When the Everfree Burns

by SpiritDutch

Prologue 3: The Elder Siblings of Mortalkind

Sunset Shimmer was not sure why she was still alive. She should have died from asphyxiation in the upper atmosphere. She should have died in the explosion of the the airskiff she’d been on. She should have died in the ten-thousand hoof fall back to earth.

She came back to her senses just as the sun was breaking over the horizon, signaling the end of the eternal night. With glee and awe she watched the glorious star.
“Did we do that?” She whispered to herself. “Did the ritual work? Has the star inside me been let free?”

She was on her back on a grassy hill. She guessed she was somewhere in the vast emptiness of the Don hills north of the Dneighper River. She was totally alone, but she felt a strong presence very closeby. It was luminescent, warm (almost overwhelmingly so), and intimately familiar to Sunset.
“Celestia…” She looked around. “Celestia? Are you there?”

She heard chirping birds and buzzing insects, but no princess greeting her and thanking her for bringing her back to life. Sunset was alone.

“Then who’s there? Hello?” Sunset twisted around, then looked down at her stomach.
She was still wearing the black lacquer armor of the Blackhorns, the Black Lord. It thrummed with incalculable amounts of magic, harvested from an alicorn at its moment of death.

“What is this? How did I-” Sunset was cut off when she felt a jolt of energy race up her spine, and suddenly images were flashing across her vision.
She saw the deck of the cargo airship she and Entanglement Theory had stolen. The wind whipped around them, but Theory faced the challenge with determination. She saw Entanglement Theory speaking towards her, an obsidian dagger in her hooves. ‘Experiment Final’, Entanglement Theory pronounced, before plunging the knife forward. The perspective of the visions changed, racing along a wire, through machinery, before it returned to to the deck. Now Sunset saw the alicorn Theory had just stabbed on the stone slab, its body connected by wires and held in place by chains. She head Theory talking to herself, and she felt the horrible turmoil the alicorn’s power caused in the poor mare’s body. Then, all turned white, and the visions ended.

“The ritual.” Sunset rolled into a sitting position. She stared in awe at the Blackhorn Armor. “It worked. We did it, Twi. We went beyond the sequence, and harnessed the power of an alicorn. We reached up to heaven and tore down one of god’s secrets.”

The armor vibrated, tickling her. It had absorbed the magical beam meant for Sunset. The onetime vessel for a deava held an alicorn soul once more. The aura she felt was emanating from inside it, bathing her in soft golden light.

“I succeeded, only... The armor should have distribute the magic into me.” Her hoof became numb as she ran it along the armor. “We need to troubleshoot. Maybe we can still get it to... Wait, where is Twi?” Sunset looked around again. Still there was nopony. In the last moments of that vision her accomplice Entanglement Theory had been in tremendous distress. “Oh no.”

Sunset jumped to her hooves. “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” What direction could she run in to find her friend? “Twilight!” She yelled futilely. “Twilight!”
She hung her head. In all likelihood, the Twilight Sparkle from another universe was dead, perishing in the ritual. Then the winds had torn apart the airship and sent all the machinery and lobotomized experiments plummeting town to a swift end.

“I did it but…” Sunset fell back to her haunches. The world was freed from the clutches of night, the sun was shining happily, but she felt empty. “What did I do wrong? Why isn’t Celestia alive again?” She started to tear up. “Princess… Isn’t this your magic I made?” She thumped her chest, clacking her hoof against the armor. It sparked with golden magic. “What do I have to do to bring your dream back into the world? Don’t you want to come back? Celestia! Celestia where are you?!”

