> Edge of the Ponyverse
>  by TopWanted
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Mare Who Laughs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pony City.  A hotbed of corruption and decay.  Every day more ponies cry out in pain or terror as some new horror or atrocity takes place here.  They called out for so long.  Finally, it was a knight that answered.  The Mysterious Mare Do-Well stood perched on a gargoyle balustrade atop the Pony City Bank.  She gazed down at the street below in powerful concentration for the men she had been tipped off would arrive.  Two hours previous, Mare Do-Well’s information and computers expert “Soothsayer” intercepted a communication about a possible armed assault on Stallion St.  The Pony City Bank was the most likely location for it.  Mare Do-Well felt a drop of rain hit the back of her head and adjusted her hat to keep the rain out of her lenses.  After another few minutes she spoke into her earpiece.

“Soothsayer,” she said.  “Are you sure about the assault being tonight?”

“Pretty sure,” Soothsayer replied on the other end.  She had a slight twang to her accent.  Not surprising since her family was originally from a western city around Appleoosa.  Soothsayer sat where she always sat every night, behind a cadre of computer terminals and screens focused on her job as Mare Do-Well’s eyes and ears.  “The communication was magical in nature so the message couldn’t have been tampered with.  Unfortunately that also means ah couldn’t extrapolate the sender or the receiver of the message.  We’re just lucky mah Dreamcatcher protocol, Dinky helped me make, intercepted it when it did.”

“No names, Soothsayer,” Mare Do-Well said with a serious tone.

“Relax, T,” Soothsayer replied.  “It’s a five times encrypted channel.  Don’t be so stressed.  You’re doin’ fine.”

Mare Do-Well scowled at how Soothsayer began to talk down to her.  “I’d just like a little professionalism is all.”

Soothsayer laughed over the channel.  “There is nothing professional about what we do.”  When Mare Do-Well didn’t reply to her joke Soothsayer sighed.  “Ah know you didn’t want this.  None of us did.  You’re goin’ to do great though.  Ah believe in you, y’know?  Just don’t try to act too much like-”

“Hold,” Mare Do-Well said quietly.  Soothsayer went silent as she began to scan her cameras video feeds of the scene.  “Do you see what I’m seeing?”

“Yup,” Soothsayer replied.  “Five bogies in an armored chariot.”  Below them on the street, a big black vehicle pulled by a massive monster of a horse pulled up to the bank’s door and stopped.  Four ponies clad in black armor and masks came out wielding the latest automatic weapon crossbows.  Mare Do-Well thought they looked ridiculously oversized for the four that carried the weapons around their shoulders.  One even fumbled with his and nearly let off a round before catching himself.  These were not pros, at least everypony but the chariot puller.  If anything they were newbies trying to make a name or get into an organization.  But they were carrying too much heavy ordinance for that.  Something felt wrong here.  “Do you see a visible tag on them somewhere that ah can run?”

Mare Do-Well didn’t have to wait long as one pony lifted his mask to speak to the others.  Something about really being sure they want to do this.  Another quickly pulled the fumbler’s mask down with a curse but it was enough for Mare Do-Well to catch a peek at the tattoo on his neck.  She knew that half and half symbol of a pony’s head anywhere.  “No need to run it, Soothsayer.  They’re Two-Mane’s thugs, at least one of them is.”

“Two Mane?” Soothsayer asked.  “Since when has she got so much firepower?  And why give it to these losers?”

“I don’t know but something’s not right,” she grumbled.  “Keep a look out for any suspicious call-ins around the city.  I think this might be a diversion.”

“Still gonna kick their flanks, right?” Soothsayer smiled.

Mare Do-Well smiled as well.  “You know me so well.”

One of the ponies in armor began to pick at the lock to the bank door as the others helped untie the big stallion.  Mare Do –Well didn’t like his eyes.  The big one felt off, like he was under some kind of spell or influence.  His gaze was just… wrong.  She wasn’t paying enough attention when she heard the door click beneath her and a pony shout quietly, “Jackpot!”  She cursed herself for losing focus and ran to the edge of the building.  

Mare Do-Well tossed a smoke grenade down before her so her landing could be covered.  The bomb hit one of the ponies in the head knocking him out instantly sand dispersing the vision covering gas.  Four more to go.  She landed without a sound as the ponies around her began to cough and sputter.  She sneaked up on one and delivered a sweep to the legs followed by a quick jab to the back of his head that brought him crashing to the ground jaw first.  Out like a light.  Three more.

Mare Do-Well spun around to find another masked pony aiming his crossbow at her.  He let loose a series of arrows, all of which missed as Mare Do-Well ducked and lunged forward.  She caught the shooter in the chest and brought up a knee to finish the job.  Another one out.

Now the smoke was receding and two more ponies were left staring at her.  The last neglected his heavy killing machine in favor of a classic tackle.  Mare Do-Well simply stepped to the side as the pony rushed by her.  He stopped before he could hit the wall behind though.  “You seriously thought I’d run into a wall and knock myself out?” he asked with a smirk.

“No,” Mare Do-Well replied.  “But he just might.”  In a brief flash of light Mare Do-Well teleported away and the giant stallion roared as he came crashing through where she used to be and straight toward the last armored pony.

“Aw, buck,” he muttered.  Mare Do-Well winced a little from behind the chariot as the large horse collided with the other and slammed him into the wall.

Mare Do-Well turned from the unconscious bodies and held her hoof to her earpiece.  “Soothsayer, that was too easy.  This is definitely a diversion.  Tell me you have something.”  Soothsayer didn’t reply.  “Soothsayer.  Soothsayer!  Apple Bloom!”

Mare Do-Well heard a loud roar as she spun around to see the big guy had gotten back up from his head trauma.  Now he held the armored chariot in his hooves over her.  Sloppy, she thought to herself.  Mare Do-Well did a slide underneath the stallion to come up behind him as he launched the chariot.  As she slid under she planted a small concussive bomb onto his chest.  When she came back up from the slide she pressed a button on her utility belt and the stallion was rocketed forward to land on his face again inside a mail box.  To Mare Do-Well’s surprise though, the monster got back up.  He turned on her in a rage and she finally got a good look at those eyes she didn’t like.  They were swollen and red but most of importantly they had the distinct traces of a Mesmer.  Damn it, not her, she thought.

The stallion tore itself from the mailbox and charged at her in a rage.  If he was being controlled by who she thought, then this guy wouldn’t stop until one of them was dead.  She had to finish this quick.  As the stallion rushed toward her Mare Do-Well planted herself firmly on the ground.  If she didn’t pull this off perfectly then it was going to hurt.  A lot.  As the stallion lunged forward to grab her, Mare Do-Well jumped in the air and somersaulted over his head.  She stuck a second concussive bomb on the monster’s forehead as she flew by and landed back on two legs behind him.  The pony finally seemed to learn from his mistakes and stopped before he could run into the wall again.  He turned back to him with venom in his eyes and charged again.  Mare Do-Well once again pressed a button on her belt and the bomb on the beast’s forehead exploded sending a shockwave through its system.  The pony screamed in pain but when it ended it began to sway haphazardly.  The mesmer effects around its eyes beginning to disappear.  It took a few steps forward and reached out for Mare Do-Well with a groan but she stood perfectly still.  With a slight blow of breath from her mouth she sent the beast toppling over with a crash.  Now that that was over with, there were more important matters.

“T,” came a voice from her earpiece.  Mare Do-Well stiffened in surprise.

“Soothsayer, are you alright?  You didn’t respond,” she asked with a panicked breath.

“Ah’m fine,” Soothsayer said with a shaky voice.  “But… you need to get over to the PCPD now!  My sister she’s…”

Soothsayer didn’t have to finish her statement as Mare Do-Well was already hurtling through the air.  She traveled with a combination of teleportation magic and enhanced strength form the suit for long distance jumps.  Mare Do-Well slipped as she almost didn’t quite make a jump and had to scoop herself back up onto the roof of the building.  “Damn,” she muttered.  “Still not quite used to it.”

However this wasn’t the time for such thoughts.  Commisioner AJ was in danger.  One of the most virtuous and honest ponies Mare Do-Well had ever known was constantly targeted by criminals and psychopaths, however the Pony City Police Department was a literal fortress.  Probably capable of holding off an invading army.  There was no way somepony could have gotten in and subdued or captured her.  Then again, there were some pretty clever villains out there.  Not to mention some of them had histories at the PCPD.  “Two-Mane,” Mare Do-Well muttered angrily.

She was only two blocks from the precinct when Soothsayer came back online.  “Mare Do-Well, it looks like she has her up on the roof.  A couple of the cops that were on patrol have returned and set up a perimeter around the precinct but they’re confused since most of the ponies inside won’t respond.”

Mare Do-Well reached the scene described and saw for herself the situation.  Two ponies stood on the roof of the red brick well-built PCPD, one with a cannon pointed at her head.  Below many officers in blue scattered floodlights around to illuminate the area above.  All the curtains were pulled down around the windows obscuring the view of the inside.  “It looks like it’s a standoff above,” she muttered into her earpiece.  “But I’m concerned about the ponies inside.”

Soothsayer let out a small sigh.  “Understood.  There’s an entranceway from below if you back track a block.  Head north in the sewers.”

“You sure you’re okay with this?” Mare Do-Well asked.

“Mah sister is tough,” Soothsayer replied with a weak chuckle.  “She can take care of herself for a few minutes.  Go save those police officers.”  Mare Do-Well wasted no time in doing so.  She ducked into the sewer a block over and waded through the filth for a couple hundred feet until she spotted the ladder and hatch that Soothsayer had mentioned.

“Let’s find out if I was right about who else is involved in this,” she said to herself.  Mare Do-Well slowly opened the hatch above to peek out.  The surrounding was dark but that made no point to her night vision lenses.  She had apparently arrived in the boiler room below the PCPD.  A quick scan of the room did not show any signs of danger.  “Soothsayer, are you back?”

“Yeah,” she replied in a worried tone.  “You were cut off down there for a minute so Ah couldn’t warn you but they’ve opened the curtains.  There’s a full view of what’s waitin’ for you inside.”

“And?”

“Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.  All the police officers and ponies are just standing perfectly still and doin’ nothing.  There’s no visible sign of hostiles.”  This was just what Mare Do-Well had feared.

“This might be more dangerous than we thought,” she growled.

“You’re thinkin’ mind control?” asked Soothsayer.  “But Two-Mane doesn’t have that capability.”

“Not her,” Mare Do-Well muttered.  “Somepony else.  I need to stick to the shadows.  Can you give me approximate locations?”

“Sure.”  She could hear Soothsayer tap furiously at her keyboard.  “Ah can’t get into the PCPD cameras but extrapolatin’ from the view of the ponies from outside Ah think Ah can get you through the halls.”

“That’s good enough,” Mare Do-Well replied as she opened the door to the boiler room and peeked out.  Luckily enough there were no ponies in the hallway she came out to.  But just to be safe she dashed over to a potted plant down the hall and hid.  The room beyond was a filing room with rows of tall black file cabinets and two ponies standing around, their backs facing her.  They took up both her pathways.  “Damn.”

“Think you can get by silently?” asked Soothsayer.

“Possibly.  But I’ll need to be quick if they notice,” she replied.  “Don’t want them alerting the others.”

“Just be careful.  They are still cops.”

“I know,” Mare Do-Well muttered.  Truth be told she didn’t really like the cops.  Cops could be bought, blackmailed, broken.  Really the only cop worth anything in this city was Commissioner AJ.  She had earned Mare Do-Well’s respect a long time ago and she just hoped that she earned the same respect from her.

Mare Do-Well jumped silently above the police officers onto the tops of the file cabinets.  Her suit made no sound and she was trained to not leave a sound from her hooffalls.  She tiptoed with the greatest skill across the room and then jumped down just out of sight.  She looked back to check that she wasn’t spotted but then noticed that a cabinet had opened on the row of files she had walked across.  It opened very slowly, heading directly for the back of one ponies head.  In a burst of speed you would not associate with the Mare, she dashed behind the cop and stopped the cabinet before it could touch him and alert him.  However that didn’t stop him from realizing there was somepony behind him.  He turned his head and opened his mouth to scream and attack.  Mare Do-Well acted fast and brought a hoof up in a grab to the mouth then spun another hoof around the cop’s neck and placed him in a chokehold.  There was a little struggle with some mumbling sounds but the officer went down quickly, unconscious.

Mare Do-Well let out a sigh of relief before heading back to the door.  Then she heard the sound of hoofsteps rushing at her.  She dodged to the side as the second cop in the room ran past her.  She stuck out a hoof to intercept him and the cop fell face first.  However, while he should have smashed his nose with a loud bang, Mare Do-Well expertly caught him in his forward descent and continued his momentum flipping him over and driving him into the ground by his neck.  Her cape muffled any extraneous noise as she choked this one unconscious as well.  Damn, she thought, that was close.

Mare Do-Well slowly opened the door to check the next room.  Just as Soothsayer said it was the main floor of the PCPD.  Desks lined the grand hall and ponies stood motionless all over the place.  She was not going to be able to sneak through this many.  She would need a different angle.  “So glad you could make it, Mare Do-Well,” came a harsh female voice from the speakers.  Mare Do-Well tensed.  The voice laughed.  “Don’t worry, I don’t see you yet.  But I know you’re there.  I know you so well.  We were partners after all.”  Two-Mane.  Once a promising official in the Pony City Government, she was an ex-racer that decided to go into politics.  However, she had a history of anger issues and mental illness.  When a mob hit attempt went sour and ended up bleaching a side of her mane and crippling her left wing she lost it.  As an official she supported the vigilantism of the Mare Do-Well, but as Two-Mane the crime boss she wants nothing more than to see her dead.  “There’s so much I want to talk to you about.  All these dreams I’ve been having.  Other you’s.  Other me’s.  It’s been making me feel so… inconsequential.  Please get up here.  I really want to talk about it.”  The speakers cut off after that.

“That mare is buckin’ nuts,” Soothsayer muttered over the earpiece.

“Channel is still open, Soothsayer,” Mare Do-Well whispered.  Soothsayer didn’t reply which Mare Do-Well took as a sign of embarrassment.  “So what’s the best way through here?”

“You’re going to need to go high,” Soothsayer replied.  “The support beams above should be able to hide your presence long enough to get across.”  Mare Do-Well grunted an affirmative and jumped high into the supports.  Sure enough, nopony was looking above as they all stood around lifelessly.  Their eyes were all like that muscle pony’s from earlier.  This was definitely not Two-Mane’s work.  But even if it was who she thought it was, something didn’t feel right about it all.  There was something else she was missing.  She prowled across the metal supports, a slight breeze from the vents hitting her.  When she was about a few hooves away from the end of the room she felt her hoofing slip and she fell forward, barely catching herself.  Suddenly the distance to the ground seemed so much greater as a wave of vertigo hit her.  “Everything okay?”

