Reflection of Nightmares

by Cold Spike

Chapter Seven: Twilight's Progress

After an afternoon of playing and relaxing, Phoenix lay awake in her sleeping bag. Biding her time.

I have to go tonight. she thought, still wide awake.

She didn’t exactly know that much about Twilight Sparkle. Back where she was from, the resistance knew of the mare’s connection (or previous connection) with Princess Celestia and that she was a gifted student. Somepony who could do the impossible and in a timely manner, so it made sense that she figured out the blasted mirror in no time at all.

Phoenix glanced over at her counterpart and found the filly peacefully snoozing away. Perfect.

Stealth wasn’t something new to the filly since plenty if not all of her missions back with the Phoenix had required a fair amount of it. But she was often far more prepared than she currently was. There wasn’t an outpost to fill up on supplies which meant she was stuck with what she had.

Reluctantly, the filly removed her bag and started rummaging around inside. The thing made far too much noise for its own good which meant the bare essentials for her little mission were required. Her lantern was a no brainer. True, it was no longer needed as a security tool, but it would certainly come in handy with it being so dark out. She carefully dumped the contents of her bag and packed it rather light for the mission.

Heh, mission. Compared to what I’ve been through, should be a breeze.

After double checking that everypony in the house was resting, she darted out of Scootaloo’s window and glided down to the ground. Hopefully, she doesn’t wake up, she thought, glancing up at the now open window.

Looking around, she didn’t spot too many ponies out being so late out. Least this looks kind of familiar, she pondered. Gloomy nights and the lack of noise had been normal for the filly.

Shaking those thoughts aside, she hurried off in the direction of the castle, making special care not to bump into anypony or be seen.

“There we go, her castle.”

Squinting her eyes, she noted the same two guards were out in front, but that it had very little in terms of security. It took her a while, but she was able to sneak around the back and what she found was rather disappointing.

“You only have guards out front? What kind of castle is this.”

Suppose I shouldn’t complain.

Phoenix took a deep breath and flapped into the air, the backs of her wings stung as her injury ached, but she ignored this. A few flaps and she was soon perched on one of Twilight’s many balconies. While things were going fine, she suddenly realized that she hadn’t exactly thought ahead. Just how was she gonna get the jewels out of the mirror? It’s not like she had a crowbar or anything.

Worst comes to worst, I’ll smash the thing and run.

Wasn’t a very solid plan, but she knew time was of the essence. Sighing, she carefully snuck into the castle, making special care to pry open the glass doors of the balcony while gently shutting them a second later. She was in.

There was no doubt that she was now high up in the castle in a massive circular room which spiraled outwards and connected to other pathways. Lavender colored crystal was themed everywhere from the very ground she stood up and spiraling upwards to the ceiling. Though the rest of everything was rather plain despite the elaborate nature of it all. In terms of an actual castle, the place would be a poor fit for defense, but as something that was fancy to gawk it, Twilight’s home definitely had that in spades.

The place is bigger than it looks… she surmised. Now, where would she keep that stupid mirror?

The first few doors she checked on yielded nothing. A few broom closets and what she presumed to be storage spaces. She suspected that perhaps Twilight simply kept the mirror down in the main hallway, though it never hurt to be thorough.

As she got nearer to a long spiraling staircase, she started to hear familiar voices which echoed upstairs.

“... well, what has your progress been… I really think we should…”

Curious, she started following them as her mind drifted to thoughts of destroying the mirror. Really, it was all she could think of.

She ended up in a semi-circular room which overlooked what Twilight had called the Map Room, though it really looked more like a traditional throne room. Seated in each chair was none other than the six elements of harmony all discussing something. Phoenix leaned down to listen and thankfully nopony bothered to look up.

“Look, Twi, all ah’m gonna say is what I saw. Somethin’ ain’t right with her and ah kind of agree with Princess Celestia. Ah just don’t like how we’re goin’ about this!”

The farm pony finished with a huff, crossing her hooves and looking annoyed. Twilight, for her part, nodded.

