Chapter 22
“EEEEEEE!” Dinky shrieked as she ran through the hallways. Pip and Alula ran alongside her as they tried to stay ahead of the two snarling, drooling, and hungry looking bushwoolies behind them. “Rainbow Daaaaaaaash!” She bawled, wanting somepony to come rescue her.
“Come back little ponies!” Shouted one of the monsters. “I promise we’ll stuff you full of nice, delicious things before we bake you into a quiche!”
The other one growled, swatting his companion with a claw. “For the last time, stew! We’re going to make a stew from their bones!” He shouted, prompting the three terrified foals to keep running.
“I-I dunno if I can keep running!” Pip panted, his face covered with sweat. “I—I dun feel too good…”
Dinky winced. “Me neither … I’m startin’ to feel all–barfy.”
“What do we do?” Pip asked, sides heaving.
“We gotta find some way to slow 'em down 'fore they catch us!” Alula looked around trying to find something she could toss in their path for those dumb monsters to trip on. But she didn’t see anything but a bunch of stupid crystals.
Dumb rocks.
Dinky let out a small moan. “Ooooh ... d'you feel funny too?”
“Whatcha mean?” Alula flapped her wings, hoping to get a little extra burst of speed out of it.
Dinky sweated, panting. “Like ... like ... I 'unno. My head's feeling all light and spinny.”
Alula felt a sudden throbbing in her head. “Me too, but we gotta keep movin'.” She thought for a moment. “You an' Pip go ahead, I'll catch up.”
“Wha?” Pip looked at her like she was nuts. “Nuh uh, they'll eat you up inna stew!”
“Or a quiche!” Dinky added.
“Just go, Dummy!” Alula shouted loudly before she suddenly turned around and charged at the bushwoolies.
Pipsqueak bit his lip as he and Dinky pulled up ahead. “’Lula!”
“GO!” She shouted again as she ran up to the two slavering, drooling, snarling monsters. She gulped. “I'm not scarda you! I'm gonna beatcha up!” She ducked her head and charged.
The lead bushwoolie shot her a toothy grin, his red eyes gleaming. “A meal that delivers, how convenient!” He reached out, his sharp claws slashing through the air—only to miss as Alula ducked and slid between his legs before getting up to run past him.
“Get back here!” The incensed monster roared.
“Betcha can't catch me, stupid-heads!” She started running off in the opposite direction as Pip and Dinky.
The other one growled as he started towards her. “Who are you calling a stupid-head?”
“Don’t be a fool!” The first one cuffed him. “She’s trying to bait you!”
“What, are you scared?” Alula taunted, quickly thinking of the insults she’d heard from the Guards. “Ya bunch of quiche-eating old muffler suckers!”
“Who are you calling a quiche-eater?!” The first one yowled, outraged.
“Don’t you talk about my momma!” The other shouted as he started to advance on Alula.
“Comrade, you get the bratty chicken-thing, I'll get the other two!” The first turned around and started to lumber after Dinky and Pip.
“So you're gonna let him eat two ponies?” Alula asked, catching her breath in between taunts. “While you only get one?” Alula asked the monster approaching her
The bushwoolie stopped. “Hey...” He looked to the one who was heading in the direction Pip and Dinky had ran. “She's gotta point!”
With a frustrated growl, the other bushwoolie snarled back. “Don't argue with me comrade, you're getting fat as it is.”
“I am not fat!”
“Are too!” Alula chimed in.
“You see?!” The first bushwoolie exclaimed.
“You’re agreeing with the food!” Shouted the second.
Alula smirked. “And you're still fat!”
“Grrr...” The put upon bushwoolie slapped his forehead. “Look, if you get the bird-pony, you can eat the wings!”
The other one tilted his head, looking interested. “Both of them?” He drooled. “Deal!”
Feeling things started to fall apart, Alula blurted out. “He told me you're a stupid fatty fat dummy-face!” She pointed to the other bushwoolie.
The bushwoolie stopped drooling. “What?! Then I'll ... I'll ...” He thought for a moment. “Bake you into a quiche and not let him have any!”
His compatriot facepalmed.
“But ... uh ... but quiche is fattening!” Alula added.
“Blasphemy!” The first one barked. “I'll bake you inna quiche!” He roared and chased after Alula.
“Ack!” The little filly squeaked, managing to run a bit faster since she had a chance to pause and catch her breath. She ran the opposite way as her friends for a bit, then looped around the bushwoolie chasing her and soon ran out ahead of the one after Pip and Dinky. She hoped she bought them a little extra time.
The one chasing her collided with his friend, leaving the two monsters tangled up in a heap. “Ow…”
“…The winged pony was right, you are a stupid fatty fat dummy-face.”
“Oh, shut up!”
Alula ran as fast as she could, not stopping for anything until she passed a dumbwaiter. Right as she passed, it opened up and a pair of hooves reached out and grabbed her. “WHOA!” Alula yelled as she was pulled inside.
“Shhh!” Pipsqueak held up a hoof to his lips. “S'us!”
Alula nodded, not making another sound, but immediately began to squeeze Pip and Dinky tight.
