//------------------------------//
// Part 3: The Child 
// Story: Shadow of a Nightmare 
// by Mystic Mind 
//------------------------------//

Ivory Spark lay in his bed, eyes wide open as he tossed and turned from side to side. He had tried everything he could to relax, including counting Pinkie Pie clones, something which he had seen happen before his very eyes less than a year prior. Yet, for whatever reason,  Ivory just could not get to sleep. Kicking off the covers, the snowy white unicorn stood up on his bed, still grasping his favoured plush dragon toy in his arms, gazing out of the window, hoping to at least pass the time with some star gazing. Though the light from street lamps were dim, it was still enough to pollute the sky with enough brightness to obscure even the closest of Luna's lights.
Ivory let out a disgruntled sigh. “So much for that idea,” he said to his toy dragon with a bitter tone. If only he hadn't been considered too young to join in with Winter Wrap Up, he could have found a dark enough area to see some of the most elaborate constellations out there; in between duties to prepare warmer months, of course. “I wonder if all of those stars they had once been real ponies,” he said, letting out a long sigh, pushing the head of his plush toy forward to mimic his own expression. “Just like the tale of the Mare in the Moon describes. Luna only knows... “	
What the albino unicorn could see did little to ease his frustration. Several early birds, mostly pegusi and earth pony neighbours of his, were already out and about. No doubt that these folks were also having trouble sleeping, though more likely due to the excitement of the annual spring dawning festival beginning in just a few hours. If the assorted collection of farming tools and brightly coloured vests were anything to go by, Ivory's neighbours were anything but unprepared for the tasks ahead of them. Ivory slumped back into his bed, squeezing his plush dragon tight against his chest. With a frustrated sigh, he held up his favourite toy and gazed directly into its button eyes.
“I just don't get it, Garnosh,” the little colt said to the squishy reptile. “Everypony in the class above of me gets to help out in Winter Wrap Up. They'll all be getting their cutie marks for sure! What difference does a year make that means I don't get to have any of the fun?”
Ivory cocked Garnosh's head towards him, mimicking the body language of a pony who was paying close attention to him—an action that, in his mind, would be nice if more ponies actually did for a change. “That's what I was thinking!” Ivory exclaimed, remembering how Miss Cheerilee had insisted that it wasn't his time to get involved, in spite of his insistence. “It's not fair how I always get left out for being little. One day I'm going to grow up to be a big and strong stallion, just like Big Macintosh! I'll show them!” Ivory waved his hoof with a dramatic flare, before pushing his plush dragon's head forward into a nod. “Thanks for listening pal, I knew that you would understand,” he said, pulling Garnosh into a tight embrace.
Turning over onto his side, Ivory finally let out a yawn as a heaviness fell onto his eyelids, hoping that Princess Luna could give him something pleasant to experience as he departed from the waking world. In spite of everything he had been given since being adopted from the Canterlot orphanage—a soft bed of his own, a clean room, all the plush toys he could want—it was nights like these where he felt more like a pet than a son to his foster parents.
His thoughts soon drifted to all the arguments he had had with them in this past week alone. Each time an experiment to find his special talent didn't go quite as planned, be it an attempt to cook for himself or practice with an alchemy kit he had borrowed from Applebloom, his step mother would snap at him with a scalding anger.
“Don't play with hot water!” she told him. Ivory had tried to argue that it wasn't that hot—simmering maybe, but hardly boiling—but his mother had insisted otherwise. “Don't mix those chemicals! Don't do this, don't do that!” she would wound continue to rant.
Ivory's train of thought was suddenly derailed by a gentle, yet audible tapping sound. It was only just within his range of hearing, yet it was still noticeable. It's probably nothing, Ivory thought to himself, hugging his plush dragon tighter. Just some ponies shovelling snow out front or something...
Then the sound came again, clearer this time; precisely three taps coming from the window. If this was some kind of prank from one of his classmates from school, Ivory certainly didn't find it to be the least bit funny. I am so going to tell Cheerliee tomorrow morning if they don't stop...
Still the sound persisted, soon increasing to consistent rhythm of four, the pace matching his heart rate. By this point, the noise had become much less scary and much more irritating. Eventually, Ivory's curiosity as to just what was causing this noise became too much to bear. He had to know what in Equestria was making such a din! Opening his eyes, Ivory rolled over onto his front, then pulled himself up to the windowsill. What Ivory saw made his jaw drop in amazement.