“Well, darling, I don’t want to speak for all of us. I… I trust Sweetie Belle and I think she might be making some progress in getting her to open up--”

“Has she?!” Rainbow Dash asked, rudely interrupting her.

Rarity scowled. “Not yet, no. But, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” she started and Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I think if we just give the darling some more time, she might feel so inclined as to talk to one of us about all these issues. Whatever they may be.”

Phoenix couldn’t believe her own ears! They were spying on her! While the irony wasn’t lost on the filly, she couldn’t help but feel incredibly angry.

They don’t trust you. Why did you even think they would? She felt so stupid.

“Maybe she just needs a hug… or three? Three hundred?” Pinkie suggested rather cheekily.

“Already been tried with some rather disastrous results, Pinkie dear.”

Rarity patted Pinkie’s back as the mare in question seemed to deflate.

“Um, Twi- Twilight?” Fluttershy started and all eyes seemed to lock onto her. In days long gone by, this may have fazed the mare but now it merely brought on a little nervous squeak. “What do you plan on doing, exactly?”

Closing her eyes, the princess of friendship sighed. “Both Celestia and Luna have advised me not to activate the mirror until we know the full truth. While I don’t want to betray the trust of a friend, even a new one, I… I think I have to finally agree. There’s too much danger in doing it. With the possibility of an entire multiverse waiting behind that mirror,” she said while pointing off into the distance. Phoenix followed her hoof and finally found the thing waiting under a tarp.

“Anything could be waiting on the other end. If…” she sighed and took a very deep breathe, her friends waiting on her every word. “If Phoenix continues to remain in the dark about everything, then it’s likely far too dangerous to move forward. While they have advised me not to, it’s still left up to me. We’ve done all the research necessary and know how to turn it on. But, for now, that mirror will remain dormant until such time as Phoenix steps forward to talk this out.”

Phoenix could hardly believe her ears. That was it? She didn’t even have to destroy the mirror? She could just stay here and… No, she thought. The mirror was dangerous and it wasn’t a good idea to leave it be.

“Uh huh. That’s all well and good, Twi’. But what are you gonna tell her? You already claimed it would take two days to send her back,” Applejack replied.

Yeah, Phoenix thought. What about that, princess?

Again, she closed her eyes and again she sighed. “What do you want me to say, Applejack? She’s left us in a rather tough spot. I was telling the truth when I said two days, the princesses message only just arrived and… despite my rather piqued curiosity on what lays beyond the multiverse. Well, Celestia has a point. It’s dangerous, perhaps the most dangerous thing we could ever think of and that includes Discord on a bad day!”

“Are you or aren’t you gonna tell the truth? Phoenix deserves to know, about all of this. About all of us! It’s bad enough that we’re already spyin’ on her.”

It was strange. The ponies before her were some of the worst and most feared nightmare soldiers in all of Equestria. And yet, here they were, bickering over truths and dangers. There wasn’t anything outwardly dangerous about their mannerisms, appearance or even what they seemed to stand for, but Phoenix couldn’t but look on in mistrust.

I guess the feeling’s mutual…

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy looked away rather uncomfortably, while Rarity was biting her lip. “So what? We just send her home because it’s the “right thing to do”, Applejack?” Rainbow asked, her wings flaring out in annoyance. “You know she could- she could be… I dunno, evil! For all we know!”

Everypony gasped though Twilight merely sank in her seat and slowly brought her hoof over her face in exasperation.

“Seriously, Rainbow?! That’s where you go to?!”

Phoenix really wasn’t sure how to feel about that statement.

“What?! I’m the crazy one now? Let’s review what we know--”

“It’s just I really don’t think we’re being fair--”

“After all the crazy stuff we’ve seen, you think that’s so crazy? The princesses think that mirror is dangerous and we don’t know anything about her world. So far, all we know is that she’s keeping big secrets from us. Why should we be truthful and fair to her if she won't return the favor? Hmm? Case closed!”

The filly backed away slightly with fresh tears pooling around her eyes.