“Fine,” she whispered as she straightened up again.  “Just… fine.”  She silently jumped down from the supports and slipped into the stair case.  Nopony was in here so she wasted no time being stealthy as she dashed up the stairs to the roof.  She came face to face with the door and another wave of nausea hit her.  Damn, why was she so nervous?  It’s not like she hadn’t faced situations like this before.  Still, she needed to be careful.  She knew for a fact that it wasn’t just Two-Mane and Commissioner AJ behind those doors.  She took a deep breath and opened them with a loud creak.

The roof was filled with light making it easy to see everything around her.  Two- Mane stood with her back to her and a large cannon pointed at the commissioner who did not move, her eyes the same as the others.  When Two-Mane heard her approach she turned.  She had a cyan blue coat and half of her mane had a rainbow pattern while the other was white and burnt.  Her left wing was also scorched, showing off some bone as well giving it a skeletal look.  She had a long red scar down her left eye.  “You got here earlier than I expected!” she shouted with a smirk.

“Why are you doing this, Dash?” Mare Do-Well asked sternly.  “You’ve never been one to act so brazenly.”

“DON’T!  Don’t CALL me that!!” She shouted back, her expression instantly turning to one of rage.  “You don’t get to call me that name!  Ever!  Because of you, I had it taken from me!”  She pointed at Mare Do-Well with a sneer.

“I wasn’t responsible for that hit, Rainbow,” Mare Do-Well responded trying to calm her down.  But this just made her angrier.  Two-Mane grabbed the end of the cannon and pointed it at her.

“Take another step and I fire,” she growled.  “Even the great Mare Do-Well won’t be able to dodge a blast from this distance.”

Mare Do-Well stopped in her track.  “Where is she?” Mare Do-Well asked.  Two-Mane grinned evilly in response.  “I know she’s helping you, Rainbow.  Where is she?”  Suddenly there was a crawling sensation coming from her feet.  Mare Do-Well looked down in surprise as she saw hundreds of spiders beginning to wrap their webs around her hooves and binding her.  Mare Do-Well jumped to get out but they had already succeeded in binding her front hooves.  She dodged back and landed awkwardly nearly dislocating a shoulder.  The spiders moved forward but Mare Do-Well kicked at her utility belt with her back leg and dislodged a gas canister.  The canister exploded at the spiders and drove them off toward the wall.  Mare Do-Well righted herself and cut the bonds on her hooves to watch the spiders congregate against the wall.  She heard a deep sultry laugh.  Then hundreds of chameleons dispersed from the wall, dissolving their camouflage to reveal a beautiful yellow Pegasus in a sleek green dress made of leaves and fronds.  Her hair was a light pink that flowed around her shoulders like water, but her eyes were the thing Mare Do-Well was most scared of.  “Poison Shy.”

Once known before as Fluttershy, an animal rights activist and acclaimed biologist.  She disappeared for years having taken a trip into the amazon to try and save an endangered species.  While there she was captured by the secret lab of a powerful corporation and experimented on.  She escaped the lab and slaughtered every pony there with her new abilities they had granted her.  Her eyes were now a glowing yellow and they could mesmerize any creature they came into contact with.  She could make them do anything.  Just like those scientists she forced to kill each other.  Poison Shy gave a sultry smile as her eyes glowed at Mare Do-Well.  The villain had long since given up on trying to mesmerize the Mare since her lenses prevented the effects.  That didn’t mean she didn’t still find it fun.

“Why are you two working together?” Mare Do-Well asked.

Poison Shy walked over to Dash and laughed.  “Rainbow and I are quite similar in a way,” she said.  “We’re both pegasi that have been horribly betrayed by the ponies of the world.  However while I find solace in my animal friends, poor Dash is here with nothing to console her.  We wanted to lend a helping hoof.”

“We?” Mare Do-Well raised an eyebrow.  Then her eyes shot open in realization and she spun around but was too late.  A cloud of gas shot into her face from a hoof and she staggered back.  She coughed a bit as she looked up at a frightful sight.  “Scarecrone.”

Scarecrone stood tall above her.  A burlap mask over her tortured face.  A single white horn protruded from the mask and small waves of knotty twisted violet mane came out from beneath it.  The pony wore a black tattered shirt that reached to her flank.  Several plastic tubes came up from large needles attached to her forehooves and into a tank on her back.  Her eyes were bloodshot and crazy behind her mask.  “What’s wrong, Mare Do-Well?” she asked in a voice that once was beautiful.  “Can’t take the pressure?”

Once known as Rarity Belle, a beautiful premier designer and fledgling chemist.  She began to experiment with new off-the-wall designs and eventually ended up creating a line of dresses so avant garde that the fashion world designated them “fear inducing.”  However, they were a hit.  Rarity became obsessed with finding the key factor that made her designs so scary.  Eventually she began to experiment in drugs as well, placing chemicals into the dyes of her clothes and selling them.  The police and Mare Do-Well stopped her after the fifth pony death.  Later she broke out of her incarceration and took on the moniker Scarecrone, determined to someday find out the meaning behind fear even if she had to kill ponies to do it.  She wasn’t like the other two.  Scarecrone was a maniac.

“You’re working with Scarecrone?” Mare Do-Well asked Two-Mane as she tried to regain her balance.  Everything around her began to look like a monster as Two-Mane’s face twisted into a vision of horror.

“It’s not permanent, believe me,” Two-Mane muttered.

Scarecrone walked past the writhing Mare Do-Well over to the villains.  “Oh please, darling.  I do hope you consider me a friend after all this is over.”  She eyed Poison Shy with interest.  “And I’d simply love to take you into my basement and… show you a few designs.”

Poison Shy rolled her eyes.  “No thanks.”

“You sent the magic communication tonight,” Mare Do-Well struggled to say to Scarecrone.

“Guilty as charged,” Scarecrone cackled.

Mare Do-Well struggled to herb hooves and stood firm in front of the three.  “Why?” she asked through gritted teeth.  “Why are you all doing this?”

“Revenge,” Two-Mane growled.

“Money,” Poison Shy sighed.

“Experimentation,” Scarecrone giggled.

“I thought it’d be fun to get the gang back together.  For old time’s sake.”  Mare Do-Well froze.  That voice.  No.  It couldn’t be.  She was dead.  Mare Do-Well could feel her teeth begin to loosen she grit them so hard.  She turned to face the new voice.  “Bet you weren’t expecting me, but you know how I just love a good party.”  The pink mare let out a horrible laugh that seemed to shake the heavens themselves.  

What was once poofy pink hair now lay in dead curls around her features, died green at the tips.  A purple and pink striped suit covered her body with a rubber chicken sticking out of her pocket.  Two long cuts were across her mouth giving her the appearance of always smiling.  But that didn’t stop her from smiling anyway.  A smile Mare Do-Well knew too well.  “You are dead!!” she shouted angrily, still trying to keep her balance.

The pink mare sauntered forward, causing Mare Do-Well to take a step back out of fear.  She frowned as she inspected the Mare.  “Y’know I was sure that you would switch it up a little bit.  But no, classic Mare Do-Well suit.”  The horrifying smile returned as she giggled.  “How’s it feel to be in the big shoes, eh?”  Mare Do-Well roared and came at her with a right hook but the pink mare dodged it and responded by taking out her rubber chicken and swinging it at Mare Do-Well’s head.  It collided with a hard thwack and Mare Do-Well went down hard.  A trail of blood seeping from beneath the mask.  “Hmm, that was a little easy.”  The pink mare checked her chicken and unzipped it to find a large brick inside.  “Oops, must have left the gag chicken back home.”  She let out another hideous laugh.

Two-Mane rushed over to the two and glared at her.  “You better not have killed her.  She’s mine!”  Two-Mane grabbed one of her hooves.

The pink mare smiled.  “Trust me, girl.  If you knew what I knew you wouldn’t care in the least for that thing on the ground.”

“I want to experiment on her a little more,” cackled Scarecrone who grabbed a fallen hoof.  “I’ve always wanted to know the secrets of this suit.”

“What about you, Shy?” asked the pink mare with a smile.  “You want a leg or maybe the gizzard?”

Poison Shy looked away in disgust.  “I’m a vegetarian, Pinkster.  Let’s just get this farce over with.”

The pink mare grinned evilly.  “I totally agree.”

Mare Do-Well was still pretty dazed.  The blow to the head had cleared away a lot of the effects of Scarecrone’s fear gas but now she could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness.  There was no doubt in her mind that she had a concussion or maybe a broken skull.  She watched with heavy lidded eyes as the villains pulled her up.  She kept blacking out as she noticed them tying ropes around her hooves and then hoisting her up on something.  When she was finally able to regain her senses she was strapped to the barrel of the cannon.  The pink mare stood front and center to the villains to greet her.  “Pinkster,” she hissed through gritted teeth.  “Why are you alive?  I saw you!  I saw you fall!”

The Pinkster, Pony City premier princess of Crime.  Identity unknown.  A homicidal psychopath with the insane drive to kill any in her path.  The rest of the villains here were criminals and murderers.  This one was a true monster.  The monster that took away Mare Do-Well’s happiness, twice over.

“Yeah,” the Pinkster laughed as she began to pace before the cannon.  “I’ve survived harsher stuff y’know?”

“But she fell with you,” Mare Do-Well said weakly.  “She… she wouldn’t just let you-”


“Mare…… Are you….  Ah can’t….”  The voice of Soothsayer tried to get through her earpiece but something was scrambling it.  Mare Do-Well turned her head slightly at the sound which tipped off the Pinkster.  She leaned in close with a big smile and whispered in her ear.

“Is that the Commissioner’s little sister?” Mare Do-Well’s eyes shot open in shock.  She knew.  She knew about Apple Bloom.  “Ask her how the wheelchair’s treating her.  Or better yet, let me talk to her myself.”  Mare Do-Well let out a scream of agony as the Pinkster pulled out a pair of rusty pliers and tore the side of her mask off, tearing away some bits of fur skin as well.  She then shoved the pliers into her ear with a hard jab and pulled out a destroyed earpiece.  “Oops.  Oh, well.”

Mare Do-Well felt blood all over her face as she looked out.  The cannon had been pulled to point out at the city, specifically down at the police below.  “Why?” Mare Do-Well moaned mournfully.  “Why are you alive?  Why are you doing this?”

The Pinkster rubbed her chin in pretend thought.  “Daddy never bought me enough toys as a filly?  Time space warp?  Something to do with aliens?  Who knows and who cares.”  She let out a little laugh as she began to aim the cannon.  “When it all comes down to it.  This is the role I play and this is the role you play.  Now if you don’t mind I promised Rainbow she’d get to fire you into that crowd.”

Mare Do-Well had to act quickly.  She couldn’t reach her belt but that didn’t matter.  The villains had left her the only weapon she needed, her horn.  Surprisingly enough, most bad guys seemed to forget about the horn since she wore the hat, go figure.  With a little magic she successfully pulled out a small canister and brought it to her hoof.  Two-Mane was the first to notice it.  “Somepony stop-” But she was cut off as Mare Do-Well depressed the canister and it let loose sonic screech.  All the villains grabbed their ears in pain.  Using the distraction, she expertly slipped out of her restraints and back flipped over the cannon.  She proceeded to deliver a two legged kick into the stomach of the closest bad guy, which happened to be Poison Shy.  With a loud “OOF!” she went down hard.  Mare Do-Well could see the commissioner slowly begin to shake her head in confusion as she was released from the mesmer’s control.  

Two-Mane shouted at her, enraged as she pulled out a small crossbow she had stuffed behind a set of piping.  She shot out a volley of magic arrows at Mare Do-Well who managed to dodge most of them.  However one last caught her in the leg.  The suit stayed strong and didn’t let it penetrate but she could still feel the impact break a bone.  Mare Do-Well let out a cry of pain before grabbing a bola from her belt and hurling it at the one-winged Pegasus.  Two-Mane couldn’t turn to run in time and her legs were caught causing her to come crashing to the ground.

Mare Do-Well still had to move though.  She blinked away just in time as the last two villains, Scarecrone and the Pinkster, jumped down at her with weapons.  Scarecrone with her patented hoof needles and Pinkster with a giant cartoon mallet.  Pinkster hit the ground as she disappeared sending a shockwave through the roof and causing several fracture lines to appear.  “Tut tut, Mistress Mare,” the Pinkster clucked.  “You wouldn’t want the building coming down would you?  Not on all those poor pony’s heads.”

The two began to prowl the roof looking for her as Mare Do-Well reappeared behind a large generator that hid her from view.  Her leg hurt like hell but she couldn’t think about that now.  After a minute, Scarecrone ran back to the commissioner and grabbed her in a choke hold, her needles to her throat.  “That’s enough playing, Mare Do-Well!” she shouted to the roof.  “Come out now or the commissioner gets it!”

The Pinkster nodded her agreement also rolling back her mallet.  “Plus I might just break down this roof and then we all just topple over.”

“You really do have a few screws loose, don’t you?” Scarecrone asked with a smirk.

The Pinkster laughed.  “Says the diva in the rags.”

“I’m a trendsetter not a follower.”

With the distraction of their conversation, Mare Do-Well jumped down from above and delivered a flying kick to the back of Scarecrone’s head.  The unicorn went down hard and dropped AJ who was finally seeming to come out of it.  Mare Do-Well approached her.  “Are you alright?”

Commissioner AJ nodded.  “Fine.  I’ll be fine.  I- LOOK OUT!”  Mare Do-Well wasted no time in jumping away with the commissioner as Pinkster’s mallet came down and turned bannister gargoyle to rubble.  The cops below began to shout as the rocks fell.

“Not bad.  Not bad,” the Pinkster mused as she reared back her mallet again.  “I swear if I didn’t know what I knew about you I’d think you were for real.”

“What?” AJ asked in confusion.

“Musings of a lunatic,” Mare Do-Well muttered.  “I’m going to fix that.”  She lunged forward and brought up a collapsible baton that intercepted the Pinkster’s next attack.

“Oh yes!  Fix me, oh mighty warrior.  I’m waiting in r-r-r-rapt anticipation,” she rolled.  Mare Do-Well gave the Pinkster’s legs a sweep and pushed the mad mare back.  She landed on her flank by the bannister, Mare Do-Well batting away her mallet.  The Pinkster looked up at her with an evil smile.  “So what now, little pony?”  Mare Do-Well roared and thrusted her elbow down onto the Pinkster’s neck and pushed.  She watched as the pony tried to wiggle out of it by crawling up the bannister behind her but it was to no avail.  Everypony gasped below as they saw the Mare Do-Well choking the Pinkster up above.  Even through her gasping breaths the Pinkster somehow laughed.  “Did I… strike a chord… with something?”

“Why?” Mare Do-Well shouted, tears beginning to mix with the blood in her mask.  “What kind of god would take her and let something like you live!?  Why are you alive?!”

“Not yet, hero,” the Pinkster choked out.  “The story… isn’t there… yet.”