The sun, nor sky, nor win had any answers. Sunset Shimmer fell to her stomach and cried bitterly.

~~~~

Sunset had been wandering the Don Hills for days and had caught neither sight nor sound of any other living pony. Of dead ponies, there were several.
Shad had encountered a lonesome grave in the crook of a hill, surrounded by stalky shrubs. Its small tombstone had been too weathered to read a name off of. A long time ago a trade caravan or migrant party had buried a member there, then came back with with a marker. Sunset wondered how, since she doubted she would have been able to find it again amongst the monotonous brownish-green hills.
She thought about the soul residing in the armor she wore. Did it count as alive or dead? Did it dream? It put off so much warmth, but it lacked the caring, the love, and the personality of the pony it had been designed after. Celestia was dead, and so was this aberrant dream. A model in clay could not resurrect the original.

By the first day Sunset learned that the Black Lord was not her only burdon. She was hungry and thirsty with no food or water presenting itself. She settled down for the evening, making a fire out of bushes and grass, when she spied a hare on a nearby hilltop.
Ponies could be omnivorous, she thought to herself. Beats dry plains grass.
She teleported right onto of the hare and decapitated it with an arc of magic. Properly cooked, it had been a reasonable snack. The blood had given her hydration as well.
In the morning she awoke to find a second hare inspecting around the fire pit, and she ate that one as well. Had it been a friend or mate to the previous night’s meal? Sunset couldn't speak any lagomorphic languages so she did not know.

She carried on like that for two more days before she came to a small stream, surrounded by verdant vegetation like a little oasis amongst the dry hills. The fruit she found was tart but sufficient. The stream’s water was muddy, but clean enough once boiled. She followed the direction of the stream to a West.

On the fifth day she entered a cleared area next to the stream with several tents set up. A half-dozen earth ponies were making lunch. She thought about killing them but she wouldn’t be able to carry everything they had by herself, and she hated letting things go to waste. She considered applying an experiment from the sequence and make them into her obedient lobotomized drones, but she knew a large party would only slow her down.
In the end she simply shrouded herself in an invisibility spell and stole one of their saddlebags, putting a waterskin and some food in it. As she did so she overheard the ponies discussing an airship crash site they had encountered the day before.

It was a long shot, but on the chance that it was the wreckage of the cargo airship Sunset decided to seek out the crash site. She veered north, entering the hills again, meticulously searching the landscape for the site.

On the seventh day she found the crash site, but it was not what she was expecting. If Sunset had to guess, the airship had come down as a rain of molten metal, because several dozen acres of hill were impregnated with small drops of slag.
“This is the skiff Astral Nacre and I battled on.” Sunset deduced. The explosion caused by the alicorn power of the ritual had ripped the airship into its constituent elements. “What awesome power.” She whispered, running her hoof over the armor again.

However she was no closer to finding Entanglement Theory, or so she thought at first. As she set out Southwest, back towards the stream, she hit upon the theory that she could calculate where the cargo airship had fallen based on its relative position to the skiff site.
The skiff had been thousands of hooves higher in altitude, but following the same heading as the cargo airship. Depending on how long the cargo airship had remained stable it was anywhere between twenty kilometers East and fifty kilometers West of the skiff site. Taking a gamble, Sunset turned West and began looking for another crash.

~

Among the monotonous grassy hills, Sunset sometimes found herself staring into the sky, immobile, unable to remember what she was doing. The wispy clouds above, untended by pegasi, reminded her of the state of nature in the other universe.
‘Why did you come back?’ A silken voice whispered in her ear. ‘You left this world and it healed up fine. You can only reopen those wounds.’

“I come as a different pony than I was.” Sunset said to the sky, for she could not really address a voice that was in her head. “Let no wounds be reopened.”

‘Too late for that my dear.’ The voice chuckled. ‘I’m already dead, Sunset, and that you had hoof in my demise you can not deny. You said you loved me, but when is all is said and done you were just as snide and apathetic as you always were.’

“...”

‘Learned humility at last?’

“I thought I could bring you back. I thought your death wouldn’t matter.” Sunset said, her tone turning to sorrow. “That was the purpose of the sequence after all, to manipulate life. Eternal life, life after death, life where there was none, many lives becoming one life.”

‘So, Sunset, what did you accomplish?’ The voice asked, not patronizingly but as a teacher to a student. ‘What lesson did you learn?”

Sunset let her eyes fall earthward, so she could continue her trek. “I’ll know when I find my friend.”

‘Sunset, you rely too much on phantoms, brought about by your imagination but not really there.’ The voice sighed. ‘You can not escape from the flow of cause and effect forever. You will have to face the consequences of your actions.’

“I have to find my Twilight.” Sunset muttered.

‘She won’t be there. Like all phantom things, she has gone away, to let the natural state of things resume.’

“I… I know that.”

‘And still you search? Sunset, will you yet again flee from this world, should you dislike Destiny’s path?’

“No. I’m staying here from now on, no matter what.”

‘That remains to be seen, my dear Sunset Shimmer…” The voice faded away, and some of the warmth of the Blackhorn Armor with it.

~

After three and a half days of westward travel, she came upon another stream, this one running north-south. Sunset noticed that many of the trees around the stream had been broken or toppled, and when she investigated she discovered to her surprise and joy that the cargo airship had crashed into the stream.

It was more whole that she expected, like it had enjoyed a slow descent under calm conditions. The cargo hold with all the machinery was intact, as was the grisly remains of the ponies used up in the ritual. Their husk-ified bodies had been pecked apart by birds, but Sunset could clearly tell that there had been an earth pony, a pegasus, a unicorn, and an alicorn. She remembered the faces of the drones she had led aboard the skiff. This was their sky-burial.

The alicorn’s sternum was broken where it had been stabbed by the Entanglement Theory’s obsidian dagger. The dagger was laying only a few hooves away, along with a pair of fractured glasses, but there was no sign of their owner.

“She’s gone.” Sunset sighed. “She got what she was looking for and she left.”
On the one hoof Sunset was incredibly relieved. Her interdimensional friend was still alive. However, having withdrawn back to her home universe, it would going to be excruciating for Sunset to see her.
“I’m not even sure I could do it again. Destiny’s catching wise to my shenanigans.” Sunset cast a glance to the sun. “Besides, I said I wouldn’t. But maybe I will see her again somehow, even if just a phantom.”

Before she continued her pilgrimage West, Sunset burned the airship. The machinery she had spent years developing, the ritual she had spent years theorizing, and the bones of the ponies sacrificed and created, it was all cleansed and disintegrated in the hellacious inferno Sunset summoned. The fire spread to the vegetation around the stream, then to the brown grass of the hills.
Sunset trotted West with great pillars of smoke and fire lighting the evening sky behind her. She kept only the obsidian dagger, still covered in her friend’s dried blood.

“I need to start researching again.” Sunset said to herself. She rubbed a hoof against the Black Lord, finding comfort in the heat it emitted. “I have the magic of an alicorn but I’m not sure how to use it.”

‘You think you will be using me?’ The silken voice whispered in her ear and the armor throbbed against her touch. ‘My dear as much as I adore you, you have this relationship backwards. Destiny uses us all.’

“You may not be my Celestia, but you are a Celestia. In fact, you may be what I need more than the original. You are the Celestia I wanted. You grow by my interaction with you, by my conception of Celestia was, and should be. You are Sunset Shimmer’s Celestia.” Sunset grinned grimly. “For some ponies, that will be enough.”

‘A Celestia designed by a traitor to the original.’ The voice mocked. ‘May you find great use of me, my dear.”

The sun beat down on the hills relentlessly.

Sunset looked up. In between the earth and sky was a white speck, growing larger every day she moved West. The ancient city of the Pegasi called to her, promising her a place to stay and recover. From there she could plan her next move, gather allies, and find a way to harness the great power she had manufactured.
In Cloudsdale, Sunset could see herself abandoning the vagrant lifestyle she had lived since leaving Equestria for the other universe a decade past. A renewed duty to Celestia and to Equestria would take its place. Best of all, it would all be on her terms. Equestria would become the traitor’s equestria.

--------------------

Spike was picking up around the downstairs of the main room of the Golden Oak when he heard a knock at the door. He put down the books he was carrying and skipped over to open it.

“Hi Rarity!” He beamed.

“Hello Spike. I has been too long.” Rarity nodded. “Having a pleasant morning?”

“Yup! I’ve been making a path through all the books here.” He laughed. “Twilight has been in study mode, and she forgets to clean up after herself.”

“Is she here right now?” Rarity lifted off her saddlebag with her magic and set it by the door.

“She’s still in bed. I haven’t checked on her actually. She was snoring pretty loudly though. Should I wake her up?” Spike asked.