“You’re okay!” Dinky hugged Alula back.
“Ack!” Pip paused before hugging Alula back. “Dun ever do that again!” He gently whapped her. “Dummy!”
Alula’s wing returned the favor. “You're the dummy. Now shush!”
“What do we do?” Dinky whispered.
“Hide an' be quiet 'til they go away.” Alula whispered back. Just then Pip let out a groan. Alula frowned at him. “I just tol’ you to be quiet!”
Pip swallowed, looking like he was about to be sick. “I-I don’t feel good.”
“Me neither.” Dinky whined, right before her leg spasmed, kicking the side of the dumbwaiter.
“Stoppit!” Alula whispered furiously, right before her wings sprung open. “Gah! What’s going on?!” Her foreleg twitched, slamming into the wall. Then her face found itself pressed against the side by Pip’s flank. “Gyah! Move Dummy!”
Pip mumbled around a faceful of Dinky’s mane. “There’s no room!” He was right. It suddenly seemed a lot more crowded in the dumbwaiter than it had a moment ago.
Alula gulped as she heard footsteps outside. “This isn’t good...”
The brighter of the two bushwoolies (for all that meant) glared at his counterpart. “You and your quiche … now look where it’s gone and gotten us!”
“It’s not my fault we lost them, especially if a certain someone can’t help tripping over his own fat feet!”
“I am not fat!” The first snapped. “You--” His ears twitched. “Do you hear that?”
“The sound of someone’s fat retaining all the liquid from this precious stew?” Scoffed the second. “Because that’s all I can--HMMM!” A clawed hand suddenly pressed itself against his mouth.
“Be quiet, comrade!” The other one strained, hearing a series of dull thumps. “This way!” The two hairy monsters lumbered down the hallway with as much subtlety as two giant hairballs could muster, slowly creeping up on the source of the noise.
Their mouths grew wide and they smiled toothily as they approached the source of the noise, a dumbwaiter. From inside, the muffled voices of the foals continued to argue.
“'Lula, you're steppin' on my hoof.” Dinky whispered.
“Sorry.” Alula whispered back, shifting around and accidentally wing-whapping Pip in the face.
“Ow!” Pip yelped. “Hey!”
Alula winced. “Sorry, Dummy. S'really tight in here. Why's the room gettin' smaller?”
“I dunno.” He tried to wriggle and shift around, only to have his hoof smack into the side of the door. Loudly.
“Shh! They'll hear us!” Dinky whimpered, looking his way.
“I can't help it!” Pip replied, then suddenly ducked, pressing his head against the floor. “Dinky, your horn's too sharp! Careful!”
Dinky tried to back up, ending up bumping into the back of the room. “Nuh-uh, it isn't! I'm not old enough for that yet!” She turned her head, her horn stabbing a wood panel. “Uh ... I think my horn's stuck.”
“Toldja,” Pip mumbled.
“Quiet, Dummy!” Alula warned. “Urgh!” She spread a wing, filling everypony’s face with feathers. “Whoa! My wings're all weird now!”
“Moh! Moola, 'ur 'ing's in 'y 'ace!” Dinky mumbled around a faceful of wing. “A' i'sh 'LUFFY!” Pip’s response was even less sensible.
Alula frowned. “This room is weird an' it's shrinkin' an' doin stuff to us!” She tried to get her wings out of the way. As the foals continued to fidget and squirm, trying to find space when there seemed to be less and less, the two bushwoolies opened the door of the dumbwaiter … only to have a trio of adolescent ponies fall out on them. “Hello pon--AAAH!”
“Gyah!” Alula tumbled out onto one of the bushwoolies. She tried to pick herself up, but was having some difficulty. “Whoa! Everythin's all weird!”
Pipsqueak landed on the floor with a surprisingly loud thump. “Ow … I'm okay.”
Dinky’s eyes did a passable imitation of her mother’s. She shook her head until they came back together. That’s when she saw that she was laying atop one of the bushwoolies. “AAAAAAAAH! THE MONSTERS!” She flailed her hooves, falling off the monster. She and the bushwoolie both scrambled to get to their feet. Dinky squeaked as a clawed, hairy hand reached out for her. Scrunching her eyes shut, she blindly lashed out with her hoof and landed a solid slug right in the bushwoolie’s gut.
he was propelled all the way the far side of the hallway. That’s when Pipsqueak realized something. “Hey! The monsters shrank too!”
Alula blinked as she took stock of the situation. Looking down, the floor seemed much further away than it used to. Her legs, as well as Dinky’s and Pip’s, seemed much longer than they used to. Dinky’s horn was much longer and came to a sharp point. Pipsqueak was--whoa. Her eyes widened. Pipsqueak was huge! Fairly bulging with muscles like Big Macintosh. He towered over her and Dinky, to say nothing of the two monsters. When she looked to herself, Alula gasped. She spread out her wings and was amazed by how big they were. “We’re so big…” she said to herself before looking back at the two bushwoolies, who suddenly didn’t seem quite so big or menacing. “Huh. Us gettin’ bigger makes more sense than everythin' gettin' smaller, I guess.”
