• Published 12th Nov 2012
  • 4,384 Views, 92 Comments

Nightmares - unoservix



An innocuous trip into the Everfree Forest for Twilight Sparkle quickly turns into much more...

  • ...
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Chapter 17: Day of the Dead

Nightmares
———

Chapter 17: Day of the Dead

———

"Alright, so those are just skeletons," Twilight Sparkle said, "how dangerous can they be?"

The unicorn skeleton in the middle immediately lit up its cracked horn and launched a pulsing orange blast of magic at Twilight and Trixie; they both yelped and darted apart, and the blast instead seared its way through the railing behind them.

"Anymore ways you'd like to tempt fate?" Trixie growled.

The pegasus skeleton in front of them vaulted up into the air and charged down at them with a flap of its bony wings; Twilight seized it with a tendril of magic and slammed it down into the other two, shattering them all into a pile of disconnected bones.

"There!" she exclaimed. "See? Easy!"

Her ears went flat and Trixie rolled her eyes as the bones stirred and reassembled themselves in midair. "Easy," Trixie sighed.

"Wait a minute, the dragon didn't do that!" Twilight cried, and they both backed away as the skeletons stalked closer. "It went down as soon as I brought the boulders down on top of it! How—"

The earth pony skeleton lunged forward; Trixie squeaked in fright, backed up, and hit it square in the forehead with her hoof. The skull shattered like glass; the rest of the skeleton collapsed in a heap—and this time it didn't move. Twilight and Trixie blinked in surprise; the other two skeletons looked down at their fallen companion almost quizzically.

"Of course!" Twilight cried with a triumphant grin. "We knocked off the dragon's head and—"

"Hypothesize later!" Trixie shrieked, and the two ponies dove to the side as the unicorn skeleton fired another blast of magic at them. The pegasus lunged down at them again; Twilight ducked to the left and grabbed it by the skull with a burst of magic, then yanked hard and ripped the skull off the spine. The bones came down with a clatter; Twilight whirled around on the unicorn as it charged a spell and flung the pegasus' skull into it. As the unicorn recoiled under the blow, Twilight seized its own skull and pulled it off.

The unicorn's bones collapsed in a pile. Twilight glanced over at the floating unicorn skull, cringed, and dropped it. "I hope whoever these things used to be won't be mad that I'm wrecking their mortal remains."

Trixie poked one of the bones with her hoof. "I don't think whoever these things used to be gets a say in this."

The door burst open and both ponies jumped, but the relief was palpable as Applejack stumbled through the doorway. "There you two are! Twi, Trixie, are you two alright?" She blinked at the piles of bones in the room. "Err, well, guess that answers that..."

"We're fine," Twilight said. "Where is everyone else? I have a feeling we're going to need the Elements."

"Ah reckon so," Applejack said. "Ah sent Rainbow to go get the others. Glad you two're okay, though." She awkwardly nudged one of the broken skulls. "Uh, how did ya do that, anyways?"

"Knocked the skulls off," Twilight said—

"Or broke them," Trixie added.

"Either or."

Applejack blinked down at the bones. "Uh, okay. Figured that was how ya did it. So why're the dead walkin' the earth anyways?"

Twilight stepped out into the hallway, where a few more decapitated skeletons and crushed skulls lay, making for a rather disquieting sight. She shook her head and started off at a brisk trot, with Applejack and Trixie right behind her. "Inferno. He chased us through the caverns with a giant reanimated dragon skeleton. It stands to reason he can reanimate smaller skeletons too."

"Yeah, but Canterlot's swarmin' with 'em now," Applejack said, as she and Trixie fell in at her side. "An' if they're so easy to stop—"

"There has to be more to this," Twilight said resolutely. "But right now, the first thing we need to do is find the Elements, before someone else can separate us from them, like—"

The floor in front of them split open; the three ponies skidded to a halt as a huge feline skeleton with a bat's wings and a scorpion's tail rose up in front of them. It let loose an ethereal roar from its gaping mouth and lunged forward at them; Applejack stood her ground long enough to derail it with a sharp kick to the jaw.

