A Pegasus Salute

by Winged Cat

9: My Little Nightmare

Twilight froze. Fluttershy, scared? She had to find the attacker - oh, wait, that was...her. Impossible. Fluttershy could never be scared of her. Unless she threatened Fluttershy. But she wasn't, she had just reacted to-

No. No no nonononoNO this was WRONG she had to STOP!

The other ponies only saw Twilight give Fluttershy a strange look, stammer out a quiet, "Sorry," then run inside the library and slam the door shut behind her.

Despite the situation, Fluttershy very clearly heard Twilight crying. It could fairly be said that Fluttershy's ears were tuned to pick up on distress; indeed, one might say her very soul was like an antenna, picking up on misery in the world that she could banish with simple comfort. Unfortunately, she was fairly certain she had heard the door lock, and even if not, she was a symbol of what had upset Twilight. She knew Twilight bore her no ill will - she had seen enough ponies suddenly realize that they had been out of control to recognize the same look on Twilight, and this was not Twilight's first time but at least she snapped out of this one quickly - but for Fluttershy herself to offer comfort right now would be like hugging a vampire with garlic.

Some of the other ponies gathered looked like they had been having less kind thoughts, perhaps breaking down the door and confronting Twilight. Without even thinking, Fluttershy marched up to the door, lay in front of it, and gave the crowd a measured glance. They hesitated, then began backing off and dispersing, trusting Fluttershy to deal with the situation. Besides, with her in front of the door, the only way in was now barricaded.

For everyone except Rainbow Dash, that is. Having taken the much longer route of actually flying down from the cloud, she had a few moments of eye contact with Fluttershy from much further away than most earth ponies would conceive of social contact, once Fluttershy released the crowd from her gaze and looked up. For pegasi moving at speed, though, communication at range could be vital; their kind recorded a long history of nonverbal forms, including the invention of semaphore. Rainbow and Fluttershy had worked, played, and lived together that the art came naturally to them. Which is to say, Rainbow's grateful smile and Fluttershy's nod in response spoke in barely five seconds what most ponies would have taken minutes to convey. And then Rainbow banked abruptly, entering the library through the window, wondering yet again what the big deal was with doors.

Inside she found Twilight collapsed and bawling on the floor, as Spike looked on in bafflement. Rainbow landed next to Twilight, looked at Spike, and waved one wing toward the kitchen. Spike nervously stepped forward, but a frown, slight lean in his direction, and the barest shake of Rainbow's head got the message across; Spike's next steps were an about-face and leaving. Thus alone with Twilight, Rainbow dropped to the form and wing-hugged - gingerly, making as little actual contact with Twilight's aura as she could, ignoring the tiny lancets of pain whenever said contact occurred.

Twilight attempted to shrink away from it; unfortunately, she was trapped between Rainbow's wing, Rainbow's flank, and the floor. "D-don't touch me!"

"Shh. It's alright." Rainbow began running a hoof through Twilight's mane, smoothing it out, timing her strokes to stay just outside the aura that rippled like water just beneath the mane's surface. "I'm right here. I won't let you go."

"No! Please!" Twilight squirmed. "I, I can't control it! It wanted to HURT Fluttershy! I, I'd never..." She sniffed, then sniffed again, and her eyes shot open. "RAINBOW LET ME GO YOU'RE BURNING!"

Rainbow had noticed smoke rising from where she had contacted the aura. Apparently, Twilight had gotten a whiff of it. "Shh, it's alright."

"NO IT IS NOT ALRIGHT!" Wincing at an unmistakable hiss, whereupon she saw the shadow of Rainbow's wing jerk even though Rainbow's face somehow did not react, Twilight held perfectly still. "How...how bad have I hurt you already?"

Rainbow knew she was not going to be flying for the next hour, at least on that wing. Fortunately, she did not plan to. "It's nothing," she lied.

"Please, let me go," Twilight whimpered. "If I teleported right now I'd probably take your wing off."