Pip tilted his massive head in thought. “So … Wait! That means you can fly! And Dinky, you can use magic! Like big ponies! Cuz we are!”
“Yeah, and they're so small now! Well, not small, but smaller than they were.” Alula grinned evilly at the bushwoolies, flexing her wings. “We're gonna getcha!”
The bushwoolie Dinky had just slugged pointed at his comrade. “It was all his idea!”
“HEY!” The other protested indignantly. “You wanted to bake them into a quiche!”
“MEANIE!” Dinky’s horn sparked angrily, her face scrunching up. “You were bein' mean an' stuff to us, an' YOU HURT 'LULA!
Alula growled, her wings spread in an aggressive pose she’d seen her family use. “You tried to put Dinky an' Dummy in a quiche!”
“You took our friends and locked 'em up!” Pipsqueak grumbled as he stomped his hoof, making a resounding CRACK! against the floor.
“An' you took us away from our mommies an' daddies!” Dinky huffed and puffed as her horn continued to spark. She pointed it at the two terrified bushwoolies and… “Uhh,” Dinky tapped her horn, before letting out a loud whisper to Alula and Pip. “How d'you work this thing anyway?”
Alula shrugged. “How'm I s'posta know? Just try an' zap 'm!”
“I always thought you just 'magined stuff happening and it would. Like making 'em all bald and stuff!” Pip offered.
Dinky giggled. “They'd look like big-butted baboons if they got balded!”
“Yeah!” Alula smirked. “You should bald them, while Dummy an' I beat 'em up!”
“Hey!” Objected one of the bushwoolies. “I do not have a big butt!”
“I dunno...” Dinky looked doubtful. “That doesn't all look like poofiness.”
Even the other bushwoolie seemed to agree. “You have been retaining liquid from all those stews...”
“My weight is appropriate and attractive!” Snapped his companion.
“Fatty.” Dinky commented as her horn glowed as she experimented with casting magic.
Alula mimed a few punches and kicks in the air to get a feel for her bigger body. “Stupid-heads!”
“Wankers!” Pip stuck out his tongue, cracking his neck. “...whatever that means.”
Dinky grumbled as she focused really hard and tried casting magic. “Coulda sent some 'structions or stuff, 'cause this i--” Just then, her horn sent out a small gout of fire. “--WHOA!”
“Gah!” The unlucky bushwoolie in Dinky’s line of fire ducked, the hair on his back starting to smoulder slightly. “AH! Hothothoooot!”
“Hee-yah!” Alula charged at the other one, kicking him in the gut. Hard. “Oooogh!” The hapless monster clutched his stomach and doubled over. Alula followed up with a kick to the knee. With a pained yowl, the bushwoolie collapsed on his back.
Dinky fired off another burst of fire at the first bushwoolie, who yowled and started to pat out the fires on him. “Put me out! Put me ooooooout!”
“Lemme try!” Pipsqueak ran forward, bearing down on the other bushwoolie like a steam train. He plowed into the monster, smacking him up against the wall. The monster hissed and tried to claw at him. In a panic, Pip reared up and smacked him with one of his enormous hooves. That sent the bushwoolie flying … and his teeth trailing behind.
Alula and Dinky’s jaws dropped wide open, impressed. Dinky found her voice first. “WHOA!” She gasped. “Pip you got RILLY big an' strong an' stuff!” She paused. “I think you need a new name.”
“Yeah!” Pip looked down at himself again, before looking over to Alula, who stood a good head shorter than him. “And you're not!”
Alula responded with a raspberry. “Still a dummy.”
Pip grabbed Alula in a headlock and proceeded to noogie her. “Ha! who’sa dummy now?”
“Gyah! Leggo!” As Alula squirmed in a feeble attempt to escape her epic noogieing. “If Daddy'd taught me the cool stuff ... an' you're still a dummy! Just a big, strong dummy.”
The two bushwoolies took advantage of their distraction to collect themselves and go. “Let's get out of here, comrade!” whimpered the still smoking bushwoolie, now coated with soot.
“Co’oing!” Replied the other as he picked up his loose teeth, the two of them setting off into a run down the hall.
“Yeah you BETTER run!” Dinky shouted after them. “Or I'll--I'll--” She thought hard. “I’ll do somethin' you won't like!”
Pipsqueak gave Alula one last noogie and let her go. “Dumb Pip.” She grumbled as she tried to fix her mane.
The suddenly-grown colt looked at his two friends. “Whoa … Dinky, you look like Miss Sparkler! 'scept you've got a really long pointy horn! And Alula's wings are ginormous!”
Dinky looked at herself. “Yeah I DO! An' 'lula's got bigger wings now.” She gasped suddenly in realization. “Can you fly now!?”
Alula gave her new wings an experimental flap, lifting off the ground. “Whoa! Yeah!” She grinned. “This is so cool! Dinky's rilly pretty now, and Pip's so big han—” Alula caught herself. “Big and dumb.”
“I'm big!” Pip danced up and down on his clodhopper sized hooves giddily. “Now, Diamond Tiara can’t pick on me for being small anymore!”
