer with its complex tangle of wires. A second’s worry was dismissed when he saw that the hole she’d managed to tear in the door wasn’t even close to being large enough for a pony to fit through. “Drop the axe!” He yelled, “You’re not getting your friends out until I get what I want.” “You forgot one thing,” she turned to face him and threw the axe aside. She was holding that strange accessory, the Driver, with her magic, and swung it around her neck with enough force that the other end of  the belt swung round and snapped into place on its own. “You ready, Spike?” Lucky Island blinked in surprise. A pony couldn’t get in through that hole in the door, but a baby dragon almost certainly could. Twilight sparkle flipped a Gaia Memory end over and and slammed it precisely into the Driver’s tube as he was still trying to think of what might be going on. “JOKER!” The Memory sang out, in a voice that sounded much more pleasant than the harsh monotone of Lucky Island’s own. “DREAM!” He waited, didn’t transform yet. Black and silver lines spread over his coat, a mimicry of the appearance of the technology he spent so much of his life working with. But that was all, he didn’t choose a shape to change into from the vast array of nightmares at his disposal. He tried to think what a dragon could do. Could he push a Memory into the drivers of one of her sleeping comrades? But from all he’d seen, that would just make her fall asleep again. There had to be something else. Lucky Island worked it out just in time. He spun on the spot, and brought the leading edge of one wing hard against the neck of the second unicorn, knocking her to the ground. He stood on her neck to prevent her from rising, and only then stooped to pick up the Generosity Memory that she’d so nearly recovered. “You’re the distraction then?” He asked, “Well let me show you why you should never try to trick a doctor. Which was your greatest fear, Twilight Sparkle? Was it seeing your friend die in front of your eyes? Or maybe your pride is more important to you than your friends? Oh, I remember…” He blinked for just a moment, and the silver tracery over his body changed to be blue-black with occasional silver flecks. He was taking on a monstrous form Twilight knew only too well: the form of Nightmare Moon, the enemy she had failed to vanquish. Not as she had really appeared, though her visage was strange and terrible enough, but as she had been in Twilight’s nightmares for the past month, a monster formed more from a terrified subconscious image than from reality. “How would you like to see the terrible Nightmare Moon kill this friend right before your eyes?” He spoke with her voice as well, as Twilight remembered it from Begins Night months before. She knew that this wasn’t really Nightmare Moon, and the real thing wouldn’t scare her now. But that voice spoke straight to her hindbrain and it took all her self control not to turn and run. (“How dare he!” A voice whispered inside Twilight’s mind. She recognised it, but wasn’t sure why it should be there.  This was the voice of the real Nightmare Moon, who had remained hidden in Pinkie Pie’s subconscious for so long. Where Lucky Island sought to inspire terror in order to stop her from fighting, this voice had the confidence of one who had never needed to threaten, because she was sure her talents were self evident. It wasn’t the tone of a monster, though, but the sheer pride of a Princess who had been through hell to save all of Equestria once upon a time. “How dare he presume to take on OUR form?”) (“You’re… in our dreams?” Twilight spoke in her mind, the same way she did when she was discussing strategy with Pinkie or Fluttershy. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but her best guess would be that if Nightmare Moon was still in Pinkie’s dream, she could overhear her thoughts through some previously unknown property of the Driver, “How does that work?”) (“The Driver creates a bond between you, did you know that? It is a supreme magical harmony. And even when you give up your Gaia Memories, when your job is done, that bond will remain. My sister could not destroy me, could not manage a Memory Break on her own. But she manipulated the powers of  the Driver to trap my mind. So many times, the Driver had transmitted my mind to join Celestia in her body, but because the Driver still recognised me she could modify that same system to trap my mind between this world and the moon. So, I think, I still have a special connection to the Driver and the one who wears it.”) (“Can you offer any suggestions? Can you wake the others? You’re angry about him trying to look like you, but I can’t actually stop him without another Element.” Twilight was a little scared to ask Nightmare Moon for her help, but bluffing hadn’t worked and now she didn’t think there was any other option.) (“That depends, Twilight Sparkle. I think I trust you enough, but know not if that faith is returned. I can think of one way to retrieve that Memory. But are you willing to ride with the devil, if it will save your friend?”) Twilight didn’t even need to think. A single glance down at Rarity, straining helplessly to escape  the powerful hoof that held her to the floor, was enough to make up her mind. “Yes,” she