"That's not going to happen," Rainbow reassured. "Besides, don't you have other ways to let your magic out?"

"Huh?" Twilight, tears rolling down both cheeks, looked at Rainbow. "...oh. Oh!" Almost as fast as she realized it, she put it into action: eyes flaring white, a subtle shift in the air rippling out from her, and her power now flooded the room. Her aura, now no longer the sole recipient of her magic, now no longer forcibly manifested; with a minor force of will, she dismissed it.

Rainbow immediately pressed her hug, ignoring her lightly seared flesh's protests at being pressed up against Twilight. "Yeah." For a moment Rainbow wondered why she was not aroused this time, but as soon as she put the question to herself she knew the answer: Twilight was not in control. This was just raw, barely constrained magical might, without the direction - or even discretion to use or not use it - that true power required. "Just like that. I've got you, and I'm not letting go until Celestia gets here."

Spike poked his head in. "Celestia's coming?"

Rainbow shot him a look. "Well yeah. You sent her a letter telling her Twilight's magic is out of control, right?"

Spike blinked. "It is? I mean, it's been a while since things were this bad, and Twilight wasn't as powerful back then, but-"

"SPIKE!" Twilight interrupted, the sheer volume abruptly pushing Rainbow's head away. For a moment Twilight feared she had broken Rainbow's neck, when she saw it bending at a more extreme angle than she believed possible, but then Rainbow faced her again smiling easily and all was okay.

Rainbow, for her part, decided not to elaborate out loud on the exact motions she had undergone just then to keep her spine and windpipe intact. A stressed out Twilight was a Twilight more likely to give in to whatever was getting her magic out of control. Saving Twilight from herself was enough reason for Rainbow to lay her life on the line - and she knew well that she was basically flying into a dragon's maw being close to Twilight in this state - but saving all of Ponyville appealed to her too.

Spike had been blown clear out of the room and into a scroll supply cabinet by the shout. "Right, writing and sending a letter now," came his voice, "as soon as I get out from under this pile."

Rainbow cuddled and nuzzled Twilight, rubbing and prodding Twilight's neck with both forehooves to massage the tension away. "So yeah. Don't worry. You'll beat this, you'll see, and I'm staying with you until you do."

Twilight tried to form words, but just as she was about to speak, she found Rainbow's mouth on her own - just a little peck, just long enough to derail her thoughts. She pulled her lips back and looked into Rainbow's eyes, seeing her own face reflected in the twin windows to the pegasus's soul. Realizing that normal speech at this range would blow Rainbow away from her - unacceptable! - she tried whispering. "Thank you." It still echoed, and she could see it blow across Rainbow, each word rippling her friend's sky-and-rainbow hued fur and feathers, but it did not push her friend away.

Rainbow nodded - just a bit, keeping eye contact with Twilight. At least, she hoped she was; the blazing white eyes made it impossible to tell exactly where Twilight was looking. "Don't try to talk. Just relax. Take it easy. Maybe...I don't know, do you think you can nap until Celestia's here? Or even...I dunno, how fast could you talk to Luna if you went to sleep?"

Despite the situation, Twilight could not help but relax under Rainbow's ministrations. She queried her body, which responded enthusiastically in favor of a nap, so she sank to the floor and let her eyelids droop shut. "Talkin' t' the prinzeses mebbe a good..." Twilight yawned, surprised at how tired she felt, barely noticing that she had pulled an entire bookcase of books off their shelves from halfway across the room but resolving to put them away later.

Rainbow yawned as well, the contagion of Twilight's yawn making her feel a bit tired too. "Yeah. Go see Luna. I'll watch over you."

---

Twilight had been to the moon once, and had studied it in detail via telescope many times. While it was not her home, a dusty, cratered moonscape with only the night sky above was easy to conjure, once she realized she was dreaming. For some reason she was running, looking - oh, right, she needed to meet a pony here. "LUNA! LUNA, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"I am here." The midnight blue alicorn blurred into existence in front of Twilight, as if materializing out of the living night itself. "My sister has just briefed me, and set me to watch in case you slept. Your magic no longer respects your control?"

