Dreaming of You
Twilight Sparkle landed amidst the red glow of molten stone. The bombardment from the flagship eased up as she neared the front door. Her brow furrowed as she inspected the chains that secured it. There wasn’t a single scratch to be seen.
“Highly enchanted. Magic lock with three keyholes.” She shut her eyes as her horn glowed. “No actual tumblers within the locking mechanism, so the keyholes must be purely for show.” She opened her eyes and tested the resonance of the enchantments. “Or symbolic.”
There was a weak “rowlf” to the left. Cerberus eased his three heads around the mountainside. One head stared at her with suspicion, the second in recognition, while the third merely licked its paw and whined. Twilight held out a hoof to him and smiled. “Come here, boy. That’s a good boy. Remember me?”
Cerberus came forward slowly. Twilight could see burn marks on his coat as he closed the distance. “That’s okay. I’m a friend. Good boy! You’re such a good boy.”
He sniffed cautiously at her hoof, then licked it. She patted each of his heads in turn and rubbed his side. “You see this door, boy? Door? Can you open it? Huh, boy? Can you open the door?”
Cerberus looked from Twilight to the doorway. All three heads made a low growling sound.
Twilight’s voice was like iron against iron. “No. Bad dog. Don’t growl at me.”
Cerberus lowered himself under her glare. He looked to the lock, his tongues hanging out.
“All you have to do is open the door.”
The middle head tilted back and let out a howl. Soon, another head joined in. The third gave its paw one final lick before adding its noise to the three-part harmony. The howl intensified, and purple sparks danced between his collars.
Twilight looked at the lock. It, too, was producing magic sparks. “Atta boy. Atta boy!”
“Twilight, stop!”
Cerberus ceased howling and turned towards the new noise. The sparks died down.
“No!” Twilight rose into the air on her wings. She bared her teeth at the pony that would dare interrupt her. “Just who do you think you are?”
“Twilight…” Spike dismounted Redheart as she touched down at the base of the mountain. He rushed up to Twilight, his arms outstretched. “Twilight, you gotta be alright!”
“Spike?” Twilight flapped backwards and bumped into the mountain. “What are you doing here? You should be back in Ponyville, where it’s safe!”
“I couldn’t leave you.” Spike clenched his fists. He walked over a melted rock like it was nothing. “I need to be with you. I need to help you.”
“No. No, no, no, no.” Twilight landed and spread her forelegs wide. “You can’t help me. What I’m doing will get me in trouble as it is. I can’t drag you into it, too!”
“I’m not going to help you with this”—Spike waved a hand around—“I’m going to help you come back. All you have to do is leave Tartarus alone.”
Twilight Sparkle turned away. “No. I can’t abandon my friends in their time of need.”
“I need you!” Spike ran the rest of the way and threw his arms around Twilight’s neck. “You’re my best friend, Twilight, and I can’t just sit and watch you hurt yourself like this!”
“But…” Twilight hesitated before wrapping a leg around him. “But Blueblood—”
“Is fine. He’s fine, Twilight.” Spike sniffled. “He’s getting settled in, and he’s looking forward to getting visits from us. He knows how important Tartarus is. You know, too.”
“But…” Twilight turned her head to look at the door. “But this isn’t the ideal solution.”
“No. But it works.” Spike gave her a lopsided grin. “‘Don’t fix what ain’t broken,’ like Applejack says.”
A pebble tumbled down next to Twilight. Her ear twitched. “This whole thing is broken.”
“Twilight, wait!”
Twilight pushed Spike away and looked up. Flash Sentry was balanced on a ledge above her, dumping the bag of enchanted sand. Her horn glowed.
The individual grains hung in the air, suspended in her telekinesis. They glowed orange as she poured magic into them. She flew up to Flash Sentry’s level and brought the sand up beside her.
“No,” she said.
The grains of sand shot towards each other and fused into one clump of hot glass. Twilight threw it across the valley, where it shattered against the far mountain. She pressed Flash against the ledge with a spell and slammed her hooves into the rock beside his head. Cracks spread.
“I thought I loved you,” Twilight said.
“I know I love you,” Flash said.
“I thought you loved me, too!” Twilight smashed the stone beneath them. The ledge became a small avalanche of rubble, taking Flash Sentry with it. She hovered in the air and watched him fall. He spread his wings and tried to bolt away, but a stray boulder crushed his joint.
“Flash!” Spike ran, his arms outstretched to catch the pegasus. “Twilight, help him!”
Flash’s descent slowed at Redheart gripped him in a protective bubble. She set him on the ground and examined his wing. “It’s broken, alright. I think you got lucky.”
“Darn right he got lucky!” Twilight sneered. “Now go away and let me do my job!”
“It’s not your job!” Spike shouted.
“Shut up!” Twilight dragged Cerberus to the door. “Open the door, you stupid mutt!”
Instead of howling, Cerberus barked. It was a resounding, threefold, magically-amplified bark that shot straight into Twilight’s chest and filled it with stark, raving terror. She screamed and covered her head with her wings. Cerberus placed a paw on her back and pushed her down. She struggled, but it was a panicked struggle that left her trapped firmly under Cerberus’ mercy.
The weight on her back disappeared in an instant.
Twilight peered through her midnight-purple feathers. Her draconic eye fell on a small, black, three-headed puppy, who was busy chasing its own tail. She tilted her head, her mouth dipping open. “What in the heck?”
