Part 12: Feel the Joy
Fiddlesticks couldn’t help but ponder how she got into this mess. Here she was walking through the Everfree Forest with Pizzelle, carrying Celestia’s oldest daughter on her back. In all honesty, she’d never once considered going into the forest, for both obvious and personal reasons. ‘Ah didn’t think ah’d ever hate/fear someplace so much.’
The two mares had found each other within minutes of their awakening. Fiddlesticks guessed that Apostle had just randomly thrown them about the Everfree Forest. She made sure to remember to buck him extra hard for that.
Thankfully, the two of them found Sunset in short order. The mare was unconscious. Fiddlesticks had checked for any injuries, any signs that she had been knocked about. She and Pizzelle were grateful that wasn’t the case. So, Fiddlesticks had taken it upon herself to carry their friend. Pizzelle had insisted, but Fiddlesticks wouldn’t hear of it. She was an earth pony after all, so the unicorn’s weight didn’t affect her.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Pizzelle asked, looking over at Sunset, who was strung over Fiddlesticks’ back.
“Yeah,” Fiddlesticks said. “She’s fine. Just a lil’ winded is all. Ah’m sure she’ll be as right as rain in no time.” Fiddlesticks paused for a couple of seconds. “Do we have any idea where we’re goin’?”
“Well...” Pizzelle hummed. “I remember distinctly that the castle is this way.”
Fiddlesticks raised an eyebrow. “And how are ya so sure of that?”
“I happen to be very good at directions,” Pizzelle answered.
“Like the time ya got lost in that maze up in Canterlot?” Fiddlesticks smirked. While she wasn’t a mare to cruelly jab at somepony, she knew Pizzelle could take it. Judging by Pizzelle’s light grumbling and blush on her cheeks, Fiddlestick’s jibe worked perfectly. She chuckled. “Don’t fret none. Ah’m sure ya will get us ta the castle lickety split.”
“I just hope our friends made it okay,” Pizzelle said. “The Everfree Forest isn’t exactly the safest of places.”
Fiddlesticks scoffed. “Of course, they’re okay. Them Everfree critters have nothin’ on us ponies. They’ll be as fine as apples in the rain.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Unbeknownst to either of them, a pair of eyes watched with great intent.
The unseen warlock cackled. “Apples in the rain? Oh my dear pony, you’ll soon find yourself smashed by the storm.”
A thousand and one ways he could end their lives swam through his mind. ‘I could behead them and wear their skulls as trophies. Nah, I’d be ripping off that retched skaven, Headtaker. How about flaying them and making their skin into a coat? Too chaos-y. Oooh, shredding their souls from within as they scream in full on agony.’ He licked his lips. ‘That sounds delightful.’
He gauged the trio before striking. Their only real defense was unicorn. He had heard about Princess Sunset’s powers. And while he was a wielder of Nightmare Moon’s power and surely a foe not to be trifled with, he didn’t want to face her in fair combat. Facing an opponent head on was not how Warlocks conducted themselves. They attacked from the shadows, striking at any weakness.
Of course, he knew he could win against her. He was a chosen wielder of his goddess’s magic; no sun touched fool could best him. As he readied a quick teleport spell, he sensed something—something terrible. Fear etched up his spine and his first instinct was to vanish.
Instead, a wicked idea sprouted inside his head. ‘Yes, they will kill them for me. Oh, I am a clever warlock.’ But he still had to lure them to his target. Luckily, he knew just the bait.
Letting loose a tiny sliver of his goddess’s essence (which all warlock contain to boost their power) he sent it flying to its target. Neither of the other ponies noticed the black fog substance travel inside Sunset’s mouth.
The warlock grinned. ‘Have ‘pleasant’ dreams, wretch.’
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sunset blissfully sighed. She and her little brother were just snuggled up next to each other, reading a book like they always did. She wouldn’t admit it aloud, but she loved the way her little brother’s scales felt against her fur. Leaning up against him, she felt safe and content. Unlike what some would have you believe, dragons were warm blooded. So cuddling up to him kept her warm through cold nights.
It was a bit disconcerting for her, having to look up to Spike. She missed the days when she was the ‘big’ sibling. Now…she didn’t hate it, but it kind of irked her. She’d been able to play ‘keep away’ with nary a spell. All she had to do was hold what he wanted, usually a gem, over his head with her hooves. It was a cute game and she didn’t torture him like that for long. He’d get what he wanted in the end, of course. That’s what sisters do. At least, she thought so. She didn’t know that many other ‘sisters,’ and mom told her to stop it.