“I wanted to talk to her one-on-one for a while. I had something to apologize for.” Rarity was itching to get an apology from Twilight, not the other way around. “May I?”

“Sure. I’ll keep working down here.” Spike returned to his tidying, while Rarity crossed the room and trotted up to the second floor. The bedroom door was closed and, as Rarity discovered when she tried it, locked tight.

“Lady Sparkle.” She knocked softly. “It’s Rarity. I came to see you. Alone mind you, for I am not afraid.”

She heard the floorboards creaking as the pony on the other side came to answer the door. But when the door opened Rarity discovered that pony had been Nightmare Moon. The alicorn looked tired and annoyed.
“Rarity.” Moon’s nostrils flared.

“My Lady.” Rarity smiled unconvincingly. Her eyes darted towards Spike, who was preoccupied downstairs. “May I come in?”

Moon grabbed Rarity with her magic and dragged her into the room. She slammed the door and locked it again.
“Just what do you think you’re doing here, trying to visit Twilight?!” She roared, pacing back and forth in front of a chastened Rarity. “I told you not to approach her, ever!”

“She came to me, last night.” Rarity protested. “She invited me over.”

“So you should have turned her down.” Moon stomped.

“You would have me abandon courtesy and decency-”

“There is no reason, NO REASON, for you to interact with her. Until a time of my choosing you two will exist in different worlds.” Moon said with finality. “You better not have set her off. Where is she?”

“Oh, who could guess. Somewhere without a nightmare alicorn?” Rarity said. “You were here all night, I should guess. Further, you were the one who compelled her to run, after which she sought me out. Conduct some introspection and find yourself equally at fault, my lady.”

“Are you testing my patience right now? Watch yourself Rarity.”

“You are too harsh and too controlling. I do not deserve this abuse, and Twilight does not deserve your micromanagement.” Rarity crossed her forelegs defensively.

“And you are completely untrustworthy. You are deceptive, secretive, and can’t control your nightmare worth a damn.” Moon said. “Twilight had her own problems and doesn’t need your drama. I’m helping her.”

“See, I thought you were going to leave Twilight alone. You claimed you would let her live her own life, dream her own dreams-”

“She can’t dream.”

“And here you are pretending to be her mother!” Rarity fought through the interruption.

“I am her mother, actually. She is a product of my body and mind, hybridized with some influence from Celestia. It is as much an intellectual heritage as it is a biological one. In the same sort of way I am a product of Celestia and Luna.” Moon had enough pacing and sat down. “Don’t attempt to make a family tree. It doesn’t make sense and it’s not supposed to.”

“You toss out logic whenever it supports you.” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“There is no applying logic to certain things.” Moon smiled. “Math, philosophy, natural philosophy, and magical studies can be examined with cold rigorous logic only to a point. At their apogee, when the study of the world around us reaches up to the divine, we have to abandon logic so we can keep our sanity. The divine and the empirical world are mutually exclusive.”

Rarity, eyes half lidded with muted annoyance, glanced to the wall and back. “You are very easy to push into tangents, my lady. If you want to craft respect out of fearful subservience, try being less up your own plot, mayhaps?”

“Oh buck you too Rarity.” Moon snorted.

“I’m just saying, darling.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Moon trotted around to the window and peered out. “Ignoring this seething enmity between us for a sec, do you have a clue where Twilight might be? I need to see how she’s adjusting to the dream transplant.”

Rarity did not like how ominous ‘dream transplant’ sounded. “Of course not. I came here to see her.”

“Great.” Moon twisted her back and stretched her wings. “Who the buck knows where she could have gotten off to.”

“We should look for her.” Rarity nodded.

“Uh, there’s no ‘we’ here. You stay away from her. I absolutely a hundred-percent mean it. If you lose control, and she loses control, we could have a repeat of the eternal night, and that was a whole song and dance to deal with. No thank you ma’am.” Moon stood up. “After I find Twilight I’ll be at Fluttershy’s until about three, then I’m off to Canterlot.”

“And I will do… what exactly?”

“Hell, I don’t know. Don’t you have a business that needs attention?” Moon asked.

“If you think I can sit by while everypony else is working towards the new-”

“Fine fine fine. Go check on the fillies at Applejack’s farmstead. I want you to make a judgement call on whether or not they’re can come back to Ponyville with you.”

Rarity twisted her lips in obvious disappointment.

“What, you want me to put you in charge of something important? Is that what you want?” Moon asked. “You are going to have to take steps to ingratiate yourself to me before I do anything like that.”

“It’s not that. Not entirely.” Rarity prissed her lips. “I dare to ask, but do you see yourself doing about the Nightmare Faithful?”

“Don’t give me that look. There are more important things to me than dealing with the petulant followers of your cult.”

“Like babysit your ‘daughter’.”

“Now you’re getting it. See you later.” Moon teleported away in a crackling burst violet magic.

“What an amazing pair, the Twilights are. Horrible, but amazing.” Rarity said to herself. She tended to think of Ancepanox and Twilight as the same entity, despite the former’s vehement denial. “Nopony has ever caused to much suffering and gotten away with it.”

When she emerged from the bedroom Spike was standing on the stair, looking apprehensive. “Did you get in an argument? She cast a muting spell but I heard the door slam.”

“We got in a disagreement about a friend and she teleported away.” Rarity confessed. “I did not mean to get her so worked up that she would need to run out of her own house. Please convey my apologies when she returns.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself. Twilight’s been jumpy.” Spike shrugged, hopping down the stairs. “She’s really upset about the whole ‘Eternal Night’ stuff. What she can remember anyway.”

“And you are not?” Rarity arched a brow. She retrieved her saddlebag from by the door and secured it on her back.

Spike scratched his chin, twisted back and forth with barely concealed anxiety. “I mean, it’s scary to know there’s missing chunks of my memory, but what am I going to do about it. If I don’t remember then so what, right? If something matters I guess I’ll find out about it sooner or later, and hope it’s not a really big problem when I do.”

Rarity nodded appreciatively. She wished she could focus on the here and now. “Sir Spike, you are wise beyond your years. Sadly I must take my leave for now.” She trotted to the door. “Do convey that apology for me please, sir.”

“You can count on me.” Spike saluted.

Rarity felt heartened. It was easy to feel dour and depressed it you only interacted with other depressive ponies. Thankfully there were plenty of happy and optimistic creatures who would never turn down a chance to talk.

She trotted through Ponyville in the direction of the plaza, where she hoped she could find a quick breakfast before heading to Applejack’s farm. There were a couple fruit and vegetable stalls up: Most of the usually save Applejack.
Rarity spied Roseluck and Cherry Berry chatting at Cherry’s stall. Cherry noticed Rarity first, and after a whisper to Rose they both glanced in Rarity’s direction, then back to each other. Not wanting to keep them in suspense, Rarity trotted over to the mares.

“Good morning ladies.” Rarity said.

“Hello Mis Rarity.” Rose nodded to her.

“Hi.” Cherry Berry couldn’t meet Rarity’s gaze.

“I hope we all feel better than we did the other night. I certainly do.” Rarity pulled a bit out of her bag and snapped it against the stall. Cherry pushed a bowl full of assorted fruit towards her. “I feel ready to face the future and its struggles with all my heart and mind.”

“I feel the same way, Mis Rarity, but someponies have their doubts. You’re not going to be able to change their mind by yourself.” Rose agreed. “Some ponies want to hear from Fluttershy.”

Cherry Berry remained silent, pretending to organize her stall.

“I understand that sentiment.” Rarity took a dainty nibble out of a pear.

“Amethyst Star and Carmel have been avoiding us, and nopony’s seen Cherry Fizzy. We don’t know how long before somepony decide that the duke or the knights need to know about us.” Rose pursed her lips. “So you see, if you don’t act quickly you could put us all in a bad spot.”

Rarity took another bite of pear while she mulled things over.
She had to keep her band of Nightmare Cultist Faithfull together, or not only would they disperse but they might blow the lid off Nightmare Moon’s return. Rarity knew she was in the most vulnerable position of them all, stuck between the whims of Moon and the demands of the faithful, and neither of them really wanted her to keep her position between them. Her parents and little sister would be in danger too. Rarity had to take every measure to protect her family and friends.

But how? After her tearful confession to everypony, they would be wondering what was lies and what was truth. Like Rose said, they needed to hear it from somepony besides her. But perhaps not Fluttershy… Fluttershy finding it much more appealing align to Ancepanox’s interests than the faithful or Ponyville’s.

“I must say, I am rather disappointed nopony else is being proactive, but I understand the burden falls squarely on me, and so I must be the one who acts.” Rarity said. “As it happens I am meeting with Fluttershy this afternoon. Mis Cherry, would you like to come?”

Cherry Berry perked. “Mis Rarity, you don’t mean…”

“Oh, there will be no risk. Not much.” Rarity popped a cherry in her mouth and bit down.

Cherry Berry puffed her lips out in consternation. She had not forgotten Rarity’s warning from the other night. The Dark Lady was not amused with Rarity. What was Rarity trying to play her for? “I should pass.”