“Stop!” came a voice from behind her.  Mare Do-Well didn’t need to look around to realize who it was though.  Standing behind her, with the crossbow Two-Mane had just used pointed at her, was Commissioner AJ.  “Don’t go any further, Mare Do-Well.”

“You of all ponies, AJ,” Mare Do-Well screamed.  “After everything this monster has done to you.  To your family.  Killing your grandmother.  Crippling Apple Bloom.  All the pain and torture she’s brought this city and you don’t want this?”

“Ah never said Ah don’t want this!” AJ shouted with determination.  A quiet pause passed between the two.  “Ah know what she did to me and mine.  But Ah won’t let her do this to you.”  Mare Do-Well turned her attention back to the Pinkster who was beginning to turn blue in the face as she did not let up her choke hold.  She grit her teeth as she began to push a little harder but let go when she heard a crossbow cock behind her.  Mare Do-Well looked up at the sky and let out a long scream that pierced the night air.  When she was done she let go of the Pinkster completely who took in a huge breath.  Mare Do-Well fell back on her flank as she began to breathe heavily.  Before they could both get up police ponies began to swarm the roof and hoof cuff the villains, including Pinkster.  AJ dropped the crossbow and walked over to Mare Do-Well to put a hoof on her shoulder.  “What’s wrong with you?  You’ve been acting weird since the-” She was interrupted.

Mare Do-Well threw the comforting hoof off and ran for the edge of the roof and jumped.  Police followed and saw her disappear mid fall and reappear on another rooftop.  She repeated this until she was out of sight.  “Should we give chase?” a pony asked thee commissioner.

“Why?” AJ replied.  “You’d never catch her.”

Pinkster watched her leave as well and began to chuckle.  Which turned into a chortle.  Which turned into maniacal laughter.  Mare Do-Well could hear it from twelve blocks away.  When she had finally gone far enough to not hear it anymore she stopped and dropped to her knees.  The rain finally began to fall and Mare Do-Well turned her head up to see it.  A bolt of lightning crossed the sky followed by a howling boom.  Mare Do-Well matched it tone for tone.  She spent the rest of that night, screaming into the sky, trying to fight the storm.

---<^^>---

Two hours later Mare Do-Well finally made it back to her sanctum, a large cavern hidden underneath the Pony City Library.  She couldn’t even bring herself to replace her wet clothes as she sat before a cadre of computer banks.  Local news blared on the screens reporting the apprehension of the villains and the fact that no lives were lost.  No stations mentioned the return of the Pinkster seemingly from the dead.  Though why should they?  There was no death certificate.  No body found.  That is to say, neither body found.  

Mare Do-Well rose from her seat and walked across the dark cavern floor over to a set of four display cases.  One was empty and usually held her own suit.  Another held a slightly modified version of her suit with a hood instead of a hat and dark blue cape.  The other two were much different. Both being black with a blue “M” on one and a red “M” on the other.  Mare Do-Well placed a hoof against the glass of the display with a blue “M” and sighed mournfully.  She brought her own cape up to her cheek and rubbed it against herself fondly.  “T?” came a voice from her computer banks.

Mare Do-Well turned back to the computers and pressed a button letting a symbol appear on screen of crystal ball.  “I’m here, Soothsayer,” she replied without emotion.

“Ah see you’re just as torn up about this as Ah am,” Soothsayer replied with a scorned voice.  “…you did the right thing y’know?”

Mare Do-Well didn’t reply to that.  “I’ve been thinking about it recently.  About… her.”  They were both silent for a minute.  “Do you think… she would approve of the choices I’ve made?”

“You can’t live your life thinkin’ like that,” Soothsayer responded.  “You’re your own pony.”  Mare Do-Well nodded even though Soothsayer couldn’t see it.  “You did a good job.  She’d be proud.”

“I hope so,” Mare Do-Well whispered.  “Mare Do-Well out.”  The display disappeared and in its place was silence.  A silence Mare Do-Well welcomed whole heartedly.  The night was finally over.  She turned and began to remove her hat when a sonic boom rocked the floor.  Mare Do-Well was sent flying as she landed on her back.  When she righted herself and took up a defensive stance, she was surprised to see something in the middle of the cavern.  In the middle of the floor, vibrating tremendously fast was a pony in a white bodysuit with purple stripes.  However, what surprised Mare Do-Well more was that this pony had the same face and mane as a pony she knew very well.  “Pinkster!!”

The new mare turned to see Mare Do-Well fire a volley of magical blasts at her.  To Mare Do-Well’s amazement the pony that looked just like Pinkster dodged the blast with incredible speed.  Almost inpony speed.  Within a blink she had traversed the length of the cavern and come face to face with Mare Do-Well.  The Mare brought a hoof to her belt but was surprised to find it missing.  The pink pony flaunted the belt in front of her with a smirk.  “Are we done?” she asked.

“Not even close,” Mare Do-Well hissed.  “Computer!  Protocol 14!  Lightning!  Balloon!  Diamond!”

The computer’s voice responded.  “Protocol 14 enabled.  Weapons systems online.”  New cannons and long range weapons emerged from all over the cavern aimed directly at the pink mare’s head.

“This is going to hurt you a lot more than me,” Mare Do-Well smirked as the weapons fired.

Then nothing.

Mare Do-Well seemed to blink and the weapons around the room were gone.  The pink mare in the white suit dashed back to her in a trail of lightning as she dumped the last of the deactivated weapons onto the floor.  Her expression was now incredibly serious.  “That’s enough, Twilight!”

Mare Do-Well took a step back in shock.  “How do you know that name?”

“I know a lot about you,” the pink mare replied.  “And I need your help.”

Mare Do-Well scrutinized her carefully.  “You’re not the Pinkster, are you?”

“I’m guessing that’s this world’s version of me?” replied the mare.  “My name is Filli-Second.  You have to listen to me when I say this.”  Mare Do-Well did not get out of her defensive stance but did indicate for her to continue.  “I come from another reality where a great evil has been unleashed.  One that may threaten all realities.  I need your skill and smarts.”  She held out a hoof.  “Will you join me?”

Mare Do-Well frowned but couldn’t find any indication that she was lying.  Either this pony truly believed her own ludicrous words or…  She looked around at the amount of damage this Filli-Second had been able to do to the cavern in under thirty seconds.  Plus her method of arrival was very peculiar.  She took one last look toward the empty display case and sighed inwardly.  What would you do, she thought.

“Can I get my belt back?” Mare Do-Well asked with a hint of indignation.  Filli-Second tossed it over.  “Thanks.”

“So you’ll come with me?” Filli-Second asked with a smile.

“Depends,” Mare Do-Well muttered as she reattached the belt.  “Where are we going?”

Filli-Second grinned.  “Everywhere.”  Mare Do-Well frowned again but nodded.  This wasn’t the weirdest thing to ever happen to her.  She took Filli-Second’s hoof and the mare pulled her in closer.  “Hold tight.  This may get a little vibratey.”

“What the hay is vibra-”  Mare Do-Well never finished her thought as once again the room exploded and the two were gone.  The cavern stood dead silent and still, an empty display case sitting in wait.

> Top Dash
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So what do you think?”

“I think she’s perfect.  And she’s just twelve?”

“I know, right?”

“…”

“So you want her?”

“Buck yeah, I want her!  A powerhouse like that will be a captain in under five years.”

“There is one snag.”

“…”

“She’s got a bit of an attitude problem.”

“I’d expect her to!”

“I mean, a HUGE attitude problem.”

“Ha.  Don’t worry.  I’ll whip this mare into shape.  What was her name again?”

“Dash.  Rainbow Dash.”

===E8DB

Rainbow woke up with a jolt as the morning horn sounded.  She was still in her cot at the base.  Weird.  She hadn’t dreamed about the past in a long time.  It had been almost ten years now since the Wonderbolts Commander Easyglider took her under her wing and made her a Wonderbolt cadet.  It was thanks to that mare, who had been like a second mother to her, that Rainbow had done something with her life.  Still she did miss home.  With an open state of war, all officers were expected to stay on base in case of attack.  She hadn’t been back to Cloudsdale in over four years.  The horn blasted again once more and her roommate below her grumbled with disdain.  “Four more minutes.”

Dash jumped out of bed and pulled the covers off of Lightning Dust’s cot.  “Get up, sleepyhead!  Time for morning practice.”

“Guuuuhhh!” Lightning moaned, her mane a mess from last night’s sleep.  She lifted her head and glared at her perfectly awake roommate.  “I had the weirdest dream.”

“Really?  Me too,” Rainbow replied as she went to the bathroom to brush her hair.  “I had a dream about my childhood.  What about you?”

Lightning shook her head and smacked her lips to get her mouth wet from last night’s sleep.  “Naw, nothing like that.  It was just… weird.  Like there was a bunch of different you’s and bunch of different me’s.”

“Oh really?”  Rainbow raised an eyebrow and stuck her head out the door of the bathroom.  “What were these other us’s doing?”

Lightning tossed a pillow at her that hit the doorframe.  “Get your head out of the gutter,” she chuckled.  Then her expression changed.  “It was more like… we were all in agony.  Scared or something.”

Rainbow turned on the shower head and tested the temperature.  Perfect.  She turned back to Lightning who was still getting out of her night shirt.  “Maybe it’s got something to do with an inherent fear.  Maybe something between you and me?”  She grinned at Lightning who looked at her as if she wanted more pillows to throw her way.

“You got me,” Lightning said mockingly.  “I’m afraid of commitment.”

“Ha!  Knew it!”  Rainbow got into the shower and began to hum to herself.  After a minute she unconsciously began to sing the words as well.  “Hush now, quiet now.  It’s time to lay your sleepy head.”

“Whatcha singing?”  Lightning asked from the room.

Rainbow opened her eyes in surprise, not realizing that she had been singing.  “Uh, I think it’s a song one of my friends used to sing.”

“Anypony I know?”  Lightning asked as she joined her in the bathroom and began to brush her teeth.

“No,” Rainbow muttered softly.  “No, I don’t think so.”

Less than an hour later the two were on tarmac of Wonderbolt Base Alpha:  Sky Glaive.  The structure was more than three miles in diameter and housed over five hundred pegasi troops battle ready for deployment.  The base was composed entirely of clouds and wind attribute materials that could survive living above clouds.  While this base was mobile, the one below wasn’t.  On the ground was Camp Hoofenbach, housing nearly a thousand other pony troopers and soldiers.

Rainbow took a look above her at the sky.  The moon sat neatly next to the sun in an eternal dance.  The light below stopped just about a mile away from the camps ending in a land filled with night.  Another day, she thought.  Another ordinary day on the dayline.  Lightning and Rainbow said their goodbyes as they parted for morning training.  Both ponies had long since passed the point where they were expected to take place in such daily exercises, but they were expected to train other younger ponies.  Rainbow smiled to herself for having finally found a pony she could relate to after Easyglider’s death.  Lightning had joined the program a year after Dash and accelled at nearly everything.  Within a matter of weeks they became great friends and even got to share a room in the officers’ quarters.  Rainbow had become a captain at the age of 18, Lightning at 20.  

Rainbow took a look at her newest recruits from a distance before she approached.  She had been training this group for close to two weeks and they had begun to show some promise.  Some, which was not great.  Rainbow expected nothing less than perfection.  When she presented herself and walked in front of their line they gave her a salute and stood at attention.  “At ease!” she shouted.  The ponies let out a collective sigh of relief as some began to rub their eyes, still trying to wake up.  “Today we are going to run some focus drills.”  She began to pace as she spoke.  “When you are in the air you are vulnerable, exposed.  Danger can come at you from all sides.  You must have a 360 degree field of vision.  To train that into you, were going to be flying with these.”  She threw down a couple of blinders that the recruits were expected to pick up.  Most did except for one dark blue mare with an anxious look on her face.  “Everything alright, Zipline?”

Zipline nodded but then turned to her instructor with a worried expression.  “Um, were just fighting Nightmare Moon’s monsters, right?”

“That is what the war for the past four years has been about,” Rainbow joked, gaining a snicker from the group.  Zipline still did not look convinced.

“But captain, last night I think I saw something during midnight watch,” she stammered.

Rainbow folded her hooves and frowned.  She noticed the rest of the group beginning to take this time to lollygag so she shouted at them, “Start with ten laps around the tarmac!”  The group groaned and flew off but Rainbow kept Zipline back.  “You reported this?”

“I…  I didn’t know if I should,” Zipline replied.  “I mean the more I think about it it was probably just the light.”

Rainbow placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.  “Cadet, what did you see?”

Zipline looked into her captain’s eyes and bit her lip.  “I saw… a pony.  In a Wonderbolt uniform.  Only it wasn’t.”

Rainbow lifted an eyebrow.  “What do you mean it wasn’t?”

Zipline shook her head as if to dislodge the memory.  “It was only for a second.  She was so fast.  But it looked like her uniform was purple with black hooves and mask.  I was going to call it in, I swear!  But the night watch supervisor is pretty strict about false alarms and if that was just an officer out for a night fly I didn’t want to get in trouble.”  She paused for a moment to judge Rainbow’s reaction.  “We are the only ponies here, right?  Cause there have been rumors.  Ponies saying that the Nightmare Moon has been gathering an army of ponies loyal to her just past the dayline.”

Rainbow frowned and looked over her at the horizon.  It was true that after the epic battle known as Nightmare’s Return, half of Equestria had been subjugated by eternal night.  After Nightmare came back from her thousand year imprisonment in the moon she came to a town called Ponyville.  Apparently there was some ragtag team of ponies there that tried to beat her themselves.  Reports said that those ponies never succeeded.  Only one of the names of the ponies on that list meant anything to her.  A pony she knew as a filly.  One that used to be bullied a lot.  One that for the past four years she had felt guilty about not protecting.

The Princess fought tooth and nail against the Nightmare but it ended in a stalemate that split the land in two.  So many ponies were left on the other side, Nightmare refusing their release.  Rainbow supposed it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that Nightmare Moon had swayed some ponies to her side.  After all, they were pretty much abandoned.  “I’ve heard those rumors too, Zipline,” Rainbow said.  “I don’t know if their true or not either.  But tell you what, I’ll report what you saw to Commander Spitfire.  That way it gets done and you don’t get in trouble.”  Zipline nodded and ran off to the track.  “Hang on!” She stopped and turned.  “What exactly made you think it was a she?”

Zipline rubbed her chin thoughtfully.  “She had a long flowing mane.  Longest I’ve ever seen.  Plus it was bright pink.”  With that she ran back to her group, leaving Rainbow to sit down on the tarmac, too stunned to move.