Spike stood stiff as a board as he pointed up. Redheart and Flash also looked up, causing the hairs on their backs to stand up.
Spike choked up. “O-oh. No…”
“Greetings, denizens of Tartarus!” Discord said. The rock caught fire behind him, framing him with a hellish glow. His yellow eyes held slit pupils. His fur was a dirty brown. His mismatched limbs all held sharpened claws, talons, or cloven hooves. His tail whipped behind him, where a barbed blade sat on the end. He was covered from head to toe in armor roughly reminiscent of Nightmare Moons, angular and purple. His horns sparkled with magic as he picked Cerberus up and petted him. “He’s such a cutie when he’s not munching on your foot, isn’t he?”
Twilight Sparkle stood, slack-jawed. “D—duh, huh? Discord?”
“Please, that name is so ten seconds ago.” He transformed the Cerberus puppy into an ice cream cone with three scoops. He watched as it began to melt in the heat. “Call me by my assumed name which nopony’s ever actually going to care to remember.
“Nightmare Entropy.”
Flash struggled to his hooves, his broken wing hanging from his side. “What do you want, Discord!?”
“What did I tell you?” Discord shrugged and snapped his fingers. Flash Sentry vanished in a flash, and was replaced by an orange and blue mosquito. “Go annoy somepony else for a while, m’kay?”
“Turn him back right now!” Spike stomped a foot. “Right now, you hear me?”
“Gasp. I shiver in fright. I quiver in fear.” Discord yawned. “Or what?”
Spike charged. He leapt at Discord with his mouth open, and chomped down on the draconequus’ goat hoof. Discord screamed and flailed his leg around, but Spike wouldn’t let go.
“Stupid! Little! Baby!” Discord stomped his foot, but Spike shrugged off the blows. “Quit!”
“Spike, let him go!” Twilight grasped the dragon and tugged him away from Discord. “And you, stop hurting Spike!”
“Hurting him?” Discord pointed at his foot. “Who has teeth marks where, Your Royal Hinies?”
He slapped at his neck. A little orange and blue mosquito flew away from him at something close to mach speed. He dropped the ice cream cone on the ground and summoned a flyswatter. “I’ll show you, you little crud bucket!”
“Discord!” Twilight snapped. “Do I miss my guess, or are you here for a reason?”
“For heaven’s sake. ‘Nightmare Entropy!’ Know it, love it, use it, ponies.” Discord crossed his arms. “And, ironically enough, yes I am.”
He snapped his fingers. Flash Sentry returned to his original form, which included his broken wing. He fell from the air with a scream, and Redheart rushed to his side. She sent a soothing anesthetic spell into the limb.
“I am here to complete that task we set out for so long ago.” Discord cracked his knuckles. “Well, not you specifically, Princess. The other Nightmares and I.”
Twilight backed away, Spike struggling in her super-strong grip. “You’ve been working with Nightmares?”
“Oh, Discord hasn’t.” Nightmare Entropy grinned, showcasing a full set of fangs. “But while I’ve seemingly inherited some of his fun-loving personality, I’ve hidden most of his more troublesome quirks deep in the back of his mind.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide. “Shadowfright?”
“The one and only.” Nightmare Entropy stretched his arms upward. His spine cracked all the way down. He summoned a fiery ball of ice and juggled it. “Back, and far more powerful than I could have possibly imagined!”
He turned to the doorway into Tartarus. “So, I seem to recall some sort of plan revolving around failsafe spells and powerful amplification. Ring a bell?”
“Do—” Twilight pushed Spike to the side. He could do no more than watch with watery eyes. “Do you think it will work on the prison?”
“One way to find out.” Nightmare Entropy held out a megaphone and pointed it at the mountain. “Princess Celestia, open this gate! Princess Celestia, tear down this wall!”
Sand stung Rarity and Pinkie Pie’s eyes. Wind whipped their manes around as they sought shelter. They could barely see the hooves in front of their faces, let alone a place to hide.
“This isn’t working!” Rarity shouted over the howling gale. “We can’t find Braeburn in this mess!”
“There aren’t any other messes to find him in!” Pinkie snapped. “This is it, sister. The final lap! The last hole! Round three, ding, ding, ding, fight!”
“There’s nothing to fight!” Rarity wiped tears off of her cheeks. “There’s just this horrid storm and sand and wind! We can’t fight nature!”
“It’s not nature!” Pinkie pressed on. “It’s just a bad dream. Braeburn! Where are you!?”
She tripped over something and went sprawling. Rarity rushed up to her and helped her to her feet. “Are you alright?”
Pinkie held a hoof over her eyes to block the wind. She gasped, and leaped toward the thing she’d tripped over. She began digging in the sandy ground. “Help me, Rarity!”
Rarity stood still for a second. “Help you with what?”
“Digging!” Pinkie pushed a mound to the side. “Hurry!”
Rarity tensed up and stuck a hoof into the sand.
Pinkie squinted at her. “There’s more sand in the air than there is on the ground.”
“Fine.” Rarity dug into the ground with both hooves. “I’ll have you know I’d only do this for you.”
Pinkie blinked. She smiled. “Thank you, Rarity.”
“My pleasure, Pinkie,” Rarity said. “Now, what are we— Goodness!”