“What?” Rose pouted in mild confusion. “Have you two been talking?”

Rarity nodded. “Cherry and I spoke the night of the meeting, after she took me back to my room. I’m very sorry Rose but there are certain secrets I can’t allow to spread too much. Cherry is going to help me, so I can lead our group without coming off as duplicitous or deceitful.”

“I am?” Cherry squeaked.

Rose frowned. “No offence to you Cherry, but why can’t you tell me. I’m a discreet pony, Mis Rarity, and you know that.”

“Did you help me to my room, or check if I was okay?” Rarity asked, a hint of sharpness in her tone.

“No but-”

“I am still the hierophant, Roseluck. Do you remember what that position actually entails? It is not the title of a leader. It is the one who lets the will of the divine be known to ponykind. I am doing my job. If somepony else thought they could do it, they would be exactly in the position I am.” Rarity asserted, taking an angry bite out of an apple and talking while she chewed. “You have no leeway to doubt me, who does not come to me to look for reassurance for her faith. Cherry did.”

“That is so much guff to limit my access to my friend Fluttershy, when I could probably find her at her home.” Rose twisted her snout in displeasure. “Cherry, you are better off not going with her.”

“I’m not talking about reassurance through Fluttershy, darling.” Rarity grunted. “There are clearer ways to I’m telling the truth.

Cherry ghasped. “Mis Rarity, please no. Don’t do this.”

Rose bit her lip, taking a moment to decipher everything. “Rarity… Do you mean the Dark Lady?” She looked between Cherry and Rarity. “Here, in Ponyville?

“Mis Rarity…” Cherry stuttered. “I’m fine just hearing it from you, really. Can’t you just bring Fluttershy and satisfy everypony? It’s all anypony wants anyway.”

“If you are bluffing it is definitely a very strong one.” Rose gulped. “Cherry Berry, you’re not hierophant, and even glimpsing the shadow of the Dark Lady would be more than any of us could ever dream.” Tones of reverence tinged her voice. “Cherry… If you saw her…”

“No, nuh-uh, no way.” Cherry shook her head emphatically. “Rose, I don’t want to get involved in this. I reeealy don’t.”

“Cherry, I fully understand, but still I must insist.” Rarity pushed the fruit bowl back. “You will be doing me and all the faithful a big favor.”

Cherry was mute and indecisive. Rarity looked at her expectantly, while Rose looked like she had something to say but wasn’t sure of herself.

“Mis Rarity, like you said hierophant is your role, not mine.” Cherry muttered. “I don’t want to see the Dark Lady. Besides I have the stall to look after and-”

“Cherry, I’ll take over the stall for you.” Rose finally said.

“Rose-”

“Cherry, you have to see what our hierophant what wants to show you. Then if you, Rarity, and Fluttershy all say the same thing the rest of the group will have to choice but to trust you. It’s for the good of the group.” Rose said. “Mis Rarity, It’s true I have my doubts. I pray Cherry comes back to say the right thing.”

Cherry rocked on her hooves, stiff with apprehension. This is a bad idea, she thought to herself.

Rarity pursed her lips and looked away. “No? That is fine, darling. You have already done so much for me. Thank you for the fruit. Delectable as always.” She turned on her heel and trotted away.

“Hey!” Cherry shouted after her, but Rarity didn’t react. “Gods damn it. Rose what should I-”

“Stay safe.” Rose trotted around to her place at the stall. “We can’t know for certain otherwise.”

“Maybe you can’t know, but that night in her room…” Cherry shuddered. “Ah hell.” She galloped after Rarity.

Rarity tilted her head a bit to smile at the pink and yellow earth pony. “I am very happy to have another chance to talk to you one-on-one, Cherry.”

“Yeah whatever.” Cherry mumbled.

Rarity and Cherry Berry left Ponyville and began heading south.
Rarity was cautiously pleased with herself. Actually bringing Cherry to an audience with Moon would be a terrible idea. She could confide a little in Cherry, maybe talk to Applejack or Rainbow Dash, but not Fluttershy. Fluttershy was a huge unknown. Rarity just didn’t understand what her friend’s motivations were for abetting her victimizer.

“It’s a tumultuous time for us right now. I am of the firm belief that if we overcome our problems and stabilize, the faithful can thrive where orthodox religions, namely Celestianism, are suffering through the chaos and uncertainty.” Rarity led them past the outlying cottages and farm plots to the edge of Applejack’s orchards. She could hear the distant echo of somepony bucking trees. “At a time like this, we need strong leadership. I will be the first to admit I have my faults, but I have never been more dedicated to my position as hierophant.”

“I don’t know what you’re trying to sell me Rarity.” Cherry Berry muttered. “I’m sorry but it comes off like you’re less in it for the faith and more for the power.”

“Cherry, I thought I explained my reasoning fairly well the other night. There is nothing to be taken on faith anymore. Nightmare Moon is real.” Rarity said. “So what is religion without faith, you may ask. Lady Moon told me that there is no religion without subservience and submission to the divine. Believe me darling, Moon is very particular about submission.”

“So what is the point of this?” Cherry asked.

“Like it or not, the nature of our devotion will change. We will become a political religion like the sun and Celestia worship. We can’t be praying to the Dark Lady for salvation anymore, since she’s here and she’s not quite here to save us. Indeed she is here to rule us.” Rarity explained. “Cherry, what we need more than anything else is stability. I need you to help me settle the boat.”

Cherry kicked at a rock on the path. “Mis Rarity, why? Why should we go along with you anymore? Why does it matter to us if Nightmare is real? Rarity, we helped you resurrect your dead religion not for power or salvation, but because we were your friends and it was important to you. We’re never wanted to play politics or fight against Celestianism.”

Rarity shrugged. “What can I say darling. This is not the same world as it was before the Eternal Night. Moreso when the Dark Lady reveals herself.”

The dirt path completed its winding path at the gates of the Apple Family’s farmhouse. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were on the front porch playing a card game. Rarity approached them, Cherry Berry following several steps behind.

“Hey sis.” Sweetie Belle waved.

“Hi Mis Rarity.” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison.

“Hello girls. Enjoying yourselves?” Rarity asked.

“Gettin more bored every day.” Apple Bloom stuck out her tongue.

“I miss Opal.” Sweetie Belle pouted. “When a are mom and dad coming back from Baltimare?”

“Honestly I’ve been sleeping over at my mom’s house. I don’t like the food Applejack makes.” Scootaloo shrugged.

“I feel you with the food.” Rarity said. “Scootaloo, I need to meet your mother some time. You describe her so colorfully.”

“She’s weird.” Apple Bloom laughed.

“Really weird.” Sweetie Belle confirmed.

“Stop it.” Scootaloo punched Apple Bloom in the shoulder. “It wasn’t funny the first time.”

Rarity nodded. “Indeed. It’s in poor taste to make fun of somepony’s oddities or idiosyncrasies.”

“But what if they’re weird?” Apple Bloom asked, earning herself another punch.

“That what oddity and idiosyncrasy means.” Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

“Stop! I really mean it.” Scootaloo stood up.

“Oh dear… I think I will leave you girls to it.” Rarity sighed. “Do one of you know where Applejack is? I need to speak to her.”

“She’s in that field she let go wild.” Apple Bloom said, waving toward the North. “Good luck findin her in there.”

“Hmm, I will try, but if I don’t please tell her to come to see me at my home as soon as possible.” Rarity said. “If she needs to see-” She paused, casting a glance at Cherry Berry. “our mutual friend, tell her she has until three to get to Fluttershy’s house.”

“K.” Apple Bloom nodded.

The fillies watched Rarity and her silent follower leave.

“Fluttershy’s house. Y’all know where that is?” Apple Bloom grinned.

“Across the river, right?” Sweetie Belle cocked her head. “Do you think that’s where Ancepanox is?”

“It’s out by itself. Nopony’d know if there was a nightmare moved in.” Apple Bloom nodded.

“Finding her wasn’t the hard part. We could have walked around Ponyville yelling her name and she would have come to make us stop.” Scootaloo snorted.

“She would have come to correct your pronunciation of her name.” Sweetie Belle prodded.

“Oh not this again!” Apple Bloom ground her hoof into the cards in frustration, tearing them apart. “If I’ve gotta hear y’all’s snooty corrections one more time I’ll buck ya!”

Sweetie Belle prised her lips and cradled her cards a bit closer. “Okay then… Call.”

“Go fish.” Scootaloo sighed.

Apple Bloom look down at what she’ done to her cards. “Erm, whoops.” She scooped up the shreds of her hand. “Would ya believe me if I said I had a three-of-a-kind?”

“Nope.” Sweetie Belle snorted. She took Scootaloo’s cards and scraps of Apple Blooms and added it to her had. “Eventually we’re going to have to learn the real rules.”

“I told y’all what the rules are. I seen my granny play Bridge all the time before she left for Appleoosa.” Apple Bloom took new cards from the deck. “One more round, then we go stake out Fluttershy’s.”

“You keep saying that. I think you want to keep playing until you win.” Scootaloo arched a brow.

“Shut it.” Apple Bloom growled. “Or I’ll hit ya.”

“I thought you didn’t like bad ponies who used violence to get their way.” Sweetie Belle flicked her gaze up to Apple Bloom. “Or am I thinking of that other Apple Bloom?”

“Whatever.” Apple Bloom grumbled hiding behind her cards.
She hoped she would feel better once they started putting their plans into action, instead of sitting around playing nice for Applejack. She badly wanted to get going, but at the same time she was very afraid. Ancepanox had killed ponies, who who knew if she would draw the line at fillies. Apple Bloom didn’t want to get eaten, but it was a pony’s responsibility to strive in the face of evil, even a filly. “One more round. I promise.”