Hovering just outside his room, three grey pegusi dressed in dark purple and black jump suits—outfits that contrasted their flowing blue manes—were trying to get his attention. Somehow, the latch on the window was already undone, allowing Ivory to push it open without much effort. There was no doubt about who these three ponies were; they were members of the Wonderbolts, the most elite team of military stunt flyers in all of Equestria!
“Ivory Spark! Thank Celestia we finally got your attention,” the mare of the trio said, sounding relieved. “My name is Gale Springbreeze. We've been searching all over Ponyville for children to help us in a super secret mission, but so few are brave enough to join us!”
Ivory tried to move his mouth to speak, but he was simply so amazed by the fact the Wonderbolts had just turned up outside his room that words completely failed him.
“Ivory, are you okay?” the stallion to the left of Gale asked, looking somewhat concerned.
“Huh?” Ivory replied, snapping out of his starstruck stare. “Oh, sorry! It's just that I never thought I'd be strong enough to company the Wonderbolts on a mission!”
An amused smirk grew across Gale's face. “We overheard from Princess Twilight Sparkle herself how your magic is growing in power every day. She said that, at this rate, you're going to get a cutie mark that will make your classmates green with envy!”
Ivory opened his mouth to reply, but once again his face froze in a slack-jawed grin, transfixed on the town idols coming to him for help! “So, are ya coming?” The shorter-haired stallion to the right asked.
“Am I ever?” Ivory squealed with delight, hopping out of the open window and onto Gale's back.
“Fantastic!” Gale exclaimed. Her expression was partially concealed to Ivory by the mask of her flight suit, making it unreadable to him. But regardless, Ivory knew in his heart that Gale was almost as exited to have him join the Wonderbolts as he was to join them! “Please allow me to introduce my comrades; Thunder Quest to my right, and Flash Sundancer to my left. On behalf of Princess Twilight Sparkle and General Spitfire, I declare you, Ivory Spark, to be an honorary supporting member of the Wonderbolts Scout Brigade!”
Reaching into a pocket in her flight suit, Gale pulled out a small necklace, carved from a tiny cut of diamond, threaded together with a black string that was just right for a school aged colt. Any child of Ivory's age would recognise the shape immediately; a lightning bolt with a pair of wings on either side, the same symbol that had been stitched onto the flanks of the three pegusi's suits. Spreading her wings out from their partially folded hovering position, the leading Wonderbolt flapped them down in a broad stroke that launched her into a high speed ascension, reducing the sight of the houses below to little more than barely recognisable specks on the ground within seconds.
Ivory clung on tight with his hooves clamped around Gale, the force of acceleration pushing him back harder than anything he had ever experienced before. Ivory could feel his heart pounding in his chest, adrenaline flooding his body to give him the strength to hold steady against the backlash that threatened to throw him clean off his Pegasus mentor.
Ivory had no idea how much time had passed since leaving his bedroom. It felt like seconds, but given the distance he travelled, it could have been far longer. Almost as quickly as the ascent had begun, Ivory felt Gale pitching forward to level out her flight path, spreading the feathers on the leading edge of her wings to their fullest extent, settling into a steady glide pattern above the clouds, only flapping occasional to maintain altitude. Now, under a gentle cruise, they flew away from the wintry weather below. Ivory's eyes went wide with amazement as the full extent of Princess Luna's heavenly patterns stretched out before him. The sheer number of twinkling lights that gleamed down from above matched every single one of the pictures in Ivory's text books to the smallest detail, as if they had been lifted straight out of the pages themselves to be plastered across the sky.
“This is amazing!” Ivory exclaimed with delight, pointing his hoof towards a few of his favourite constellations. “Look! There's Ursa Major. Remember that time Twilight soothed one of its cranky babies? My stepmum told me all about that one, from before Twilight became the Princess of Friendship. And look over there! That's an image of Celestia and Luna dancing together, made by Luna the night after the Elements of Harmony turned her good again from being Nightmare Moon.”
Ivory would have been content to continue on with his explanations of the history behind each constellation, but he was cut short by what appeared to him as a soft, disgruntled moan coming from pegusi below him. “Is everything alright, Miss Gale?”
“Alright? Why yes...yes of course!” the Wonderbolt leader replied, trying to appear confident in spite of the small glimmer of hesitation in her voice. Ivory quickly decided it was best not to ask any more questions about Gale's mood. He had been chosen for a very important mission, so it seemed only logical to him that this was a time to focus on the task at hoof. Stargazing would have wait until another time.