Sunset shook her head slightly, to clear it up and bring it back to the present. She had an awesome book to read. She started to grow a little excited as the action scene went on. The heroine was fighting back a greater daemon bent on plunging the surrounding lands into a neverending world. ‘You know, typical daemon stuff.’ Sunset couldn’t help but swish her tail back in forth as she got pumped up. The storytelling was phenomenal and she desperately wanted to read the heroine’s victory.
She heard Spike chuckle. “Somepony’s excited.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Of course I am. I can’t get enough of this story.”
“This would be the, what, third time this month you’ve read it,” Spike pointed out.
“’The Fiery Road’ is a classic, Spike,” Sunset clarified. She put a hoof to her chest and stuck her nose up in the air, snootily. “You can’t beat the classics.”
Spike snorted. “Yeah, yeah.”
Sunset couldn’t help but giggle at her little brother and lean further into him. Which seemed to make matters worse, because he just vanished. “What?” She looked around the room, searching for her brother. “Spike, what the hay are you doing playing hide and seek?” She lit up her horn, looking for a sign of some sort of teleport or something.
Nothing, that’s all she found. She started to hyperventilate as the room grew darker. The candles that kept the room alight blew out and the darkness crawled towards her.
“Spike!” She desperately cried out. “Spike, where are you?”
“Sunset!”
Turning her head, Sunset took in a horrid sight. The shadows were clawing and practically swallowing her draconic brother. His arm was outstretched towards her, his face pleading for her to save him.
Sunset just stared at him. Oh, she wanted to do something, to jump up and rescue him. But her body wouldn’t move. It was paralyzed and her mind blank, overcome with fear and uncertainty.
“SAVE ME!” Spike cried out as the last of him vanished.
“SPIKE!” Sunset cried out, breaking out of her stupor. Running over to the place he vanished, she nearly collided with the sneering face of Nightmare Moon.
“Awww,” Nightmare Moon cooed. “Do you miss your brother? It looks like you do, but why? You didn’t lift a hoof to save him. You just stood and watched.”
“Your goons got in my way.” Sunset glared at her, trying not to think of her words. “I can still save him.”
Nightmare Moon scoffed. “My ‘minions’ are not what they used to be. If you had really desired your brother’s safety, you’d have it.” She chuckled. “Will is strength and you lack it. At least, in this area. Oh, the things I will do to him…”
“DON’T TOUCH HIM!” Sunset used her horn to fire at the daemon princess, but it did nothing but momentarily disperse her.
“Face it,” Nightmare Moon cackled, reappearing a little to the left. “You failed him. You let him die.”
“SHUT UP!” Sunset fired again and received the same result.
Nightmare Moon appeared to her right. “You’re the reason he came to Ponyville.”
“BE QUIET!” Sunset fired off another blast, holding back the water culminating in her eyes.
“You’re the reason he went into the forest.”
“SILENCE!” Again, she fired.
This time, Nightmare Moon got up in her face. “You’re the reason he’s dead,” she said in a sinister whisper.
Sunset didn’t speak, instead pure, unadulterated rage rose through her. Letting out a guttural roar, loosing several tears, Sunset let her magic go wild. It arched around her like lightning bolts until finally it was let loose in a fiery explosion.
_______________________________________________________________________________
“Whoa!” Fiddlesticks staggered as Sunset started to struggle on her back. “What the hay?”
Sunset answered with an anguished cry that nearly broke the heart of the two mares. She flailed and kicked, screaming, “Spike!” over and over again.
“Princess Sunset!” Pizzelle tried to get through to the crazed mare. “Calm down. You’re all right.”
“Ah think she’s just havin’ a nightmare.” A swift kick to her ribs made Fiddlesticks cringe. “A really bad one.” Fiddlesticks wasn’t a stranger to this kind of behavior. For as long as she could remember, Apple Bloom sometimes woke up screaming in the dead of night. Fiddlesticks had been able to comfort the filly back into the land of slumber with a smile on the filly’s face.
Fiddlesticks smiled thinking of her little cousin. She always did like making others happy, especially her family. ‘Guess ah’ll have ta work mah magic with Sunset here.’
