Reflection of Nightmares

by Cold Spike

Chapter Four: Nightmares Come Real

Class was very strange for everypony. The teacher couldn’t get used to the fact that there were two Scootaloo’s in her class. The other students wouldn’t stop glancing at the two, as if they were about to explode. Diamond Tiara now had another new target to bully, but that also meant it was now four on two, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, plus a dimension traveling filly, against Diamond Tiara and her lackey, Silver Spoon.

School was more than weird, it was tense.

Cheerilee had to instruct each student, as well as their guardian, upon entering her class, of Scootaloo’s situation. Some ponies responded in kind, others in confusion and a few in disgust. However, the class eventually started to drag on and things soon pushed into its usual routine. To the teacher, it was finally bliss, but to the students, it was still boredom.

“Move over,” Phoenix whispered harshly as she shoved Scootaloo’s body to the right. Both ponies had been going at it all morning. The desk wasn’t large enough to fit two ponies, but as the teacher lacked a spare desk and books, it was the only way.

“I did move over,” Scootaloo shot back, ”you move over.”

When the teacher looked at them, they each responded with a pristine smile, but once she looked away, it was back to shoving.

Apple Bloom leaned into her desk and called behind them. “How ya doin’, Scootaloo? And, uh, Phoenix?” she said, remembering the new filly’s nickname. She then felt quite odd in thinking Phoenix was the new filly in class.

Scootaloo hesitated then called back. “Uh, fine. Just not enough room on this desk.”

When Cheerilee walked away to grab some supplies the class began to talk amongst themselves.

Diamond Tiara noticed the struggling twins and smirked. “You know from here it’s like Blank Flank vision,” she taunted at them. Diamond was always seated behind the Crusaders, which had their own row.

Scootaloo ignored her, but Phoenix's eye began to twitch, and she would feel her wings began to itch yet again, but she did her level best to ignore everything.

Diamond continued. “Three blank flanks, but now there’s four of you. It’s like your affliction is multiplying.” Silver Spoon snickered in kind, but the rest of the class didn’t seem to notice.

Scootaloo growled but was easily able to ignore her. Phoenix's eye had twitched again.

“Blank-o-vision, coming to a theatre near you.”

Scootaloo almost said something, but Phoenix stood up, distracting her. She turned around while flaring out her wings and pointing to Diamond. Her glare could melt Nightmare Moon into nothing. At first, the two fillies wanted to chuckle at this, but Phoenix leaned into Diamond’s personal space to whisper.

“Shut your mouth, or I’ll shut it for you,” she threatened then casually slipped back into place.

The class remained so silent that a bit could be heard dropping. All eyes locked onto the now fuming filly, including Scootaloo’s.

Diamond was locked into a shocked expression, but it didn’t last. The pink filly flashed her teeth and growled at her. “How dare you! You pathetic excuse for a chicken!”

It took every ounce of Phoenix's willpower to not clobber Diamond Tiara right then and there.

“What is going on in here?!” Miss Cheerilee said as she suddenly returned. She looked over the fuming fillies, expecting an answer. “Well?”

“Nothing,” Phoenix said quietly. She quickly returned to her seat while Diamond smirked and did the same.

Miss Cheerilee sighed then returned to her desk as well. “This is going to be a long semester,” the teacher surmised.

The rest of class was uneventful, aside from Diamond blowing a spitball at Apple Bloom. When the bell for recess rang, Phoenix was quite relieved to get out of there. When she joined the Crusaders, they looked quite concerned.

“You okay?” Scootaloo said and motioned for her to sit next to them.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Apple Bloom nodded in agreement. “So, she’s still a brat where you come from?”

Phoenix shrugged. “I don’t really, uh, know her where I’m from. I just thought she was being awfully rude.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom gasped at this. “Wow, golly a world without Diamond Tiara. I wish I could come with ya, Phoenix,” Apple Bloom said with a giggle.

Oh no you realllly don’t!

“So, anypony up for Crusading after class?” Scootaloo suddenly asked, looking at everypony.

“Uh, what does Crusading even mean?” Phoenix asked.

The three of them gasped, but then all suddenly realized that it actually made sense for Phoenix. After all, she claimed to not even know the other Crusaders.