===E8DB

“You think who might be alive?” asked Lightning as the two ordered their next round of drinks.  Practice had ended and the day was over.  While Princess Celestia still raised and lowered the sun to keep her ponies healthy, the moon never left the sky.  At this time of night, this side of the dayline was just as dark as the other.  Especially tonight since it was the solstice.  The longest night of the year.  Rainbow and Lightning liked to come to the officers’ bar in Camp Hoofenbach on nights like this.  A nice time to pick up stallions and get hammered.  The waitress came around their table within a minute with two new pints of cider ale.  “Thanks.  You were saying?”

“I think a friend of mine might be alive,” Rainbow muttered.

“This same friend that you just said was in the group that tried to take on the big bad Nightmare themselves?” Lightning asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.  “Wasn’t she on a list of casualties?”

“Missing!” Rainbow said loudly as she stamped a hoof on the table.  “She was pronounced missing!  Not dead.”

“Right.  Right.  Missing… In Nightmare land.”

“I know how it sounds,” Rainbow grabbed her mane in frustration and scratched furiously.  “Graah!  I just…  If she’s alive and behind the line then I need to go over there and save her.”

At the mention of this Lightning’s drunken attitude disappeared.  “Girl, you don’t just cross the line.  Nopony crosses the line without a royal decree.  To do so would be… well, crossing the line!”

“I have to do something,” Rainbow muttered.  “She’s the first friend I ever had.”

Lightning pushed her drink away and leaned over the table toward her.  “You don’t even know if whatever that grunt of yours saw last night was actually her.  For all you know it very well could be just an officer.”

“How many officers do you know with long pink flowing manes?” Rainbow asked seriously.

Lightning stared at her for a long moment before letting out a sigh and leaning back in her seat.  “Fine.  You want to throw your career away?  Go.  See if I care.”

“Oh I think you care,” Rainbow smirked.

“No.”

“I think you care a lot.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“After all why would you be having hot dreams about me,” Rainbow burst into laughter.

“Oh shut the hay up!  It was not… I was…  Shut up!”  Lightning frowned and crossed her arms in front of her in a mock pout.

“So?” Rainbow asked after getting all the laughs out.

Lightning looked her in the eye and let out a groan.  “I swear you can’t do anything without me.”

“Probably,” Rainbow smiled and held out her pint for a toast.  “But you can be my wingmare any day.”

“Get real,” Lightning protested as she raised her pint as well and the two clinked.  “You’ve always been my wingmare.”

===E8DB

As the moon reached its zenith and the nightlife began to die down, Rainbow and Lightning slipped into their uniforms and took to the skies.  Their destination, the other side of the dayline.  They touched down just before a long miles wide trench that the ponies had dug to designate the separation of the continent.  Both mares hesitated for a moment.  “After you,” Lightning whispered.

“Why me?” Rainbow asked.

“Because this was your whole bucking idea!” Lightning shot back.  Rainbow couldn’t argue with that and took a deep breath before jumping over the line.  She expected something to change but the grass felt just as soft and the air was just as humid.  “Everything okay?  You’re not… zonked out are you?”

“What’s ‘zonked’?” she asked.

“Yeah, you’re you.”  Lightning took a deep breath and jumped over as well.  “Huh, I was kind of expecting something.”

“I know right?” Rainbow replied before taking wing again and flying toward the tree line.  Unbeknownst to both, a dark figure emerged from the undergrowth and watched as they flew away.  It was clad in a black and purple uniform and grinned devilishly as it turned its attention to the twin camps just past the dayline.

After about twenty minutes of flight Lightning began to whine.  “So do you know exactly where we’re going?”  Rainbow shot her a quick backwards glance that told Lightning everything she needed to hear.  “Great!  You have no idea where to start, do you?”

“Ponyville,” Rainbow replied.  “We start in Ponyville.”

“May I ask why?” Lightning asked.

“That’s the last place she was seen.  It’s where we’re going to start.”

They touched ground in Ponyville about ten minutes later.  The place looked like most normal towns across Equestria.  Normal houses.  Normal shops.  There even seemed to be a treebrary and a gingerbread sweets shop.  It almost looked like a paradise.  If it wasn’t so dark and-

“Quiet,” Lightning muttered as she surveyed the area.  “It’s too quiet.”

“That’s a cliché,” Rainbow retorted.  “Of course it’s going to be quiet at night.”

“Dash, I’m serious,” Lightning whispered.  “I don’t think there’s anypony alive out here.”  Rainbow frowned but kept a close eye out.  They made their way to the town hall where Rainbow entered first.  “Gonna apply for a new flyer’s license?”

“I need to find out where she lived,” Rainbow muttered back.  “Just wait out here for a minute and I’ll be back.”  Lightning nodded an affirmative as Rainbow went deeper into the town hall.  Slowly but surely she was beginning to realize that Lightning might be right.  The building looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in years.  Down the hall was a door marked “Town Files” she headed there but stopped when something caught her eye.  A big double door close to the entry hall was slightly ajar and she saw a wisp of something blow out from it.  She walked forward slowly and looked down to find it was… confetti?  Carefully, she opened the door and peered inside.  The moon illuminated the room with light causing Rainbow to take in a sharp breath.  The room was some kind of grand reception hall with banners and streamers everywhere.  Somepony here liked the color pink since it was almost everywhere.  She noticed a large banner had been cut and hung down close to the ground.  She grabbed its end and flew up to unfurl it.  It read “Summer Sun Celebration.”  Rainbow bit her lip.  Nightmare Moon attacked on the Summer Sun Celebration.  These ponies’ lives all seemed to have stopped on that day.  If they were still here, what were they doing these past years?

“Dash!” Lightning shouted from outside.  Rainbow shook her head and returned to reality.  She shot off to the front door and landed in a skid.

“What?  What is it?” she shouted.  Lightning tackled her and pulled her under the porch of the town hall to hide.  Rainbow tried to question her or get her to let go but Lightning just gave her a pleading look and shushed her.  Her eyes went to the ground outside as a couple pairs of hooves landed on the ground where they had been standing.  Their boots were black with purple uniforms.

“You sure you heard something down here?” asked one with a raspy voice.

“I think so,” replied another with a more masculine voice.  “Could have sworn I saw a Pegasus here too.”

“They’re all at the line,” the other replied.  “Where we should be.  Come on!  I don’t want to be last in line for the invasion!”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide.  Invasion?  Whoever these ponies were they were going to invade Celestia’s domain.  She looked to Lightning who returned her worried expression.

“Hey, you think the admiral’s going to be there?” the stallion asked as they began to take off.

Rainbow could not hear the last of their conversation as the two pegasi flew off.  When they couldn’t hear their wings beat anymore the two mares emerged from under the building.  Rainbow couldn’t hold in her panic.  “Damn it!  This is bad.  This is very bad.”

Lightning brushed the dirt off her uniform and glared at Rainbow.  “Okay, mission aborted.  We need to get back to base now!”

“No! Please!  Just let me go and grab that address and I’ll-”  Lightning grabbed her friend’s shoulders.

“Dash!  Listen to me!  There’s no telling your friend is even still alive!  Plus they just said that everypony that lived here was at the line.  That means this whole town has gone native!  What if…”  Lightning tried to finish her thought but couldn’t when Rainbow shot her a death glare.

“What if what, huh?” Rainbow spat back.  “What if she’s gone native too?  Is that what you were about to ask?  No way, the pony I remember was afraid of her own shadow, let alone eternal night.  If anything she’s holed up somewhere crying her eyes out.”

“For four years?” Lightning replied angrily.  “Ponies change, Dash!  Even the strongest of us succumb if there’s enough pressure.  Sounds to me like your friend would have broken under a minute.”  Rainbow slapped Lightning across the face.  For the longest moment the two simply stood silently, then Lightning turned her cheek to look Dash in the eye.  “Why are you trying so hard now?  You haven’t thought of this pony in years, never even mentioned her.”

Rainbow grit her teeth and looked away, then she headed back to the town hall.  “See if you can get to the camps before them.  I’ll catch up shortly,” she said with her back turned.  Lightning scowled at her friend’s hard headedness but took off anyway, leaving Rainbow alone.  She went back in the town hall and into the “Town Files” room where she found the address she needed.

Five minutes later Rainbow stood in front of a pleasant looking little cottage.  At least it would have been pleasant if not for the decaying remains of an animal sanctuary next to it.  Rainbow had to hold her nose as she passed.  Either something had recently died in the chicken coop or some animal had chosen this deserted spot for its bathroom.  She took a gulp and tried the door, not surprised to find it open.  The door opened slowly allowing her a view of the inside.  Just like she feared, the place looked deserted.  No pony had lived here for years at least.  Many of the curtains and furniture were chewed up or eaten by moths.  Rainbow could hear the nervous skitter of bugs and mice as she entered.  Across the living room was a stairway to a bedroom above.  The bannister on it had been chewed through as well.  Nothing in this house suggested a living thing.  Rainbow sighed with despair as she turned to leave but stopped when she noticed a dusty picture in the wall.  She brushed the dust off and saw a yellowing photo.  It was of two fillies.  One with a rainbow mane and cyan hoof wrapped around the others neck and smiling broadly, a few bumps and scratches on her suggesting she was in a fight.  The other filly was slightly taller with a beautiful yellow coat and flowing pink mane that covered one of her eyes.  She was trying to tend to the wounds of the smaller filly but looked surprised as she grabbed her around the neck for a friendly hug.  Rainbow placed a hoof on the photo and bit her lip to stifle the emotions it brought forth.  “Fluttershy,” she whispered.

“Speak of the devil,” a feminine voice came from behind her and Rainbow turned around sharply.  A tall mare with the same purple and black uniform she had seen before stood before her.  Her goggles and face mask were up but there was no mistaking that flowing pink mane.  “And she shall appear.”

“No way,” Rainbow whispered doubtfully.  The mare noticed her hesitation so she lifted her goggles and pulled back her mask.  Rainbow gasped as she saw the ocean blue eyes she remembered from her childhood as well as the yellow coat.  “Fluttershy?  Is it really you?”

Fluttershy walked forward, taking a look around the cottage with a small smile.  “I haven’t been back to this place in years.”  She looked back to Dash and her smile grew wider.  “It’s good to see you, Rainbow.”

Rainbow ran forward and hugged her long lost friend, some tears slipping out.  “When I heard you might be alive I… I just needed…”  She pulled back from her and sniffled.  “I’m so sorry I never visited.  When I thought you were dead I nearly…”

Fluttershy placed a hoof on her mouth to silence her.  “It’s okay.  I knew how busy you were in Easyglider’s battalion.  I couldn’t expect to see you every week.”  She smiled too as her eyes began to water as well.  She quickly brushed them away.  Rainbow did the same and the two mares laughed at each other.  Then Rainbow finally noticed the uniform Fluttershy was in.

“Why are you in that getup?” She asked hesitantly.  “I just saw a couple of ponies in that costume talking about invading the line.  Are they Nightmare Moon’s minions?”

“Yes and no,” Fluttershy replied, her smile beginning to slip.

Rainbow nodded her head in realization.  “Oh, of course!  You’re disguising yourself so you can move among them safely, right?”

Fluttershy’s smile was gone now.  “Not exactly, Rainbow.”

Rainbow frowned but finally saw something different about her uniform compared to the others.  While the other two she saw had one lightning stripe to separate the colors on their uniform, Fluttershy had three.  Along with a large medal on her chest.  It was dark blue and bore the symbol of a crescent moon.  Rainbow shook her head as she frowned and looked back up at Fluttershy’s eyes.  “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy’s face had many conflicting emotions.  “Just let me explain.”  She tried to move toward her but Rainbow backed away, confusion and pain on her face.

“You’re… one of them?” she asked.

Fluttershy’s face contorted in anger.  “Don’t judge me!  You do not get to judge me!  You weren’t there!  You didn’t see what happened!”

Rainbow stamped and angry hoof on the ground.  “I heard!  You were part of a group that went into the Everfree forest to try and stop Nightmare Moon.  The only reports about that incident were that you went missing.”

Fluttershy grit her teeth as she turned toward the window and looked out at the moon.  “We were doing fine.  Surpassed any obstacle that came at us.  Then we reached a broken bridge.  I was the only one who could fly across the gorge and reattach it.  On the other side I was greeted by a group of ponies, ones in the uniform you saw before.  They offered me… a position in their ranks.”  She paused for a moment as she turned back to Rainbow and tried to smile.  “I was never like you.  I never wanted fame or to be the fastest in Equestria.  So I turned them down.  But they distracted me.  I didn’t tie the knot tight enough.  My friends.  All of them.  The rope snapped and they fell.  I wasn’t… fast enough to save them.”  Tears began to return to her eyes.  Then with a wipe of her hoof the tears were gone and her eyes looked dead inside.  “That’s when they came back.  They offered me power this time.  The strength to save those I couldn’t.  The speed to overcome my limitations.  It was my fault the others died.  So I accepted.  Now I needed strength.  Now I needed fortitude if I wanted to complete the mission my friends started.”

“But you didn’t,” Rainbow interrupted.  “Those ponies you’re with are going to attack everypony on the other side of the dayline.  Nightmare Moon is trying to invade!”

“Nightmare Moon is dead!” Fluttershy shouted.  A new silence spread across the room.  “That’s right, I killed her.  Two years ago, with the same power she gave me, I put a sword right through her chest.  And do you know what I found?”  Rainbow couldn’t reply she was too stunned.  “We were lied to!  Nightmare Moon wasn’t a monster.  She was the lost sister of Celestia.  That’s what she told me with her last breath.”  She got up on two hooves and spread her wings and arms out.  “We were free!  But at the same time we weren’t.  The moon was still up there casting its darkness and we had just killed a royal sister.  Everypony on this side of the line feared the reprisal.  And why shouldn’t they?  For years we had been living under the rule of a tyrant.  For many of the ponies here they can’t even walk in the sun anymore!  So we all came to a consensus.  Celestia abandoned us, then we would abandon Celestia.  And that worked for about a year.  But you know nothing can grow without sunlight.”  She took a step toward Rainbow and glared at her with a manic seriousness.  “We’re running out of food.  This is the only way.”

Rainbow grabbed her friend’s shoulders.  “No it’s not!  Just come back with me and explain everything to Princess Celestia.  She’s a good pony, she’ll forgive you.”

“No!” Flutterhsy shouted as she jumped back from Dash.  “I’ve had enough dealings with gods!”  A dark miasma of energy began to billow around her hooves.

Rainbow looked down at the floor and the spreading darkness.  “Fluttershy, what did you do?”

A wicked smile played across Fluttershy’s face.  “All that darkness had to go somewhere.”  Suddenly the room was plunged into blackness and Rainbow was left blind.  She stumbled around looking for Fluttershy and waving her hooves around to find her.  “You can still help me, Rainbow,” Fluttershy’s voice called out from the darkness.  “I still consider you my friend.  I can offer you the same thing she offered me.”  An image appeared in the darkness of a Rainbow Dash clad in purple and black, dark magic flowing from her eyes.  “We can help everypony here that was abandoned.  Together we could unite Equestria!”