~~~~

As it turned out Rarity did not have that difficult of a time finding Applejack. The farm mare was at the edge of the fallow field, dragging a felled tree into the open. She wore an oversized plow harness attached to ropes wrapped around the trunk, and with great effort she could pull it to a wagon where she had the debranching equipment.

“Hello Mis Applejack.” Rarity trotted up to the cart, Cherry still a few hooves behind. “While your method is an impressive show of strength, would it not be easier to put some smaller logs under the trunk to use as rollers?”

Applejack kept straining against the harness for a few more seconds before she stopped. She panted hard and wiped the sweat off her face. “I suppose.” She looked to Cherry Berry, then back to Rarity. “So, y’all come lookin for me because I missed the morning market?”

“Cherry is one of my faithful friends. I would like for you, within the limits of your comfort, tell her about the horror we faced during the Eternal Night.”

Applejack’s expression darkened. “Why?”

“You see, there are some of the followers who are very concerned about the validity of my explanations. If you of all ponies corroborate it for me-”

“You know if I tell I’ll be in a whole heap of trouble, just like you will be.” Applejack said. “So I’m sorry, but I can’t. You can have this implication, but nothin else outa me.”

“Applejack, if you don’t help me here, I will be forced to go to Fluttershy’s.” Rarity said.

“Rarity, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard y’all say, an you said some damn stupid things before. What you’re doin it puttin a knife to your own throat! Just stop!” Applejack shook her head in disappointment. “I’ve got work to do, can’t ya see. I’ve got no time to attend your funeral.”

Cherry didn’t know Applejack very well. They had competing stalls in the market, competing produce in the fairs, and competing legs in the traditional Fall Race. Applejack was about the least likely of anypony in the world to get mixed up in nightmare business, not least of all because of her well known feud with Rarity. Just as Rarity had said, only some great horror could push the two mares together.

“Well, Applejack, if think that Lady Moon is a danger to me, why would you force me to go to her for my proof? Why would you put Cherry Berry in that danger?”

Cherry couldn't stand it anymore. “Mis Rarity, I believe you, really! I- I should go... I’ll tell everypony that Applejack and Fluttershy back you up.”

“Leave my name out of it!” Applejack snapped.

Rarity huffed. “Applejack, you are causing me all sorts of stress now! You need to be less careless with your words.”

“You’re one to talk.” Applejack glared. “Why don’t y’all mosey along so I can finish pruning an acre today, instead of havin to talk to talk to you. Go home, ya hear?”

“Fine darling. I only came by to tell you that Moon will be at Fluttershy’s until three. After that she is off to… Canterlot I believe she said. If you need to speak to her, you should go before three.”

“Rarity, y’all are playin a very dangerous game here.” Applejack scowled, eyes flicking between Rarity and Cherry.

“I suppose I am.” Rarity smiled thinly. “You’re still with me, aren’t you Cherry?”

Applejack stomped her hoof. “Don’t go listenin to her any farther! Even when she thinks she’s doin the right thing, she causes trouble. For your life, stay away from Rarity, and for sure stay away from Nightmare Moon! Don’t go to Fluttershy’s!”

Nightmare Moon, the manifestation of the Dark Lady upon the earth, was at Fluttershy’s cottage. An ancient and terrible being, an alicorn to surpass Celestia, and the god of Cherry Berry’s faith, was literally half-an-hour trot away.
Cherry felt so dizzy she thought she might collapse, and felt very cold for some reason. What should she do? The indecision was racking her. She knew with almost all her heart that going with Rarity was a terrible idea. But could she allow the faith die through inaction? She would be letting Roseluck down. She would be letting everypony down. She had a responsibility to see the Dark Lady and confirm for all to know that it was all real, and that they had a real god to submit to. This is, if she was willing to risk death.
The chill inside her felt like it was spreading, but she didn’t really notice for how uncomfortable the unfolding argument was making her.

“You think I cause trouble?” Rarity panted, hackles raised. “ Oh, well then. If ponies had been afraid to cause trouble we would still be in the frozen north batting off polar bears.”

“What even are you tryin to say?”

“What am I trying to say? Ha! What am I trying to say?” Rarity began pacing around, her grin tightening to a painful sneer. “I guess am I trying to say that I am just tired of your neighsaying, Applejack. Like always you are deaf to any moral or reasonable argument. The Eternal Night changed less between us than I though.”

“Rarity I do truly swear you’ll get yourself killed if ya keep at this. Moon ain’t amused as it is. She’ll tan your hide in non-figurative way. Somepony’ll wear you as an apron!” Applejack unclasped the harness and let it slip off. She stepped forward, then hesitated. What was she trying to accomplish? Could she really expect Rarity to just drop the whole thing? Very very unlikely. But she couldn’t help but fit one more jab in. “I swear girl, did you get brain damage or somethin? Ya need sleep, I think.”

Rarity snapped a rock into the air with her magic. “I have HAD it with everypony’s abuse! I can tolerate Ancepanox. I can even tolerate Twilight since she is a noble. But not from you, a farmer hick!”

Applejack scoffed. “Oh, ya gunna attack me? You really ain’t that far from a nightmare, are ya? Moon’s right ab-” She ducked under the rock hurtling over her head. “Hey! Quit that!”

Rarity levitated another rock. “I won’t take it anymore! Your words will taste like gravel as you eat them!”

Applejack retreated behind a tree. “You’ve gone plain nuts, Rarity! Like really you ain’t thinkin strait gal. Go home and get a proper amount of sleep.”

“I’m FINE. There is NOTHING wrong with my sleep!” Rarity hurled rock after rock at the tree, gouging the bark and keeping Applejack pinned.

“Goodness gracious. So much for getting work done. ” Applejack clutched her hat. She shimmied around the trunk to stay on the opposite side of Rarity as she circled. “I… I sure messed up. How’m I gunna deescalate this?”

~~

Neither pony notice that Cherry Berry had wandered off. The coldness in her head had numbed every other thought or desire, but to follow through with Rarity’s desire and behold the Dark Lady.
She didn’t know the layout of the farm so she wandered East until she hit the river, then followed it North to the bridge.

Cherry repeated words she thought she heard. Her head felt so cold.
“I have to.” She mumbled to herself, eyes slightly glazed. “I have to reveal the Nightmare of the Moon, to save everypony from their doubt.”

Like usual, Amethyst Star and Caramel were hanging out on the bridge, arguing and throwing stones from the tallest part of the bridge.

“Yeah, as if. I’m three up.” Carmel scoffed at Amethyst. He wound back to throw a stone but stopped when he noticed Cherry Berry approaching. “Oh, heya Cher Ber.” He waved.

The coldness in Cherry’s head dispelled somewhat and the fugue lifted. She reexamined her surroundings. What was she doing? “Uh…” Oh yeah, she was crossing the bridge. No reason she couldn’t stop and chat first. “Hey guys.”

Carmel slung his stone, skipping right into the riverbank. “Bollocks.” He sighed, then cleared his throat. “You just missed Fizzy. He crossed on his way to the bakery with Pinkey Pie.”

“What’s Fizzy doing hanging out with Pinkie Pie. We never talk to Pinkie unless it a party. And what was he doing on the eastern side of the river for that matter?” Cherry Berry frowned.