The manticore skeleton roared again and brought its claws down; Applejack rolled out of the way, long enough for Twilight to hit it from the side with a blast of magic. The skeleton whipped around with its tail—only to have Applejack ram it again from the side and break it to pieces. It reformed itself in the blink of an eye—but that was long enough for Twilight to detach a chandelier from the ceiling and bring it crashing back down on top of the skeleton. The manticore roared one more time—and then it went silent as Twilight wrapped a cord of magic around its neck and wrenched the skull off.

Applejack watched in disbelief as Twilight dusted off her hooves and tossed the manticore skull to the side contemptuously. "Uh, what's got you all ticked off, Twi?"

"I am really not in the mood for a zombie apocalypse right now," Twilight grumbled. "Come on. We're finding the Elements and fixing this mess."

Together, they rushed down a staircase and past the Royal Guards fighting off more skeletons. The streets were teeming as Canterlot's citizens ran for cover from the undead. Twilight paused by a window to watch the sight of the Royal Guard forming a line against a streaming charge of earth pony skeletons. They dug in their hooves and repelled an attack, but the broken skeletons reformed and tried again.

Twilight cringed. Almost a thousand years' worth of skeletons were coming back to the surface. They would be overwhelmed...

Rainbow Dash was waiting with a thoroughly horrified Rarity, a terrified and trembling Fluttershy, a decidedly creeped-out Spike, and a bouncy Pinkie Pie at the bottom of the stairs. "So anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu here?" she asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Come on, we're going for the Elements," Twilight said, and led the way through the rumbling halls of the castle. The tower that held the Elements was just across a short bridge, behind a pair of heavy oak double doors. Twilight flung the doors open with a bolt of magic—

...and then she and her friends stopped short on the threshold at the sight of the bridge before them, crawling with skeletons.

"I think I've had quite enough of the undead for one lifetime!" Rarity wailed. Twilight dug in her hooves.

"The Elements are on the other side of that bridge. We'll have to go through them! On three—"

"Fire!"

Twilight jumped in surprise at the sound of a loud voice—and then the sight of a storm of magic bolts raining down from above. She looked up over the door, where four unicorns of the Royal Guard stood, pouring blasts of magic down onto the bridge to clear its undead occupants. And then something landed in front of Twilight to startle her—and she yelped at the sight of her brother, determination in his eyes.

"Always bringing trouble with you, eh Twiley?" he sighed. "Although 'zombie apocalypse' is a new one." He took a step forward and planted his hooves on the floor. "Give them a few more moments and they'll have the bridge clear enough."

"O-Okay," Twilight said, and took the opportunity to glance over the bridge's edge—where down below, the skeletons coursed through the streets and the Royal Guard struggled to contain them. "Where's Princess Celestia?"

"Down by the library. She's okay. You just get the Elements—" he clamped his eyes shut, his horn flashed to life, and two glimmering barriers rushed up from the floor and swept the bridge clean of writhing skeletons— "now!"

Twilight sprang forward. "Let's go!" Together she and her friends charged across the bridge, through the hissing, shrieking skeletons as they tried to climb back up. Up ahead, Applejack kicked down the door to the tower, and seven ponies and a baby dragon dove through—

...and came to a stop at the sight of the Elements' vault, cracked open, the glittering necklaces and tiara floating in a sparkling cloud of red magic. Twilight scowled in frustration as she caught sight of Lapis Lazuli at the far end of the hall, suspending the Elements of Harmony in her magic with a victorious grin.

"Looking for these?"

Twilight disappeared in a wink of light and reappeared right behind Lazuli; the blue unicorn saw it coming and swept a leg into Twilight's hooves, sending her toppling to the floor. Rainbow charged forward with a gust of wind; Lazuli grinned and vanished in a flash of red light, the Elements disappearing with her, just in time for Rainbow to unceremoniously crash into the wall behind her.