Rainbow stared at the powerful image of herself for a moment then turned away in disgust.  “Fluttershy, please don’t do this!  There’s another way this can go.  We can talk to Celestia.  Find a compromise.”

“Did Celestia compromise when she imprisoned her only sister in the moon for a thousand years?” Fluttershy shouted back.  “I told you, I’m done dealing with gods and monsters!”

Rainbow grit her teeth in frustration.  “The only monster I see right now is you!”  Rainbow let out a gasp after she said it, immediately regretting her words.  The darkness receded just enough to show Fluttershy by the door of the cottage.

“Very well,” she said solemnly, a look of rage in her eyes.  “If that’s what you think, then a monster I’ll be.”  She stamped a hoof and summoned a mass of shadows that took form as a black version of Rainbow.  “I’m needed on the battlefield anyway.  I’ll leave you to work out your problems with yourself.”  With a flip of her mane she shot off into the sky, the shadow doppelganger getting into a fighting stance.

Rainbow felt her heart ache as she watched Fluttershy fly away but set her hooves and prepared for a fight.  “Fine, you want some of me!?”  The doppelganger made the first move and lunged at her with amazing speed.  Rainbow took it head on, literally as the two headbutted each other.  Rainbow could feel blood begin to drip down her mask but she did not let up.  “Fluttershy thinks you can stop me?” she shouted.  The doppelganger did not respond but kept up the pressure.  “She was right about one thing!  I wasn’t there with her!  Just like she wasn’t there with me!  She has no idea what I’ve been through!”  She pushed forward a step.  “The pain I’ve felt!”  Another step.  “The loved ones I’VE lost!”  The doppelganger lost its footing on its back hooves and fell to its knees, Rainbow still applying pressure.  “I will never give up!  Not just on my home, but her too!  Whether she wants it or not!”  Rainbow lifted her head for a brief second only to bring it down again, shattering the doppelganger into wisps of shadow.  Rainbow let out a large sigh and wiped the blood from her forehead.  With a determined look she turned to the sky outside the door.  Sunrise was still a couple hours away.  In the distance she could make out what looked like a swarm of dark figures gathering eastward toward the dayline.  “I won’t abandon you this time, Fluttershy.”

===E8DB

Lightning swore to herself as she closed the distance to the dayline.  There was a massive amount of ponies gathering about a mile out from it, both on the ground and above.  It would take hours for her to find a way to fly around.  For now she hid herself in some bushes and watched the invaders as they sat impatiently for somepony they called the Admiral to arrive.  Three sat at a campfire that burned a deep blue casting something that looked like moonlight on them.  One’s stomach rumbled hungrily.  “Buck!  I’m starving!”

Another at the fire offered her a bottle of what could only be liquor.  The first pony rejected it and stood up angrily.  Lightning saw a cutie mark of three flowers on her flank and the pony’s eyes were illuminated in iridescent red.  She began to pace back and forth with a look of anger.  “We can’t move till the Admiral gives the word,” the third pony stated, whom Lightning noticed had some pieces of candy for a cutie mark.  Her eyes too were red.

The flower pony grabbed her by the mane and shoved her.  The candy pony got right back up with a feral growl and lunged at the flower one, almost seeming like she was trying to bite at her.  Whatever these ponies had been through they were now something else.  Lightning held her breath as another flew down to end the brawl.  With a spread of her wings and threatening look the new black clad grey Pegasus let out a guttural roar that silenced the feud.  “Everypony will sit and be patient until the Admiral arrives!” she shouted.  Once all at the fire acknowledged her words she nodded and took off again running into another Pegasus in midflight.

“Watch it, you ditz!” he shouted at her, to which she responded with a growl.

Suddenly all across the encampment ponies began to murmur with excitement.  Lightning had to turn her attention to a spot further off.  Darkness billowed around it and gushed from the earth revealing a Pegasus with yellow wings and long flowing mane.  Her suit was the same as most of the other ponies there but everypony still paid her respect.  She stepped forward and addressed them all.  “My fellow Night Ponies.  Two years ago we threw off the shackles of oppression that had been put on us by the gods of Equestria.  Yet we were still prisoners.  Prisoners to the fear of one last god.” She pointed eastward.  “The accursed sun still rises every day.  Risen by a hedonistic pony that had no intention of rescuing us from our enslavement.  Well, tonight is our night!  Tonight is the solstice!  The longest night of the year!  And at the moon’s zenith we will take back the land that was once stolen from us.”  She raised a hoof to the sky and let darkness flow from below her into the ponies around them.  “With this power, we will free ourselves from restraint and live as we desire once more!”

The darkness flowed all over the camp seeping into everypony available and making them glow with eerie blue power.  Eventually the darkness made its way to where Lightning was hiding.  She didn’t notice as it brushed past her.  The Admiral shot a quick glance in her direction and smiled her eyes beginning to glow.  Most of the other ponies in the camp’s eyes began to glow as well as they turned toward her too.  “It seems we have an eavesdropper.  Everypony!  Show her our hospitality!”

“Oh buck me,” Lightning muttered as she tried to shoot out of the underbrush and into the sky.  However she was thrown back to the ground when one of the ponies from the campfire grabbed her leg and pulled her down.  Just how strong were these freaks?  She struggled to free herself but more ponies pinned her to the ground.  The Admiral sauntered over slowly with a grin.  “You’re never gonna win this!  There a lot of you but there’s a whole lot more of us.”

The Admiral chuckled.  “Winning implies there being a loser.  I intend to leave nothing behind.”  Lightning gulped as the rest of the ponies in the camp began to chuckle alongside her.

===E8DB

Rainbow kicked herself into overdrive as she flew past the hills and valleys.  The cloud of dark figures she had seen from Fluttershy’s place were now less congregated and flying erratically.  She could see traces of ponies in blue uniforms as well in the fray.  The battle had already started.  Rainbow burst over a forest of trees and came to a halt as she saw the scene of battle.  “No,” she murmured.  It was carnage both above and below.  Ponies on the ground at Camp Hoofenbach were fighting for their lives.  The unicorns and earth ponies were trying their best but there was something about the invading forces that overwhelmed them.  They fought like ponies possessed, unafraid of dying.  In the skies above the pegasi were having a tough time overcoming their own foes.  The elusive flyers in the black and purple uniforms were everywhere and moved with incredible speed.  It seemed like ponies were dropping like flies.  “No!”

Rainbow reared back and shot forward like a cannon into the ponies below.  She held out her hooves when she collided with the ground, her special uniform absorbing a lot of the impact and directing the force of it outward.  A cloud of dust blasted out from her and knocked a bunch of the glowing ponies down.  However they simply glowed a little brighter and returned to the fight moments later.  Rainbow grit her teeth as she cracked her neck and stretched, preparing to do a Super Dash.  With a kick from her back legs she shot off at one of the invaders and curled up into a ball before slamming into the back of their head.  The pony went down hard, his light extinguishing.  Rainbow continued to ride the force of the impact and pinballed her way around the battlefield knocking out ponies this way.  When the velocity had ceased and she untucked herself she noticed that she had also knocked out some friendlies.  That was fine, she thought.  At least they’re not dead.  She didn’t want anypony to die tonight, especially her friends.

Next, Rainbow turned her attention to the sky where the bulk of the battle was waged.  She would need something much bigger and stronger to scatter or nullify the ponies up there.  This was a good time for her patented maneuver.  Rainbow grinned as she planted her hooves in the dirt and crouched down preparing to shoot upward.  Another cloud of dust blasted from around her as she disappeared from the ground and rocketed to the battle above.  She could feel her face begin to be pushed back by gravity and air pressure as she began to surpass her limits, the magic building up around her.  “Now!” she shouted as she pushed through that final barrier and let loose an explosion of rainbows.  The Sonic Rainboom spread out from the center of the battle consuming any and all pegasi in its way.  

While her Wonderbolt friends were merely pushed back, the invading forces suffered greater injuries.  The light from the Rainboom blinded them causing them all to scream in agony.  Ponies shouted and pointed out that the glow that had been making them stronger subsided when they were struck by the blast.  The invaders on the outside of the battle recognized this and tried to fly away, a few of them making it before another pony entered the scene and waved her hooves in front of her.  She released a wave of darkness that consumed the Rainboom and canceled it out.

Rainbow landed on the surface of Sky Glaive to rest and examine the damage her attack did.  When she saw the darkness cancel it out she knew it could only be one pony.  “Fluttershy.”  Rainbow took a deep breath and shot back down into the battle.

Both sides of the battle were flying towards each other to resume the fight when Rainbow flew in between the two and held out her hooves.  “Stop!!!” she shouted.  The invaders saw her face and the rainbow colored mane.  Most of them backed away in fear, knowing that she was the one that had created that explosion that nearly wiped them out.  Only a few were brave enough to stare at her with bloodthirsty eyes.  One flew forward, her pink mane flowing in the night breeze.  “That’s enough, Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy smiled.  “You took care of that doppelganger quite easily.  I honestly thought it’d take you longer.  You really have gotten fast, Rainbow.”  She opened her hooves in a gesture of acceptance.  “My offer still stands.  I can call off the attack right now.  Everypony can be spared.  You just have to convince them that Celestia must be deposed!”

Rainbow turned to fully face her friend.  “You know I can’t do that, Shy.”

Fluttershy lowered her head with a sigh.  “Then I guess I have no choice.”  She nodded her head to her subordinates behind her and they brought forth a restrained mare with a yellow mane.

“Lightning!” Rainbow shouted.  Lightning tried to respond but a gag had been placed over her mouth.  A Pegasus carrying her pushed it a little deeper down her throat.  “You let her go!”

She rushed to catch them but Fluttershy nearly teleported with speed to be in front of Dash.  She held out a hoof to stop her.  “So a friend of yours?” she smirked.  “Isn’t it weird how all your friends and loved ones either die or change for the worse?”

Rainbow froze.  “What are you talking about?”

Fluttershy’s smirk grew wider.  “Easyglider died after a routine scouting mission, right?  I’ll bet you thought it was monsters.”  Rainbow did not like where this was going as she shook her head.  “You may not have thought of me all this time, Rainbow, but I thought of you.  I kept tabs on you.  Watched you from afar.  I saw your graduation!  You think I couldn’t recognize the pony who raised you?  Who took you away!”  Tears began to fall from her eyes as Fluttershy lifted her goggles.  What had once been eyes of ocean blue were now pinpricks of iridescent red.  “I hated her so much!  I had fun tearing her apart piece by piece.”  Rainbow grabbed her ears with her hooves and curled into a ball to try to block out the words.  “You were right about the monster thing!  I’ve known it for a while now.  The thing is… I don’t know if I want to change.  All I do know is… I want you!”

Fluttershy rushed forward with blinding speed leaving a glowing blue trail behind her.  Rainbow reacted with just enough time to intercept her attack as the two pushed hoof to hoof in midair.  Fluttershy’s manic smile returned.  “What do you say, Rainbow?  We never competed before, but let’s see whose better now.  That poor shy little filly you once knew, or the big strong Wonderbolt!”

Rainbow let out a scream from the bottom of her heart and pushed her off, swiftly delivering a strong right to her cheek.  Fluttershy took the hit and returned it with a one-two to Rainbow’s ribs followed by a knee to her gut.  Rainbow doubled over and nearly lost her concentration in the air, beginning to fall.  “Oh no you don’t,” Fluttershy hissed as she grabbed he wings and through her over her shoulder.  Rainbow was able to right herself in midair just as she noticed Lightning being taken away.  She tried to fly toward her friend once more but Fluttershy was there again.  “This is just between you and me, Rainbow.  No distractions.  I want to enjoy this.”

“Fine!” Rainbow shouted as she flew up in vertical line.  Fluttershy laughed madly as she came up behind her.  Within seconds they were side by side again.  Fluttershy turned leisurely toward Rainbow and smiled.

“You know you can’t beat me,” she chuckled.  “I’m stronger, faster, and more powerful than you can imagine.”

Rainbow grinned as they broke dove into the cloud bank above just below the stratosphere.  “Maybe, but there’s something you forgot.”

“What’s that?”

They burst through the cloud layer into the thin air above where all was clear.  In the far off distance the sun was beginning to rise.  “We’re on the dayside of the line.”  Fluttershy had to shield her eyes as the light of the sun reached her.  She screamed in pain as the sun’s rays began to burn her skin, the dark miasma surrounding her beginning to dissipate.  Rainbow took this chance to tackle Fluttershy in the stomach and began to drag her down again.

They pushed through the clouds again and Fluttershy tried to struggle but was unable to overcome the speed at which Rainbow was going.  “You said I’d forgotten about you,” Rainbow began to speak as they fell fast toward the earth.  “But that’s not true.  I never forgot about you, Fluttershy.  What I forgot about was my loyalty.  My loyalty to you.  I never wrote, I never visited.  I remembered my friend with fondness but I never thought you needed me.”  Fluttershy’s struggles began to dwindle as she listened closer to her.  “I was so wrong.  Wrong to abandon you.  But I came back…” Tears flew past her as she continued to speak, unaware if they were hers or Fluttershy’s.  “I came back because no matter what you’ve done, you are my friend!  And I will never abandon you again!”  The earth came at them like a bullet and the two created a giant impact crater.  Everypony within a mile was sent flying as the biggest cloud of dust yet billowed outward and consumed both the camp and Sky Glaive.  Silence fell over the battlefield.

===E8DB

“Ugh,” Rainbow slowly opened her eyes as she scanned her surroundings.  She was in a white sterile room with a single pony in a white lab coat off to the side checking a chart.  He noticed her slowly open her eyes and gasped, turning to the door and calling for a nurse.  Rainbow could feel her consciousness fade once more as several other ponies rushed in and tried to tend to her before she blacked out once more.  Fluttershy, was all she could think.

The next time Rainbow opened her eyes she was greeted by a familiar sight.  Commander Spitfire sat by her bed with a solemn smile on her face.  “How you doing?” she asked.

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow croaked out as she attempted to stand up.  Spitfire placed a hoof on her chest that shot a bolt of pain through her and made her sit back down.

“Easy there.  You did just freefall from nearly 30 kilometers.  You’re lucky to have gotten out with a few busted ribs and legs.”  Spitfire went back to her seat at the end of the bed.

Rainbow took a long breath.  “Was there… another mare with me?”

Spitfire shook her head.  “No, though a lot of ponies say they saw you take the ringleader into the sky and then the two of you came crashing down.  Don’t know what you did but that little stunt you pulled made the rest of them pull out.”  She smiled as she said this but Rainbow wasn’t smiling.  “Hey, cheer up.  We won.”

Rainbow looked over to her with a sad but stern expression.  “There’s something I need to tell you.”  Rainbow proceeded to tell Spitfire everything that had happened the last couple of days.  Fluttershy’s involvement.  The death of Nightmare Moon.  Everything.  Spitfire could only nod as a response.