Twilight heaved a sigh of relief. "Oh, Luna, it's terrible! I tried to copy your trick with your voice, but now I can't close it, and-"

"What trick with my voice?" Luna interrupted, not hiding her sudden worry.

Twilight blinked. "You know, where you put power into it so it echoes? I had to appear formal, like a princess. I wasn't quite sure how to copy Celestia but then I recalled how you did it. You just, open up your soul a bit, let your power out unfiltered, right?" Twilight gestured to the underside of the base of her horn. "With a little notch here, too small for anypony to see, to symbolize and seal it open. It was a little scary at first but it worked but now it won't shut and-"

Luna held up a hoof to stop Twilight's ramble, frowning. "That is a correct enough description. How did you come by this knowledge, and who else now knows it?"

Twilight blinked. "Huh? W-well...I just remembered how your voice felt, and when you were loud I'd felt your magic coming from right here," she gestured to the underside of the base of her horn again, "so I thought about it, and I figured it out, like any spell. I haven't told anypony. Why?"

Luna stared drills into Twilight's eyes. "You. Just. 'Figured it out'. Are you absolutely certain?"

Twilight sat down, eyes widening a bit. "Yes? I do that a lot. It's, well, part of my special talent."

Luna sat down as well. "I see. That makes sense." She broke eye contact, surveying the imaginary moonscape. "Know that you are the first in well over a thousand years to figure it out. As you are now experiencing, it is highly dangerous. You must tell NOPONY of this spell."

Twilight imagined Luna's banishment while Luna was under the effects of the spell, and winced at how much more difficult that must have made it for Celestia to banish Luna. "Alright. So just you, me, and Celest-"

"NOPONY!" Luna snapped back to staring into Twilight's eyes. "ESPECIALLY not mine sister, and I will tell you why. I discovered this spell out of desperation for power. I wanted more, needed more, to receive the adulation Tia reveled in. I opened myself up - and my greed, my loneliness, my...anxiety, you would term it - they answered and congealed. They formed what we now term the Nightmare, and proceeded to imprison me within my own mind. Tia could not tell, and had no choice but to banish me. They were still in control a thousand years later upon my return; it was only thanks to your efforts that I was finally freed. Your own aspect has likewise answered, but you do not yet yearn as desperately as I did, so it does not control you as thoroughly. In all those years mine sister has never been able to rediscover what I did, and for that I am grateful. Time and again, Equestria has been under dire threat, and there were many times when I fear dear Tia might have succumbed to temptation. Even now, she might attempt it in order to counter your power, if she but knew how. As she does not, she will make do with lesser measures - more difficult in the near term, but ones which will leave her alive and sane tomorrow."

Twilight worked her shoulders. She was starting to feel warm. Maybe Rainbow was cuddling her back in the waking world? "Not even Celestia? Surely she could contr-"

"Nightmare Celestia."

Twilight's mouth hung open mid-word.

Luna regarded Twilight with a cool expression. "That is something that neither Equestria, nor you and I personally, can afford to gamble upon. No, this secret must stay between you and me." She sighed. "Even now she races to your aid. Your assistant did not specify your location but we guessed Ponyville."

Twilight closed her mouth and nodded. "I'm in the library."

Luna smiled. "'Twould be safer for you to be well away from Ponyville, but a place where none will disturb you is good enough. Spike knows to stay away for his own safety, presumably, and I doubt anypony save mine sister will approach you in your current state."

Twilight returned the smile. "Yeah, it's just me and Rainbow. There were some ponies outside but-"

Luna's smile vanished.

Twilight blinked. "Is something wrong? Rainbow won't leave my side."

Luna began turning around. "My sincere apologies that I must do this," she hissed, "but you must leave her side posthaste."