"Hey, bring those back!" screamed Pinkie, who took off like a rocket as Lazuli appeared in the street below. Twilight picked herself up with a groan, peeled Rainbow off the wall, and vaulted out the window after the blue unicorn. Lazuli glanced over her shoulder as she charged down the street and hung a hard left. Twilight and her friends followed—

And then they stopped short as the street opened before them—and instead of Lazuli, they found six familiar ponies. Barbell and Razor Edge stood in surprise in the middle of the street, hitched to carts loaded high with gems, gold, and jewelry. Whiplash and Comet floated overhead; Castor and Pollux stood off to the side; no one moved for a long, tense moment.

Finally Rainbow Dash stepped forward. "Whiplash?! What the hay are you doing here?!"

Whiplash looked down at the golden goblet in her hooves, dropped it, and took off in a panic. Rainbow vaulted into the air and blasted after her.

"Rainbow, wait—" Twilight started—only for Barbell to unhitch himself and charge forward with a shout.

"I've put up with Inferno for too long to let you nitwits get in my way now!" he roared. Applejack threw herself into his path, the two crashed together, and went tumbling down the street in a flurry of swinging hooves.

"Well," Spike grumbled, "this is going swell—"

"Excuse me?!" Rarity exclaimed, and pointed towards Comet—and the necklace she wore, with a gigantic opal set in the middle. "Where on earth did you get that?!"

Comet looked down at her necklace—and then back up at Rarity with a smirk. "You really are the Element of Generosity, you know—"

"How dare you!" Rarity cried. "Give that back this instant, thief!"

Comet took a sweeping bow. "Only if you can catch me!" She took off over Rarity's head.

The white unicorn whirled around with a huff. "Oh, you will regret that!" She took off at a gallop after the pink pegasus—and then Spike hopped off Twilight's back and rushed after her.

"What—where is everypony going?!" Twilight squawked.

"Ooh! I get how this works!" Pinkie chirped. "Come on Fluttershy!"

"Wait, what—" started Fluttershy—just before Pinkie grabbed her by the foreleg and launched them both at a stunned Castor and Pollux. They came together with a crash that sent them all rolling down the street.

Left behind, Twilight and Trixie looked around at the two deserted carts—and at Razor Edge, suddenly looking very uncomfortable.

"Wait a minute," Twilight said with an angry twitch in her eye, "you're the one who stole the key that let the rest of you goons break into my library, aren't you?"

"Wh-Whoa, hey, let's not jump to conclusions here—" started the gray earth pony—

Trixie frowned. "Weren't we going after the Elements?"

"Oh, this won't take long," Twilight said as her horn sparked to life.

The abandoned cart suddenly splintered under Twilight's magic, and one of the boards swung down towards Razor Edge. He yelped and ducked beneath it—just in time for two more boards to scoop him off the ground and pin him to the wall. The nails from the broken cart slammed into the ends of both boards and pressed the earth pony in; Razor Edge wriggled, but the boards pushed in further, and he smiled nervously at the annoyed unicorn in front of him.

"Um...sorry?"

Twilight headed off down the street with Trixie in tow, feeling a little better, as the Royal Guard swept in to deal with the trapped Razor Edge. Somewhere out there, that tall blue unicorn had taken off with the Elements of Harmony—which was troubling. But there were only six ponies that could use them.

———

Lapis Lazuli dumped the Elements of Harmony down in front of her master with a triumphant smile. Together they stood in one of the caves near the city, which opened out onto the yawning volcanic crater. Nightmare Inferno stood on the ledge, horn bright and shining—and tendrils of red light snaking their way down the crater. Lazuli could already hear the voice growing ever louder, ever more impatient, as its freedom drew ever nearer.

"Well done, Lazzie," he chuckled. "And I trust everything else is going well?"

"They've already figured out the skeletons' weakness," Lazuli said.

Inferno smiled. "Perfect."

"P-Perfect?"