“I’m glad you told this to me,” she said.  “We were under the impression that they were ponies under Nightmare’s control but… this changes things quite drastically.”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at her.  “How?”

Spitfire took a deep breath.  “Depending on how these Night Ponies react.  Either new peace or… a new war.”

Rainbow felt her head drop back into the pillow as she stared at the ceiling, a new thought occurring to her.  “Hey, where is Lightning Dust?”

Spitfire frowned.  “We were actually hoping you could tell us.  Captain Lightning Dust hasn’t been seen since the battle.”

===E8DB

Lightning was finally able to throw off the last of her restraints as she ran through the forest.  After those feral ponies lost and retreated they tried to take her with them but she took advantage of the disaster and gave her captors the slip.  “Buck!” she swore at no one in particular.  “Bucking shit!”  She tried to take off and fly away but a new pain shot through her.  She screamed in agony as she looked to her right wing which had had a piece of debris shoot through it from the crater impact.  “Dash,” she grumbled.  “You bitch.”

She continued to hobble through the forest until she came across a small clearing.  In the center was a dying feral pony.  She noticed the fading light around its body and decided to steer clear of it.  She turned to leave but was stopped by a voice.  She turned back to the dying pony but knew it couldn’t have been from him since his throat looked to be crushed.  Plus the voice felt a lot more melodic and feminine.  She heard it again and stepped into the clearing, the pony noticing her but too weak to do anything.  “What are you?” She asked the strange voice.  The voice replied.  “You want me to what?”  The voice spoke again.  Lightning looked at the dying pony and then at her destroyed wing.  “I… I don’t know about this.”  The voice ushered her on.  “Sure it’s her fault but it was an accident.”  The voice responded.  “Her friend was in trouble, of course she’d-”  The voice interrupted.  “Yeah, she did just leave me there to die.  But…”  The voice tried to convince her.  “I want to be stronger.”  The voice succeeded in convincing her.  “I will be stronger.”  The voice laughed.  “Then I’ll show Dash that she can’t just leave me to die!”  Lightning brought her hoof down on the pony’s neck killing it instantly, releasing the dark power from him.  The swirling darkness proceeded to float around her and seep into every pore.  Lightning smiled with mischievous delight as her eyes began to glow and her wing slowly regenerated.

===E8DB

Two weeks after the battle that the ponies of Camp Hoofenbach had dubbed the “One Night War,” Rainbow was fully healed for the most part and had obtained permission from Commander Spitfire to scout out the night side of the dayline, searching for any of the night ponies or dark clad Pegasi that the Wonderbolts had begun to call “Shadowbolts.”  Rainbow had been searching the land for days with no luck.  She even revisited Fluttershy’s old cottage but the place was just as deserted as when she found it.  She did pick up the photo of the two of them.

Rainbow sighed to herself as she hung the photo on her wall.  Memories flooded her as she looked at the innocent faces.  She turned to the second cot in her room and frowned.  Lightning Dust had been missing for a while as well with no explanation.  Two friends gone, just like that.  But Rainbow Dash had faith.  Faith in her loyalty to the both of them.  She would find Fluttershy and bring her back from despair, and she would save Lightning from whatever danger she was in.  She was sure of it.

Rainbow just finished putting on her uniform for the day when the room was rocked with an explosion of sound.  Rainbow was thrown into the wall and she had to close her eyes from the pain resurfacing in her side.  She moaned as she opened her eyes.  Two mares stood in her room.  One was pink and wore a white bodysuit with purple lightning stripes and balloons.  The other wore a dark blue and purple suit with wide brimmed hat and a mask that covered herb whole face.  “I do not like vibratey,” the masked mare muttered with a groan as she held a hoof to her aching head.  Rainbow’s eyes widened at them before her battle instincts took hold.

She lunged at the pink mare who saw her coming and moved with unimaginable speed to avoid her.  Instead she collided with the masked mare who caught her lunge and used the momentum to toss her backward into the wall once more.  Rainbow caught herself in the air before hitting the wall and yelled as she floated in midair, the masked mare pulling out some kind of “M” shaped projectile and getting into a battle stance.  “Who are you and what are you doing here?” Rainbow asked with a sneer.

The pink mare sped in between the two and held out her hooves.  “That’s enough, Rainbow Dash!  You too, Twilight.”  Rainbow looked stunned at the fact that the mare knew her name.  The masked mare huffed and withdrew her projectile into a belt below her waist.  The pink mare turned to Rainbow with a serious look.  “We know who you are, Rainbow Dash.  Judging from you’re reaction I’m guessing you don’t recognize me but my name is Filli-Second.  This here is Mare Do-Well.”  The masked mare huffed again as she continued to watch Rainbow for any sudden moves.  “We’re from realities separate from yours.”

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow but began to lower her guard.  “Seriously?”

“I was pretty skeptical too,” Mare Do-Well muttered.  Filli-Second gave her a glare but sighed in resignation.

“I know it’s hard to take in, but there is so much you don’t understand,” she explained.  “I don’t have time to explain it all right now, but believe me when I say that this world and every world are in danger.”  She held out a hoof for Rainbow to take.  “We need your help.”

Rainbow frowned.  “I don’t even know you.  Why should I trust you?”

Filli-Second thought for a moment.  “You don’t recognize either of our faces?”  Rainbow shook her head.  “What about the name Rarity?  Applejack?  Fluttershy?”  At that last name Rainbow narrowed her eyes.

“How do you know about Fluttershy?” she asked.

“We’re all connected in some way,” Filli-Second responded.  “Again, I can’t explain the extent of it right now.  But trust me when I say that your Fluttershy, just like every other Fluttershy could be in grave danger.  As well as everypony you care about.”

Rainbow found it all hard to believe but the mare’s face showed no sign of dishonesty and the masked mare behind her seemed just as lost as her.  After a minute of pondering it over Rainbow nodded her head.  “Alright, I’ll help.  What do we do?”

Filli-Second smiled.  “We’re already half way through.  We just need to make three more stops.”

Mare Do-Well walked over to the white clad mare and grabbed her shoulder, motioning for Rainbow to do the same.  “So who’s next?”

“Fluttershy.”  Rainbow looked at Filli-Second in confusion before she began to vibrate and in a flash of light and sound the three of them disappeared.  The room was silent once more, a picture of days gone by hanging loosely on the wall.

> Fluttervania
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is said.  That far off on a hill, where the black roses bloom.  There exists a cave where vampires are entombed.  Many a pony has ventured there from afar.  But rarely do they return without battle scars.  For on the stoop of this cave there is no welcome mat.  What you will face when you enter is one angry Flutterbat!

/^(*vv*)^\

The moon cast an eerie glow on the open expanse of hills and valleys in this untamed region.  Silently, but not in the least stealthily, two young pony ghouls crept along.  The taller orange one began to tremble as he approached the edge of the hill and peered over, the shorter green one rolling his eyes.  “Come on, man!  We’ve got to get back to the castle by sunrise!”

The orange one shrank behind the hill as he pointed past him.  “Yeah, but do we really have to go inside that?”  The cave behind them stood out like a sore thumb on the face of the mountain.  It was too dark to see inside but above and below the entrance grew stalactites and stalagmites that made the cave entrance resemble a gaping maw of some horrible beast.

The green one grabbed the orange and dragged him along the ground.  “The mistress needs that vampire blood if she wants to complete her potion,” he grumbled.  “Thus, as ghouls, we have a duty to complete her task.”

“I don’t think this job is worth the benefits,” the orange one mumbled.

“What benefits?  We’re ghouls!” the green one shouted.  Both minions froze as they heard a small grumble from the inside of the cave.  The green one glared at the orange who gave him an innocent shrug.  “Just keep your mouth shut,” he whispered.

The green one moved in first, placing a hoof past the entryway onto the cave floor.  Another rumble reverberated off the cave walls once more.  He looked back to the orange one with hesitant eyes but sighed when he saw him trying to run away.  He lit up his horn and engulfed the cowardly ghoul in magic that lifted him into the air.  Then he threw him inside the cave.  “I think you should go first,” he muttered with a smile.

The orange one got up slowly in the damp dark cave as he rubbed his head.  “Ow, that wasn’t very nice,” he hissed.

“Ghoul!” the green one hissed back from the cave entrance.  “Now go see if there’s any traps.”

“*mumble* *mumble* ‘traps’ *mumble*”  He lit up his horn to shed some light in the room and scanned the area.  Luckily there were no big scary creatures but there was something else.  “Uh, hey?  What exactly are we looking for again?”

“A vampire.   Or at least a tomb or something to bring back to the mistress,” the green one explained.

“So, like a giant boulder covering a hole in the wall wouldn’t count?” he asked.  The green one walked up behind him and looked at what his horn showed.  Sure enough a giant boulder looked to have been rolled in front of a large opening in the cave wall.  He slapped the orange ghoul in the back of his head.  “OW!”

“That’s exactly what we’re looking for, you numbskull,” he growled.  “Now come on, help me move it.”

“Are you kidding?  There could be a vampire behind there!”

The green one looked at him with a blank expression.  “Even for a ghoul, you cannot seriously be this incompetent.  You literally have to try.”

“I’m glad you recognize my struggle,” the orange one said with a smile.

“Just help me move this!”  The two grabbed either side of the boulder and pushed, quickly realizing what they were doing wrong.  “Okay, how about I pull and you push?”

“Alright.”

“Wait, I wasn’t ready!” The boulder rolled to the side and over the green one as he let out a short scream.  The orange one whistled in fascination at the room beyond the boulder before noticing his companion was gone.

“Uh, Snips?”  He heard a small tapping sound and turned to the boulder where he saw a green hoof attempting to push off the giant boulder that crushed him.  The orange one gasped and began to roll the boulder further until the green one’s splattered body came around glued to the boulder.  He turned his broken neck to the orange one with a furious glare.  “That must hurt,” he laughed weakly.

“Ghoul,” the green one muttered.  “Give me a minute and I’ll regenerate.  Then I’m coming for your head.”  The orange one gulped.  “Just get in there and find a vampire!”

The orange ghoul steeled his courage and shined a light inside the room.  It was actually bigger then he had first thought.  He scoured the cave with trembling knees as he searched for anything that could get him out of this place quicker.  Just above, hanging from the ceiling, a silent figure watched and waited.

After a few minutes the ghoul finally found what he was looking for.  In the corner of the room sat a stone box just big enough for a pony.  He crept over carefully and shined his light down on lid of the box.  It too was made of stone and had an inscription carved into the surface.  However, whatever language it was in the orange ghoul just couldn’t make out.  “You found anything?” came the green ghoul’s voice from behind him.  The orange ghoul yelped and jumped in midair firing off a beam of light.  “What was that for?!”

“I just… I…” the orange ghoul trailed off as his beam of light hit the ceiling and illuminated the area above.  The green ghoul turned as well and his eyes went wide.  Hundreds of bats clung to ceiling and watched with piercing eyes every move the two made.  Slowly the light spell passed over the whole room and came to a stop in front of one last figure.  A large yellow bat-like pony with pink mane and intense red eyes.  The two ghouls gulped simultaneously as the pony spread her wings from the ceiling, letting her long mane flow to the floor, and let out a earth shattering shriek.

The bats around them scattered into the room in flurries of screams and beating wings.  The ghouls completely disregarded the coffin they had found and ran from the room, screaming like babies.  The bats proceeded to follow them out in swarms, some even nipping at their skin.  “Gah!  Get off you flying rodents!” the green ghoul shouted as he ran from the cavern with the orange one.  They came to a rest on the hill just outside the cavern and panted.  The orange ghoul looked back to the cave with a confused expression.  “What is it?” asked the green one.

“Uh, you ever get the feeling like you’ve seen something before?” he asked.

“Like Déjà vu?”

“More like… in a dream.  I could have sworn I saw that thing in a-”

“It doesn’t matter!” the green one shouted.  “We need to think of our next move.”

“What are we going to do now?” the orange ghoul asked.

“Well, we’re not taking that live one home, that’s for sure,” the green one muttered.  “Seriously, I thought all the vampires were dead.”  He eyed the swarm of bats still congregating around the entrance to the cavern.  “But the mistress doesn’t have to know that.”  He focused his magic on a small bat on the outskirts of the swarm and pulled it away from the rest.  He proceeded to pull out a glass bottle from his bag and throw the creature in.  “We’ll just tell her that this was all we found.”

“Isn’t that lying?”

“I’m a ghoul.  I don’t get paid enough to risk my hide like that.”

“We get paid?”  The green one sighed in frustration as they walked off back through the fields and the forest, back to the castle of their mistress.

/^(*vv*)^\

Flutterbat flew down from her perch with a satisfied smile as she watched the two ghouls run away.  This wasn’t the first time somepony had been foolish enough to try to invade her territory and it wouldn’t be the last.  She walked over to the stone tomb that the two had been so close to.  She rubbed a hoof over the words, remembering times gone by.  Her smile began to fade as the memories flooded her.  Memories of those words inscribed and the pony who made them.

Before she could continue reminiscing she heard the screech of success from outside.  She turned with a happy smile to see all her bat friends returning to the cave.  She pointed to each one as they entered and recited their names.  When the last bat had flown in she frowned.  Flutterbat turned to the crowd of bats hanging above once more and began to count again.  No, she was right the first time.  The number was off.  One little friend was missing.  She asked the others where he had gone.  Many just shrugged their heads but a few explained that they saw him get caught by those two ghouls and taken west.  Flutterbat gasped in horror and ran to the cave entrance.  She was about to go flying after them when she noticed the sun beginning to rise in the distance.

With another gasp and a mad dash Flutterbat flew back into the safe darkness of her cave and rolled the boulder to block out the sun once more.  She let out a breath of relief.  When she turned around all the bats were looking at her with an expression that said “really?”  Flutterbat explained to them again how she was afraid to go out in the sunlight.  The bats did not change their expression.  Flutterbat assured them that she would go in the evening.

She walked over to the tomb and placed a respectful hoof on it once more before flying up onto the ceiling and hanging upside down to sleep.  She couldn’t.  The thought of that poor little guy out there all alone probably scared out of his wits was enough to make Flutterbat toss and turn until she couldn’t take it anymore.  With a groan of frustration and trepidation she flew down and rolled the boulder away.  Sure enough the sun was still out outside.  Flutterbat paced around her cave trying to think of what to do when her eyes came across the tomb once again.  She frowned for even thinking of such a thing but then she remembered the words inscribed.  Flutterbat walked over to the tomb once more and read the words out loud.  Don’t let anything scare you, you can accomplish miracles with just a little bravery.  Flutterbat sighed in resignation and opened the tomb’s lid.

Outside the cavern the sun was still high in the sky.  A lone figure walked forth from the dark depths of the cavern and into the sun.  Flutterbat, now clad in rusted armor that shielded her skin from the sun, walked into the hills with a bat at her side.  The little one pointed in a general direction and Flutterbat nodded in recognition.  The two were on their way to rescue a friend.