“How far do we have to go the mission starts? I'm more than ready to kick the flanks of any bad guys who stand in our way!” releasing one hoof, Ivory made a few faux punching motions, flexing his biceps in an effort to make himself look strong for his hero.
Gale chuckled under her breath, trying not to make too much of a show of how amusing she found the little pony's actions. “Don't worry, we just need to wait for Thunder and Flash to get back to us with two other children. You are going to make an amazing team with them, I can feel it!”
“Just like the Power Ponies, right?”
“Yes! Exactly like the Power Ponies,” Gale said, grinning as if she knew what the little unicorn was talking about. All she had to do was keep his spirits high until the next phase of her plan could be revealed. The timely arrival of her comrades showed Gale that she wouldn't be waiting for much longer. Bursting through the clouds below, Thunder and Flash fell into rank on either side of their commanding officer. On their backs, a sunburst yellow earth pony and scarlet red Pegasus rode, both looking to be roughly the same age as Ivory—and if their expressions were anything to go by, their excitement at joining their heroes on a grand adventure was surpassed only by Ivory himself.
“Are these the chosen ones?” Gale asked with a dramatic tone.
“Yes Ma'am! The team is finally assembled!” Thunder replied, his voice as deep and full of pride as his name would suggest. He and Flash simultaneously saluted Gale, a gesture that the children riding on their backs copied as they giggled in excitement.
“Perfect!” Gale exclaimed. Reaching over her head with her front hooves, Gale pulled Ivory off of her back and held him out in front of her so that they could talk face to face. “Now you three, listen up. Before we take on the bad guys, we need to train you in a very special technique that will unlock your true power!”
Ivory clapped his hooves together. This was it! The moment that other ponies his age could only dream about. But as he locked eyes with the Wonderbolt commander, an odd sensation began to come over him. In fact, it was the same sensation that had been preventing him from getting back to sleep earlier that night; a force that made the air around him feel stiflingly hot. Ivory had just been so thrilled to be with the Wonderbolts, he had forgotten all about it. But now the headache had returned, evolving from an annoying throbbing sensation on the back of his head, to a painful pressure right behind his eyes.
Gale spoke to him again, but any words that he expected come out of her mouth became  garbled and slurred. Ivory's heart rate spiked, forcing him into a pattern of quick, shallow breaths just to get enough oxygen pumping through his blood stream. The immaculate blue and gold on the uniforms faded into a sinister looking purple and black livery, with Ivory's necklace following suit as it bloomed to life with a deep red glow. But this was more than just a light show. The ornament was spewing forth a cloud of black gas, one that surrounded the three adult Pegusi to snuff out even the brightest shine from the moon and stars above. The last thing Ivory saw before darkness consumed his senses completely was the faces of his heroes; scowling and laughing with a voice that was not their own.
“Hail to the Nightmare.” These words echoed in Ivory's mind, as quiet as a whisper, yet as clear as a shout. Before he could comprehend what was going on, the pony who had called herself Gale released her grip on the unicorn, surrendering him to feel the full force of gravity.
As he plummeted to the ground, Ivory let out a scream of terror that echoed far and wide.


A sharp cough burst out from Ivory Spark's lungs. He was awake, or at the very least, conscious enough to be aware of his surroundings. Where he was or how he got here, however, he hadn't the faintest clue. Was this all just a horrible dream? Maybe Princess Luna would be showing up at any moment to teach him the meaning of it all. He opened his mouth to call out to guardian of the night, but no sound escaped his lips. His throat felt incredibly sore, though that was only a fraction of the overall pain he felt at this time. His whole body ached, like he had just been forced to do the running of the leaves while pulling a five ton cart of apples behind him. Ivory attempted to stand up, though he only manage to raise himself a couple of inches off of the ground before his legs gave way, collapsing back down to the cold, hard ground.
Wherever he was, the place was pitch black. So dark, in fact, that Ivory couldn't even see his hoof in front of his face, causing him to wonder if he had suddenly gone blind. Rubbing his aching head, Ivory tried to summon up an illumination spell, attempting to at least give him some indication as to where in Equestria he was.
Nothing. The more Ivory tried, the more his head throbbed. He tried several more times, but all he managed to do was make his headache worse. Ivory's front hooves began to shake, his teeth chattering along side them as a sudden feeling of dread filled the pits of his gut. Still unable to hold himself up, Ivory dragged himself forward on his belly in hopes of escape, only to find his path blocked by a set of steel bars that stretched up far beyond his reach. Banging his hooves on the bars, a little spark of magic finally flashed on the tip of his horn, illuminating the intimidate area around the little unicorn. Though it lasted only a few brief seconds, what Ivory saw made his eyes widen with horror.