"With thousands of skeletons streaming through the streets, they'll be too busy chopping off skulls to figure out how to stop us," Inferno explained, "and with the Elements in our control, they won't have any way of doing it anyways. And what about Barbell and his flunkies?"

"They ran right into Twilight Sparkle and her friends, just as planned. They'll be taken care of."

"Excellent." He closed his eyes and breathed in the smoky fumes from far below. "It's all coming together, Lazuli. Five hundred years I've been at this and it's all starting to pay off. And none of them have any idea."

———

"Get back here!" shrieked Rarity as she charged down the street with Spike on her back, after a low-flying Comet. The pink pegasus glanced over her shoulder with a sneer and rounded a corner; Rarity barreled after her. "Don't think you can just run away after robbing my boutique!"

Comet ducked over an overhang and hung a hard left. "As if you were going to do anything with a jewel this beautiful!"

"Of course I would! And that doesn't give you any right to steal it!"

The pegasus came to a stop in midair with a grin. "The only right you've got is the right you can defend. Speaking of which—"

She charged down, reached out with a hoof, seized Spike by the tail, and rocketed up into the sky.

"Spike!" Rarity cried; Comet retreated higher with a laugh, leaving Rarity standing alone in the street. "Well," she growled, her horn flashing to life, "two can play at that game."

Up above, Spike flailed as Comet dragged him through the air and turned himself around. He took a deep breath—only for the pink pegasus to shove a hoof into his mouth.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she chuckled. "You burn me and I'll drop you, and you'll turn into a little dragon pancake."

Spike looked down at the ground—awfully far below. "P-Point taken."

"Now then," the pink pegasus went on with a smirk, "I hear adult dragons will trade something from their hoard in exchange for a hatchling, so—"

"Oh no you don't!"

Comet whipped around—just in time for a rock to connect with her head and send her staggering back. She blinked away the stars and looked back down towards the ground in disbelief...and found none other than Rarity soaring towards her on a pair of translucent butterfly wings.

"What?!"

"Let him go!" Rarity cried; she launched herself up at the pegasus. Comet darted to the side and ducked back down towards the city. Rarity followed with a buzz of her wings.

"Now they can grow bloody wings," Comet groaned, "well, you're still a just a unicorn!"

"Not so confident now, are you?!" laughed Spike.

Comet swung him down just in front of a passing building and yanked him back up at the last second. "Keep your mouth shut, lizard."

She veered up around a tower—but then Rarity slid into her path from below and nailed her across the face with a lightning-fast hoof. Comet shook her head and rocketed upwards; Rarity followed.

"W-Wait, don't!" Spike shouted. "The wings—"

Comet glanced back and found smoke rising off Rarity's butterfly wings. She smirked and climbed higher. Down below, Rarity ground her teeth and silently wished these blasted things were less fragile. And with one last burst of speed, the wings evaporated into smoke—but Rarity planted her hooves on the end of Comet's tail. The pegasus lurched backwards at the added weight.

"What on earth are you doing?!" she shrieked. "Let go!"

Rarity grinned back and yanked Comet's tail; the pink pegasus veered downwards, wings straining. Rarity reached up to grab one of her back hooves and then pulled her to the right, sending her streaking off course. Comet kicked back at the clinging unicorn; instead of connecting, Rarity grabbed the other hoof, reached forward to swipe Spike from her grasp, and then steered the pegasus down towards the city.

"You fool!" Comet screamed. "We're going to—"

"Crash?! Don't mind if I do!"

Comet swerved down towards a hanging wooden sign; Rarity leapt off at the last second, rolled down a roof, and landed with a thump with Spike on her back—and then winced at the resounding crash as Comet impacted.

"Well," Rarity huffed, "that went well. Spike, are you alright?"

Sitting on Rarity's back with a look of complete amazement, Spike barely managed to bring himself back to reality. "Y-Yeah, but—you saved me! Rarity—" He threw his arms around her and Rarity felt her heart melt a little.

"I know, darling, my mane must be a fright to behold."