Sweetie Belle stepped forward while the others sat around her in a semicircle. “We’re on a crusade and we won't stop until we find our special talents! We’re…”

“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” The three yelled in unison. The entire class stopped playing for all of two seconds in silence before everything started up again like it was normal for them to scream that.

Phoenix had her hooves clapped over her ears and held them there firmly until Scootaloo gently moved them. “So, what do you think?!”

Phoenix slowly nodded, really unsure what to think. “Uh, cool I guess.”

“That’s it? Cool, C'mon, you should want to join! I mean, you’re a blank flank too!”

Phoenix's eye twitched in irritation at this as she scowled at the words.

“Uh, not that there’s anything wrong with that! We just, you know… I guess it’s sort of a pride thing for us. We try not to show our shame,” Sweetie Belle explained. “You don’t have to join, we just thought maybe you’d like to-- uh, I mean while you’re still here!”

Phoenix softened her featured upon hearing this and slowly nodded. “I guess it can’t hurt. It’s just a little weird to hear is all.”

“Hey, how come you don’t know us two where you’re from anyway? Just how different is your, well, world?” Apple Bloom asked.

Phoenix went to reply but let out an earth-shattering yawn. Her muzzle reached wide enough to ache her jaw in several places while her eyes twitched irritably. She could actually feel her eyes grow slightly puffy, like a sudden onset of exhaustion struck.

I guess I really didn’t sleep much, she thought.

The three glanced at one another and turned back. “Didn’t sleep much?” Scootaloo asked.

Phoenix shrugged. “Not really, sorry. Uh, actually I’ll be right back. Okay?”

Sweetie shrugged. The exhausted filly waved and quickly re-entered the classroom.

Phoenix looked around and quickly found their teacher who looked busy grading papers at her desk. “Ex- excuse me, but is there a bathroom here?”

The teacher glanced up and quickly recognized her blue scarf. “Oh, yes Phoenix, it’s just around the back. Fillies on the right,” she said.

Phoenix quickly thanked her but not before silently reaching into her bag and slipping out a familiar looking black case. Even as she walked away back toward the playground, she could feel another yawn coming on. A sickening headache had also begun to creep into her skull, while the world around her seemed just a tad darker.

Stop thinking about her. She can’t find you here… stop! Phoenix thought and she quickened her pace as she ran around the class, her box tucked tightly under her right wing. Around the back, she spotted a separate building, connected to the old wooden constructed schoolhouse. It seemed a tad more modern, build from fine stone and nice white porcelain tiles on the inside. Phoenix sighed as she ducked into a toilet stall and quickly shut the door.

Even doing this was stressful. Her body was forced to take several deep breaths just to maintain her composure. Despite the nice warm sun seeping into the bathroom stall, everything around her began to feel cold and sickening. Thoughts of her dead parents and the parents she could never have begun to waver around her head. Shakily she reached for the latch on the box and quickly slipped the case open.

Mom’s gonna freak…

Phoenix counted out the number of capsules left while she quickly reached for one. The world started to be drenched in sickening shadows; dark magic seemingly out of nowhere reached for her.

I’m sure your parents love you too…

Smiling sadly, Phoenix brought one of the unspent capsules to her mouth, her body aching for it. Like a drug addict who would do anything for more, her mind was screaming for her to push the end and activate the thing.

This didn’t happen…

She whimpered as the final bits of the sickening world began to crumble around her, her hoof was millimeters away from activating the drugged capsule. Her head pounded incessantly, urging her to sleep. The world around her began to shake and move off center while her balance wavered.

She can’t find me here… she can’t!

Sweet little filly, I am everywhere! You really think you could--

Panicking her hoof finally smashed into the capsule, the effects were instant. The queen’s sickening voice vanished as if it was never there. Light flooded her vision while the horrible headache that had been pounding against her skull was nullified to a very miniscule amount. She still felt tired, but she could feel a sort of artificial second wind pulse into her nervous system. And finally, the world no longer felt off its axis as things finally righted themselves.

Phoenix's hoof slowly fell to her sides with the spent capsule rolling away out of the stall.

