A Nightmare's World

by Pendragon552

Chapter 2: Many Shades of Flame

“Was this forest here before?” Swift spoke as we traveled into a dark forest between Canterlot and Ponyville.

“Not that I know of...how weird.” I responded, lighting my horn to cast light, and Swift snorted, drawing my eyes. “What?”

“A light spell, that's all you can do?” I nodded slowly, drawing another snort. “Put that pitiful thing out Shadow, and let me handle this.” I glared, and canceled the spell, waiting for whatever Swift was planning. I stared into the darkness of the forest until it seemed to light up as though the sun were shining in it. I looked over at Swift, who had a black glow fading from her horn. She looked at my shocked face and laughed. “I didn't light up the whole forest, I only used a night-vision spell on the two of us.” I stepped forward before hearing a grunt behind me. I looked at Swift, who was gesturing at me with a hoof, pretending to be fine. However, I saw her legs shaking and she was having trouble moving forward.

“Are you okay?” She nodded and stepped forward, but let out a huge breath and her knees buckled, dropping her to the forest floor. “You don't look fine, we can rest if we need to.” Swift shook her head

“Nah, by the time I get to the point where I'm perfectly fine the spell will have worn off.” She stood and walked forward slowly, barely able to hold herself. “I've been in Canterlot for so long, I forgot how little magical energy I actually have.” I rose my eyebrows at her as she slowly sped up.

“What do you mean?” Swift laughed again before speaking.

“Canterlot is a magical nexus, allowing me to use much more magic than I would be normally capable of, and the castle is an even greater nexus, so breaking in there is pitifully easy as I have almost unlimited access to my magic. Now that we're out of Canterlot my magical ability has been...” She pursed her lips before continuing. “lowered from what I'm used to. I'm sure I can handle this, I just need to get used to my stunted energy pool.” I nodded and we went ahead slowly, Swift's pace quickened as we walked ahead, and the forest slowly started to darken around me.

“Swift, what's wrong with the night-vision spell?” Swift's head cocked as she stared at me in confusion.

“Nothing, why?” She asked me, but before I could say anything, everything got completely dark around us, and Swift went into a fighting stance. “What in Equestria is going on here?” I heard her horn start to glow, and she gasped. “The night-vision spell's still fine, this darkness is magical. I think it's an ambush, or a trap, Shadow. Bast, go back to Canterlot, now!” I stared in the direction from which I heard her voice and heard a light pawing across the ground which I assumed was Bast running back to Canterlot. I was about to speak before I heard a new voice.

“Well what have we here? Some Nightmare spy's?” I stepped away from the voice, only to feel a heat behind me. I screamed and blinked, appearing back where I started. The magical darkness had lifted, at least up to the point where black flames were sprouting from the ground. I heard that voice laugh before speaking once again. “What's wrong spy, never felt a flame before?” I saw Swift with her eyes closed tilting her head as the voice spoke, a single bead of sweat trailing down her face, before growling.

“I can't find her, she's not making enough noise, and she's moving around.” I sigh before staring into the dark flames and speaking.

“This is ridiculous, show yourself!” I shouted into the flames, blinking out of the flames. I bounced back from the edge of them, the flames singing my snout. “These flames are magical, the heat radiating off them is intense and I can't blink through them.” Again the voice laughed, a long and loud laugh, before speaking.

“Well that's unexpected.” I could hear a bemused smirk in her voice, and could see Swift trying to pinpoint her voice again as she spoke. “Your a powerful mage. Tell me mage, what are you called?” I glared around, Swift gesturing in a circular motion with her hoof.

“ShadowBright.” I spat out my name like venom, and the voice kept talking causing Swift to smile and focus at the ground again.

“Well then ShadowBright, I would be very interested to learn the story of how you became so powerful, and also the strange brightness of your hair, but unfortunately I don't enjoy Nightmare spies, so I'll just kill you here.” The voice sighed and spoke once more. “It truly saddens me that it must end like this, but once again, Nightmare spies just rub me the wrong-” Swift's eyes shot up and her horn started glowing

“There!” A bolt of magic shot from her horn and I heard the voice cry out from beyond the flames, which proceeded to lower to a couple black embers, flames sometimes shooting up from one of the embers. The magic darkness lifted and beyond it I saw a red unicorn mare with swirling black flames as a cutie mark. I heard a thud behind me and turned to see Swift collapsed on the ground before she broke into a coughing fit.

A magic attack like that must have drained what little magic she had left. I'll handle this myself I stepped over to the red mare, who's blue hair was spiked behind her head, and her tail was the same color and splayed back. A white streak was in the top of her hair and the end of her tail was the same color of white. She was clutching a bruise on her left side, and her eyes were closed. She opened those eyes, which were a fiery orange, and her left eye had a scar through it.