Ivory's last memories before he woke up in confinement flooded back into his mind. What was previously a trickle was now a torrent, displaying everything in vivid detail, from the rapid transformation of the Wonderbolts, to suddenly feinting and falling to earth at terminal velocity. Now he was trapped in a steel cage, with what looked to be two unconscious—or possibly even dead—fillies laying behind him. Watching over them in the darkness behind, a trio of sharp, glowing red eyes glared, pinning Ivory to the spot with their gaze as they licked their long, protruding teeth with blood red tongues, suggesting to his quick thinking that they had every intention of eating something, or somepony, and now it was his turn.
Smacking his front hooves on the bars even harder than before, Ivory tried once more to scream, but yet again no sound escaped his throat. Sweat poured down the unicorn's face as the light from his horn faded, every muscle in his body twitching with panic, desperate to run and get himself as far away from this horror as possible. These efforts were met with little more than the frantic scraping of dirt with his back hooves. He was trapped Celestia only knew where, locked in a cage with vicious monsters that wanted him to be their next meal, and no visible way out. Yet the little unicorn refused to accept that this was the end. Even if it was a futile effort, Ivory kept stomping his hooves and rattling the bars, hoping that somepony, somewhere, would notice him and come to his rescue.
His wish was granted, but not in the way that he would have ever expected. First came a sound; a tiny little whistle pitched just on the edge of Ivory's awareness. From the moment that he noticed it, the sound grew louder, until it had developed into a sharp, almost ringing like sensation that began to vibrate the bars in front of him. Ivory glanced behind him for a moment. The crimson eyes that had been looking upon him with a frenzied desire were still there, only now they were beginning to back away, looking in every direction around them in a vein effort to try and figure out where the sound was coming from.
At first it seemed obvious to Ivory, but the more he paid attention to the bizarre noise, the more he realized that it seemed to be changing direction every couple of seconds. Suddenly, a series of bright orbs of light flashed in the darkness ahead of Ivory. They were not red like those of his captors, but a dark shade of purple, blinking in and out of existence at seemingly random intervals, growing and shrinking in both size and numbers.
A sharp yelp from the red-eyed creatures sent Ivory leaping upwards in a startled jump, almost hitting his head in the process. Now his captors were starting to display fear themselves, attempting to abandon the cage, but each time finding themselves blocked by a sharp hiss and a wide, grinning mouth with inch long fangs flashing at them from out of the darkness. Whatever these creatures were, they only served to amplify the colt's fear, his body now curling up in terror as he shut his eyes tight and plugged his ears with his front hoof, trying in vain to block out the awful din.
Though he did not realize it, whatever these things that had emerged to greet his predators were, they now surrounded the red-eyed beings, all facing away from Ivory to direct their sonic blast at his captors. The pressure was mounting, his foes were reeling in agony, their eyes flickering as if they were a candle flame burning through the last slithers of the wax. It was then that something snapped inside of Ivory's mind. He could stand this no longer. His horn erupted into a dazzling beam of prismatic white light, and he screamed.
It was louder than anything he had ever produced before, a release of pent up emotions that had been building up inside of him from the moment that he had woken up in this Celestia forsaken trap. The dazzling flash lit up his surroundings with a brightness that to the bat ponies it revealed, may as well have been as strong as the Solar Princesses' star. Shielding their eyes, they dropped to the ground as a burning sensation shot through their minds, a rainbow array of colours dancing in their vision to the complete obscurity of all else.
The captors of Ivory Spark were revealed as well. What had appeared to him as massive monsters with exceptionally sharp fangs turned out to be little more than Diamond Dogs; ugly canine creatures that now lay unconscious on the stone floor of tunnel. With their hosts now immobilised, a pitch black substance—the consistency of which was somewhere between a living shadow and puddle of bubbling hot tar—melted away from their bodies, seeping through the cracks in the wall to escape the blinding light.
Seconds later, Ivory's spell came to an abrupt end, his body completely exhausted from the sudden mass exertion of magic. Loosing his balance, Ivory tipped over sideways, slumping onto his side as his chest expanded and contracted quickly in an effort to catch his breath. 