She can’t be here… she thought, no longer caring just how much she was crying. She even sniffled some with her body shaking. “N- no, she can- can’t be here,” she stuttered violently. She began to pound her hooves on her skull over and over, wishing to wake up from the ever-present nightmare that was Nightmare Moon.

“No…”

“Phoenix? Sweetie. Are you alright?”

Phoenix jumped out of her skin, quickly recognizing her new teacher’s voice. She shut her black case and hid it under her wing while doing her best to wipe away any tears. “Y- yeah,” she stuttered and quickly opened the stall. “Sorry I, uh…”

“Have you been crying? Honey, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Um, I guess I just miss home,” she said automatically. It was a lie and it came out in a rather monotone and emotionless way, but it was all she could think of.

Her teacher gave a kind and caring smile. “I see. I’m sure Princess Twilight is doing everything in her power to find you a way back. If you need to talk about it, though, I’d be more than happy to listen.”

The little pegasus smiled slightly, though inside she was feeling worse than ever. She didn’t want to go home!

“S- sure, thank you Miss Cheerilee. We should get back to class, huh?”

She shook her head. “Not for another few minutes, I’ll be there but don’t be afraid to let anypony know if you feel uncomfortable,” she finished then cantered off.

Phoenix sniffled once and gathered up the spent capsule, glad that the teacher hadn’t seen it.

What am I gonna do when these are done? she thought miserably.

Addiction and the side effects that came with it were not high up on the Shining Phoenix's list of concerns when fighting a losing war. A part of her knew what it meant, but she always had something greater to worry about. Such as a magical mirror.

She slowly started walking back toward the classroom, still deep in thought. Could she really be here? Using the mirror somehow?

After several moments of thought, Phoenix finally shook her head and sighed. She figured it didn’t matter, for she was going to break the mirror even if it killed her. Only issue was she needed a way to sneak into Twilight’s castle. She slowly smirked while placing her bag back in the class.

I’ll need to be sneaky, but shouldn’t be an issue, she thought.

---

Back in class, the students were each given various assignments to complete, a few math problems and some language topics to work through. Phoenix glanced over and noticed that while Scootaloo wasn’t exactly breezing through them, she could at least understand most of the problems. This was not the same for Phoenix, basic math was fine, but the rest was simply an enigma. After all, schooling wasn’t high up on her priorities when you were constantly running for your life, doing secret missions and simply surviving.

Grunting in annoyance and feeling slightly ashamed, she quickly glanced over to her partner’s work and quickly copied down what she could see. A few of the problems she left blank as she ran out of time.

“Pencils down, please pass those up with your names on them,” their teacher exclaimed.

Phoenix quietly passed hers up then looked away, deep in thought.

I’m gonna need a way to get past her stupid guards. I better scout the place out tonight when everypony’s in bed. She then chuckled quietly to herself. Not like I’m getting much sleep, anyway…

“Phoenix, are you paying attention?”

She blinked and glanced around the class, feeling her cheeks blush ever slightly. Scootaloo had a history book out and was busy reading from it.

She shook her head. “Uh, s- sorry, were you saying something?”

The other students chuckled, but the teacher remained stoic. “Yes, please read from the top of page sixty-two. About the griffon uprising.”

“Uh, r- right,” she stuttered. Her eyes began to glaze over slightly, blurring the images and text. She rubbed them several times until things finally righted themselves, appearing sharp once more. Slowly, she began to read. She could at least do this since reading didn’t require too much-practiced skill, though she finished much slower than she would have liked with her vision blurring several times.

Stupid sleep… she thought. She knew why it was happening and how to prevent it, but knowing wasn’t very helpful in her current situation.

“Um, thank you, Phoenix. How about you take over, Scootaloo,” she said. The filly groaned quietly but continued where Phoenix had left off. It didn’t take a genius to notice just how much quicker the little filly was at reading than Phoenix had been, albeit in a bored and very un-enthusiastic tone. A few pages later and another set of surprise assignments eventually led the lunch bell to ring.

“Lunchtime, my little ponies! Go on and enjoy yourselves!”