Applejack snorted and bucked her hoof on the crystal table. “The only thing that’s closed right now is that mind of yours, Rainbow. You’all are basin’ that theory of yours on nuffin’! All of you! The only thing we know, and I mean the only thing is she’s scared of us so it’s no wonder that she’s holdin’ stuff in!”

Twilight looked defeated but she mustered up the strength to meet her friend’s eyes. “Applejack…”

“No, Twi! You all need to hear this. Don’t y'all remember being children? At all? What did we do when we got scared? We hid. We kept stuff in, we buried secrets until they were bursting to explode. Phoenix is no different, no matter what you might think she’s done in her past. Maybe she’s not tellin’ the truth and maybe she is, but that doesn’t mean that filly doesn’t deserve the truth as much as any of us would. If you’re even considering lying to her about something so important, well frankly, you should all be ashamed of yourselves!”

Stunned, that was all everypony felt. Phoenix included.

So, lil’ Scootaloo, will you be my friend?

Though she meant everypony to hear this, Applejack’s eyes were mainly focused on Rainbow Dash. The mare in question finally looking as ashamed as she could have been.

Still, nopony said anything so Applejack stood up and dusted herself off.

“You all can keep yer secrets. Tomorrow, Ah’m telling that filly the truth, about everything. And maybe… maybe she will too.”

A few moments later, the front door to the castle slammed shut while the room was bathed in silence. A silence that Rarity was all too happy to break up.

“Well, erm, I suppose that calls our meeting to a close. No?”

Twilight gave a silent nod while looking more exhausted than she had in ages.

“M- maybe I shouldn’t have said that…” Rainbow mumbled while pawing her hooves on her throne.

Twilight rolled her eyes but Rarity stepped forward with a calm smile. “A tad on the extreme, dear. While we all understand your concern on the matter, seeing as how Phoenix is currently living with your “honorary little sister”, I believe a bit of trust on the matter will go a long way.”

Little sister? What does that even mean…?

The pegasus nodded in kind and smiled slightly.

Fluttershy walked over to Twilight and leaned in for a hug, a hug which the princess was all too keen on returning.

“I think AJ is right, Twi. We’re all being a tad harsh toward a filly that we barely even know.”

Twilight walked over to the covered mirror and gently brushed her hoof along the bottom while looking deep in thought. “No, Fluttershy, I know she’s right. I let fear cloud my better judgment. I’m sorry girls.”

Phoenix felt rather awkward as she watched the five mares tackle one another in a unified hug. The filly took a seat while trying to process all of the information before her. She really wasn’t sure what made her feel worse.

The fact that the mares had mistrusted her from the start, or the cold truth that they likely should have.

Evil huh?

Her mind started to wander…

“Got all the supplies, Schroots?”

Scootaloo closed her eyes and took a very deep breath. When she opened, there three pegasi soldiers all looking off into the distance, seemingly ignoring her.

“It’s Scoots or Scootaloo, mam,” she corrected with just the tiniest hint of annoyance.

“Noted,” she said with a casual wave of her right wing. “Now, supplies?”

Rolling her eyes, the filly stepped forward and did a quick verbal checklist of everything they had brought. The others looked through it impatiently before nodding and forcing them all to move on.

She had been paired up with some of the strictest soldiers in the entire military, or that’s what it felt like anyway. They were cold, calculating and most of all, mean. There wasn’t any other way that Scootaloo could describe them.

“...Stuck with a freakin’ filly as the scout. What a joy,” the mare mumbled, though Scoots heard her loud and clear.

Feeling brave, and perhaps a tad stupid, Scootaloo walked along ahead while narrowly missing some mud. “I do more than Scout, Spitfire. And it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit nicer, you know.”

Even as she thought back to that night, it still felt fresh in her mind. It was funny, though, she couldn’t even remember what their mission had been. Just that it had gone very, very badly.

The lot had been seated around a small campfire deep within the EverFree Forest. Entry into the place was, of course, forbidden to soldiers for fairly obvious reasons. The sole exception being missions.

Lucky us, the filly thought with a sigh.

Glancing around, the scout noticed something was a tad off with the others, Spitfire included. The mare in charge seemed to be looking off into nothing with a creepy yet dull looking smile.