A cowboy hat lay on the ground, barely sticking out of the sand. Pinkie tugged on it with her mouth. “This is what I tripped over. Braeburn’s in here!”
Rarity looked around. “Well of course he’s in his own dream.”
“Not just the dream! Here! He’s under here!” Pinkie threw dirt to the side like a dog mining for a bone. “Help me!”
Rarity doubled her own efforts. She dug cautiously, to make sure she didn’t hurt anything that might lie below the surface. After a few minutes, Pinkie squealed. “He’s here! Help me dig around him.”
They circled around, shaping out a pony-sized trench around Braeburn. With a mighty tug, Pinkie broke him out of the pit and carried him to the surface. “You’re okay! You’re okay!”
Braeburn coughed up sand. It dribbled out his ears and nose and crusted over his eyes. “Hon?”
Pinkie squealed and wrapped her forelegs around him. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”
“How… how did you find me?” Braeburn blinked back salty tears. “Ah can’t even see where ah am. How did you find me?”
“I never stopped looking!” Pinkie Pie kissed his forehead and brought his head to her chest. “I knew that if I looked everywhere, I’d find the one where that had you in it.”
“Ah’m so lost.” Braeburn wrapped both his legs and his wings around Pinkie. “Ah’m so lost and don’t know where to go. Ah don’t know where to go, where ah’m at, and ah don’t think ah even know where ah came from anymore!”
He sobbed. “Ah can’t take you from Ponyville. Ah can’t take mahself from Appleoosa. Ah for sure can’t take mahself away from you. Ah don’t know where to go… Ah’m so lost.”
The wind howled harder. Rarity looked into the sandstorm and saw the glimmer of a Night Terror stalking around the perimeter.
“Maybe it doesn’t have to be like this,” Pinkie said. “Maybe being lost isn’t so bad.”
Braeburn reared away from her. “What? What the hay you talkin’ about? How ain’t it bad?”
Rarity pushed through the sand, her horn glowing as she reached out to the Nightmare. She found herself unable to get a grip. Every time she got close, it would vanish into the dust.
“Maybe being lost doesn’t matter so much.” Pinkie placed a hoof on Braeburn’s cheek. “I don’t mind being lost if we can be lost together.”
Braeburn gasped. A spark flashed in his mind’s eye. He leaned forward and kissed Pinkie, cupping her hooves in his.
The sandstorm died down. The Night Terror looked around, its eyes wide. “Whoops,” it whispered.
“That’s better,” Rarity said, shaking sand out of her mane. “Now, how did Princess Luna put it? Ah, that’s right…” She squared her hooves, held her head up high, and grinned. “I am Lady Rarity, Former Bearer of the Element of Generosity and Knight of Harmony! These little ponies are under my protection!”
Rarity giggled into her hoof before continuing. “You can return to your rightful place in Tartarus,” she said, “or you can face much more dire consequences!”
The Night Terror looked from Rarity to the ponies behind her. It bowed its head, but she couldn’t help noticing the smirk on its face. “I surrender.”
Lyra stared at the dozens of Lyras that surrounded her. They stared back.
She sought to flap her wings, but they weren’t there. She was just a unicorn. So were most of the doppelgangers, except for the tall one in the back that was an alicorn. She gritted her teeth.
“Murderer,” they all seemed to whisper.
“Lyra!” a familiar voice blared. “What’ve you got yourself into this time!?”
“Aaah!” Lyra jumped into the air. Her doppelgangers’ heads followed the movement. “Who’s there?”
Vinyl Scratch flew over the crowd, a strange black pony behind her. “It’s your old buddy. Don’t tell me you actually forgot.”
“N-no.” Lyra went back to watching the duplicates. “No, I’ve just got other things on my mind right now.”
Vinyl Scratch looked at the Lyras sitting all around. “Yeah. Some sort of fan club?”
“Murderer.”
“No,” Lyra squeaked.
“Okay, that was creepy,” the funny little black pony said. “What’s the Nightmare?”
“They’re gonna kill me.” Lyra swallowed.
Vinyl shot Lyra a look. “What? Why’re they gonna do that?”
“Because I killed their queen.”
As one, the doppelgangers’ blank faces grinned in a not-quite-Lyra way. Nasty, with long fangs poking out of their mouths. Their eyes flashed green. Their horns ignited with green fire, which consumed their bodies and replaced them with something dark, hard, and cold. Hooves with holes, membranous wings, crooked horns, multifaceted eyes. An army of changelings emerged from the fire, all wearing Lyra’s manestyle. Lyralings.
Lyra screamed and cowered under her hooves.
Vinyl screeched. She took to the air, but paused when she saw Lyra shivering on the ground. She landed in front of the unicorn, her horn glowing bright. “A’right, you mangy horror rejects. Come and get me!”
The black pony gulped, took a deep breath, and burst into flames. A changeling stepped out of the fire, small and nervous. “Y-yeah. Me, too.”
Lyra tilted her head as Mandible appeared. “What the—?”
The changelings attacked. Vinyl beat them away with hoof and horn. Her wings flapped to knock a few out of the air. She gripped one by the tail and spun it into its fellows.
Still they came.
Mandible grappled with one, his hooves pressed against its. “What did you do to their queen!?”
“I killed her.” Lyra curled up into a protective ball. “I killed Chrysalis. They hate me!”
“Wait…” Mandible pushed against the Lyraling and got his face closer to Lyra. “You’re the one who took down Queen Chrysalis?”