“Who can tell nowadays. Everypony’s got some BS they’re up to.” Amethyst Star shrugged. “Ask him and maybe he’ll give a straight answer.”

Caramel bit his lip and looked away.

Cherry knew a sign of guilt when she saw one. “Caramel, what’s Fizzy done now?”

“I… really can’t till you.” Caramel said softly.

“It’s a real doozy, as Pinkie Pie would say.” Amethyst chuckled.

“Shut up Amethyst.” Carmel hissed.

“No, don’t shut up.” Cherry scowled. “You’re telling me what he’s done.” She turned to Amethyst, who was barely containing a smile. “I already have a headache here, so unless-”

“Calm your flank girl.” Amethyst snorted. She picked up another rock. “Fizzy got it his head that he should move the corpse of that pony Rarity told us about, Illustrious Valor, back to her original grave at the edge of the Everfree. I have no idea how he’d get that idea. Certainly not from moi.” Amethyst closed one eye and slung a rock over the river, hissing in delight when it skipped several times. “Pinkie Pie was the only pony who would help him.”

“You’re fucking joking. He dug up Rarity’s family plot?!” Cherry Berry yelled. “And you let him?!”

“Amethyst's not telling the whole truth, as usual. Fizzy couldn’t find the body. The marked grave had nothing underneath it.” Caramel explained. “So now there’s a hole by the forest and a hole by Rarity’s parent’s house, and no body to show for it.”

“But-” Cherry Berry clenched her teeth. Of course there would be no body. Iillor was alive and walking around Ponyville. “I swear to Celestia if he doesn’t have a godlike excuse it’s going to be him in that grave. Unmarked! Pinkie Pie too! Why the hell would she be up for grave digging?”

“Don’t go messing with Pinkie Pie. You don’t know what that mare’s capable of.” Amethyst laughed. “This one time I nicked a present from Sweetie Drops’s birthday party, and Pinkie played bagpipes outside my window until I gave it back. I don’t even know how she knew I was the one who took it.”

“Because you wore it around town you dumbass.” Caramel snorted. “You’re shameless.”

Amethyst grinned. “Call me shameless again and I’ll bite you. And you’ll like it.”

Cherry cradled her nose, ashamed she had such awful taste in friends and family. “Are you two overlooking the fact here that Fizzy is not only committing a huge taboo, but he’s drawing attention to us? What possible excuse could he give Pinke?”

“Go ask him.” Amethyst suggested.

“After I kick his ass to the Everfree and back.” Cherry hissed.
She took a few steps and froze. The coldness in her head became a pressure, blocking her from moving any farther. The unknown force hammered against her skull, making her wince in pain. She needed to go to Fluttershy’s. Would Rose forgive her if she let this opportunity slip away? “I would, if I didn’t already have plans.” She turned around again and trotted to the right bank of the river.

“Hooold on. You’re going to let him away with sacrilege and all that other stuff you said?” Amethyst shoved the rest of the rocks off the rail of the bridge and pushed herself to all fours. “Now I’m curious.”

“Grave robbing didn’t make you curious, but Cherry’s business does?” Carmel stood up as well. “Want me to talk to Fizzy, Cher?”

“I’ll worry about it, later...” Cherry said, her sentence trailing off, like something else was preoccupying her attention.

“Oh yeah? Well, if I had to guess, I’d say you were up to some shenanigans with Rose or Rarity.” Amethyst hummed. “Yeah, that’s it, isn’t it. Cult busy-ness.”

“I don’t have time to talk.” Cherry said curtly. “Bye.” She turned away and started towards Fluttershy’s house.

“Phh, that’s not nice, leaving before I could make the completely inappropriate joke I had planned.” Amethyst twerked her nose in annoyance. “‘Cherry! Are you in a lesbian relationship with Rarity and/or Rose?!”

Cherry flattened her ears, uninterested in humoring her crass friend any longer. She waded into the long grass, disappearing up to her ears.

“Star, what the heck are you doing?” Carmel asked with a sigh.

“She didn’t laugh, glare, or even turn around. Something’s up. I never fail to get a rise out of Cher.” Amethyst rubbed her chin. “I don’t know, but she’s not telling us everything.”

“That’s obvious, but it’s none of your business.”

“The same way Rarity’s escapades in occult mysticism isn’t our business?” Amethyst narrowed her eyes. “Cherry’s always taken the cult stuff way too seriously. She’s up to something, probably on Rarity’s behalf, and it’s probably evil even if she doesn’t realize it it. My boy, I think Rarity’s guilt has become our problem.”

“You mentioned Rarity, like, five times in four sentences.” Carmel pointed out, cautious and sour. “Why do you want to bother Cherry when it’s obvious she’s not the one you have a problem with.”