said aloud. For an instant, like an image seen from the corner of your eye, Nightmare Moon was standing beside Twilight, a horse-sized dopant body coalescing out of strands of black smoke. She was as terrifying as Lucky Island’s impression, but in a very different way. She was regal, and her body had all the power of the night. She was terrifying, awe-inspiring, and majestic. She had grace and poise, and she could make anypony else feel fear simply because she was so much more than they could ever dream of being. She was not grotesque, though, and she was not a monster. And as soon as she appeared, a shimmering mist black-violet magic reached back from her horn and forcibly plucked the Gaia Memory that had changed her out of her flank. The crystal the golden gleam of pure starlight, as well as the pearly shimmer of the moon where the light caught the white symbol emblazoned on the crystal. The symbol itself was simple, a letter that looked so much like a simple crescent, Twilight would probably never have been able to tell her cutie mark from a natural one. “LUNAR!” The Memory sounded deeper and richer than any Twilight had heard before, booming even louder than Nightmare Moon’s own voice. It was also nothing like the harsh monotone announcement she had come to associate with dopant memories; she knew now that this had once been one of the Elements of Harmony, the story was true, but it was impossible to say how much it had changed while the Lunar Dopant had been banished for a thousand years. It was too late to change her mind now, though. The Driver flickered and appeared on Nightmare Moon’s breast, but distorted like an image through twisted glass. It was almost like the Driver itself was trying to reject the dopant, but it couldn’t break a connection that had persisted so long. “LUNARᏔJOKER!” The transformation wasn’t quite the same as usual, but in the circumstances Twilight thought nopony could have expected it to be. As soon as the driver was inserted, Nightmare Moon was reduced to a vaguely pony-shaped cloud of black and purple magic, which quickly gathered around Twilight. Seconds later there was a giant purple alicorn standing there. Twilight could feel the sheer power of magic coursing through her body, more powerful than anything she had ever felt before. It was even more intense than the combination of two unicorns she had experienced with Rarity, but this time she had wings as well, and could feel the surge of sheer power, the intensity of both kinds of magic filling her body to the brim. It was intoxicating. (“Thine own magic is impressive,” Luna’s voice echoed in the back of their mind, “We never believed that a mere unicorn could have such potency. Without the multiplicative effect of the Driver, even after a millennium of training, it is possible thou could challenge us for pure power.”) (“But you’re an alicorn!” Twilight found herself blushing at the compliment, even though she could sense that it might be true. The rush of power they were feeling now was just as incredible to the Princess of the Moon, their combined abilities much greater than the sum of their parts. “You should have the greatest power imaginable!”) (“And yet we have no doubt that should thou become a Princess, thy power will be greater yet.” There was a bitterness in her voice that Twilight couldn’t understand. It felt like it wasn’t directed at her; that their conversation had reminded Luna of some other slight.  But he didn’t have time to ask any more now, while they had a monster to fight.) They turned and looked towards Lucky Island. He just stood there, eyes flickering in fear. Their armour was impressive plates of onyx in this form, and their coat shaded smoothly from Luna’s star-spangled midnight blue at the left of their body to Twilight’s deep lavender at the right, but the combination seemed to make both colours richer and more vibrant. The conversation had taken less than a second in their minds, and the other dopant was still too startled by their transformation. (“Luna?” Twilight realised she’d thought the name without ever asking it, “Your name is the same as your Element?”) (“One of them. You wonder why I found it hard to let go?”) The Dream Dopant was moving towards them now, ribbons of black mist curling out from the tips of his hooves. He was too slow, though. Twilight Moon whipped a forehoof round as if to kick at the dopant, even though he was still thirty feet away down the corridor. But as their leg extended, it seemed to stretch out to cover the distance. The blow connected, and the dopant was outside on the hospital’s lawn. “Wow, how’s that for a rubber stamp?” Twilight grinned, pleased with both the power of her attack and the pun she’d managed to think of so quickly. (“Do not demean our powers with such a name,” Luna corrected, “The growing and shrinking of the moon is too majestic to treat as mere physical elasticity!”) Twilight Moon charged outside through the hole in the wall. The dopant was just starting to pick itself up when they lashed out with another kick. This time they extended one leg overhead, almost above the height of the hospital, before bringing it crashing down on their enemy with tremendous force. For all Luna might want to deny it, their body did seem