Lyra peered through her bangs. Her eyes shot wide open. “Changeling! Get away from me!” She took off at a dead run through the Lyralings swarming around.
Vinyl turned her head as she punched one changeling’s face in. “Lyra! Get back here!”
She tried to run after her friend, but was overtaken by a huge mod of her foes. They piled on top of her, dragging her to the ground. “Lyra!”
Mandible flew after Lyra. When he saw her tripped up and assailed by a group of Lyralings, he lit himself on fire. “Gangway!”
He dove for the ground and impacted the monsters with a small explosion. He bucked backwards, kicking two Lyralings off of Lyra. He turned and planted his hooves around her in a protective cage. “Leave her alone!”
Lyra looked up at him with terror in her amber eyes. “Don’t hurt me, please!”
“Hurt you?” Mandible raised a chitinous eyebrow. “Why would I do that?”
“B-because I killed your queen… I’m a murderer.”
Mandible punched another Lyraling before speaking. “No you’re not.”
He took a step back and looked her in the eye. “Queen Chrysalis was bad news. Bad, bad news. She was gonna hurt a lot of people, Lyra. She was gonna burn, and pillage, and enslave…” He kicked out with a back leg. A Lyraling fell to the ground with a goofy look on its face. “She wasn’t in it to help the changelings anymore. S-she just wanted power.”
He gulped. “S-so you saved someone’s life, and Chrysalis just paid the consequences for her actions. You saved Blueblood and hundreds of others. You, like, freed all the changelings who didn’t want to be ruled by her, too. You’re a hero.”
Lyra stared at him with wide eyes. Her mouth moved without making a sound.
Mandible grinned sheepishly. “You’re my hero, anyway.”
He was bunted to the side by the alicorn Lyra’s flank. It transformed from a copy of the princess into a strange amalgamation of Chrysalis, Nightmare Lyre, and the Lyralings. “No! She’s a murderer! A dangerous monster! She will be hunted down and killed!”
Queen Lyralis placed a holey hoof against the side of Mandible’s head. She pressed down. “She and all her associates!”
“No!” Lyra stood, her horn aglow. She wrapped Queen Lyralis in a crushing bubble of magic energy. “Leave him alone!”
She threw the queen at the pile of Lyralings dog piling on top of Vinyl. When the queen hit the soldiers, it was like an explosion of minty green and black. Vinyl burst through and flew over to Lyra and Mandible. “You guys okay?”
“Kinda.” Mandible rubbed his head. “I’m very kinda.”
“B-better.” Lyra wiggled her shoulder blades. “Th-thanks for coming in after me.”
“Hay, what’re friends for?” Vinyl stared down the army of Lyralings that collected across the dreamscape from them. “Can we take ’em?”
Mandible rose to his hooves. He fluttered his wings. “Maybe.”
A spark flashed through Lyra’s mind’s eye. She grinned wide. “Oh, yeah we can. Together!”
Her body glowed the color of her golden magic. She grew. Wings sprouted from her back as her horn got longer. She stood beside Vinyl, fully an alicorn again. “Who’s up for some knock-off knockout?”
Queen Lyralis groaned as the three charged at her. “Aw, crackers.”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t keep blocking lightning forever.
She flinched as a bolt cut into her side. It left a gash that made it very painful to move her wings. She locked them in place as she glided on the violent winds.
Lightning Dust drew up beside her and punched the gash. Rainbow Dash screamed.
“Yeah, you better holler!” Lightning punched her again. “How dare you? How dare you!?”
She smacked one of Rainbow’s wingtips downward, sending the pegasus into an out of control spiral. “Correct that mess, jerk!”
Rainbow Dash held her wings against her sides. She plummeted like a rock, waiting until she could feel the wind blowing the direction she needed. When she reached that point, she braced herself and opened her wings. The gash burned and stung and pulled and screamed, but she held on.
Lightning Dust came down on top of her and drove her into the side of a mountain. The Alicorn Princess of Flight lit her horn and grabbed on to Dash, dragging her along the rocks. She brought them both to a halt and stood over her foe.
“How dare you compare your pain to mine!?” Lightning shouted. “How dare you say you know what it’s like to lose everything!? When have you lost anything, you brat!? You’ve had life handed to you on a silver platter!”
Rainbow Dash wiggled her tongue around in her mouth. After a moment, she spat a tooth out. She gritted her teeth and stuck her tongue through the new gap.
“Are you even listening!?” Lightning Dust roared in her face.
“I said I know how you feel.” Rainbow Dash moved her foreleg to prop herself up. “I didn’t say I’d lost everything, I just know how you feel.”
“Oh wow, Rainbow Stinking Dash, the psychiatrist.” Lightning Dust stomped down on Rainbow’s wing. “How does that make you feel, loser!?’
“I’ve watched my dad work a dead-end job because he missed out!” Rainbow Dash screamed through the pain. “I’ve watched my best friend convince herself she’s worthless! I’ve watched a good friend give up everything to follow his duty! I’ve seen the end of the world a dozen times! I’ve watched Cloudsdale tumble to the ground!”
Lightning Dust lifted her hoof. Rainbow Dash clutched the wing to her side.