Dinky jumped aside, getting out of the way of Pip's super-stompy hooves. “Hey! Now that we're big an' stuff, we can go help the others, 'cause we can beat up the other meanies that took 'em!”
“Yeah! We can!” Alula grinned.
“Hey, yeah! We can get all the other kids outta being locked up and then help the big ponies---I mean, the other big ponies fight the bad guys!” Pip exclaimed.
Dinky nodded. “I can be all fwooshy, you can be all stompy, an' 'Lula can be all... uh... wingy?”
Pip scratched his head. “Maybe she can tickle 'em or something?”
“I know some krav pega, Dummy.” Alula grumbled.
“Oh yeah, that! C'mon, let's go!” Dinky started to run, only to trip over her hooves. “Aaah!” She grumbled from the floor. “Stoopid gravity.”
Pip walked up to her. “I can help!” He slid his leg underneath her and used his newfound strength to casually toss Dinky onto his own back. Only it wasn’t a flawless throw as Dinky’s rump ended hanging off his shoulder and her face was buried in his back. “Oops.”
Alula, in the midst of a wobbly, almost Derpy-like flight over their heads, shot them an annoyed look. “C'mon! Let's GO!”
Despite her own words, none of them managed much more than a leisurely trot. They were all getting used to their newly resized bodies. Alula kept flying into the walls and bouncing off, Pip had to hunch his shoulders to get through some of the narrower entries and Dinky almost singed off Pip’s tail with her magic.
By the time they finally backtracked to the room where they had seen the others, the three of them felt pretty tired. “G-get the door.” Alula panted, landing next to Pip. Flying was harder than Rainbow Dash made it look!
“Can’t Dinky?” The large colt asked, his tongue hanging out.
Dinky slid off Pip’s back and shook her head, accidentally poking him in the side with her horn. “Oops! Sorry Pippy! Nuh-uh, I don’t wanna fwoosh the door!”
Pip sighed and walked towards the barred door. “Okay…here I go.” He bucked the door clear off its hinges. “Oops, sorry in there!” He called as he stuck his head in, Dinky and Alula squeezing by him to get in.
“We're here an' you're all gonna be a'... kay?” Dinky blinked as she took in the strange sight before them: all their friends from Ponyville had grown up too! Diamond Tiara was precariously balancing her now teeny-tiny looking tiara on her head, while Twist’s glasses were scrunched up against her face and the others were tentatively trying to get adjusted to their new forms.
“Golly!” Apple Bloom explained as she cantered around, trying to get a better look at herself. “We're big!”
“Cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed as her wings flapped happily.
Sweetie Belle looked to her side. “Aww, I’m grown up and still no cutie mark! No fair!”
That made Dinky pause to check her own flank. “Aww, still no mark for us either!”
“I got one!” Pip yelled excitedly. “I--no wait, that's one of my spots. Nevermind!” Alula snerked at him.
Dinky looked around. She saw lots of ponies she knew, and even more that she didn’t. She even saw Ms. Prism, the crystal pony who had brought them there. She must’ve gotten locked up too. Dinky was about to go say hi to her when she bumped into another pony, one she also knew: Diamond Tiara. She blinked at her, confused. “Um.... hi?”
Diamond Tiara’s mane and coat was all frazzled and messy. Her face was wet and she sniffed big, loud sniffs. “I-I want my daaaaddyyyyyy!” She bawled.
Dinky didn’t quite know what to do at first. Diamond Tiara was the biggest, meanest bully at school. But she was still a filly like her and she was scared, so … Dinky gave her a get-better hug. “I wanna go home too.”
The sobbing pink pony latched onto Dinky. “W-what if my Daddy doesn't recognize me because I'm so big and my tiara doesn't fit and … and …” She started to cry some more.
“Um … I dunno, but he's still your daddy an' stuff, kinda like Mommy's my mommy.” Dinky hugged her. “It’ll be okay, ‘kay?”
A little bit away, Pipsqueak let out a sudden eep as somepony put their hooves all over him. He turned to see that it was Silver Spoon, groping blindly since her glasses had been broken. “I--I--what happened to us?!” She asked nervously.
“Um, we got big and stuff.” Pip scratched the back of his neck. “Maybe we had too many vegetables or somethin'?”
“But we didn't eat spinach or anythin' like that. Just moss.” Dinky pointed out from her get-better hug.
Alula hmmmed to herself as she thought. “Why would a buncha weird monsters take us an' make us get big?”
“Maybe they were trying to fatten us up, but got it wrong?” Pip offered.
Dinky nodded. “It's what they said they wanted t' do, an' make a big ol' brew then gobble us up in a nice tasty stew.” She paused. “Or quiche, they kinda got all grumbly about it.”
Diamond Tiara gulped at the suggestion and went over to hug Silver Spoon. “I wanna go home.”
“I miss Rarity...” Sweetie Belle stuck out her bottom lip, looking down.
“We all wanna go home an' see our mommies and daddies.” Alula said, looking around at all the other former-foals. “But cryin' isn't gonna do anythin'. We gotta get outta here first, an' to do that we gotta help Rainbow Dash an' stuff!”