“Then shouldn’t we wake her up?”
“On it.” Without another word, Fiddlesticks shoved Sunset off of her back. Now, she didn’t mean to be rude or anything like that, she just wanted to wake up her friend. That and her struggling was starting to uncomfortable.
“You could have been a bit more gentle.” Pizzelle shot her a glare as she took to Sunset’s side.
Fiddlesticks shrugged. “Ah’m not the gentlest of ponies.”
Sunset groaned as she awoke. Her eyes fluttered open and the two ponies gasped at what they saw. Her eyes were tinted purple, green, and red. She had been cursed with dark magic.
Fiddlesticks knew a little about dark curses, and knew they usually only had one way of removal. But no way in Tartarus was she going to kill Sunset. She wasn’t a murderer. ‘There has ta be a way of curin’ her.’
“Spike,” Sunset’s voice sounded pathetic. She looked around, tears falling freely from her eyes. “Where’s Spike?”
‘All right, ah just got to calmly explain ta her that….’
“Spike’s gone, sweetie,” Pizzelle said.
Sunset started to bawl worse than Fiddlesticks did when her beloved fiddle was broken. “Spike! Spike! Come back to me, Spike!”
Fiddlesticks face-hooved. “Dang-nabbit, Pizzelle. Now look what ya’ve done.”
“What I’ve done?” Pizzelle shot at her. “I didn’t do anything.”
“No,” Fiddlesticks said. “Ya just said the one thing that ya aren’t supposed ta say right off the bat with her.”
“How was I supposed to know?”
“Ah don’t know,” Fiddlesticks said with a sarcastic bite. “Some common sense?”
Pizzelle growled and narrowed her eyes.
Fiddlesticks sighed and rubbed her head. “Look, let’s not get into a tussle over this. Our friend’s in danger. Ah don’t think she’d want us ta argue.”
Pizzelle sighed. “You’re right, but how are we going to cure her? We don’t know any holy magic.”
Fiddlesticks stroked her chin, deep in thought. She’d faced sad ponies before. It was pretty much her second talent to make ponies smile. This was just a different form of sadness. ‘Celestia knows ah can whoop this in the butt harder than a beaver makin’ its den.’ Instantly, several different fun ideas popped into her head that she was darn gone sure would work.
Unfortunately, the next thing she heard a ghostly wail. Her eyes went wider than the width of a melon. “Oh, buck me…”
“What was that?” Pizzelle looked around the forest’s edge for the source of the noise.
“Ghouls.” Fiddlesticks cringed when even more wails came about. “A whole lot of ghouls.”
“I’m going to assume ghoul’s aren’t friendly.” Pizzelle started to sweat in fear. She was frantically stroking Sunset’s mane in a poor attempt at calming her.
“Ya got that right.” Fiddlesticks looked around for any signs of the nasty varmints. “Granny Smith has told her fair share of stories about these critters…Or un-critters if ya want ta be technical like.”
“What do they look like?”
“Kind of like that.” Fiddlesticks pointed over to where the monsters stood. The things moved out of the forest and into the moonlight, highlighting the decay and rot they festered. Ragged pieces of clothing hung off some of them. The horrid stench of rotting flesh smacked its way into their nostrils. Fiddlesticks had to will herself from upchucking. A cloud of mist travelled around their legs and wafted into the air.
While Fiddlesticks had never met a ghoul before, she’d heard enough about them. They were attracted to the feelings of sorrow and fear, scaring the daylights out of ponies so that they can feed on the emotions. They were mostly harmless...at a distance. But if they could, they wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to feed on living flesh.
Fiddlesticks knew they were surrounded, and with only one Pegasus on their team and Sunset out of commission, she’d have to come up with something to stop them.
Being honest with herself, things weren’t looking that good. Ghouls weren’t great fighters, so she knew that she could take them, but her friends would be left open to attack. That and Sunset may not have long, what with being infected with dark magic ‘Celestia only knows how bad it’s gonna get.’
Still, there was one sure fire way that she could beat them—one sure fire way to cure Sunset. She felt something spark inside her and the perfect idea sprung forth. Narrowing her eyes she stepped forward.
“What are you doing?” Pizzelle called out. “We have to get out of here.”