“My problem is with what Rarity’s done to my friend.” Amethyst huffed angrily. “With or without you Carmel, I’m getting to the bottom of this.”

~~~~

The grassy glades of the eastern riverbank tickled Cherry’s ankles as she walked parallel to the water, listening to the insects and watching the birds hop between the trees. Things had seemed so perfect, with lovely day after lovely day since the Eternal Night.
Judging by the position of the sun it was somewhere between eleven and high noon, which meant that the Nightmare of the Moon would still be at Fluttershy’s house.

“I wonder what she’s doing there.”
Cherry imagined the hovel transformed into a shadowy palace, with madly twisting darkness dripping from every surface. She imagined red candles lighting the small corners of the room where the Dark Lady had shoved piles of blasphemous tomes, filling with the scrawlings of ancient demons and heretics: Every vaunted word was tortuous praise of that most powerful of gods and her avatar. Cherry imagined a court of monsters, whispering secrets into the walls or their lady’s ear, preparing for the world changing cataclysm she would unleash.

She crossed around the oak thickets faster than she expected, coming into sight of Fluttershy’s cottage. All the curtains were drawn and there were none of the animals who usually hung around in the paddocks behind the house.

Cherry tested the doorknob. It was unlocked.
“I’m… I’m not sure I’m ready for this.” She shivered. “The Dark Lady is right inside.” She swallowed her reservations and pushed through, taking three blind steps into the room.

Fluttershy’s sitting room was dark and gloomy, as would be expected with all the curtains drawn. Dust hung thick in the air and on the surfaces, and the light the high-noon sun bounced inside was diluted within a few meters of the door. It was like there was a film of darkness on Cherry’s eyes.

A tea set lay on the coffee table, with three tea cups laying on it. Two were empty, the last untouched.
Cherry cautiously advanced into the room, picking up the teapot. She sniffed it. It smelled like the sun-teas grown in the Canter.

“I don’t remember Rarity or Fluttershy liking this variety.” Cherry mused.

“You’re right.” An unexpected voice, quiet and gentle, fleeted.

Cherry nearly dropped the teapot in surprise. She spun around, hair on end.
Fluttershy was sitting by her fireplace, almost invisible in the patterned quilt draped over her shoulders. She looked tired.

“Fluttershy! Oh thank goodness.” Cherry let out a relieved sigh. “I was so so worried, I-”

The door began to creak as it ever so slowly began to close. Cherry’s heart began to race again as the light in the room was strangled. With a firm clunk and a click, the door shut itself.

“Put the teapot down, um, if you would please.” Fluttershy urged. “I don’t want you to drop it.”

Cherry obayed. She was getting less able to control her trembling, for she could not shake off the growing cloud of fear inside her, which competed and swelled over the compelling cold that pushed her to be bold.
She turned back to Fluttershy. “You have to come tell everypony that it’s true.” She whispered, afraid of what any greater volume would do to the trembling darkness hiding around them. “They have to know that their faith was not misplaced.”

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m very very sorry.” Fluttershy said. “I just can’t face any of you without hurting.”

“...” Cherry turned her eyes a little higher. “It’s okay, Mis Fluttershy. I didn’t mean you.”

Fluttershy sighed and stood up, shrugging of the quilt, but her shadow did not move precisely with her. “Did Rarity put you up to this?”

Cherry did not, could not answer. Her eyes were locked on the churning shadow on the wall, its pose opposite Fluttershy’s, its figure reclined yet tense where Fluttershy’s was upright and calm. Languidly, the shadow opened its bright purple eyes.

“Did Rarity put you up to this?” Fluttershy asked again.

Cherry backed away. What had she been thinking, coming here? The cold presence at the back of her mind cried out and attempted to rally her crumpling resolve to no avail. Her fear, her terror at the horrible and unnatural thing sitting by Fluttershy’s mantelpiece was too great. She had to run, to find solace from the monster.

“Cherry, can you hear me?” Fluttershy frowned. “Did Rarity ask you to come here, to find her?”

Cherry jumped for the door knocking over the chairs around the coffee table. She put her hoof on the handle just as a flash of deep purple magic flashed from behind her. Chery pulled the door as hard as she could, but before it had opened more than an inch it slammed back shut again.
Cherry froze, tears streaming down her face. She felt her heart would rip her chest apart so fast was it beating. No anxiety in her life was close to the existential vice closing in on her mind.

A metal-encase hoof settled on her shoulder. “There’s a nightmare in this room right now, and I don’t mean me.” A low rasp filled her right ear. The creatures hot breath felt like it was burning the skin of her neck and cheek. “There’s a trace in your head, riiiight here.” The hoof wandered from her shoulder along her back to the base of her skull. The cold metal dug into her skin. “Don’t think this is over, Rarity’s nightmare.”

As if flourishing off the touch of the cold metal, the presence in Cherry’s mind expanded to every part of her consciousness. With a choked gasp, every part of her body began to spasm. Her dream and soul fought for control with the alien, cancerous nightmare. But the nightmare only really wanted control of a few muscles.
“You should have killed Rarity when you had the chance.” Cherry felt herself gargled out against her will. “Every moment she lives, I menace anew.”

With a furious growl the nightmare alicorn batted Cherry to the floor. “I can squelch you a thousand times until I discover the permanent cure for even your dogged parasitism.”

“So when my destruction is forgone. The question becomes how much I can bring down with me” Cherry’s lungs convulsed as the nightmare inside her forced her to laugh. “Ah, Ancepanox, you are like an aunt to me. It was from your Dark influence that I arose within Rarity. How it stings you reject me, but embrace Twilight.”

Ancepanox scowled grimly. “But I’m not a nightmare. I am more, perfected, the logical conclusion of a new dream that grows to become its own agency. I am self-actualized. I don’t judge myself in terms of another. Mortalkind is more suitable company for me than mad nightmares.” She grabbed Cherry by the scruff of her neck and tossed her onto a nearby couch. “You mean as much to me as a hoofprint I’d leave on a muddy street. You would be nothing without Rarity’s dreams and aspirations. No matter what, I will destroy you.”

“Then I will destroy you. Clearly though I can not match you magically or physically. But what are you, the ‘self-actualised’ parasite, without the emotional attachments you have formed with ponies? Let’s find out.” Cherry’s body laugh-choked again. “Twilight will die, and then we will see if there is more than talk behind your refinement and reservations, Ancepanox.”

The nightmare alicorn lit up her horn. “We will see indeed.” A bolt of magic shot from her horn and struck Cherry’s temple. Cherry screamed, twisted against some invisible assailant for a few moments, then fell stone cold.
“Always count on these arrogant elder things to talk their mouths off, even through puppets.”

“Moon, should you go check on Twilight? Maybe the threat is real.” Fluttershy knelt next to Cherry and checked her vitals. Everything seemed okay,

“Pah, it’s all talk. That pesky nightmare-” She paused. “Pesky? No, that sounds like I’m talking about a rat nibbling on my potato crop.” She cleared her throat and began again. “That nightmare fuck isn’t going to delay me from going to Canterlot. I’m already two days late.”

“Moon! Don’t leave! If there’s danger, you can’t leave me here to-”

“We’re not doing this again, Fluttershy. You can’t keep me here. If you want something done, do it yourself.” Moon snorted. “Peace.” She teleported away with a burst of light.

“Moon!” Fluttershy wailed to the empty air. “Moon, please.” She said quieter. She sat down and wiped the corner of her eye. “I- I can’t even protect myself. How am I going to save anypony?”

~~~~~

It was hard to see ponies in the orchard, but they were not hard to hear, especially if they were yelling as much as Rarity and Applejack were. Rainbow Dash glided down to canopy level to asses the scene.

Rarity had driven Applejack up one of the tall oak trees on the border between the orchards, and was now throwing apples and rocks at her. Applejack was shouting back, pleading with the unicorn to stop wasting apples.

Rainbow Dash alighted on one of the branches above Applejack, keeping her wings out for a few seconds to correct her balance. “Yo.”

Applejack tilted her head back to look at Dash. “Howdy Mis Dash. What brings you to these parts?” She asked, tired and annoyed.

“One of Rarity’s cultists is at Fluttershy’s cottage. Moon sent me to see if Rarity had any explanation.” Dash nodded down to the manic unicorn. “I guess I’ll have to ask you.”

“Cherry went to Fluttershy’s?” Applejack sighed and tugged down on her hat in shame. “Damn. I didn’t do a lick of good tryin to dissuade her then. What’d Moon do?”

“I don’t know. I left. But I don’t think Moon was going to hurt her.” Dash said. “So, how long has Rarity been at it?”

“About thirty minutes.” Applejack shook her head. “Yeah, you woulda thought she’d pass out by now.”

“No kidding. She must be really mad, or power by nightmare power. We have to calm her down before she breaks something inside of herself.”

“Yeah, and whatabout me? What’m I supposed ta think and do when the pony I’m supposed to be reconciled with starts hurlin things at me?” Applejack spoke fast, her twang deepening. “Ancepanox ain’t protectin me like she said she would.”

“Well I’m here aren’t I.” Dash smirked.

“Git on then. I’ve done lost a whole morning because of this.” Applejack urged.

Rainbow leaned forward until she topped off the branch. She snapped her wings open and glided at high speed right into Rarity. The unicorn was taken by surprise and knocked off her hooves, tumbling a body’s length before she hit a tree.

“Oh come on. How does killing her help?” Applejack hopped from branch to branch down to the ground.

“She’s fine.” Dash said. “See she’s getting up.”

Applejack clutched her hat and backed away. “She’s floating.”

When Dash turned back, Rarity was suspended a meter of the ground surrounded by a thickening cloud of darkness. She spun until she was upright again, then slowly descended back to the ground.

Applejack grabbed Rainbow’s shoulder and pulled her behind the oak tree. “Uh, are y’all gunna go get Ancepanox or am I?”

“Hey, I can solve my own problems. I’m not going to go running for help as soon as something goes wrong.” Dash scoffed.

“Holy Celestia, why is everypony actin so stubborn!” Applejack despaired. “You know what it takes to beat a nightmare? Another nightmare! Seein as neither of us are nightmares anymore I duly request we go get us one!”

“I’m not going to go back looking like a pansy. Besides I wasn’t going to fight her. I wanted to talk but when I saw-” Dash was interrupted when a chunk of the tree above them was blasted into splinters by a bolt of blue magical energy. Both Dash and Applejack shrieked and dropped to their stomachs, just as another spell tore through the air where their heads had been.

“Do I have your attention now? Come out and explain yourself Mis Dash!” They heard the singsong voice of the svelte nightmared Rarity. “Come out and apologize. Ak! Look at the state of me. I have twigs and leaves in my mane! This is miserable.”