“But what can we do?” Asked a colt they didn’t know. “We're just kids! They're grownups!”
“Um,” Dinky pointed out. “We're kinda big ponies now, too.”
Pip nodded. “Yeah! Real big!”
“We're big now, so let's go do big pony stuff an' beat up those big nasty monsters 'till they're the ones cryin' for their mommies!” Alula encouraged.
Her enthusiasm proved infectious. “Yah-HUH!” Dinky hopped up and down. “We can help Rainbow Dash so we can go home!”
“They're right y'all!” Apple Bloom called out. “Maybe we can get our cutie marks for bein' heroes!”
“Well … if it means we can go home,” Rumble tossed in. “I'm sick of being locked up in here!”
Scootaloo pumped a hoof in the air. “Let’s go get ‘em!”
“All right ponies!” Alula jumped out ahead of them. “Chaaarge!”
With a yell, a hundred-odd magically aged fillies and colts (plus one hapless crystal pony mare) went charging out of the prison cell and into the hallways of Sombra’s castle. As they ran, something occurred to Pipsqueak. “...Do we know which way we’re going?”
In the bowels of Sombra’s castle, a relieved sounding sigh echoed off the walls. “I never thought I’d be so glad to see the bottom of a staircase.” Shining Armor grunted as he set his hooves on the stone floor.
It had taken them what felt like hours, tentatively journeying down the darkened, spiral staircase into the unfathomable depths below. But finally they had made it.
A moment after Shining Armor cleared the landing, Zecora and Cadance also stepped off the staircase. Cadance looked slightly out of breath, but Zecora seemed as poised as ever. “We have journeyed far and long. Now we come face to face with all that is wrong.”
Shining Armor whickered in annoyance. “You couldn’t have mentioned this before?”
“I could not.” The zebra answered primly as she walked up to the only thing around: a plain-looking wooden door in an archway topped by a large crystal. “Had I done so, your fears would have made our trip all for naught.”
Cadance looked at the door warily. “What do you mean? What’s behind that door?”
Zecora sighed heavily. “Yourself.” When she was sure she had the others’ attention, she elaborated. “That door shows us the fears that we hide behind the shelf. The fears we try to avoid, to not acknowledge for fear of what they’d destroy.”
A hitch caught in Cadance’s breath. “Y-you mean, that door shows us our deepest fears?” Zecora nodded solemnly.
Shining Armor took a step forward. “But why not warn us? Give us time to prepare?”
“The longer you had to think, the faster things would’ve gone down the sink.” Zecora answered. “With more time to fret and fear, your panic would grow and doom all you hold dear.”
He reluctantly seemed to consider that. “Fine. When do we go in?”
Zecora forestalled him with a hoof. “We do not go. It must be the Princess’ task and hers alone.”
“WHAT?!” Shining stomped a hoof. “Absolutely not!”
“No.” Cadance stepped forward. “She’s right.”
Shining whirled on her. “Cadance…”
“We’ve been over this. This is my empire, my ponies, my responsibility.” She took a deep breath before leaning in to gentle nuzzle him. “I-I’ll be with you soon, Shining.”
"If we both go we might confuse the spell...” Shining argued. “Maybe weaken it for the others to proceed. Divide and conquer! Who says the bad guys are the only ones that can use that move?"
A sharp rap to the head courtesy of Zecora’s staff cut him off. “This is no living foe, but the essence of fear. What you face comes from within here.” She pointed at Cadance’s head and then her heart. “Inside one’s own mind is a place where others cannot easily tread. Going in too cannot help her there … but give her one more thing about which to dread.”
“But, I...” Shining’s voice trailed off as he failed to think of a counterargument.
“If what Zecora says is true, then whatever I see will appear in my own mind.” Cadance pointed out. “You can’t exactly travel inside my head, Shining.”
“Cadance...” Shining pleaded.
She nuzzled him tenderly, then pulled away to flash him her warmest smile. “Shining “I’ll be fine. I promise.”
The outnumbered stallion sighed and nodded. “Okay. Just … take care. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Cadance turned away hurriedly. She didn’t want him to see her cry. Looking to Zecora, Cadance cleared her throat. “Any words of advice?”
“Stay safe.” Then Zecora did something Cadance didn’t expect: she suddenly embraced the princess and hugged her tightly.
With a deep breath, Cadance crossed the threshold and entered the door. She shut her eyes, trying to buy herself a last second or two of preparation before she had to face … whatever was before her. Slowly, Cadance opened her eyes and saw …
A wedding?
Garlands of flowers sweeping the scenes. Tapestries of flowing silk hanging from the golden flying buttresses of the grand hall. Large crowds lining the red carpet isle. Each one with a face of hope and anticipation. An orchestra of birds filling the air in song. Fluttershy really has a great ear for music. “This is more than I would have ever wanted.” Cadance murmured, awestruck. And … she blinked was that Blueblood blubbering in the isle?
Still, as worst fears go, this was pretty … well, not. She walked around, not paying much heed to the crowd of ponies gathered until she got to the main isle. Standing at the altar stood her beloved Shining Armor, waiting for her. She smiled as she made her way over to him.