“How?” Fiddlesticks stood up on her hind legs. “In case yer wonderin’, we’re stuck in a mighty fine pickle. Ya can’t fly us both out an’ ah doubt little miss sunshine is gonna give ya a ‘safe’ trip.”
Speaking of which, the closer the ghouls got, the louder Sunset became. The ghouls were feeding off her anguish, making the poor mare even more delirious. Fiddlesticks had to act fast, or Sunset would be lost to them.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“What ah do best.” Fiddlesticks pulled off her hat and reached into it. As always, she found her trusty fiddle inside and pulled it out. Quickly setting them up and putting her trusty hat back on her head, she shot the monsters a challenging glare. “Ya’ll ghouls best prefer yerselves. This is gonna be intense.”
“I don’t think playing will soothe these beasts,” Pizzelle spoke up.
Fiddlesticks snorted. “Ya’ll best listen. Granny Smith told me exactly how ta fight these varmints.”
“What did she tell you?”
Fiddlesticks smirked and started to play. It was no secret that Fiddlesticks liked to play. No, she loved to play. Music was a part of her—it made her who she was. She loved to play as much as she loved to throw shindigs and make other ponies smile. This was her life. Taking her bow across the fiddle made her heart soar. Hearing the notes hit the air, she was in heaven.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Pizzelle rolled her eyes as Fiddlesticks started to play. ‘How is this going to help anypony?’ Fiddlesticks had always been an eccentric mare, occasionally playing pranks or throwing random parties and the occasional solo/town musical. Pizzelle had grown used to them, even liked them, but now wasn’t the time to enjoy one. No, now was the time to worry about the ghouls tearing her apart.
Sunset, however, held more interest in the country mare. She stopped wailing the moment the music hit the air. She turned her head to look at Fiddlesticks.
Pizzelle was surprised by it. ‘Maybe Fiddlesticks is on to something.’
“Yee-haw,” Fiddlesticks exuberantly exclaimed, beginning her song.
“Laugh ‘em away, laugh ‘em away.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Fiddlesticks started to prance around to the tune, letting herself cut loose.
“Granny Smith said laugh ‘em away.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Fiddlesticks got in Sunset’s personal space and pulled a few funny faces.
“Dumb, dumb, dumb, are these ghouls,
“Don’t let ‘em make ya fools.”
She quickly twirled over to Pizzelle’s side and gave her rump a small kick. Pizzelle yelped and stood up.
“Get off yer rumps and dosey doe,
“Come on everypony, we can best this foe.”
Pizzelle glared at her. “Did you have to do that?”
Fiddlesticks immediately stopped playing for a beat and gave her a serious look. “Yes.”
Sunset put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a laugh.
Pizzelle and Fiddlesticks looked at her, with Fiddlesticks grinning like a Cheshire cat.
Fiddlesticks immediately started to play, almost vanishing in an instant. Pizzelle, and pretty much anypony who knew the fiddling mare, never could guess how she was able to do the stuff she did. ‘She’s Fiddlesticks, don’t question it.’
“Laugh ‘em away, laugh ‘em away,
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Fiddlesticks appeared next to each of the ghouls. For some reason, they flinched every time she laughed.
“Together we can laugh ‘em away,
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
This time, when she twirled around four ghouls, they started to wither and step backwards. Pizzelle’s eyes widened in shock and her mouth fell open. ‘She’s driving them back.’ To Pizzelle’s surprise, Sunset was starting to smile and bob her body to the tune. Even her tail was swishing in rhythm.
Pizzelle couldn’t help but feel overjoyed herself.
Within the span of a blink of the eye, Fiddlesticks was by Pizzelle’s side. The farm mare bumped their rumps together.
“Move yer tails and have some fun,
“Together we can get this done.”
Fiddlesticks bent down to Sunset’s level.
“Don’t give despair another glance,
“Come on and give joy a chance.”
Dancing around them, Fiddlesticks called, “Come on, it’s yer turn.”
“Laugh ‘em away, laugh ‘em away.”
Fiddlesticks pointed her bow at Pizzelle, stopping the music. Pizzelle was caught a little surprised by the turn of events. She quickly looked around at the ghouls. They looked weaker and some had fled. Yet, now with the song stopped, some of them tried to get closer.
Steeling her resolve, Pizzelle chimed:
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Immediately, a couple of the ghouls burst into dust and the others rushed backwards.