Rainbow Dash jumped back to her hooves with a few flaps of her wings.

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack hissed, panicked and afraid she was about to see a pony die for the third time in her life.

“Now are you going to take responsibility for this?”

“But you’re…” Rainbow Dash paused, trying to understand what was going on.
Rarity had not transformed into a nightmare, yet she was still surrounded by the dark haze. The black aura came off her in wisps and waves, dispersing a few inches off her fur. “You’re not a nightmare.”

“Mis Dash, I am very upset with you!” Rarity shouted. She sauntered forward to within a few hooves of Dash. Like she’d said, leaves and twigs were all tangled in her mane and stuck to her fur with sap. “Not only do you come between Applejack and I, but you hit me! You had better have a good explanation.”

Rainbow rolled her tongue in her mouth, trying to think of an appropriate response that wasn’t laughing in confusion. “Rarity, I’m sorry I hit you.”

“Oh yes, bravo. You have common pony decency.” Rarity scowled. “Now why oh why did you think it appropriate to strike me as you did? I could have been seriously injured.”

“I shouldn’t have hit you, but you were going at Applejack.” Rainbow said. Should she go get Ancepanox? The situation was very strange. “Hitting ponies only leads to more hitting.”

Rarity sniffed. “Yes, I will concede that I was cating inappropriately, but Applejack is a more than hearty enough mare to survive an apple or stone hitting her. I was planning on apologizing later.”

Applejack peeked around the oak tree. “Whoah, what’s wrong with her? She ain’t a nightmare!”

Rarity spit at the earth pony, her glare returning. “Oh, really? How brilliantly observed of you, Applejack.”

“Applejack, you can see this too, right?” Rainbow beckoned her closer with a wave of her wing. Applejack cautiously obliged. “She wasn’t like this before?”

“Not that I noticed.” Applejack scrunched her nose. “But… What’s goin on?! I’m confused.”

“I’m sorry. There, I said it. I said I’m sorry.” Rarity huffed. “Surely you can’t blame a lady at the end of her rope for snapping. The stress had been simply overwhelming. At some point you have to assert yourself against those causing you that stress. Now Applejack, will you apologize?”

“I really don’t get it. This is normal snootie hypocrite Rarity. This ain’t her nightmare behavior.” Applejack backed away a few steps. “Mis Dash… Sorry I gotta go sort somethin out.”
Applejack turned and walked off.

“Can you believe her nerve, calling me snootie? She can’t adress me without ad equinum attacks. That right there is what is just [intolerable!” Rarity turned her nose up.

“Uh, but you were literally attacking her.” Dash pointed out. “Have you talked to Moon today? Did she say anything about your…” Dash gestured. “Nightmare problem.”

“This morning she accused me of having poor control of it. Bah! She said she could cure me, and yet here we are. Who knows when I may be overcome again. Really it is more her fault than mine.” Rarity prissed her lips. “ Ponies act as though they can toss me away when I’m no longer amusing to them. She has left me forsaken and diseased, then has the gall to lecture me.”

Dash clasped her forhooves together. “That is very interesting. But I’ve gotta to ask if, since I think we’re talking past each other, are you aware you are just steaming with Dark energy.”

Rarity nickered. “Mis Dash, what in Celestia’s name are you on about? If I were emitting some kind of energy I think I would know!” She twisted her head around to check every part of her body. “See? Nothing! If you are accusing me of being controlled by the nightmare just because I am upset, I must say you are taking an infantile approach to dismissing me!”

“No, Rarity I can see it! It’s, like, all over you!” Dash insisted. “Applejack could could see it too. Here, just…” She reached out and swiped through the darkness. She was expecting to feel a tingle at the very least. Not only did she not feel it, but the dark aura she saw remained exactly the same as her hoof passed through it. With her previous experiences with magic, it should react more than none to physical disruptions.
“W- What?” She swiped at it again, then patted Rarity’s barrel to try to provoke any change. “What’s going on?!”

“Mis Dash, please do not touch me without my permission.” Rarity pulled away.

“It’s there! We could see it! I see it!” Dash trotted in place, distressed. “A- And your voice.”

“My voice is completely normal. Do-re-mi.” Rarity sang a few bars. “See, normal.” She glanced away. Rarity was starting to think the impact had spun Dash’s head more than her own. She couldn’t properly stay angry at an injured mare. “Mis Dash, are you alright.”

“Your voice, I can hear it! It’s the nightmare you. I HEAR it!” Dash spun around, trying to find where Applejack had gone. “Applejack saw it too! Ask her! Something weird is happening.”

“Mis Dash…” Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Could you look this way please. Raise your head a tad. There’s something…”

Rainbow Dash locked eyes with her.

Rarity recoiled. “Oh- Oh my.” She shivered, her voice falling to a whisper. “Mis Dash, there is something in your eye.”

Rainbow blinked.
Stuck to the surface of Rainbow Dash’s eye was a blotch of darkness, fluctuating and pulsing. It was in the shape of Rarity, with the dark aura transposed over her.

“Oh no.” Rarity sucked in a breath. Moon had been right, again. “Mis Dash… We need to go find Applejack and tie her to a tree. Then we tie you up.”

“I’m freaking out here? What are you talking about?!” Dash rubbed her eyes with a hoof. The vision stayed there.

“You have been infected by something. We must only have a few minutes now!” Rarity gnawed her bottom lip. “Who did I interact with? Rose, Cherry, the filli-”
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to restore order to her panicked breathing. She had to trap Sweetie Belle and the other fillies. It would be painful for her, especially if they fought it, but the alternative was chaos.
She continued. “The fillies, Applejack, and you. I’m not counting Moon or Spike; They’re immune.”

“Immune?!” Dash squeaked.

“From dreams of dark and evil acts.” Rarity nodded gravely. “Mis Dash, this could be worse than Twilight’s nightmare. She is not trying to hunt now, no oh no. Rainbow, my nightmare is trying to kill us.”

Author's Note:

Some of my readership had written in to ask my opinion on the current conflict in Griffany.
I must say it here clearly: I do not know the facts. Despite Trottingham's proximity to Griffany, the Crown controls information of its military campaigns tightly. None outside the higher administrative ranks here have even the details of the reason for the conflict, the foe, or the Crown forces involved. Yes, it causes anxiety for the Manechester mothers whose sons and daughters serve in the Crown navy or army, but I do not doubt the Crowns ability. Their skill to command and execute campaigns is singularly brilliant. Some may accuse me of harboring doubts about the Crown, but I will never deny their abilities. I have had the great pleasure to meet several Crown Princes and Princesses, including the up-and-coming Prince Wintertide II, and their intelligence far outshone anyone you would meet even in the graduate classrooms here at the university. It is humbling.
That is the idea of the Crown, after all. How could we be expected to accept our overlords were they not the best of mortalkind, were they not more. Someponies think my narrative history here is undermining the Crown, but I disagree. To know how we got here is not an indictment of the Crown, but praise for its success where all other systems and ideologies failed.

Comments

[SpiritDutch]

Copy-pasting from google drive does a weird thing where it turns every spaces into two spaces. I wonder why.
I should writing a research paper due tomorrow, on Israel as a symbol of modernity in American Print media since 1936, but I'm not. I've accrued a long list of bad habits that make a pretty poor student. Shame on me again. I'm going to go nibble on some leftover pizza, then write some more ponies.

[TyroidMary]

New Nightmare Moon (New Moon?) goes from being obsessively controlling to flippant about Twilight? She's like 200% done with dealing with Ponyville bullshit.

[Fwelin]

I don't know if it's going to happen soon, let alone at all, but I hope Sunset interacts with Ancepanox sometime.