She had no sooner started walking than a beautiful rendition of Here Comes the Bride, started up. Her heart skipped a beat as she strode forth, her head held high. As the song reached a crescendo, her hoof reached the altar. All of a sudden, there was another pony there: wearing a white dress and a veil over her face.
Cadance had a sudden sensation, of something cracking inside her chest. All her life, Cadance had been what could be generously called a hopeless romantic. To her, love was the greatest driving force of life. Her special talent was helping others find love and being able to express it. And she knew, from the depths of her heart, that she and Shining Armor were all but meant for one another. The sight of him with another pony … it hurt.
It wasn’t a hurt born of narrow pettiness or jealousy. If somepony genuinely loved Shining Armor and he loved them in return, she would not seek to stand in the way. But this was all wrong.
Shining Armor smiled and moved forward, completely ignoring Cadance in favor of the new mare. He lifted up her veil and leaned in for a kiss. With a stunned look on her face, Cadance marched up and used her magic to tear away the veil on the other mare. Her jaw dropped. “Rainbow Dash?!”
A smiling, blushing, Rainbow Dash leaned into Shining Armor, nuzzling him gently. “That’s Mrs. Armor, actually.”
And just like that, the tension in Cadance’s gut was gone. Her eyebrow raised itself so high it almost vanished into her hairline. “Seriously?” She looked around. “This is supposed to be my deepest fear? Shining Armor marrying Rainbow Dash? Was Blueblood too obvious?” She snorted. “Where do I begin … first of all, there’s no way Rainbow Dash would give up her name. She’d probably make Shining change his name to Shining Dash. And that’s the least ridiculous part of this … farce.”
She looked around, as if trying to find somepony to directly tell off. “I know my love for Shining Armor is deep and true. And I care for Rainbow Dash too. If the thought of the two of them being happy together is supposed to represent my deepest fear, then you don’t know me at all.”
Confronted with Cadance’s resolve, the scene started to dissolve. Everything faded to white, a bright flash forced her to cover her eyes. When she risked looking again, she found herself face to face with another, more joyous sight: a beautiful sky blue crystal in the shape of a heart.
“The Heart.” She breathed gently, almost reverently. The Heart, known as the Crystal Heart, the Heartstone, the Heart of Equestria or simply the Heart, was legendary. It was said to be the crystallization of the Fire of Friendship, the spell forged from the friendship of a pegasus, unicorn and earth pony that defeated the windigos and led to the founding of Equestria. It was an extremely powerful artifact. And now, here it was: floating in front of her in a small locked away cell. No wonder Zecora had wanted them to stop and retrieve it.
But how did she even know it would be here? Cadance wondered. She shook her head. There was little point wondering how the mysterious zebra knew or did any of the things she did. What mattered was that the Heart was here and she had it.
Cadance grasped the Heart with her magic and ran out of the cell. She hoped that the doorway was enchanted so that she’d return to where she just was: with Shining Armor and Zecora.
No such luck.
“What?” She skidded to a halt, stumbling through the doorway and emerging in the middle of Sombra’s throne room, right as Sombra and the six Bearers were in a free for all brawl.
Cadance leapt to the side to avoid a falling piece of the ceiling. Up on his dais, Sombra was lashing out with his magic, firing deadly bolts of dark magic at the girls. The girls for the most part ducked and avoided, unable to really fight back. That is, except for Applejack bucking broken bits of crystal at him, Twilight trying to counter his spells with some of her own, and of course Rainbow Dash, who tried to rush him. With predictable results.
Rainbow Dash suddenly smashed into the ground in front of Cadance, almost bowling her over. “Rainbow!”
The cyan pegasus groaned as she picked herself up, blood leaking from a cut on her forehead. “C-cadance? Where did you--”
“It doesn’t matter now!” She shouted back, holding the Heart in front of her. “I have the Heart!”
“Great, now all we need is brains and courage!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she narrowly avoided a blast from Sombra’s horn.
“Some of us more than others...” Applejack grunted as she tried to hogtie the evil king.
Cadance ignored them. “Get out the Elements! Use them on the Heart!”
Rainbow nodded. “Right! Twilight!”
“I’m on it!” Twilight summoned her magic and pulled out the six golden necklaces upon which the Elements of Harmony sat. “Here they come, girls!” The necklaces flew across the room, landing around the neck of their rightful owners.
“Let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash soared upwards, her Element of Harmony glowing brilliantly. “Let’s pour it on!”
One by one, the six Elements of Harmony lit up: Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter and Magic. Cadance felt a tingle run up her spine as the Elements created a brilliant, shimmering, perfect rainbow.
Looking at it, Cadance knew—just knew—that everything was going to be fine. She held the Crystal Heart aloft with her magic, pouring her own magic into it. All of her love and compassion, hope and joy…everything Cadance was, she put into the Heart as the rainbow merged with it: love and friendship, together.
The Heart shattered.
Cadance barely felt the tiny pieces of the broken Crystal Heart as they pelted her coat. She was numb, her face paling. “H-how?!”
“Cadance, what did you do?!” Rainbow demanded as the Elements of Harmony flickered and went out.