A howl of pain interrupted her reverie and they both looked up at the wooden sign hanging overhead, through which Comet was stuck with her wings hanging down limply at her side. "The instant I get out of here—!" she shrieked.

Rarity scowled, her horn glowed, and she yanked off the necklace around Comet's neck. "And I'll take that back, thank you very much."

Comet blanched. "H-How dare you!"

Together, Spike and Rarity headed off as Comet threw insults after them. "Well," Rarity said with a self-satisfied smile, "at least Rainbow Dash can't say I've never done anything daring anymore. Now, I do believe Twilight was chasing our missing Elements?"

Spike grimaced. "Oh yeah, that. I forgot...what with getting kidnapped and all."

He hopped onto Rarity's back and she took off at a gallop into the city.

———

Princess Celestia frowned in frustration as General Mountainhide delivered his report. The skeletons were everywhere and it was all the Royal Guard could do just to hold their ground. Almost a thousand years' worth of skeletons were clawing their way to the surface, and as Shining Armor had reported, someone had made off with the Elements of Harmony.

A snarling manticore skeleton lunged up from beneath a bridge towards Celestia and her retinue. The princess whirled around towards it, horn lighting up with magic; the manticore stopped in midair. She wrenched the skull off the spine and tossed the bones to the pavement with a clatter, then turned back again towards her soldiers. "This will never end if we don't find Inferno and stop him," Celestia said.

Shining Armor stepped forward. "Then I'll find him myself—"

"No," Celestia cut him off, "you're going to recover the Elements of Harmony and get them back to Twilight and her friends, and they will find Inferno."

Mountainhide and Shining Armor shared a skeptical look. "We'd leave Canterlot in the hooves of six ordinary ponies?" the hulking general mumbled.

"Not six ordinary ponies," Celestia said, and she turned back towards the city in chaos, "the six ponies who can use the Elements. They will find Inferno, and when they do, they will destroy him. We will take no more chances."

Princess Luna appeared from behind a tower and swept down to Celestia's position. "The Night Guard is activated!" she cried. "But these skeletons are—"

"I know." Celestia stared down at the skeletons streaming through the streets. "This can't be the extent of his plan..."

As if on cue, the world began to shake—and Celestia looked up in surprise at the dark clouds beginning to gather in the sky around its summit. The mountain shook again, and this time cracks began to appear at its peak—cracks from which black smoke began to drift.

Celestia's eyes went wide in horror. "It can't be..."

"What?" asked Luna.

The solar princess turned back towards her soldiers. "Mountainhide, you are in command. Shining Armor, find the Elements. Luna, come with me." The two princesses immediately took to the air.

"What is it, sister?" Luna asked.

Celestia nodded to the mountain. "Of course raising the dead isn't Inferno's plan. It's something else. Much worse."

———

Applejack yelped in surprise as a pot came crashing into the wall just above her head. She skittered to safety as a couple of barrels came at her next. Whoever this Barbell fellow was, she at least had to give him credit for strength. Up ahead, Barbell whipped around in front of a street light and knocked it over with a hard kick; Applejack rolled out of the way and adjusted her hat as she came back up on her hooves.

"Pretty slick there, big guy!" she said. "But you'll have to do better than that!"

Barbell found another barrel and hurled it at Applejack's head; she ducked down to the ground and then scampered away as he flung loose rocks at her. "Always has to be something to get in my way, isn't there?!" He stormed forward with a roar of hooves and sent Applejack diving to the side under an awning—and then Barbell knocked down one of its supports with a loose rock and brought the whole thing crashing down on top of Applejack. "Now stay down!"

The brawny earth pony stomped off down the street, and Applejack smirked as she pulled herself out from under the mess with hardly a scratch—and, indeed, armed with a length of rope liberated from the awning cover. She crept after the huge earth pony as he bucked down the door to a jewelry shop and started scooping its contents into a big brown sack.