Phoenix sighed in relief and quickly grabbed her bagged lunch before cantering outside. Something about the whole situation made her feel weirded out like she had been there before. She glanced down at her brown paper baggy and squinted. Written in pink ink were the words “Enjoy your day, my little Phoenix~”.

Enjoy your day, my little Scootaloo…

Phoenix's heart lurched when she finally remembered just why the bag brought back such old memories. She used to do this at school…

“Cmon, Phoenix! We’re sitting over there,” Scootaloo called out, pointing to a nearby bench. The other Crusaders followed along, but Phoenix had remained sitting, a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

Phoenix mumbled something unintelligible and slowly walked over to join them while trying her best to hold onto her emotions in a tight bundle, wiping away any stray tears.

“You okay?” Sweetie asked then dug into her lunch, biting into her sandwich.

There was a slight nod though the others didn’t look so convinced. Apple Bloom nudged her side causing Phoenix to flinch.

“You don’t seem all that okay. Uh, your face is a little damp…”

“Just… miss my home, I guess,” she lied again. It was lame sounding, but to a young filly in a class with other foals, it at least seemed believable.

Scootaloo and the others nodded, giving her kind smiles. “Don’t worry, you’ll be back before you know it! But not before you go on adventures with…”

Dear Celestia, no! she thought and frantically raised her hooves to cover her ears; she had a big enough headache already!

“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”

Phoenix's head began to spin, or more precisely the world began to spin. Her headache, which had been a nice and dull pain, split her head in two as the awful migraine from earlier came back with a vengeance. Her hooves began to shake, though if the Crusaders noticed, they didn’t seem to do anything about it.

“But what Crusade should we do this time?” Sweetie asked.

Three adorable but very loud little fillies began to ponder this while Phoenix nursed her headache, rubbing her hooves around her temples in tiny circles.

“Tree climbers?”

“Did that already,” Apple Bloom and Sweetie replied in unison.

“Lion tamers?”

“...Did that.”

Lions? What in the hay…

“Discord catchers?”

“Scootaloo, last time we tried that my mane turned pink for a whole month! How could y'all forget that?”

“Oh yeah… I still can’t get all that tree sap out of the clubhouse…” she replied with a shudder of fear.

Phoenix blinked in astonishment and slowly shook her head. The Crusaders continued to rant on and on about their previous “adventures” while Phoenix began to munch on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

She cut off the crust… Phoenix thought, her heart lurching slightly.

Getting tired of crying, the little filly bit her lip hard until she could taste a tad bit of blood. It was silly and a tad unsettling, but it was something she grew accustomed to while on her long and dangerous missions. She tasted a few droplets of blood and nearly blanched from the taste. The pain had helped her focus in the past so she could get the job done. Pain was generally seen as something to be avoided, but its existence wasn’t meaningless, after all, it served as a warning to avoid danger.

The little Crusaders may have gone on some crazy adventures in their past, but most were nothing compared to what she’d been through just to get by.

Though I never woke an ancient god of chaos… that’s kind of up there, she thought while swallowing the last bit of her sandwich. She wasn’t sure if she even enjoyed the Crusader's company, but she had to admit, they were an impressive bunch of fillies. Even if they were off their rockers.

---

By the end of her first actual day of school, Phoenix was in a miserable state. She had long since given up on trying to figure out most of her assignments, opting to instead daydream of her future plans. Everything revolving around the blasted mirror and how to rid herself of it.

What do I do when it’s gone? Just live here?

The thought was quite unsettling, to say the least. True her “parents” hadn’t been all too perturbed by her presence and seemed to love her in some small way, but she doubted that having a literal clone of her daughter live with them forever would be preferable to a temporary engagement. She didn’t want to replace anypony, no matter how badly Phoenix wanted her parents back. There was always the possibility that they could work things out, but it seemed quite slim. It wouldn’t hurt to try, she figured as she wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

She’d given very little thought to what she’d end up doing with her life back in “The Queen’s Realm” if the queen ever fell. What would she have done had the resistance actually won? No home, no parents and no friends beyond a few older colleagues, but she never had free time to think about it, only her missions.

“Class is dismissed! Have a nice day, my little ponies!”