“I’ve seen you get kicked out of the Wonderbolts because of a stupid accident. I know how it feels because I’ve lived around it my whole life. I’ve been down and out, too.” Rainbow Dash bit her lip. “But I kept getting back up. My friends keep getting back up because I won’t leave them alone until they do. I’m done watching ponies lose everything. I’m done!”
Rainbow Dash fought against gravity and stood tall beside Lightning Dust. She looked the alicorn in the eye. “I want to help you join the Wonderbolts. I want you to realize that losing everything doesn’t have to be the end. When you hit the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up.”
She brushed a lock of yellow mane out of her eyes. “I wish I’d helped you sooner, but I was so jealous of you—”
Lightning Dust swung a wing and swatted Rainbow Dash off the mountain. She looked over the side and watched the pegasus drop. She gnashed her teeth together.
Rainbow Dash flared her wings out and slowed her fall. It wasn’t quite enough. She screamed as the wind whipped by her gash. Her eyes met Lightning Dust’s in a two-way glare.
Lightning Dust’s muscles tensed. “No.” Her wings opened up. “No, this is wrong.”
She flinched back as fire burned in her eyes. “No! Rainbow Dash was our wingpony! She betrayed us! She deserves to fall!”
She threw a hoof out and grasped at the rock. “I can’t just let her die!”
“Let her die,” Nightmare Dust said. “I’m all we need now.”
“Shut up!” Lightning Dust jumped off the cliff. Black smoke leaked off her body as she flew down through the air. She brought her wings to her sides and dove at top speed. The smoke surrounded her, pulling and snapping at her. She lit her horn, drawing flashes of lightning all around.
A face formed before her, like a mask with empty eye- and mouth-holes. “You need me!” the Phantasm said. “You’re worthless without me!”
She blasted the Nightmare apart with a bolt of lightning from her horn. She reached out and clasped Rainbow Dash’s legs with her own. Rainbow grunted as they both shifted directions.
“You were serious about that?” Lightning Dust said. “You weren’t just saying things?”
“Of course I meant it.” Rainbow Dash grinned. She wrapped a foreleg around Lightning’s neck to help with balance. “You and me together? Now that was a team to be reckoned with.”
She turned her head, getting an eyeful of the flagship. “Nice boat. What’s it for?”
Lightning Dust’s eyes went wide. She let out a tiny whine. “It’s how we were gonna transport the Nightmares from Tartarus. Oh, crud.”
Luna melted an Automated Servant into its base components. She grasped another and shoved it into a canon just as the weapon was about to go off. She jumped into the air as a piece of the hull was torn off by the resulting explosion.
She landed and looked across the deck. Most of the robots were demolished, or were operating equipment below deck. The six dreamers were safe.
That left finding the pony steering the ship.
Luna ran towards the cabins. She didn’t stop when she reached the door. She just hit it with her shoulder and ignored the splintered wood left in her wake. She followed the signs that pointed through the hallways to the ship’s wheel.
She nearly tripped over Captain Wishbone Fluorspar. “What are you doing in here?”
“Um…” Wishbone shrugged. “Finding captain. Stopping ship. Not hiding, no, that cowardly.”
“Then come.” Luna strode through the corridors. “We must work quickly. The others are counting on us.”
“Um…” Wishbone pattered along after her. “Right behind you.”
Luna busted down the door to the main cabin with a single buck. She charged in, her horn glowing. She was blasted back by a torrent of hot air.
Soarin flapped his wings, his magic sparkling, as he churned up a hurricane-force gale within the confines of the cabin. Wishbone dug his claws into the wood walls as he was carried off. Luna drew her wings tight to her sides and shot magic at the ship’s wheel.
The blast of magic hit the wheel and tore it to pieces. Soarin shouted and jumped to the side. The entire ship jerked as the steering vanes outside tilted whichever way the wind was blowing. He slid across the tilting deck and slammed his head against a metal bar.
Luna brushed her mane back. “Well, that’s one way to halt a threat.”
Soarin leapt up and charged at Luna. He tackled her in the chest and carried her through the corridors. They hit the back wall, and then went through it. She spun midair and tossed him away. “Soarin, Captain of the Wonderbolts! We do not have to fight!”
Soarin flew into the air. Frost collected on his wings as the storm around them turned cold. Hail flew at Luna from the fog, battering her wings. She flapped away until she could get to the top deck of the flagship safely.
“Stop this nonsense!” Luna shouted. “Lives are at stake!”
“I won’t be alone again!” A hailstone the size of a pony rocketed towards Luna. “I won’t!”
The hail melted before it even reached the ship. The glow around Luna’s horn died down. “Soarin, you aren’t alone! You just see things that way!”
Lightning Dust gripped Rainbow tight. “Can you fly?”
“I can glide…” Rainbow Dash looked away from the fight between the princess and the Wonderbolt. “Why?”
“I need a distraction.” Lightning Dust smiled. “I’ll take him from below—”
“While I get his attention.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I’ve done stupider things.”
Rainbow Dash let go and spread her wings, wincing once again as the pain shot through her side. She narrowed her eyes and stretched her forelegs out towards Soarin. Lightning sparked along her wings as she neared him. “Hay, Cap’n!”
Soarin turned just before she slammed into his back. His strength allowed him to keep his balance in the sky, spinning around to fling the pegasus off. She held on tight, sliding her forelegs around in a tight martial arts hold. Before long, all he could move were his wings.
Lightning Dust streaked in from below, her face frozen in a determined grimace. A hailstone smacked against her face, driving her off-course. “Shoot!”