Applejack's ears twitched at the sound of hooves on the pavement—or rather, bones on the pavement. An idea sprang into her mind and she sprang out of hiding into the jewelry shop's doorway. "So ah see ya got a taste for jewelry!" she yelled, and Barbell whirled around with a glare. He flung a chair at her; she ducked under it and advanced forward.

"Don't tempt me, farmer," he snarled—and then grabbed the sack of loot and plunged through the window, out into the street—and out into the path of a coursing stream of skeletons. They plowed into him head-on, and Applejack had to admit she was a little impressed at how he withstood the blast of bones; his stolen jewelry, however, was lost to the crowd.

Applejack darted forward as the skeleton swarm subsided and left a battered, trembling Barbell in the middle of the street. He turned around—only for Applejack to slide into him and knock him onto his back. And before he could get up again, Applejack flung the rope around his legs and trussed him up with expert precision—and then, as the final touch, she tossed the rope over a balcony overhead and suspended the brawny earth pony in midair.

Barbell spun around towards her with a look of pure hatred on his upside-down features. "Don't laugh, you little brat! The instant I get loose—"

"You're welcome, partner," Applejack said, and doffed her hat for a bow of her head. "Teach ya to pick a fight with me." Barbell wriggled against the rope and screamed at her as she galloped away. That was easy enough, she figured; now to find those Elements...

———

"W-Why do we have to be so violent?"

Fluttershy's question went unanswered as Castor and Pollux flung bolts of magic at one end of the street and Pinkie Pie danced through them all with a storm of hysterical giggles at the other end. Pinkie somersaulted up in the air and then landed on one hoof, leaving the two unicorns aghast.

"How did you dodge all of those blasts?!" squawked Pollux.

"Well I ate a lot of jello one time, and you know how jello is always quivering, and—"

"Shut up!" Pollux screamed, and fired a huge blast straight at Pinkie—which she easily avoided.

"That wasn't very nice—" started Fluttershy.

"Jeez! Someone's cranky!" Pinkie exclaimed. "You should really do something about that! It's totally not healthy to be all twitchy and ragey all the time!"

"Oh, now you're making fun of me too, is that it?!" Pollux snapped, sparks dancing from his horn.

"Well she does have a point," drawled Castor.

"Not you too!" The red unicorn wheeled around on his brother. "Lemme guess, I have to align my energies right or something?"

"I don't get why you never take the theory seriously," Castor sniffed. "It would do you a world of good—"

"Oh, get stuffed! I don't need your stupid hocus pocus!"

"It's not hocus pocus! There's tons of evidence—"

"No there's not, it's just stupid—"

They both fell silent as something landed hard in front of them—and one thundering blast from the party cannon later, they found themselves pinned to a wall at the far end of the street by a huge, quivering blob of brown goo.

Pinkie blinked in surprise and peered down the cannon's barrel. "That's weird! I could've sworn I had balloons and confetti in here—unless! Wait! I remember! I put a bunch of sugar in here and it must have caramelized!"

Fluttershy looked back and forth between the immobilized unicorns and Pinkie's weapon of mass party application. "Why did you have sugar in the party cannon?"

"Why wouldn't I have sugar in the party cannon?"

Fluttershy frowned. "That's...a good question."

"Well, now that that's all taken care of," Pinkie put the party cannon away somewhere in her mane and Fluttershy tried not to think about it, "maybe we should go see what super duper happy fun times everyone else is getting into, huh?"

"B-But what about them?" Fluttershy pointed down the street—where the immobilized and caramelized Castor and Pollux had apparently settled for screaming at each other.

"Oh, they can keep each other company," Pinkie giggled. "Let's go!" She bounced off down the street, and Fluttershy followed with a shake of her head.

———

"So," Trixie spoke up as she and Twilight Sparkle galloped down Canterlot's streets in search of a tall blue unicorn with a red mane and six artifacts that just so happened to house the most powerful magic known to Equestria, "what exactly am I doing here again?"

"Being a supportive marefriend and loyal citizen of Equestria," Twilight answered testily.