Out of all the Bat Ponies, Echo Dancer was the first to arise. Rubbing their eyes as the last slimmer of light faded away, their blurry vision quickly came back into focus. Once they could properly see again, Echo noticed the three children laying in the cage. They knew that Diamond Dogs were prone to kidnapping unlucky ponies that ventured too far into their territory, that much wasn't unusual. 
What was a dreadful first for them, however, was kidnapping children. One glance of their coats showed few bruises or dirt smears that would indicate any kind of struggle. In fact, Echo was surprised at how few obvious injuries the prisoners had between them. It was if they had been plucked straight out of their beds and transported here in a matter of seconds. How that was possible, Echo could only speculate.
As they began to examine the cage, Echo's comrades started to return to their senses. The first among  to approach Echo was their unit commander, Radon Arc. “What in Luna's name just happened?” he grumbled, his head pounding more than a  day's worth of heavy drinking. Even with his dishevelled state, his posture still allowed Radon to stand at least half a foot taller than Echo, his solid black mane and fading crescent cutie mark making him distinct among the crowd of purple-and-magenta-haired ponies.
“I'm not entirely sure myself, but I can tell you where it came from,” Echo replied, pointing to Ivory Spark, his horn still flickering with residual magic sparks.
Radon stared at him in disbelief. “How could such a little kid create such a powerful light spell? He doesn't even have his cutie mark yet!”
Echo shrugged. “You're asking the wrong pony here, sir. That's Mystic's field of expertise, not mine.”
Radon stepped forward to get a better look at the children. Two of them were still unconscious, but breathing at a steady rate. The Unicorn also appeared to be settling down, though he still made no attempt to move.
“Leave...me...alone...” Ivory said weakly.
“Don't worry kid, we're here to help. Just sit tight,” Radon said, attempting to reduce his voice from the usual gruff and commanding expression to a more soft and welcoming tone instead.
“No...please...Wonderbolts...don't...touch...”
It was obvious to Echo that the kid was forcing himself awake, yet somehow—either by sheer force of will or some other unknown trait of Unicorns—he was not just talking, but aware of everypony else in the room. Radon opened his mouth to try and comfort the colt further, but Echo just extended their hoof to stop him.
“Leave him!” Echo snapped, before the memory of their rank caught up with them a second slower than her knee jerk reaction. “Sorry, sir. I mean, I think our appearance is scaring the little guy. If I may make a suggestion, we can send for Mystic and Diamond, both of whom will be more likely to be a familiar sight to a surface pony of his age than us.”
Though he attempted to keep his expression neutral, Radon couldn't prevent himself from scowling the edge of his lips in annoyance at Echo breaking command, though he refused to let it show in his voice, simply shaking his head instead. “No, I'm afraid that is not a risk we can take,” he said calmly. “We don't know for sure how much the unicorn was hurt by the Nightmare Dogs, much less that of the other two children. This is an emergency, so a little discomfort is going to be necessary in order to ensure their well being.”
One look at Ivory Spark told Echo that this was not going to be an easy journey. She squirmed and bit her lip. This was the risk that so many of their kind had to face every time they found themselves among the ponies of the surface world. Everything about her appearance struck among followers of Celestia; Echo could see that in how much Ivory recoiled in horror at the slightest flutter of their wings, an action that emphasised the assets bestowed upon their kind by Nightmare Moon's legacy. No matter how many hundreds of years they spent waging war against the very force that made them as they are today, there would always be something about them that appealed to a primal instinct hidden deep in the mind of each passing generation.
“Then I'll take him,” Echo said as they walked up to the cage. Summoning up the natural pegasus magic from deep within their soul, Echo's eyes lit up with a soft white light, their tongue clicking against the roof of their mouth as they tailored the sonic spell, gently lulling the little unicorn back into a hypnotic sleep. The process only took a few seconds, but they were long enough for the sharp pain of guilt to nibble away at the back of Echo's mind. Their talent was supposed to be used on the parasitic nightmare forces, not a gradeschool kid so far from home.
The same sonic resonance that put Ivory to sleep also made it easy to break open the lock on the cage door. “I'll meet you back at base, commander,” Echo said, saluting their superior officer.
Radon returned the salute. “The rest of our squad will not be far behind. Luna's speed, Echo.”
“Thank you, Commander,” With those formalities out of the way, echo spread their wings and leapt into the cavern darkness, giving a silent prayer to Luna that they hadn't added to the list of  mental scars that the little unicorn would likely already have.