Rainbow Dash bit down on Soarin’s ear, breaking his concentration. He hollered and slammed the back of his head into Rainbow’s snout. She gasped as her grip slacked. He twisted his body and threw her off.
Luna soared in and caught Rainbow Dash in a telekinetic grip. She brought her onto her back, pulled up, and punched Soarin in the face.
The Wonderbolt Nightmare reeled. He blinked as he tried to uncross his eyes.
He didn’t even see Lightning Dust coming that time.
She collided with him, her static and his own causing a burst of energy that expanded through the entire mountain range. She carried him along at high speed. Neither was sure where they were going.
They crashed into the side of the Celestial Flagship’s envelope. Canvas tore and burned as they ripped a hole in it. Metal melted and collapsed as it was superheated by lightning. Gasbags leaked as the entire construction collapsed.
The flagship tilted, buckled, and sank towards the ground. Soarin and Lightning exited out the opposite side of the envelope, unscathed.
“The others!” Rainbow Dash pointed to the sleeping ponies on the deck of the flagship. “We have to help my friends!”
“Too true!” Luna flew for the flagship as it sank lower between the mountains.
Wishbone waved up at them. Mandible was draped over his shoulders. “I got little one, but how we get off?”
Luna lit her horn and placed Rarity, Pinkie, and Braeburn onto her back. “I can carry these four to the ground. I’ll be back for the others.”
“Hay!” Lightning Dust flew down to join them. Her mane was blackened from the fire. She lit her horn and picked up Vinyl and Lyra. “I’ve got these guys. Doesn’t this thing have lifeboats?”
Lightning struck the deck beside Lightning. She yelped and jumped to the side. “Maybe we’ll talk about it later!”
“I’ve got an idea!” Rainbow Dash held out her hoof. “Grab on, Wishbone!”
Wishbone held her hoof. She looked at Lightning. “Now you grab the other side!”
“Ingenious solution, Rainbow Dash!” Luna smiled as Lightning Dust linked with them. “We shall share the burden!”
“Sounds like a metaphor for life.” Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth as Soarin approached. “Let’s go!”
They leaped off, Wishbone screaming all the while.
The hull of the ship smashed against the side of a mountain. The wood splintered as it was dragged along by its own momentum. It began to capsize in midair, rolling down the mountainside. It crashed in the valley and was driven forward to the entrance to Tartarus.
The prow stopped a few feet away from Twilight Sparkle’s face. She sneered. “Well, there’s always plan ‘B,’ I guess.”
“Are you ready for your greatest performance, Twilit Queen?” Nightmare Entropy said. He wrung his hands, generating gobs of chaotic magic. “We are on a limited timetable as of now.”
Her horn glowed white. Her eyes shimmered to match as she stared at the lock. “We’ll do it on my mark.”
Spike gripped her back leg. “Don’t do it, Twilight!”
“Three.”
Flash Sentry stood up. “You don’t have to open the door! We can think of another way!”
“Two.”
Redheart ran up to Twilight. “Think about Blueblood! He’s still in there!”
“One.”
Spike tried to stand between Twilight and the door, but was pulled away by Redheart. “Twilight!”
“Mark.”
The air chilled as a massive wave of magic rolled forth from Twilight. The magic was grasped by Nightmare Entropy, who molded it into the shape of a key. He hefted the key as Twilight continued to pour magic into it.
“You can never go home again,” he chuckled.
He speared the lock with his key, tearing it into tiny shavings of metal and magic. He continued to press the key forward, first demolishing the chains, then cracking open the petrified door. Wind poured out of the opening as magic poured in.
The ground rumbled as four centuries’ worth of enchantments fell away from the prison.
Twilight Sparkle strode purposefully inside, flanked by Nightmare Entropy.
He rubbed his hands together with glee. “Oh, ho. Time for a little jailbreak.”
Luna touched down and laid her charges out. She examined each one for injuries. “They seem fine. I hope they wake up soon.”
“How long do dreams usually last, anyhow?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“There’s no way to truly predict it.” Luna scanned the skies for Soarin. “And we should not wake them before they manage to free our friends.”
“So we’re stuck here.” Lightning Dust paced around the perimeter of the sleeping creatures. “We can’t even help the others because we can’t leave these guys alone.”
“It’s sad but true.” Luna braced herself as a tremor ran through the ground. “That was Tartarus.”
“Dangit!” Lightning stared in the direction of the crashed flagship. “They’re gonna free all the Nightmares! Shadowfright wants an army of Nightmare Alicorns, and he’s gonna use it to take over Equestria! We gotta stop them!”
“Shadowfright?” Luna stormed over to Lightning. “Shadowfright is dead!”
“Yeah, well, you’d better tell him that.” Lightning pouted as she met Luna’s glare. “We gotta leave these guys. They’ll be safe in the valley.”
“No they will not!” Luna drew herself to her full height. “I will not leave these ponies to be devoured in their sleep by Neverdeads!”
Wishbone tapped a claw against the ground. The hair on his back rose as he looked into the shadowy fog. “Guys…”
“Neverdead?” Lightning looked at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged. “What’s a Neverdead?”
Wishbone yelped. He ran between the arguing alicorns and sprinted into the tall rocks. “Gangway!”
“Get back here, you coward!” Luna shouted. “Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, stand fast!”