Fiddlesticks laughed and started to play again.
“With a smile, we’ll laugh ‘em away.”
Fiddlesticks pointed her bow to Sunset.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”
Fiddlesticks once again started off, dancing around the fidgety ghouls. They tried in vain to make a swipe at her, but she just danced around them with ease. With each strum of her fiddle and the combined laughs of the three mares, the ghouls just kept getting weaker and weaker.
“Nasty varmints try to attack,
“Just raise yer voice right on back.”
Fiddlesticks harshly laughed right in the face of one ghoul, who promptly burst into dust.
“That’s how Granny told me so,
“Now we have best this foe.”
Fiddlesticks stomped and finished her song, striking a dramatic pose. With the last cord, the ghouls either vanished or ran for it.
Sunset and Pizzelle were both laughing still. Pizzelle couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed this hard.
___________________________________________________________________________
Fiddlesticks grinned to herself. ‘Another job well done.’ Her friends’ laughter was like its own music to her ears. Her eyes focused on Sunset, who was laughing incredibly hard. Within seconds, a black vapor escaped her mouth, dissipating in the air.
Sunset’s eyes returned to normal and she stopped laughing. Instead, she groaned in discomfort and gripped her head. “What the hay happened?,,,,Did somepony place a curse on me, ‘cause I feel like they did.”
“Yes indeedy, sweetheart,” Pizzelle chimed, nuzzling the groaning mare. “I’m just glad you laughed it out of your system.”
“I can’t believe that worked,” Sunset said.
“Ya best believe it.” Fiddlesticks put her fiddle back into her head for safe-keeping.
“How did she…?” Sunset started.
Pizzelle put a wing on Sunset’s shoulder and sighed. “It’s best not to question Fiddlesticks on things.”
Sunset unsteadily rose to her hooves.
“Careful.” Pizzelle kept her wing on Sunset’s other side to stabilize her.
“Yeah, we don’t want ya ta hurt yerself.” Fiddlesticks trotted over to the pair.
Sunset looked at the farm mare uneasily for a few seconds. “Thank you,” she croaked out.
Fiddlesticks smiled. “Yer welcome.” She went in to hug Sunset and Pizzelle did the same.
Sunset squirmed under the hugging assault, looking quite uncomfortable. “Okay…I think this is enough.”
The moment was broken by a nearby clopping noise and a sharp laugh. It sounded unnatural and somewhat masculine and made the girls pause. “I say, good show.”
“What?” the three mares said in unison.
They looked over to see a stallion ghoul standing a short distance away from them. Unlike the others, he was mostly intact, with pale skin that flaked off in some areas. His gentlepony clothes were in tatters and he was missing an eye, while wearing a monocle in front of said missing body part. A large top hat sat on his head. The ponies reasoned he may have been handsome once. He still kind of was, but only if you looked past the whole ‘dead and rotting thing’. “I said, good show.”
“Ya can talk?” Fiddlesticks was confused. ‘Granny never mentioned anythin’ about talkin’ ghouls.’
“Yes I can,” the ghoulish stallion said. His accent reminded her of somepony from Trottingham. He frowned and tipped his top hat. “I’d like to apologize for my compatriots and I. The longer we spirits linger here, the more it degrades us into nothing more than mindless beasts…I’d be truthful when I said I too had nearly given into my hunger. For that, I am deeply ashamed.”
“Now don’t be beatin’ yerself up,” Fiddlestick said, while walking right up to him.
“No,” Sunset added. “Please do.” Pizzelle glared at her. “What? Am I supposed to feel sympathy for a dead guy who tried to kill me? Before you say anything, the answer is no.”
“Again,” the ghoul said, “I apologize. This forest eats away at you.” He then smiled when he looked at Fiddlesticks. “But I must thank you personally. You gave me back my mind and…I don’t remember the last time I was happy. Your music is really something?”
Fiddlesticks blushed and tipped her hat to cover her face. “Thank ya kindly.”
“If I may ask,” the ghoul stated, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. “What are you fine ladies doing in the Everfree Forest? This place is far too dangerous for ponies such as yourselves.”
“I think we can handle ourselves quite fine.” Sunset pointed her snout up, snootily. “Thank you very much.”
The ghoul bowed his head. “I apologize if I offended you.”
“No offense taken,” Fiddlesticks spoke up.