Weirdo, she thought.

A sudden noise from behind made the filly jump in shock, though if the others noticed, they didn’t even respond. A quick survey of her surroundings showed nothing.

“Say, Scoots!” Spitfire suddenly said in a strained yet oddly calm sounding tone. It creeped her out.

“Y- yes, mam? What do you need?”

“I need you… to scout ahead,” she said and pointing off into a gathering of thick trees.

There was a good reason why the military had started using children. One, they were desperate for soldiers. And two, they were excellent at scouting and reconnaissance and even stealth. Difficult to spot but also easy to fit through tight spaces.

“T- through there?” she asked rather uncertainty. It seemed like a very odd request because as far as she could see, no pathways lead in that particular direction.

Spitfire barely seemed to be paying attention though, she was bunched over the fire while her muzzle twitched in several places.

“Mam?”

“What? Hurry up! I said scout, filly! Do your job or else!” she snapped and, again, pointed to the trees.

Shaking a tad in fear, Scootaloo glanced at her comrades, but they all had the same far off look in their eyes. Almost like they weren’t really even there. Sighing, she stood up and walked up to the first set of trees. She glanced back and found Spitfire, just staring at her rather menacingly. The strange noises far off in the distance made her hair stand on end.

With a very deep gulp and a squeak of fear, Scootaloo clambered up the first tree and darted on ahead, the sight of their camp and the warm inviting glow of its fire very quickly vanished from sight.

Phoenix wasn’t even sure how long she had been laying on the balcony, but the visions wouldn’t stop coming, like an awful nightmare that just wouldn’t leave.

She had been traveling on the tops of the trees for close to ten minutes but found nothing of interest to report. Really, it just seemed like more trees and absolutely no living creatures or enemies of any kind.

“What the hell is her problem…? There’s nothing here!” she whispered to herself.

“Oh, Scootaloo… Scootaloo.”

The filly blinked in confusion and slowly turned around. What she saw made her petrified in absolute fear.

Blood. Not a small amount of blood, but an abnormally large amount of crimson red gore was coated all throughout Spitfire’s coat, hooves, and wings. The mare was smiling down at Scootaloo rather sadistically, teeth barreled like a wild animal. And if that wasn’t scary enough, her eyes resembled dark slits, not unlike a cat or dragon.

Instinctively she started to back up, but knew there wasn’t anywhere she could hide.

“S- Spitfire?”

The reply was anything but kind. A dark, echoing chuckle that went on for way too long forced its way from the bloodied mare. “Call me that if you wish, little filly. The mare you call Spitfire is no longer.”

“Wh- what did you do to her?”

Another series of laughs while the mare stepped forward, inch by inch. “She did this herself. The Lunar Queen offered her blessing and she accepted, with open hooves,” she exclaimed while casually glancing down at her right hoof. She brought it up to her lips and watched as blood dripped down into the trees. “Pity those other two soldiers didn’t feel the same.”

“R- right. Um, pity. So, I’ll just be going now. I’m sure you have lots to catch up with when your, um, Queen gets here. So bye!”

The filly barely had time to react, but she was at least quick enough to dodge the mare’s insanely fast attempt at a tackle. But the mare quickly turned around and grabbed the filly in mid-air before tossing her onto the forest floor, hard.

She tumbled into the dirt and felt a sickening crunch in one of her hooves. It was painful enough to yell at the top of her lungs.

“What do you say, filly? Join the queen or die. Seems like the choice should be obvious,” the dark Spitfire said as she gracefully and casually hovered to the ground.

Thinking fast, Scootaloo mumbled a response while looking away.

“What was that? I’m afraid you’ll have to speak up.

Please let this work…

She mumbled again and the mare sighed. She walked over to the quivering filly and leaned her head down over her. “Again, if you--”

Scootaloo leaped from her spot and bashed her skull directly into Spitfire’s, hard. The mare stumbled backward in shock and that’s when Scootaloo made her real move. Using her wings to propel her high into the air, she cupped her back hooves together, forming a perfect U shape and then soared downward as fast and hard as she could.