/^(*vv*)^\

Refracted light shined through the stained glass windows of the throne room as the ghouls’ mistress reclined on her throne in shadow, a bottle with a small bat in her hoof.  “I send you to fetch vampire blood and this is what you bring back?” she asked in spiteful feminine voice.

The green ghoul shook as he tried to respond.  “Well, um, y’see there wasn’t really any vampire there.  The place was pretty much empty except for that little guy.  I guess that rumor was bogus.”

The mistress tossed the bottle over to the orange one and sat up in her chair, the shadows still obscuring her features.  “While it’s true that the rumor of a living vampire in the hill lands could have been… ‘bogus’ as you put it, I still expect a certain amount of decorum from my minions.”  Dark thorny vines began to grow from behind her throne and twist around the legs.  “Do NOT just bring back a vermin and expect me to believe your story!”  Her eyes turned glowing green and the green ghoul’s did as well.  “Now, what really happened?”

“We were attacked by a swarm of bats and a vampire,” the green ghoul said robotically.

The mistress chuckled.  “That’s better, now I know your both cowards and incompetent.  That makes it so much easier to figure out a fitting punishment for you.”  She waved a hoof and a trap door opened under the ghoul who screamed as he fell into the dark pit.  The sound of snapping jaws and screams could be heard from underneath as the trap door closed again.  

The orange ghoul stood their silently with worried eyes as he continued to hold the bat.  “Uh, mistress?”

“As for you,” she continued, turning her green gaze on the orange one.  “Tell me about this vampire.”

/^(*vv*)^\

Flutterbat had been travelling most of the day and she was beginning to get pretty hot in her sweltering armor.  She wasn’t used to this kind of heat.  The bat that had been journeying with her came flying back from scouting above the trees.  He reported seeing a giant structure in the distance just up ahead.  Flutterbat nodded but still had to take a break.  She went over to a shady spot beneath a tree and sat, taking her helmet off and letting her long mane out.  The bat flew down to join her as it carried a small mouse it had caught for its dinner.  It looked to her with the dead mouse in its mouth and offered her some.  Flutterbat held a hoof to her mouth as she tried not to throw up and shook her head.

Flutterbat hated the thought of killing any living thing, even for nourishment.  She looked around for something to eat and spotted an apple hanging from a tree a few feet away.  It was too high for her to reach without taking off her armor and flying, but that didn’t stop her.  Flutterbat aimed her flank at the tree and drew it back.  With a whip like motion she shot her tail up and at the tree knocking down the apple.  She picked it up and dug in, unaware that an array of thorny vines with eyeballs watched her from afar.

The mistress watched the events going on in her forest with great interest.  “Hmm, I see.”

The orange ghoul was forced to sit in the throne room for hours waiting for his mistress to talk to him or tell him what to do.  “Um, see what?”

The mistress’ eyes lost their glow as she returned her sight to her throne room.  “It seems this ‘vampire’ isn’t entirely what she seems.”

The orange ghoul scratched his chin in confusion.  “But she’s got the wings and everything.”

“Wings don’t make a vampire,” the mistress hummed.  “The thirst for blood does.  This one is as tame as a kitten.  Something is off.”

The orange ghoul looked to the bat in the bottle who continued to fume at his predicament.  “So… what now, mistress?”

The mistress picked up a bell by her armrest and rang it twice.  The orange ghoul could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching outside the throne room.  He had to jump away with the bat as the double doors of the room were thrown open and embedded themselves in the wall.  He took a huge gulp as he saw the monster his mistress had summoned.  It trudged forward before going on one knee before its mistress.  “How may I serve you, my queen?” it asked in a rough but feminine voice.

“Go to the gates and deal with a trespasser,” the mistress said.  “And if it’s at all possible try not to damage her too badly.  She is the last vampire after all.”

“As you wish,” the monster replied and left the room.

/^(*vv*)^\

Flutterbat came to a halt outside of the gates to the castle.  The sun had finally gone down so she didn’t need to wear her armor anymore.  She stowed it away in the hollow of a tree just outside the moat before heading back to the gates.  Flutterbat spread her wings and began to fly across the large moat surrounding the castle.  She reached the gate on the other side almost too easily, her ears picking up the danger that lay just ahead.  

With amazing agility she sprang from the gate as the wooden door splintered into hundreds of pieces.  She flew in midair and hissed at the beast that had lain in wait for her.  It was a monstrous griffin with plates of armor that looked to have been stitched onto it.  Stitches and scars covered most of its body and a large piece of skin and beak was missing from its face giving it a gaunt skeletal look.  “Come face me, coward!” it roared as it spread its wings.  They too were a tapestry of various feathers and stitched armor.

Flutterbat let loose a harsh shriek that seemed to do nothing to the patchwork beast.  With amazing speed it caught up to her in midair and threw a right swing at her with its talons.  Flutterbat just barely dodged as she ducked down toward the moat.  The griffin followed close behind with venom in its eyes.  “Hold still, you runt!”

With an expert turn, Flutterbat twisted just before hitting the water and shot off in another direction.  The griffin was not so flexible.  She crashed into the water with force and caused a wave of water to push out.  Flutterbat laughed at her as she tried to get out, her heavy wings too wet to make any traction in the air.  “Raaaaaah!” the griffin roared as it swam to the side of the moat and clawed at the wall.  With its amazing strength it dug its talons into the stone and steadily climbed out of the pit, glaring at Flutterbat the whole time.  “You’re dead meat!”

Flutterbat had to think fast.  Luckily she saw something that just might help.  She flew back down to the surface of the moat, the griffin following her with its eyes.  “You seriously think I’ll fall for that same trick again?” it asked with a laugh.  Flutterbat paid no attention as she whispered into the water.  When she was done she turned back to the monster and smiled.  The griffin monster howled with rage and tried to swat at her again but Flutterbat was too swift.  With a growl the griffin tested its wings once more and found them to be dry enough to fly again.  She grinned and shot off the wall toward Flutterbat who stood motionless in midair.  “Got you!” 

But suddenly her momentum stopped.  The griffin looked up at her wings in confusion but they were still pumping.  Then she looked below her.  A bunch of alligators had grabbed each other’s tails and made a sort of anchor to the moat, with one alligator clamping onto the griffin’s leg.  She scowled.  “You think this is gonna keep me!?”  With a struggle her leg released itself from her body and the alligator’s pulled it down with them, a single thread being pulled along as well.  “I’m a freaking zombie!  You think one leg means anything to me?”  The griffin smiled before she attacked again but was confused when her right swing did nothing.  She looked down at her right talon and found it was no longer there.  The alligators had it below as well as a shiny black thread that seemed to be unraveling her entire body.  “Uh oh.”

The griffin screamed as her wings were the next to go and she fell into the moat.  Flutterbat felt sick at the sight but had to giggle as she saw the alligators begin to play volleyball with the griffin’s head.  “Hey watch it, losers!” the head yelled as it got spiked.  Flutterbat thanked the alligators who all waved her goodbye as she entered the castle.

In the throne room, the mistress watched it all.  “Are you serious!?” she yelled at no one.  “Who stitches a zombie together with one freaking string!?”  She had to rub her temples with her hooves to calm down.  “I swear I am surrounded by idiots.”

The orange ghoul sat in the corner playing patty cake with the bat to pass the time.  He stopped when his mistress screamed.  “What now?”

The mistress glared at him.  “Now I start hitting harder!”  She lifted her bell and rang it three times.  Suddenly the air grew cold.  The ghoul began to shiver and picked up the bat when he saw him begin to shiver as well, the glass of the bottle beginning to frost over.  In the center of the room a mist began to form.  It swirled around until it coalesced into a silhouette of a straight maned pony in a flowing white and gray dress.  

“How may I serve my queen?” the chilly mare asked in a toneless voice.

The mistress leaned forward revealing her glowing green eyes.  “Bring me that intruders head!”

“Understood,” the mare replied.  The mist once again began to coalesce and obscure the mare until she disappeared, the room’s temperature returning to normal.

“Let’s see how she stand up to a little of the cold shoulder,” the mistress chuckled.

The orange ghoul looked to the bat who shook his head.   He agreed, that wasn’t a very good joke.

/^(*vv*)^\

Flutterbat and her little friend strolled through the grand hall of the castle.  Parapets lined the sides with tattered banners of kings and queens past.  It was pretty clear to Flutterbat that whatever pony lived here now was just squatting.  The skeletal remains of stallions in armor and finery lay scattered about.  She was not afraid of the death, though.  She had been around it a long time.

At the end of the hall were two large doors that led further into the castle.  Flutterbat turned to the bat flying next to her and asked him to stay since it might get dangerous.  The bat responded by shaking his head.  He was with her all the way.   Flutterbat smiled and opened the door.  Both were immediately hit by a freezing gust of wind and snow.  Flutterbat closed the door and turned away from it, half frozen.  The bat shivered for a moment then shook off the icicles covering his nose and wings.  He shrugged and told her good luck as he flew away.  Flutterbat sighed.

After thoroughly melting the ice off of her and getting warmed up again, Flutterbat prepared to enter the room once more.  This time she stood to the side of the door as she opened it.  The freezing snow blasted out once more, freezing a large portion of the great hall.  Thankfully though the blast died down eventually and Flutterbat peeked her head into the room.  It was a circular ball room with many windows frosted over.  Snow covered every inch and icicles decked the ceiling and chandelier.  In the center of the winter wonderland sat a single mare with a long white and gray dress.  Her coat was slate gray with a purple mane.  Her eyes looked cold and emotionless.  While the whole room seemed ravaged by cold and snow, not a single bit touched her or marred her form.  Flutterbat cocked her head in surprise.  

“Hello,” the dressed pony said emotionlessly.  Flutterbat looked around the room curiously before entering and growling a hello in return.  A long awkward pause followed.  “Do you like ice?” she asked.  Flutterbat shrugged.  “Would you like to hear a song?”  Flutterbat tried to smile politely as she shook her head.  “It’s about ice.”  Flutterbat began to try to wade through the snow around the mare.  “They’re all about ice.”

Out of nowhere the mare began to sing.  Flutterbat was floored by the haunting melody that came out of the mare.  Instinctively she began to move forward toward the center of the room and the mare.  As she went closer the snow in the room got picked up by wind and an indoor blizzard was beginning to form.  But Flutterbat didn’t notice any of it, even as the flying ice began to slice at her flesh and her hooves became numb.  All she could hear and feel was the song of the snow mare.  Once she reached a few hooves away from her, she could no longer feel her wings or her extremities.  She reached out to the beautiful snow mare, the tips of her hoof turning to ice as she got closer.

Suddenly there was a hard thunk on the back of her head.  Flutterbat yelped in pain as she turned around to find what hit her.  She looked down to find the bat that had come along with her returned.  Though now he was nearly frozen over.  Her eyes grew wide as she realized the danger the little one was in and her senses returned.  Flutterbat scooped up the bat to hold him close and keep him warm, then she turned her attention to the snow mare.  With a deep breath she let out a shriek.  The two voices challenged each other for a minute before Flutterbat found the frequency to cancel out the mare’s song.  With the sound of her song gone the blizzard died down once more and the mare glared at Flutterbat.  “I was singing,” she said semi-angrily.  Flutterbat had to move quickly as an icicle jutted up from where she had stood.  She flew into the air and clung to an icicle.  “Don’t run.  I always hate it when they run,” the snow mare said blankly.  The snow mare moved her arms and the icicle Flutterbat was perched on cracked.  She flew off in a hurry as it crashed to the ground, the crushed icicle giving her an idea.  

Below the snow mare continued to throw icicles and cause them to fall.  Flutterbat dipped and dodged, narrowly missing most of them since her wings were already half frozen.  She needed to get out of this room soon or she and her friend would die.  With one final push of her wings she shot over to the chandelier in the center of the room.  The snow mare watched her move and clapped her hooves.  The action caused all the snow and ice encasing the chandelier to fly off towards Flutterbat.  She held her little friend a little tighter against her chest as she felt her face and mane become encased in ice.  Still her wings pushed her forward and she slammed head first into the chain that held the chandelier up.  After the ice weakening it for so long the chain snapped from the impact and sent the chandelier falling to the ground.  The snow mare didn’t have time to react as the large ornamental light crushed her, letting up a billowing cloud of snow.  

Flutterbat fell to the ground in a heap, feeling her wing fracture.  She screamed in pain as the ice on her face and body began to melt away, the same with the snow in the room.  Flutterbat pushed herself to her feet and checked on the bat in her hooves.  She gritted out a smile as she saw him move and begin to fly again.  The two of them heard a moan from the chandelier.  Flutterbat waved the bat away and told him to go home, but the bat wouldn’t have it.  Then she gave him a glare that the bat knew all too well.  With reluctance the bat accepted and flew out of the castle.  Flutterbat staggered over to the snow mare who tried but failed to remove herself from the chandelier.  She screeched in the snow mare’s ear causing her to wince.  “Agh!  Fine!  The queen is in the throne room just beyond with your friend,” the snow mare said.  “But be warned.  She is far stronger than any minion you have faced.  And her pet doesn’t take kindly to strangers.”

Flutterbat frowned but disregarded the warning and limped forward to the double doors at the back of the ball room.  With a deep breath she steeled her courage and opened the door.  At first it was hard to make out anything in the dark room.  The sun hadn’t risen yet so only the moon cast light into the throne room.  Flutterbat growled as she looked across the vast room.  A pony sat in shadows with a familiar orange minion at her side, her captured friend in his hooves.  “So,” the pony in shadows said coolly.  “You’ve made it this far.  Congratulations.”  The pony placed both hooves on the sides of her throne and lifted herself from the chair.  She strolled forward and came into the light of the moon.  She was a gorgeous white mare with a beautifully dark violet mane.  Across her body was a vast array of vines and thorns as well as a tiny vestigial pair of black wings.  Her eyes glowed green with a dark power.  “It seems the last of the vampires will do battle with the last of the succubi.”

/^(*vv*)^\

Flutterbat gritted her teeth and growled at the succubus queen.  The mare scratched her ear with a perplexed expression.  “I’m sorry, dear.  I’m afraid I didn’t get that.”  Flutterbat growled a little louder.  The succubus frowned in confusion.  “Do you… do you not know how to talk?”  Flutterbat rolled her eyes.  “Are you serious?  My forces were wiped out by a savage that can’t even speak!?”  The succubus turned to the bat in the bottle which Flutterbat had been eyeing.  “This?  You came for this?  I thought you wanted revenge or something vicious.  Seriously what kind of vampire are you?”