"Why? She-" Twilight did not get in another word before Luna bucked her out of her own dream.

---

Fluttershy would never forget that scream.

Equal parts surprise, anguish, and sorrow, it represented many of the things she stood against. It was the sound of ultimate suffering, of grief and loss far greater than its maker had experienced before. Being the caretaker of many short-lived animals meant she had heard it more than once, as each new generation did not have the painful memories their ancestors had accumulated. Fluttershy wondered if the scream, boosted by magic, was audible in Canterlot; only the library's thick door saved her from hearing loss, as the source was but a few feet on the far side. And she knew the source: Twilight's voice was unmistakable, even if Fluttershy had never heard that tone from her before and hoped never to again.

She had been lightly dozing in front of the door, a living supplement to the barrier keeping those inside the library apart from those outside. Fluttershy supposed she had been guarding in both directions, though she thought she had heard a yawn or two from inside, which made her drowsy. She had been dreaming of Rarity - or was it Pinkie, or maybe Rarikie; the dream was indistinct - dressing her in a faux military uniform when the scream jolted her to full wakefulness. As soon as she collected her wits, she opened the door, then averted her eyes at the bright display within.

Slowly she looked back in as her eyes adjusted. What was presumably Twilight - an alicorn-shaped glow of pure power, not quite as bright as the sun but still not something to look at directly so Fluttershy used her peripheral vision - backed away from what looked like a coal-black earth pony with costume-like skeletal wings, no mane, and merely the nub of a tail. Only the cutie mark - singed to monochrome but still present - let Fluttershy identify Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, or so Fluttershy suspected. It was difficult to make out details on the blazing white profile, but the subtle feeling of a commanding presence suddenly washed over Fluttershy, intense enough that every fiber of her being screamed that she needed to run away and hide.

"help...please..." Twilight's voice was simultaneously the loudest and softest that Fluttershy had ever heard.

Fluttershy internally stared down those fibers. Rainbow was hurt, and Twilight was begging as best she could. Of course Twilight could not pick up Rainbow like this; even telekinesis might be dangerous. So Fluttershy charged in, scooped up her burnt friend, and then got to flying away as fast as she could.

As she fled the library, the light winked out behind Fluttershy. She had hoped Twilight would teleport away, to somewhere near enough to find her but far enough away to keep Ponyville safe. She was just wondering where exactly Twilight had gone to, when a giant column of light erupted out of the Everfree Forest. Moments later, the shockwave of the column's formation sent Fluttershy spinning; she would have dropped Rainbow save for her death grip on her friend. Taking just a moment to note Twilight's new location, and to glance up - had something been in the sky when the column formed? She did not see anything but light there now - Fluttershy continued on to the nearest thing Ponyville had to a hospital.

Comments

[BronyPonyMan]

way to go you stupid dream peeping bitch! i hope twilight fucks you up the next time she sees you! see how you like having third degree burns across half of your body!

[Zocarik]

[b}"Thank you." It still echoed, and she could see it blow across Rainbow, each word rippling her friend's sky-and-rainbow hued fur and feathers, but it did not push her friend away.

You can see the problem.

Despite the situation, Twilight could not help but relax under Rainbow's ministrations. She queried her body, which responded enthusiastically in favor of a nap, so she sank to the floor and let her eyelids droop shut. "Talkin' t' the prinzeses mebbe a good..." Twilight yawned, surprised at how tired she felt, barely noticing that she had pulled an entire bookcase of books off their shelves from halfway across the room but resolving to put them away later.

Missed a [/b]

[Winged Cat]

5841965 What I get for proofreading in edit mode...

Fixed. Thanks.

5841629 Minor spoiler for next chapter: Luna stopped Twilight from unconsciously burning Rainbow any worse.

[BronyPonyMan]

5842326 .....still don't like her.

[Winged Cat]

5842373 Fair enough, especially given what she did in the prequel to this story.