“Nightmare spies!” The red mare shouted at me, her eyes narrowed. “Just kill me, don't have your weak, slave throw sparks at me!” Swift stood up, glaring at the red mare before dropping back to the ground.

“Not only am I not weak, I'm also not her slave! That wasn't meant to kill you as we aren't Nightmare spies!” Swift shouted at her and crawled closer to me. The red mare's eyes widened before narrowing at Swift instead. I spoke before the mare could.

“Listen, you wanted the reason of my, as you said, 'bright hair', I'll give it to you.” I put a hoof onto the mare's side, ignoring the gasp it elicited from her. “However,” I ground the hoof into the skin it was in contact with causing a short yelp from the mare and a snort from Swift, who was still on the ground. “if you try anything while I am telling you this story, I swear I will end you.” With a small glare and a curt nod I launched into my tale. When I finished the red mare was wide-eyed, and she spoke in an awestruck voice.

“If what you say is true, then I must ask you, will you help me with my quest?” Swift's head cocked and I rose an eyebrow. The mare had a confused look in her eyes before she laughed, obviously realizing what was going on. “Pardon me, I didn't explain what I meant. My quest is to eliminate the Nightmare from this world, particularly Nightmare Eclipse. So I ask again, will you join me?” I laughed before speaking

“As it happens, that is our quest as well. We would be happy to join you.” The mare's eyes lit as she smiled, and her cutie mark's flame changed from black to white, and the embers on the ground as well as the flames shooting up from them changed to white as well. “My friend is named SwiftShade, and as I told you our story, and names, allow us to hear yours.” The mare smiled and nodded happily. I lifted the hoof from her side, and she stood up before speaking.

“My name is FireShard.” Swift giggled, before bursting out into a full blown laugh. FireShard's eyes rose. “Pardon, but what is so humorous?” Swift looked at her again and laughed.

“FireShard, as in The Great Flame, leader of the Circus of Flames, greatest pyrotechnic circus in all of Equestria?” Swift was staring at FireShard, who nodded, with a bemused look on her face. “Sorry, you just look so young.” FireShard glared at Swift as her cutie mark and flames darkened ever so slightly.

“Coming from the thief who looks sixteen?” Swift's bemused look changed to a glare and FireShard just kept going. “Anyway, as your thief said, I am, or was,” Her look soured, and her cutie mark darkened just a little more. “the leader of the Circus of Flames. That is until that wave of Nightmare Energy. I was putting up a wave of fire around me when it hit, and the wave hit my flames and surrounded me with them, sparing me from the effects. My flames however were not spared, and now they change color based on my mood. I passed out and when I came too, I was in this forest and I ran back to the remains of my circus.” A tear rolled down her face and she turned away from us. “My tent had burned down, which wasn't possible as it had been fireproofed, but there was too much ash for just the tent. Every pony in there died, so I decided I would destroy the Nightmare for what it did to me and my circus.”

I nodded and smiled at FireShard and gestured for her to follow me. Swift bumped into her and smirked. “We're going to Ponyville Wildfire, we need to get Shadow's old friends.” FireShard glared at Swift, but walked by her and flicked her small tail in Swift's face.

“At least I have something other than a stump as a tail, slave.” Swift glared back at FireShard, and I just laughed and continued walking, tuning out their insults and bickering, focusing instead on Ponyville, which I could see through a gap in the forest, signaling that they were reaching the end of it.

“And here we are, Ponyville. It's in such a sad state, being corrupted by the Nightmare Energy.” I frowned at the town, which was much darker than it was during my last visit, but I didn't see any guards around it. Swift stepped up on my right and FireShard stepped up on my left. “We have to get the Elements of Harmony back on our side. Otherwise we don't stand a chance against Eclipse.” FireShard gaped at me.

“You mean the Elements of Harmony. How are we going to fight them, especially with the Nightmare Energy on their side.” FireShard spoke with an almost defeated sound in her voice before Swift scoffed. FireShard glared at her when she spoke.

“Yep Wildfire, the one and only Elements of Harmony. We're definitely going to be able to get the Elements on our side, after all we have ShadowBright here to help-oof!” She grunted as a blue streak appeared out of the sky and tackled Swift into the ground, rainbow, blue, black, and gray tumbling across the ground. “Get the hell off me you bloody pegasus!” Swift shouted, a Trottingham accent bleeding through for a moment. I stared for a moment before telekineticlly lifting the pony from Swift, who was panting, a bruise on the back of her head. I gaped at the struggling dark blue mare in front of me, not sure if I was really facing who I thought I was. I spoke, and the mare stopped struggling in my telekinetic grasp.

“RainbowDash?” The mare put a smirk on her face before speaking.

“The one and only.”