Phoenix slowly packed her things away and got up to leave, though her new Crusader friends were five steps ahead of her, already out the door.

“C’mon, Phoenix! We’re going to the clubhouse!”

“Uh…”

“Are you sure you’re alright, little one?”

Phoenix mouthed the words, little one, feeling alien to her. She gave the best fake smile she could muster at the time, which seemed to fail her.

“You look exhausted, Phoenix. Do you want to talk things out?”

The kind and caring attitude felt so real and so right, but deep down an immense force pushed her to stay away. She swallowed and shook her head, figuring there was no real point. “I’m fine, Miss Cheerilee, really.”

“A- alright. Just, try and have a nice, relaxing day. Alright?”

“Right, thank you,” she said, not knowing how else to respond.

She waved her off and soon Phoenix was riding in the back of a wagon of all things with Scootaloo scooting along in, what else, a scooter. She pulled them along toward the farm where the whole mess with the mirror had started. As they traveled, the wind blowing through their manes and tails didn’t offer much aid for them to converse, as such, Phoenix began to daydream.

The mission was simple: reconnaissance. To observe the enemy as close as she could and report back to The Phoenix. It seemed simple enough when she volunteered, but now she wasn’t so sure of her abilities.

Scootaloo gulped and watched the night guards, a pair of them both stationed at the front gates. The place they were guarding was huge, a sprawling castle with towers that seemed to go on forever. At the tips of each towel was a decorative molding shaped to that of an apple. Just how the castle came to be was still a huge mystery to them, but they knew that it was one of six which seemingly sprang up in various spots all over Equestria.

Truth be told, Scootaloo didn’t just volunteer for the assignment for the credit in the Shining Phoenix. No. She had a far more personal reason.

“Honesty, I’m coming for you...” Scootaloo muttered with a deep scowl.

Many of the castle’s finer details and features were difficult to make out, though it was clear the only two ways in were either flying over or through the front gate. Climbing was a bad move, as was flight since she could spot dozens of guards high up in the shadows.

To her amazement, the guards outside weren’t unicorns. It was quite the common practice for the Queen's army to use mage casters at the front line, or to guard important buildings and structures. Earth Ponies were strong when they needed to be and were quite the fighters, but often were no match against a well-trained battle mage. So, it was odd to see two Earth Ponies decked out in silver clad armor both guarding the front gates.

“Maybe Honesty trusts them more? Hmm…” she muttered to herself while rummaging through her trusty saddlebag. “Here we are!”

She had finally located the object of her desire: a small white box which was felt lined. Inside was a simple bamboo pole, roughly three hooves long. A tiny hole jutted out on either side along with a clear indication on where to load the thing.

“Zebras… such strange weapons.”

Lined alongside the pole were several darts all evenly spaced and gently packed away in the felt. Scootaloo was careful to load them into the dart gun, she also took her time to aim at the nearest guard. She knew that not only she would have one shot at this, but the second he was down, the other would come running.

“I’ll be ready…” she said, though she wasn’t all that convinced on her abilities.

Her aim was true and the strike was deadly. The first guard went down with a loud thump. Everything stood still for a moment, while Scootaloo readied her second dart. She had only glanced away from the other guard for a moment when he suddenly vanished. The sound of crickets and nocturnal animals seemed to seep into the darkness itself.

Author's Note:

Comments are always welcome.
...Please?

Comments

[Yosh-E-O]

This is truly a most epic story! I look forward to each section a lot! You are definitely a very talented writer to whom I'm glad I had the opportunity to commission during that faithful year I lost the rest of my eyesight.

The way in which we get 'Phoenix's' perspective on the world really paints the picture of how her world is. The 'drug addiction' is also quite interesting as, by now, she'd have a hard time discerning between her mind playing tricks on her and reality. After all, Nightmare Moon seems to have become quite omnipresent in the Queen's Realm.

You can certainly feel a lot of atmosphere in this story. The words themselves give way to deeper thoughts that make each chapter far longer than it actually is.

Keep up being super awesome!

[Cold Spike]

9431269
Thanks, dude for the kind words. ^^ I really should put a bit more work into Feather Steel though... I feel bad that it's lagged behind.