"Oh, right, well, 'go team go. Woo hoo.' Can I go hide now?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "You'll probably be safer with me anyways. If Inferno wants to raise chaos here—"

"I'm sorry," Trixie laughed, "but it was your idea to go down into Canterlot's disused, unexplored catacombs, and get us chased around by a giant fire-breathing zombie dragon skeleton."

"I thought you were over that!"

"It was yesterday!"

Twilight huffed in frustration and came to a stop in a bone-strewn intersection. "If we don't find the Elements, we won't have any way of stopping Inferno," she said, "and filling the streets of Canterlot with the undead can't be the only thing he's got planned."

Trixie arched an eyebrow. "How come you're not trying to save him too?"

"If you've got any ideas as to how, feel free to share." Twilight looked up nervously at the mountain—where the cracks were deepening, the clouds were darkening, and smoke was rising. "What is he up to...?"

———

Darting across the darkening sky, two pegasi whirled around each other and wove their way through the towers and turrets of Canterlot. Rainbow Dash squinted up ahead at Whiplash and fought down all those feelings of anger and betrayal. She could beat answers out of the demented pegasus later—but first she'd have to catch her. And far be it from her to admit to any doubt, but this one would be a doozy.

Rainbow cringed as she forced herself up from a steep dive to follow Whiplash's almost ninety-degree turns. These maneuvers shouldn't even have been possible; the pegasus up ahead flew a box around one of the towers and then dove down into the streets. Rainbow followed as fast as she could, but there was no way to turn that tightly—not without breaking something.

"So you really were working with the guy trying to hurt my friends!" Rainbow shouted.

Whiplash made a terrified face and sped up; Rainbow scowled and gave chase. Apparently she'd have to knock the crazy pegasus down if she wanted answers.

The chase wound its way under a bridge. Whiplash jetted behind one of the columns, then rocketed back out as Rainbow passed through and went streaking the other way. Rainbow pulled up in as tight a turn as she could manage and blasted off after Whiplash. Rainbow wound a tight turn around a tower after the other pegasus—but Whiplash snaked her way down between two more buildings and slipped away. Rainbow watched her go, licked her lips, and took off above to gain some altitude. Hopefully no one would notice all the breaking windows...

And then with a thundering blast, Rainbow Dash launched herself forward in front of the iridescent shockwave of a Sonic Rainboom. Whiplash turned around in surprise—just in time for Rainbow to slam into her with a lightning-fast kick that sent the other pegasus tumbling down into the city. She crashed into the side of a tower and hit the ground hard—and a huge chunk of plaster came down with her and landed on her wing. Rainbow cringed at her painful scream; that had been no fun when it had happened to her.

Then again, if you didn't want Rainbow Dash beating you up, you shouldn't have been a bad guy.

Rainbow landed next to a tearful Whiplash, struggling to free her wing. She trembled in fear at the sight of the other pegasus' approach. "A-Are you going to hurt me?" she asked.

Rainbow blew out a tired sigh. "No more than I already have." She shook her head. "Whiplash, why? You were working with someone who's been trying to hurt my friends. You hid it from me. And I trusted you! Why?"

"Th-They're my friends!" Whiplash cried.

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. "Are they? Really?"

Silence descended over them both for a moment; Whiplash hung her head. "No," she said quietly, "not really." She closed her eyes. "I guess I don't actually have friends, huh."

"You had me," Rainbow said. Whiplash blinked at her. "Well...had. After all this..."

"Th-They said they'd be my friends!" Whiplash wailed. "And they said as long as I did stuff for them, and as long as I helped them steal stuff..." She trailed off and buried her face in her hooves. "And...I guess that doesn't matter now, huh?"

Rainbow cringed at the sight of tears in her eyes. "You lied to me, Whiplash. You lied to me to protect someone who's trying to hurt my friends."

"I know." Whiplash looked back up at Rainbow Dash and even the most loyal of loyal ponies couldn't help but feel bad about all this. "I-I'm sorry."