“Just to put this lost soul at ease,” the ghoul started. “I’d like to accompany you on your journey. I don’t think I could un-live with myself if something were to happen to the pony that made me smile.”
Fiddlesticks blushed harder. “Now yer makin’ me blush. ‘Course you can.”
Unbeknownst to the ghoul and Fiddlesticks, Sunset whispered into Pizzelle’s ear. “Is Fiddlesticks into necrophilia?”
Sunset was promptly given a hard slap to the back of her head.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The grand warlock sorcerer couldn’t believe what just happened. Before his very eyes, the ghouls he had tricked into attacking the group were disintegrated. It wasn’t by any magic or show of force. It was by something so foreign and alien to him.
‘Laughter? They laughed the ghouls away? How…HOW?!’ He howled inside his mind. It frustrated him to no end. His plan was perfect. There was no way they could fight off that many ghouls. Even trained and battle ready soldiers had trouble with the undead. But those mares….They were something else.
‘Yes, they must know some foreign magic or maybe her fiddle is enchanted. Yes, it has to be. They can’t best my plans with just happiness.’ He paced in circles. He had to come up with a plan to kill the mares now or else face the wrath of Apostle, or worse, his goddess. Any cultist of Nightmare Moon could tell you that you didn’t want to get on her bad side.
‘What to do? What to do?’ The warlock stopped. He grinned savagely as an idea popped into his mind. “Yes, this is perfect.” He had one sure fire way to boost his power: consuming the piece of his goddess within. While all warlocks house a piece of Nightmare Moon, they were essentially kept separate from the soul. Consuming it interwove it within the warlocks soul, making them more powerful. The drawback was that it made Warlocks susceptible to being possessed by shadow daemons.
‘I can handle it though,’ he thought to himself. ‘Nightmare Moon will reward me greatly for bringing the head of her sister’s daughter.’
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, back at the old castle
Nightmare Moon fumed as she watched Sunset Shimmer and group defeat the ghouls and waltz ever so closer to the old castle. “How? How did they survive? Laughter? WHAT?!” ‘Laughter is for the weak. Happiness only befitting the strong and victorious. What right did they have to laugh at what should have been their final moments?’
But that wasn’t what really started to eat away at her. She kept wondering to herself why the mares thought rushing straight to her would be the best option. Nightmare Moon wasn’t a pushover, depowered or not. She’d slaughter them with ease. No, they had a plan. They had something hidden inside their skulls, waiting to use. ‘What is it? What do they know that I don’t?’
She just had to wait until….Her anger swept past her and she grinned. “Oh, but I do have a way of knowing. That little dragon may have some use.”
Quickly, she rushed into the holding chamber, expecting to find Spike whimpering and begging to be released. What she found made her pause. ‘What? The? Hay?’
Inside the chamber, the female guards that she had left inside had taken off their armor and gotten onto the metal slab with Spike. Two of them were pressed up against his side, nuzzling him with earnest, while the third laid on top of the dragon. The dragon’s shirt had been hastily un-buttoned and lay open, revealing the Spike’s well-muscled chest. Judging by the sound of it, the mare on top was making out fiercely with the accursed creature.
Pulling back to catch some air, the mare sighed. “You certainly are talented with that tongue of yours, dragon.”
Spike chuckled. “I’d say the same to you, beautiful.”
Shaking in rage, Nightmare Moon roared. The three mares quickly jumped off of him and performed a perfect stand at attention and salute. Nightmare didn’t care about that. “What were you doing to my prisoner?”
The mares gulped. “We were…interrogating him.” They answered.
“Interrogating?” Nightmare Moon raised a wispy eyebrow. “It seemed like you were getting ready to mate him.”
“It was all part of the plan, Your Majesty,” one of the mares spoke up.
“Yeah,” another chimed. “We’d never soil ourselves with dragon filth.”
Nightmare Moon honestly didn’t care about their excuses. Normally, she’d have killed them right then and there, but she had something more important to accomplish. “Leave us…and get your armor back on.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The three mares rushed with blinding speed to grab their armor and leave.
Nightmare Moon sent her baleful gaze onto Spike. “I hope you enjoyed yourself, for that’ll be the last moment of bliss you’ll ever experience.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad,” Spike sighed, licking his lips to clean up the mare's saliva. “But I sincerely doubt that.”