Spitfire was still in a rather dazed state and had no time to dodge out of the way, let alone comprehending what was going on.

Scootaloo’s hooves came down onto the mare’s neck with a sickening crunch and the mare was knocked down to the ground. Scootaloo tumbled to the ground and rolled. Blood had exploded from the mare’s neck, though she could see that Spitfire was still wheezing and moaning in pain. Very much alive.

Thinking fast she dove onto the ground and quickly wrapped her front hooves around the mare’s muzzle and squeezed as hard as she could. She would suffocate the bitch. She tried struggling and gasping for air, but the filly held tight until, finally, she stopped breathing entirely. Spitfire was no more.

Scootaloo slowly limped away from the mare’s corpse while not even bothering to wipe off any blood. Shock coursed through her system, both from the pain and from what she had just done. She could hardly believe her own actions.

The memory faded away from there, she had barely remembered how she escaped from the forest with a sprained hoof.

Phoenix whimpered on the ground while replaying the vision rather vividly in her mind, over and over. Self-defense was not a crime, especially while in the army, but a mare had still been killed by her head, of all places. Rainbow Dash was more right than she knew, maybe she really was evil.

She wasn’t sure just how long she had been lying on her back, staring up at nothing. But it had to of been close to roughly ten minutes at least. The other mares had already left. The mirror was there for the taking, but Phoenix really didn’t care anymore.

After a little while longer, she stood up and left to go outside. It took her roughly fifteen minutes of flying and trudging along through Ponyville until she found home again. She snorted.

It’s her home, always has been. Not mine…

Ignoring the pain of what was probably another burst bandaid, she flew up and swiftly glided through Scootaloo’s window and gently shut it closed. She found the filly in a deep sleep, peacefully unaware of any of it.

Phoenix carefully repacked her bag and placed it aside, making special care to remove her dream catcher from the bag. Sighing, she clumsily leaned it on something behind her pillow and clambered into her sleeping bag.

Their sleeping bag, she reminded herself. You’re a mooch, remember?

The filly spent roughly an hour just laying awake in her bed, wondering just what her parents really would think of her if they knew the truth. What would they think of the little monster who had and would do anything to survive?

Whimpering a bit, she clutched her pillow and thanked whatever cosmic deities out there that her dream catcher really worked.

She had enough nightmares while awake.

Author's Note:

Comments are always welcome.
...Please?

Comments

[Yosh-E-O]

It is truly a shame that this story isn't getting more attention. However, if it helps, lots of great stories get overlooked as a result of being lost within the sea of other content that is released. :(

Perhaps you could submit the story to "Equestria Daily" to see if they'll advertise it for you? I know they do FiM Fiction highlights.

You could also share links to the story on other sites you frequent. Perhaps FA?

***

I really liked this chapter. The turning of Spitfire was quite intense and how Scoots had to deal with it was definitely traumatic. She's definitely been through a lot and we now have loads of reasons to know why she doesn't trust any pony nor feels comfortable in this 'kinder world' she has ended up in.

I was waiting for some pony to spot Scoots / Phoenix up above the throne room. Perhaps Pinkie? Though this Scootaloo is far too cunning to even be picked up by Pinkie Sense, or other such methods.

This Scootaloo is one who certainly had to grow up way too fast. It will be interesting to see if there is a way to help her get back some of her childhood. I think she's due for a good cry, at some point, once she knows not everything is out to get her. However, in all likelihood, this will take awhile given how she knows she was being spied on along with also now being confronted on being 'evil'.

[Cold Spike]

9451950
Maybe I can post to EQD, but in my experience, they're not as helpful as I would like. But what can you do.

Thanks for the support. And, no kidding, lol. Phoenix is insanely guarded and for good reason. ^^

[Shadow_Wolf]

Looking forward to seeing where this goes!

[Cold Spike]

9457231
Me too!

...Wait a minute, I'm the author.

[Kichi]

Good story, congratulations... Waiting for more.

[Cold Spike]

9470298
Thank you. Working on it right now, though this last chapter has been rather annoying to get right.