The baffled princess shook her head. “Nononono ... I-I didn’t—I don’t…” She looked up at the confused, scared and angry looks on the faces of her friends. “Girls…LOOK OUT!”
Rainbow Dash was half turned-around when she was struck by Sombra’s dark magic. Time seemed to stretch out as her pained screams echoed off the walls. Cadance let out her own scream when Rainbow’s charred form fell to floor, still and smoldering.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight ran over to her, frantically searching for some sign of life. Her horn lit up as she tried—Cadance wasn’t actually sure what Twilight was trying to do, but if there was anypony who could help, it was her.
Cadance dared to feel a faint stirring of hope … only for it to be brutally cut down in front of her when Sombra attacked Twilight while her back was turned. “NO!” Cadance started running over even before Twilight’s body hit the ground.
She stopped, looking over the forms of two young ponies she had foalsat for. Even now, amidst all the carnage and destruction, she could still remember two precious little fillies, both full happy and full of life, each in their own way. Twilight giddily explaining a new book she read to a rapt audience of Cadance and Smarty Pants. Rainbow Dash showing off a new trick, gushing about how awesome the Wonderbolts were…
This can’t be happening. Friendship and love was supposed to triumph over fear! It had to! They had everything they needed! The Elements of Harmony! The Crystal Heart! She had just helped make things right between Rainbow and her and Shining Armor … and Twilight was going to be her sister-in-law! How was she going to tell her parents? Or Shining Armor?
Tears streamed freely down Cadance’s face as she was wracked with sobs. How could it all have gone so wrong?
“Oh no… no … Rainbow! Twilight!” Fluttershy let out a horrified whimper and burst into tears, hugging an equally distraught Pinkie Pie. Rarity abandoned all pretense at elegance or poise and buried her face in Applejack’s shoulder, bawling openly and loudly. Applejack hid her face behind her hat, but the shaking of her hooves and the heaving of her shoulders betrayed that she was crying as well.
“Cadance!” Her head snapped up when she heard somepony calling her.
Her heart leapt into her throat. “Oh no .. Shining Armor!” She looked in time to see Shining Armor running into the room, his shield spell protecting him from Sombra’s attacks. When he saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight, his steps faltered.
He fought for breath, fighting down his gorge. “T-twily! Twily, no…” A trembling hoof reached down and gently stroked her cheek. “Twilight…”
“Shining, I—I’m so sorry.” Cadance whispered in between her own sobs.
Shining Armor snapped his head up, piercing his fiancée with his gaze. “How did this happen?” He demanded in between clenched teeth, his nostrils flaring. “Didn’t you get the Heart?”
The distraught mare nodded. “Y-yes, I did!”
“Then why did this happen?!” Shining shouted.
“It broke!” Cadance cried, tears flowing anew. “I tried putting my magic into it a-and it just broke and—” Shining Armor suddenly grabbed her shoulders, pressing hard against her. He shook her, hard. “S-Shiny…”
But Shining Armor was in no mood for restraint. “Then this is all your fault! You didn’t try hard enough! You didn’t love her enough! You didn’t love Equestria enough! You didn’t love me enough!”
“That’s not true!” Cadance cried, tears flowing again. “I-I loved Twilight and I love you will all my heart!”
“Not enough!” Shining pointed at the bodies of Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Then he swept his hoof around the room. Cadance moaned as she saw the others laying prone on the ground. They were all dead: gentle Fluttershy, strong Applejack, demure Rarity, bubbly Pinkie Pie, clever Twilight Sparkle and brave Rainbow Dash. All gone.
Her fault.
“No…” Cadance wept, reaching out for the comfort of her love. “Shining Armor…”
Shining Armor recoiled away from her touch as if she was poisoned. “You failed! They’re all dead and it’s your fault! Sombra will kill the foals just like he killed Twilight and her friends. Equestria will fall, friendship and love will fail and everything you love is going to be destroyed because it’s all your fault!” He ranted, his wide eyes making him look like a deranged prophet of old. “Go take your place beside your ancestor’s side, Cadenza, for you have noplace else to be! Not anymore!”
In his rage and fury, Shining stepped back into the open. He was still snarling at Cadance when Sombra’s attack took him in the side. His eyes widened in shock as he regarding the burning hole in his side before turning back to Cadance. His eyes rolled up and he collapsed on the floor.
Cadance screamed and, heedless of the danger, rushed out to be with him. She cradled his head in her hooves. “N-no…Shining—Shiny. Please, I can’t lose you too! I love you!”
A raspy, death rattle sounded in his throat as Shining Armor spoke his last words. “Not … ’nough … Your … fault …”
As Shining died in her arms, Cadance looked around. Everypony was dead. That’s when she saw a sliver of the shattered Crystal Heart. With a trembling hoof she picked it up. “I failed … I know what I have to do.” She murmured as she pointed the sharpened tip right at her own heart.
So wrapped up in her pain and grief, she didn’t even notice the rest of the room fading away, until all that was left was Shining Armor’s body, the shard, and herself. Somewhere, Sombra was laughing.