“Why?”
"Two reasons," Spike started. "One, I know you were a little jealous of those other mares right now." He sent her a charming smile, causing her to blush.
"Shut your mouth, dragon," Nightmare Moon briefly looked away. She hated feeling like this. So...warm. Ech, she preferred the bitter cold.
“Second, I think you already know my big sister is coming here to kick your arse.”
“It is not she who will be kicking my behind,” Nightmare Moon growled. “I shall be doing the kicking…and stabbing.”
“You know, you don’t have to do this. You can just give up. I’m sure my mother can forgi….”
His next words died in his mouth as one of Nightmare Moon’s tendrils pierced the metal slab right beside his head. “SHE NEEDS TO FORGIVE ME?!!!” Her being rustled as her anger took over. ‘Insolent whelp, does he know nothing?’ “I NEED NOT HER FORGIVENESS! ONLY HER HEAD!”
“But she’s your sister,” Spike argued.
“SHE”S NOTHING TO ME!” Nightmare Moon shouted. “SHE IS A FALSE GODDESS AND I WILL BE DOING THE WORLD A FAVOR IN KILLING HER!”
“But she loves you.”
"LIES!" More tendrils pierced the metal around the dragon and Nightmare Moon brought herself close to him. Each one of them pulsed with dark energy, overflowing with hate. “Love is for the weak.” A tendril hovered over the dragon’s heart. “Tell me what she’s planning.”
Spike glared at her and snorted. “Never. I’d rather die than betray my family.”
“Foolish dragon,” Nightmare chuckled. “You think family is something to die for? It is but a crux, something to hold you back. Now, tell me.”
“No.”
Nightmare Moon grinned savagely. “As you wish.” The tendril travelled from his heart all the way to between his legs. She reveled in the panicked expression that lit the dragon’s face. ‘Males are so easy to scare.’ “Tell me what I want and you get to die with it still attached.”
Spike quivered in fear. “I-I-I’ll never tell you.”
Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. ‘He’s stronger than I thought.’ “Why must you hide it from me? She will fail no matter what she tries. I’ve scanned her and she holds nothing of value. The only thing she could possibly….” Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened. “No….”
She rushed out of the room, leaving her captive by himself. ‘My sister can’t possibly make them work. She can’t.’ Ending up in another, much larger room in the castle, Nightmare Moon glanced at the orbs set on pedestals: the Elements of Harmony. They were inert, dead. They couldn’t possibly work for mortals. She had nothing to fear.
Yet, terror struck her. She remembered the Elements well. How they ate at her, tore her physical body to pieces and banished her spirit to a thousand year exile on the moon. ‘Not again…NOT EVER AGAIN!’ She started to hyperventilate. The pain…THE PAIN! It was coming back to her. She started to shake her head, trying to get it out. Just being near the dead Elements was torture. They ripped her to shreds, piece by piece, slamming guilt and sorrow onto her. The banishment was horrible in of itself, with only her daemon followers as company.
“No, no, no, no….GUARDS!” She hollered. Immediately, several of her guardsponies came running in. “STAY HERE AND GUARD THESE!”
“But Your Majesty,” one of the guards spoke up. “That would leave the outside under…” His sentence was cut short as a tendril pierced his chest, drained him of his soul, and threw his body to the side.
“GUARD THEM!”
Without another word, they rushed to surround themselves around the inert Elements.
‘You won’t get them, sister. NEVER! I am here to stay. As she left the room, the pain of long ago still lingered, tearing away at her.
Stats
Page generated in 0.038 seconds
Total duration
1,107 users online
1,779,112 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Spike IS a regular Casanova
also i have some concern
given how the equestrian public practically WORSHIPS Celestia, When Luna is redeemed and Celestia allows her to rule alongside her as her Equal I HIGHLY doubt that the rest of the kingdom will see it that way, at the very least the CHI will remain VERY suspicious of Luna and I bet my bottom dollar that High Inquisitor Fervent will make it his life's Destiny to get every grain of dirt he can on Luna
so assuming that Nightemare moons minions remain loyal to Luna and are granted amnesty they my be Luna's only loyal subjects when this is all over
This chapter was good it just felt quiet considering Pizzelle, her gift of the gab wasn't as present as in other chapters.Though it was wonderful to see Fiddlesticks take a more serious role while keeping that playful nature with her.