“What?” Rainbow Dash staggered to her hooves. “What is it?”
“Nightmares in Tartarus,” Luna said, “Neverdeads in the mountains, and us stuck between them.”
A massive, bony foot appeared out of the gloom. Three claws scraped against stone as it gripped the ground. Another foot followed after it as the tip of a skeletal tail waved through the mist. A face appeared, dead and white. It had sharp fangs, deep nasal passages, and two empty eye sockets. Another face followed it out. And another. And another. And yet another.
They were all connected to long necks, which in turn were connected to the same ribcage. The monster took another step forward, and came fully out of the shadows.
“It’s a stinking undead hydra?” Rainbow Dash stared at it, slack-jawed. “Why do the bad guys always get the good stuff?”
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Yeah, figured. Though I do have to wonder if it might have actually worked had they been able to get the sand on her.
Ouch, poor Flash.
At hell, and there's
Nightmare EntropyDiscord. Though he seems rather more Shadowfright than anyone, which is a little odd given how much the original personalities of every other possessed character is showing through.Braeburn! Lyra! Back into the status of not being possessed by evil! Which seems like it would be a good thing, but there was that little smirk in there that is making me wonder if this is still going according to someone's plan.
Oh hell yeah, and Dash saves Dust without even needing to use the sand. Awesome.
Crap, so much for the hope that Twilight could be saved before crossing the line into committing treason by actually attacking Tartarus. Craaaaap.
An undead hydra? That's kind of awesome, actually.
That turned out pretty well with Dash and Dust. I don't think I've seen quite this level of plain expression of camaraderie between them before.
Maybe---especially when it's an author I already know to be capable---I should be patient and wait for the conclusion at least before I start wondering about common problems of logical gaps or worshiping Dash so hard (or other common things that irk me in some fics) that anything she does that is vaguely in character is justified to the author.
... But it sounds haaard. And I wouldn't get to complain before an error then have egg on my face when my fears were unfounded!
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The difference being that neither Rainbow Dash nor Lightning Dust are ninjas.
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Alas, we are not meant to know what might have been.
He's the Big Dog for a reason!
Because there's something a little different about Dissy's possession...
Yes, indeed. And the plan is Mine. Muhuhahahahaha!
I can't just have Dash do exactly what everypony else is doing! Plus, I hadn't shown Nightmare Dust's actual Nightmare before now. It's a little late in the game for a whole new "location."
I'm sure she'll be fine. It's not like the courts can actually convict her, right?
Right?
I wholeheartedly agree. Dash would, too, if it wasn't two seconds away from eating her.
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It's something I feel could happen, if Dash ever got over herself and Dust ever mellowed out.
No, no, no, no! I appreciate that you care enough to slap the back of my head if you feel like I'm getting off-course! Especially since I'm always dangerously close to that Dash-worshiping line you pointed out. I need to write a story where she messes up badly, I think, before my favorite character to write becomes perfect-in-my-own-eyes.
She's just so awesome.
I need perceptive readers to keep me honest, for I know that I am but a mere man.
And it's super flattering to hear that you think I'm a capable author. Thanks!
I wouldn't call it unfounded, since you have found real reason to be wary of such things. Thankfully, the dreaded Marysue-ification did not happen. This time.
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Well... the problem with writing Dash is she's a pony of contrasts.
She's a big braggart and wants to be the best, better than others, and she's very capable of jealousy and pettiness when this comes out. But she's capable of genuine excitement when others do something great or succeed, too.
She's a jerk who forgets forgets other ponies are important and ignores or irritates them. But she's also sometimes a big sweetheart who seriously cares for her friends and upstanding and... uhm y'know... loyal.
She's lazy! Except to attain her dreams she has to train her butt off constantly and have a lifestyle dedicated to physical accomplishment. It's more like she comes off as lazy when it's about her actual job because that's not her priority.
Maybe some of this is inconsistent writing in the show, but I think it makes up a believable character... but it's absolute hell for a fanfic writer. Somewhat often she's just justified for whatever jerkass thing she does because Dash is the best, or it's turned around so she loses all of her negative sides in exactly the wrong way, is always happy for those who deserve it or condescending to the ponies who the author believes deserve that instead.
What? No, this isn't a topic I've been thinking of for a while now and am only just writing up. That definitely wasn't a barefaced lie.
So, getting caught up in her jealousy and outrage, unable to see past herself to the pain of another pony, until it reaches a breaking point where things are so awful she finally sees past herself to the fact that she can help a pony and she actually wants to I think is pretty in character for her.
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I do, too. She's extremely human, in that she's got a lot of facets. I can totally see the same Rainbow Dash cowering in the locker room during the Best Young Flyer Competition as the one who kicked a dragon in the face. I can totally believe she would get so caught up in being the best that she would have trouble skipping out on the Ponyville Equestria Games team. I can totally see her agreeing to be Scootaloo's big sister, even if she's not quite sure how to go about it.
On the other hand, all these facets make her a great main character for just about any sort of story. I'd have to be heavily convinced that Fluttershy, say, would go on an epic journey filled with action and monsters and evil overlords willingly (though that story has potential). But Rainbow Dash has a place in a slice of life story, an adventure, a romance, a horror story, a story about following your dreams, a story about moving on, a story about getting pies to the face...
This is endemic to fanfiction and writing in general. I think every fandom has a character that gets drafted to be the Author Stand-in. It just takes some practice and self-awareness to avoid.