to exhibit amazing properties of elasticity, and the blow had all the power of a rubber band pulled back almost to its limit. This attack slammed Lucky Island into the ground, making a crater in the grass. He was dazed, but still tried to stand. The next strike rose even higher into the air, and as it came down the leading edge of Twilight Moon’s leg twisted to assume the shape of an axe head. (“Did you not give your different combat techniques names?” Twilight asked, “Some of my friends liked the idea, and now it seems strange not to shout out…”) (“Don’t you dare say anything with the word ‘rubber’ in,,” Luna cautioned.) (“I can do better than that,” Twilight grinned internally, sensing the elder pony’s subconscious approval…) “Gibbous Axe!” They called together. The Driver increased their physical attributes as well as their magic, and the volume of their triumphant shout probably hurt Lucky Island almost as much as the physical blow. This time, his legs quivered as he tried to stand, but his body didn’t move from the horse-shaped impression he’d made in the ground. His body now was fragments of different nightmares. He had the many rows of teeth of CuteKaiser, and the smoking aura of Applejack’s fire demon as well as the glittering blackness that he used to represent Nightmare Moon; and horns and tentacles, and appendages TwilightMoon couldn’t even recognise that had to be from the dreams of the different fillies he had trapped in sleep. (“How about we finish this. What does this form’s memory breaking attack look like?”) (“Take a look!”) They reared up on their hind legs, and two forehooves came down on the driver. The memories moved maybe half an inch deeper into their slots before returning to their normal position, glowing like twin stars in gold and violet now. “LUNARJOKER:” the Driver called out again, “Maximum Drive!” Luna and Twilight both ran forward, both with the enchanted armour of the Champion of Harmony. It was almost like they had been split down the middle, though only having two legs each didn’t impair them at all. Lucky Island turned his head, not sure which of them to watch, but it wouldn’t have made any difference. A moment later two half-ponies had become three, and then five. The Dream Dopant was struck from all directions by hooves that could stretch to kick from the far corners of the courtyard, and while they knocked him back and forth Twilight’s magic could easily reach in and snatch the Dream Memory from his body. Nine hooves at once connected with the crystal, which exploded in a shower of golden sparks. (“The Driver can provide the power, you know,” Luna finally dropped her formal mode of speech, and spoke to Twilight as if they were friends. “You don’t always need to be putting your own emotions into the Memory Break.”) With the Dream Memory broken, the magic didn’t last long. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie woke immediately, though Regal Destiny and some of her friends continued to enjoy a normal, dreamless sleep until the next morning. It took a day or so for Ponyville to get back to normal, although most of the ponies in the street didn’t even know a monster had attacked. Lucky Island was incredibly apologetic. He’d asked for help from another scientist, he said. He’d never wanted to hurt anypony, he just wanted to better understand dreams so that he could help those who were troubled by nightmares. He’d been offered a crystal which was supposed to be able to access dreams, and he’d been more than willing to trade down to a smaller house so that he could pay the price. But then he had lost his dreams, and the sense of regret had driven him to abandon all reason. He couldn’t understand why he would have gone so far. Twilight told him that they understood. That Gaia Memories could be addictive, and could break through any reasonable thought. As she told him that, she thought about Princess Luna, who had departed to seek her sister’s forgiveness. Nightmare Moon was destroyed now, but in a way nopony had expected. She might still be able to use the Luna Memory, but had promised she wouldn’t consider it until they could be sure it was safe. It was hard to trust the Princess who had been Nightmare Moon, and had been the most terrible monster in mythology for so many generations. But with the power she held now, Twilight knew more than anyone that the only thing they could do was hope that she kept her word. Maybe they would meet again. Lucky Island couldn’t tell them who had provided the Gaia Memory. It had been a friend of a colleague of a friend, and the Royal Inquisition was already following that chain of relationships. But every pony saved was a victory for the Champions of Harmony, and every victory was a step closer to a lasting peace. And every step toward peace was a stride closer to a world where they would no longer be needed. That was a worrying thought, but still an issue for the future. Now, the Champions would just do the job that was in front of them, and hope that they would escape the worst of the mind games that had eventually ended the benevolent reign of their predecessors. One pony worried about it more than the others. She couldn’t tell her friends, but somehow she knew they were missing something. Maybe soon.