Rainbow closed her eyes. "So am I, Whiplash."

She took to the air with a sigh.

———

The mountain roiled and rocked as the moment of truth came near. Lazuli watched in amazement as Nightmare Inferno stood on the ledge over the churning cavern below—where smoke was gushing up like water, the rocks were rattling below, and the voice that haunted them all beat against their skulls like a drum.

"For a thousand years you've been trapped down there!" bellowed a grinning Inferno—and the mountain rumbled back. "A thousand years since you were most shamefully imprisoned, and the wretched ponies of this land made off with the riches of your hoard! No food, no sky, no hope—until now!"

The mountain roared; Lazuli shivered as sparks began to fly over the cavern.

"And for five hundred years your voice has filled my ears!" Inferno continued, the flames of his mane and tail lashing out around him. "For five hundred years, together, we've searched for a way to free you from this terrible torment!"

The mountain roared again—and this time Lazuli jumped in surprise as something slammed into the rocks down below and shook the ground beneath them.

"Answer me, my friend!" cried Inferno. "Who put you down there?!"

The mountain shuddered. "Celestia!" it bellowed back.

"And now," Inferno's horn lit up—and with a flash of light he launched a pulsing column of magic down into the caverns, sparks dancing around him, the mountain shaking at every step, "now that I have set you free, what is the first thing you are going to do?!"

The mountain bucked, the rocks below shattered, and from the shadows emerged a huge, scaly, clawed black fist.

"DESTROY HER!"

Inferno grinned.

"Perfect."

———

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna landed with a clack on the pavement. Up above was one of those menacing cracks in the mountainside—and off to the side, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were converging in a small square. Celestia frowned at the sight of the six ponies without the Elements of Harmony.

"One of Inferno's minions made off the with the Elements!" a breathless Twilight explained. "We tried to chase her, but the skeletons—"

The mountain shook again; Celestia whirled around towards the mountain at the sound of all too familiar laughter from that fissure. Flames licked out from the opening—and Nightmare Inferno emerged with a cackle.

"Glad we could all make it to this most spectacular of spectacles!" The black pony landed on an outcropping as the mountain rumbled behind him.

Celestia fixed her eyes on Nightmare Inferno. "It's been a long time, Firemane."

Inferno blinked in surprise—as did everyone else in the square. "Firemane?" Twilight echoed. "You know him?"

"I would know that voice anywhere," Celestia said. "And I would know this craven, callous disregard for the lives of others anywhere too!"

Inferno grinned. "Firemane, huh? I haven't heard that name in centuries."

"Who was Firemane?" Luna spoke up.

Celestia spread her wings. "Five hundred years ago, he was one of my advisors," she explained. "He conducted experiments on immortality. He created Nightmares in pursuit of eternal life. I threw him out of office; in revenge, he tried to create a monster that would destroy Canterlot. I banished him—"

"But you never were one for capital punishment, now were you, Celestia dear?" Inferno cackled. "Would've saved you a lot of trouble, let me tell you!"

"Yes," Celestia said as her eyes narrowed, "and now look at you, the very same rotten monster you tried to control. We may not have the Elements," her horn lit up with golden light, "but I will still put an end to your reign!"

The mountain shook a third time—but this time far more violently than before, and everyone in the square hunkered down or lost their balance, as Nightmare Inferno's laughter rang through the air. "Don't get too full of yourself, Celestia!" he roared. "I have a special fate planned for you—an old friend, who's just dying for a reunion!"

Celestia's jaw fell. "Y-You wouldn't dare—"

The world lurched; the top of the mountain split open; something emerged from its depths; a blood-curdling, shrieking roar filled the air. Up above, the dark clouds roiled and swirled around the broken mountaintop—and then with a burst of light and a flare of molten lava, a massive black dragon spread its wings and lifted its head towards the sky to roar.

Down below, Twilight looked up at the gigantic dragon, dripping with lava, and grimaced as its roaring laugh sounded over Canterlot.

———