Your name is, after all, AwesomeTruthfulness.
I sure hope so, otherwise the entire story has this gaping hole in the side that's taking on water.
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whatimustdo disagrees apparently. (Diaries of a Madman is the Longest fic on the site, and if it maintains it's current pacing then it's only around halfway done. It's ridiculous.)
But you're right, it should be broken down.
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4833999
Whatimustdo is free to disagree as much as he wants.
It takes a madman to understand a madman.
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Touche. Those who piss off immortal goddesses of the sun don't exactly have the highest life expectancy...
That. Right there. That's what I've been trying to say. See this is why you're the writer. You just said succinctly in four sentences what I struggled to convey in a giant ass-paragraph.
Stop making me look bad!
[Emphasis]
Good. Cause I like trying to help. Mostly because I get free stories out of it. And someone to talk to about said stories. Ok fine my motives are entirely selfish. So sue me. :discord:
...And this place really needs a Discord smiley. In fact our stock of smilies is distressingly low.
Oooh! One more thing! I can't exactly see the the line between "Constructive Criticism" and "I just shat on something you spent time on and lovingly created with your own hands. It's ok. No need to thank me."
I'm sure you'll work something out. 
...riiight? 
All I know is supposedly the closer to line I hit, the more points I get! Or something.
...There are prizes right?
(If this were programming...
...Ok fine, nothing would change other than I'd mock your (Obviously Wrong) choice of Coding Style Psst! They're ALL wrong. For the exact same reason Vim is obviously the superior text editor. and then make a fool of myself by missing something brutally obvious. (Like mismatching some deeply nested parens... *shudder*))
I think I prefer having no clue what the hay I'm doing. I have an excuse that way.
Also programmers really suck at being constructive.
Too many Holy Wars. I have no idea why I went off on that (this? If I'm talking about it am I technically still on it?) tangent. Probably for the sheer amount of references I could stick in there.)
4836568 Oh yeah I was going somewhere before the "Programming
Interlude"... Whoops.
So... I define a "bad" story as one that I can't feel anything but apathy towards.
The character's suck, the landscape is inconsistent and everything happens to advance the plot along its most obvious course. It's predictable.
And I have no clue where this one is going.
"A bad taste in my mouth" is not apathy. I'll let you know what I think when I get there.
But I'll at least be frustrated or something. Possibly even Angry!
Maybe that won't be what you were/are shooting for, but at least you hit
thea target!That's at least worth a participation trophy!
Nope. Not currently the biggest. My biggest problem is that everyone is currently actively attempting to dive into hell when all they have to do is walk in a different direction. Like moths to a flame. But then again I don't have the full story yet.
It's been fun. Thanks for putting up with my insomniac, slightly (yes only slightly) manic self.
And hell, there are what? 17? other stories here that I haven't even touched!
You'll get tired of me long before I get tired of you! *cue evil laughter*
4837009
But that would require you to stop making me look good!
Selfish motives, perhaps, but how bad can it be if the result is helpful to others?
The prize is more free stories. Better free stories, too!
Despite everything, I managed to understand your coding simile. Don't push your luck next time, as I am not a programmer.
Hows'at? You're constructing code all day long, right? Those little lines of text and numbers don't build themselves!
Digression happens to the best of us.
And that's probably the best thing this story has going through the first half. Unpredictability.
Well, there is one scene that's practically begging for anger. Rage, even.
You know, I have an actual shelf in my bedroom that's overflowing with participation trophies...
It's anybody's guess what you'll think when you do have the full story. There's my concern right there!
Putting up? Hardly! Replying to comments, talking with people, is the most fun part of posting a story here. And here I wake up and there's like a zillion comments on my self-beloved series! It was like Christmas!
So thank you for the fun you've given me!
Challenge accepted.
And seventeen? That's pretty close to the number. I just started writing about ponies one day and haven't stopped since. It might have gotten away from me.
fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/005/b/2/mlp___two_sides_of_twilight_sparkle_by_tehjadeh-d4ht724.jpg
*reads Lyra's Nightmare*
Now I want mint chocolate chip ice cream.
And Dash would beat Lightning's Nightmare without even dreamwalking.
You don't mess with the second eldest alicorn.
On the plus side, the place did need a renovation.
Considering that Shadowfright is the mastermind behind all of this, it would be rather foolhardy of him to allow his host any level of autonomy.
Especially since his host is the absolute pinnacle of unpredictability.
As programmers, we are wired and trained to see what is wrong with something, and then to fix it; this involves a vastly different skill set than would be required to point out someone else's mistakes in a sensitive manner and help them understand how to avoid said mistakes in the future.
Furthermore, it's a mindset that tends to gloss over the good aspects of something; no sense wasting time on something that works, after all.
And here's to hoping you never catch it.
Oh crapbaskets.
Cool name.
When Discord regains control of his mind, you're doomed Shadowfright.
When the bad guy is happy, it's never good.
Precisely.
Because Discord.
Okay, the Berlin Wall quote definately got me to chuckle.
And the Entropy stuff was neat, yes, but was I the only one a little more fascinated by Cerberus' three-note sealing and fright magic?
Oh, so they've broken a few friends out of danger, but now things are headed to confrontation-crazy-town. Nice.
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And I think this should get some independent props for being such a spot-on comment.