4672390 Eh, yeah. Sorry about that. Pizzelle's gab was absent mostly because I was focusing on Fiddlesticks. Not to worry, it'll come forthright in her next appearances.
And I thank you for commenting. It's nice to know people still read this.
nice was not expecting fancy pants to show up
4674601 Huh, I oddly wasn't thinking of Fancy Pants when I made the ghoul. I just thought to make him fancy.
Yay, Sunset is back and sharing adorable memories of Spike - cuddling! Also, you called Sunset Celestia's oldest daughter; does Celestia have other daughters?
4674797
I meant child. Sorry about that. 
Anything else you'd like to note about this chapter?
Just to agree with everyone else that I love Spikanova and want to see more of him.
Man spike is a boss
4678760 media.giphy.com/media/QBjH0bEtlZheg/giphy.gif
Couldn't help but use it.
4678177 s1.uploads.im/5k0uK.gif
Spike deserved a little something...I probably overdid it.
That part with Spike getting lucky with his mare guards practically left me ROFLMAO!
4146911
Well, I plan on making the Multi-Shimmerverse.
Anyways, almost 2 AM, so I'll read this another time. But I'm sure I'm going to love it.
4688478 Thanks.
I appreciate the feedback. I hope you continue reading and commenting.
4688950
I shall as much as I can indeed.
Oh, btw. Nice choice on Coco Pommel (the only cannon pony close enough to Fluttershy's personality role in the group).
I plan to have Coco be a element bearer in (one of) my Shimmerverse story too. If you'd like to hear more about, I could PM it to you.
4689905 That would be grandiose!
(I personally love trading ideas and such between writers.)
4689960
EXCELLENT!
It's been months since I've been sharing ideas with someone (I really should re-connect with some people here).
Alright, expect a PM soon (depending how much I type).
To be honest, I'm finding it extremely hard to believe that every single mare is so physically attracted to a member of another race. If it was a section of girls I'd shrug it off, but unless Spike's sweating pheromones or something my suspension of disbelief at the amount of mares falling for him is getting strained. I just hope that Rarity, if that flame is kindled, is completely immune to it so he has to actually work at wooing her.
Enjoying the story otherwise.
4695846
Well it is an A/U, maybe that alone says much. Or maybe there's just not enough stallions to go around. Or, maybe......meh, I got nothing else.
4695846
4711292
Or it's a joke that you shouldn't really take seriously, but if you want an explanation.
Equestrians are open to having relationships with other species.
Spike's voice.
Spike's mannerisms.
The fact that he's the son of their sun goddess.
The fact that his build is exotic, but still like a stallions in a way.
It'd be weird for a society mostly made up of hooved sapients to use hand terms.
4711312
Yeah, too true. I was thinking about some those examples too.
Yes, yes indeed.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more epically funny it would be for NMM to just break into that song.
Yeah!!!! Fiddlesicks x Ghoul guy (No, seriously, it could work) you should think of a name for him ;)
Now about the story so far:
Everything alright except for a little detail: In the original series, Twilight watches each of the element's in action, getting to the conclusion that each of her new friends represents an element; but here, Sunset doesn't know anything about the others and might have a problem when facing Nightmare Moon.
I believe you have a reason to split them up though, so I'll wait to see what your plan is.
Consider the ghoul thing...!
4796800 .....
I have nothing to say to that...Well...This is awkward.
4797035 NO! NO!
It's hard thinking of Celestia having a....thing, don't bring sexy Cadance into this! HAVE SOME MERCY!
(Never understood that trail of thinking. Kind of hope to see a male alicorn in the show, just to one up it...No offense meant.
)
I giggled at the "sweets" comment, and also really enjoyed the flashback with Spike and Sunset and the dream sequence as a whole.
Also,
Made me chuckle.
All of this wanting heads on silver platters... Nightmare Moon sounds more like the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
I know the tune the song is set to, but I can't put my finger on it.
6531581 Raise This Barn, season 3 Applejack song.
the sophisticated ghoul seems like a nice enough guy, I'm currently imagining him with the voice of Basil Stag Hare from Redwall
, was that necrophilia comment necessary?
Sunset
7411205
Wait, how do you know the voice of Basil Stag Hare? He's a character in a book.
I mean, if you mean your mental voice of him, that makes total sense. He certainly is a memorable character.