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Seeing the suddenly adult-ified foals was interesting, and that ending...
Lost forever in her own Nightmare...
Sound familiar?
Great!!
3074699 Why, yes... in point of fact, it does.
Will Applejack or Shining be the one to snap her out of this?
3074851
why Applejack?
Because she's the most truthful one, and therefore most likely to be able to see through deceptions.
DON'T DO IT, CADANCE!!!
That Sombra was so clever, but I'm onto him! He had a spell within a spell, where it gives the illusion that it's showing a pathetic attempt at a pony's worst fear, but when they "get out" of it, they're plunged straight into their real worst fear!
How do I know this? Because there's A Glitch in the Matrix! For starters, Rainbow Dash was separated from the other Elements of Harmony when we saw them last, and Twilight had just gone nuclear with her magic! Of course, she doesn't know any of that, but the glitch that she'll hopefully catch on to is that Zecora wasn't with Shining Armor! Therefore, Cadance is only seeing an illusion within an illusion! All you need is a little bit of logic! Cadance barely knows Zecora, so Zecora wouldn't appear in an illusion of her losing everyone important to her! So you put that crystal shard down right now, miss, because what you're seeing is all fake! Still, the fact that he could think to do this shows that Sombra is Dangerously Genre Savvy here. Getting the target to lower their guard with a ridiculously obvious illusion, then nail them with their real worst fear when their guard is down and they think they've won...talk about an Adaptational Badass!
And all of the foals were turned into big ponies, but they've got varying amounts of How Do I Shot Web working against them. The earth ponies don't have proper coordination in their new grown up bodies, the pegasi don't know how to use their wings properly, and the unicorns don't know any magic. The only reason Dinky, Pipsqueak, and Alula managed to win against the bushwoolies is because all of a sudden, they were bigger, and the bushwoolies are as dumb as dirt. If they try going up against Sombra, they won't stand a chance. But this should teach them that the best way to grow up is naturally, so you can learn to use your abilities!
And what's this? The word in red is missing, but it's pretty clear what this is.
What we've got here is a Ship Tease! She's just being a Tsundere!
Well, enough rambling from me! Sadly, because I only give badges of approval for ponies who have actually appeared in the chapter, all you're getting this time is a Scootaloo. But my insight should more then make up for the lack of badges in this chapter!
fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/063/9/b/scootaloo_approved_by_ambris-d4rj4ad.png
And here's a song for when Cadance realizes that she's still in an illusion, and uses that knowledge to turn this around, just as Twilight's explosion goes off and Rainbow Dash does something unbelievably brave and reckless to turn the tables on Sombra, and the power of the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal Heart hits him like a Supernova!
Later!
So cadences worst fear is she failing and her friends paying the price?
Yeah, it's kinda obvious that Cadence is still facing her deepest fear. Gotta say, this is pretty intense.
But, given that this is MLP, there's no way she'll actually commit suicide, and thus make the whole thing come true.
... Right?
Seems I have an admirer...
Hurry up and update again. I can't stand being left on a cliffhanger like this.
POOF, the door strikes again.
At first I was like, 'That's not her worst fear....' but after a bit more reading I was like 'That tricky, tricky door...'
3075063 God damn-it, now I have to click on all the links. And they're TV tropes links too! I hope you're happy.
Sombra, you magnificent bastard...
TVTropes will enhance your life.
3075975
Nice multi-layered trick with the door! The first layer was just a bit too silly to be the real trap, as Cadence rightly pointed out. Not that Rainbow wouldn't have made an adorable bride, but I don't think she'd wear white. Not her style.
Well, that got depressing.
3075975
We'll look forward to hearing from you again in a year or so. Make sure to pack some toilet paper, cause you're probably gonna need it.
3076364 Why. Just why.
3077241 I knew I forgot something!
3077729 I come and go from TV Tropes as I please. I don't feel the need to click on every single link.
And I swear to God that the above is true. If I ever feel like I'm going too far in, I simply close the window. Not minimize, close. It's that simple.
3078206 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7ZCmPuPPlkg&t=15]
I know it's not that bad, but I played it up for comedic purposes. I still have it up on a different tab for another time when I'm not trying to do something for EqD's artist training grounds, and I don't have, like, 40 other tabs up.
Edit: Link derped. My bad.
3079457 All you really need is a little bit of self-control.
This is why you never critique a trap created by an evil lord of darkness, Cadence.
3078983
Yep. Build some confidence that a pony knows what's going down. Make them feel victorious so they don't see it when the rug is ripped out from under their from hooves.
I can't wait for Cadance to figure it out.
This was very good, and while the deception in the door is obvious to us, I am not surprised it took Cadence in like that. A highly analytical individual like Twilight would have been suspicious when she got sent to the throne room, but it is easy to fall into the trap like Cadence did.
Also, I caught one minor error in this sentence:
That should have been "exclaimed" because that would be the worst explanation ever.
3075063 One of my fav songs. Nice to meet another Tokusatsu fan.
Missed a period on the ellipsis.
And that's a pretty nice fear, dark... I like it.
oh my god, I took me so long until I figured out that was her deepest fear. Tricky I see