Flutterbat lunged forward, stumbling before she could reach the succubus.  She hit the floor and felt pain travel up her side and wing.  “Looks like you’re not even up to snuff.  My snow mare take a lot out of you, hmm?”  The succubus watched Flutterbat struggle to stand up again as she glared at her.  “You know, I’m not sure I even want this epic boss battle anymore.  You look pretty beat already.”  She turned back to her throne and picked up the bell on her armrest.  She rang it four times.  Flutterbat’s eyes went wide and so did the orange ghoul’s as the entire back wall of the throne room began to move.  The area had been covered in shadow, but now they could make out a long scaly tail and thick neck.  A giant head with purple scales and green spikes emerged from the shadows and blew smoke out its nostrils.  The castle was shook as it lifted its massive legs to turn towards its mistress.  The succubus smiled happily and went over to hug the dragon’s head.  “This is little Spikey Wikey!” she proclaimed.  “I only use him when I don’t feel like doing any real work.  Attacking a village.  Pillaging a city.  Laying waste to my enemies.  Stuff like that can just be exhausting.”  The orange ghoul backed away slowly with the bat.

“So where was I?” the succubus wondered.  “Oh yes.  Spikey please kill that nasty old vampire for me.  And if you could, save some blood.  I’m going to need it for later.”  The dragon nodded and turned to Flutterbat who still struggle to get up.  He let out a loud roar that shook the windows of the room.  The castle shook once more as he stepped toward the limping Flutterbat.  The two stopped in the middle of the room and stared at one another.  The dragon let out another roar while Flutterbat took it head on with a determined face.  When the dragon’s roar had ended she let out a roar of her own.  The dragon moved his head back confused.  The succubus watched all this from her throne.  “Is there a problem,” she asked with a sigh.

The dragon replied with a moan.  The succubus groaning in response.  “Ghoul, what’s he saying?”  The orange ghoul, who had been trying to slip out of the room, froze and turned to the dragon.

“Um, I don’t speak dragon, mistress,” he mumbled.

“Well, neither do I!” she shouted.  Flutterbat grinned.  But she did.  She let out another roar which got the dragon’s attention once more.  She continued to roar and rumble as the dragon soon began to pout and nod his head.  The succubus had had just about enough.  “Oh, that is it!  Spikey!”  The dragon turned to her with a morose look.  “Either get it done or no more treasure privileges!”  The dragon groaned and turned back to Flutterbat giving the succubus a nod over his shoulder.  Flutterbat nodded in response and roared again.  The dragon chuckled and lifted his head.  He gave the succubus one last look before he spread his wings and burst out of the roof.  The succubus queen watched as her faithful pet flew away.  “What in the blazes is going on here?!”

“Tell him he no need do this,” came a voice from the room.  The queen turned and glared at Flutterbat who walked limply up to her throne.  Her voice was harsh and her syntax was rough, but she spoke.  “Tell him… you full of bat guano.”  Flutterbat grinned widely and struggled to stand tall before her foe.

The queen scowled but gasped when she noticed something strange.  The roof was gone and the morning sun had begun to rise.  Sunlight poured into the room and bathed both her and Flutterbat.  However, Flutterbat was unharmed.  “That’s… that’s impossible,” she muttered.  Flutterbat looked at her confused before noticing herself that she was in the sunlight.  She jumped in surprise but stopped when she realized that it did nothing to her.  The queen groaned.  “You’re not a vampire at all, are you?”

“News to Flutterbat,” she replied with a shrug.

The queen grit her teeth in anger and her eyes began to glow a fiercer green.  She screamed as hundreds of thorny vines shot into the room through the stained glass windows.  More vines came out from under her throne and lifted her in the air.  “You think you’re so smart?  You think you’re something special?  You’re just an aberration!  I’m the one who’s special!  Do you know what I needed vampire blood for?  A potion to create more succubi!”  She lifted a hoof and more vines began to grow from the floor, cracking the tiles and causing Flutterbat to step back.  “Being the last is fine but we all get lonely.  I decided, why not give back a little.  Try to be generous!  Well fine!  I don’t need that stupid blood anymore!  I’m going to rip you to pieces and feed your remains to my dra- … I’ll kill you!”

Flutterbat dodged as a mass of thorns shot at her.  The mass split off in many direction attempting to close her in but Flutterbat was fast once again.  She jumped in the air earning a wince as her wing stung and the thorns converged under her.  However she couldn’t last long as the room began to be filled with thorns.  Eventually they caught her.  The vines wrapped tightly around her, choking her and digging into her skin.  The succubus queen lifted a hoof and the vines followed her will lifting Flutterbat up to face her, a gloating grin on her face.  “Alright.  I’m a decent pony.  Give yourself up right now and I’ll let your friend go free.  Otherwise I’ll just kill him and you.”

Flutterbat continued to struggle but knew that it was hopeless.  She sighed as she resigned herself to her fate.  Then a small shriek came from the distance.  Flutterbat turned her head and looked to the east with a smile.  The succubus queen heard the sound as well and looked eastward.  “You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered.  Hundreds of thousands of bats swarmed the sky and were headed towards the castle.

The succubus raised both hooves and the thorns obeyed, creating a domed barrier around the destroyed ceiling.  She turned her attention back to Flutterbat.  “So you’ve got a couple friends.  Do you honestly think that makes you more powerful than me?”

“Uh, mistress?” the orange ghoul said hesitantly.  The succubus shot him a glare but turned when he pointed up.  The roof of thorns was burning with a green flame.  She watched with horror as the roof burned away to reveal a familiar giant purple dragon sitting on one of the castle’s spires smiling as thousands of bats sat perched on the edges of the wall and ceiling.  Flutterbat’s smile returned and she gave the succubus queen a victorious grin.

“I may have… misjudged the situation,” she pouted.  Flutterbat let out a shriek of attack and the bats all flew into the room.  The succubus tried to swat them away with her vines but they were simply too numerous.  With her attention diverted, Flutterbat was able to squeeze out of the grip of her thorns.  She flew down to the ground where the orange ghoul had been holding the captured bat.  She gave him a look.

“Duh, sorry,” he whispered in fear as he handed the bottle over to her.  Flutterbat opened it and the little bat let out a shriek of joy as it tackled her in a hug.  She returned the embrace and then looked back to the fight at hand.  The queen was lashing out furiously in all directions, clearly outnumbered.   Then with a scream she let out a blast of green energy that pushed the bats back.

“Enough!” she screamed with rage.  “I have had it with bats!  No more bats!  If I even see another bat it will be too soon!”  She opened her eyes again to be face to face with Flutterbat in midair.  She was not happy.  “And what do you want!?”  Flutterbat grinned slightly as she took in a deep breath and let loose an earth shattering shriek the likes of which had never been heard.  Even the dragon and the bats had to shield their ears.  Unfortunately the succubus queen was right at point blank.  She tried to fight the power of the shriek but its sonic impact just pushed her back.  With one last scream, drowned out by the shriek, she raised her hooves and a giant flower grew from the ground to encompass and swallow her.  When the flower bloomed again moments later the queen was gone.  A bat had to tap Flutterbat on the shoulder to let her know to stop.

Flutterbat ended her shriek and looked around at her companions with a smile before passing out.  The dragon was able to catch her before she fell.  A couple of the bats flew up to the dragon and pointed in the direction of home.  The dragon understood and nodded, beginning to beat his wings and fly east with an unconscious but victorious Flutterbat in tow.

A single orange ghoul was left alone in the throne room, unsure of what to do.  “Uh, so I’ll just be going then,” he said to no one as he casually walked out of the castle.

/^(*vv*)^\

Just outside the castle moat, a new flower began to bloom.  However its beauty was ended when an angry unicorn succubus burst from within and wrecked the petals.  She stomped out and shook of the flower goo before looking to her castle.  It was in shambles from the fight.  A broken gate.  Half the rooms frozen over and the throne room had been completely demolished.  She growled to herself.  “I swear I’ll get that bat.”

The sound of splashing and yelling came from the moat and she turned that way.  A hoof shot up from the cliff wall of the moat followed by another and a familiar looking green ghoul.  He panted with relief as he flopped down on the ground.  “Free at last,” he muttered.  “Least I don’t have to deal with that crazy biiiiiiiiii-”  He couldn’t finish his thought as a very familiar white succubus stood over him with a sour expression.

“Funny,” she snarled.  “I don’t remember saying you could quit.”

The green ghoul shrunk back into the dirt and cowered.  “Yes, mistress.”

The succubus queen let out a moan as she began to pace around.  “I need to get back at that bat somehow.  Hit her where it hurts.  Just give me something!”  She kicked a tree in frustration and heard a small clank.  The queen raised an eyebrow as she peered into the hollow of the tree and pulled out a rusty set of armor.

“So what’s that?” the green ghoul asked as he joined his mistress.  She smiled wickedly.

“This is leverage,” she laughed.  “Sweet and beautiful leverage.”

/^(*vv*)^\

Flutterbat awakened in the dragon’s claws.  She looked around in confusion at first but shouted in delight as she saw all her bats and her familiar cave.  The dragon smiled at her as it let her off and gave a friendly wave before flying off.  Flutterbat turned to all her bats and smiled as they all flew into the cave.  She went to follow them but a sonic boom caught her off guard.  She shut her eyes as dust flew through the air.  When she was able to open them she came face to face with three ponies in strange garb.  She hissed at them and took up a defensive stance.  They were probably more minions of the queen.

The cyan pegasus in the blue uniform stepped forward with sad look.  “Flutteshy?” she asked.

Flutterbat was taken aback.  Nopony had called her that name in a long time.  “Are you sure this is the right one?” asked the masked pony to the pink one.  “She looks… feral.”

The pink one nodded.  “This is the one,” she said.  She stepped forward.  “We mean you no harm.  My name is Filli-Second.  That’s Mare Do-Well and Rainbow Dash.  We’re here to ask for your help.”

Flutterbat frowned and kept her distance but she stood back up from her defensive stance.  The one called Rainbow Dash took another step forward, causing Flutterbat to step back.  As a sign of good will, Rainbow took off her uniform goggles and mask, letting her rainbow mane fall.  “I… um… I’d really appreciate it if you came with us,” she said.

“There’s a danger the likes of which you’ve never seen coming,” Filli-Second continued.  “I know you can understand us.  So please understand that we’re only here out of concern for you and all you care about.”

Flutterbat frowned a bit more and looked between the newcomers with a nervous expression.  Rainbow Dash was the closest so she held out a hoof toward Flutterbat’s face.  She shrank back a bit but allowed Rainbow to run a hoof through her mane.  Rainbow bit her lip as she tried to hold back tears.  “You look so much like her.”

“She is her,” Mare Do-Well muttered.  “Just another version.”  Mare Do-Well seemed to give Filli-Second a doubtful look for a moment.

“Flutterbat is Flutterbat,” she said, earning a look of surprise from the three.  “Flutterbat want to go home.  But if family needs help, then Flutterbat go with ponies.”

The three gave each other a look and then Filli-Second nodded.  “Alright.  Two more to go.  Everpony grab on tight.”  The other two grabbed her shoulder and Flutterbat followed suit.  She gave her cave one last look before it disappeared from her sight.  The sun steadily rose to its full height as the birds on the hills began to sing.  A single bat crept its head out of the cave in search of a friend.

> Samurai Appleoosan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty leagues outside of Hay-an Kyo.

“Ragh!” The assassin let out one last cry of agony before the lasso around his neck slipped him into unconsciousness.  The wielder breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.  Twenty odd assassins lay scattered about her in bloody barely breathing heaps.  She panted with fatigue as she recoiled her lasso and returned it to her sidebelt.  She let out a hiss of pain as she felt her hoof brush against an open cut in her side.

“Damn, not again,” she murmured.  The sun had rose a few hours ago and now was pretty high.  She shielded her eyes and pulled her Stetson forward to block out the sun.  Her hakama was stained red, which meant it wouldn’t be easy for her to blend in on the main roads.  She considered just leaving her hakama on the side of the road but her wound was still an issue.  “Gotta find a rest.”  The samurai turned to the fields next to the road and slowly limped her way across.

<____|=O

A farmer with bright orange hair worked diligently tending her fields.  She was a poor pony peasant but that didn’t stop her from having pride in her work.  She was plowing her small field when a figure approached from across the hill.  The farmer squinted to get a better look but the sun was right behind the stranger obscuring her and only giving off the silhouette.  The farmer gasped as she recognized the shape of a katana at the stranger’s side.  She backed away with her how raised.  “Back off, bandit!  I don’t care what you want!  You will not take from me!”

The figure stood still for a second against the sun before slumping forward and rolling down the hill.  The farmer raised an eyebrow in puzzlement and took a tentative step forward to check on them.  The stranger wore a traditional black hakama with white robe.  “Samurai?” she whispered to herself.  But this samurai seemed strange.  Her mane had no bow knot, instead flowing around her shoulders.  Plus she carried rope on her person as well as an unfamiliar kind of hat.  “Samurai don’t wear hats.”  Wait.  Had she seen that hat before?  The memory was foggy.  Like something from a dream.

“Water,” the stranger croaked out.  The farmer sprung back in shock and pointed her how at the stranger again.  “Please,” she could barely make out her voice.  “Water.”  Her eyes closed and the stranger seemed to fall to unconsciousness.

The farmer stood there for a moment in contemplation.  Should she help her?  She took another look at the stranger’s body and found a large wound on her side.  She had been in a fight very recently.  Perhaps by the same bandits that she had feared.  She had heard rumors from the town over about the recent raids.  Perhaps they were closer than she thought.  If that was true then she needed to get indoors as quick as possible.  She turned to leave for her home but stopped herself.  That wound looked pretty bad.  The farmer sighed and lifted the stranger’s legs, pulling her along with her back home.

The stranger awoke a few hours later when the sun had set.  The farmer having prepared a spot for her in the corner with a blanket.  The farmer was attending to her stew cooking on the fire when she heard the stranger stir.  “So you’re up,” she muttered.  “I gave you that water you needed, but you conked out right after.”

The stranger moaned before checking her side.  A bandage had been tightly wrapped around.  She turned to the farmer.  “Thanks,” she said.  “Ya didn’t need to go that far.”

“You’re samurai,” the farmer replied.  “If I didn’t try to save you I’d probably get my head chopped off.”  The samurai laughed at that.  “You think that’s funny?”

“Naw.  Just with me ah doubt that’d be the case.”  Her way of speaking seemed off.

“Are you still injured?” the farmer asked with a frown.  “You seem to be slurring your words.”

The samurai sighed and shook her head.  “Naw that… No.  I’m fine.  Just how ah talk, is all.”

The farmer raised an eyebrow, her gaze turning to her strange hat.  “So what is that?  I’ve never seen a sun hat like that.”

“This aint no sunhat,” the samurai replied as she picked her hat back up and tied the string around her neck.  “This is a bonafied Stetson.”

“Stetson?” the farmer seemed confused.

“Nothin’ you’d know I guess.”  The samurai weakly got up and walked over to join the farmer by the fire.  “So what’s your name?”

The farmer looked at her surprised.  “Ninjin Jo,” she replied.

“Well nice to meet you, Carrot Top,” the samurai said in a friendly manner as she held out a hoof in greeting.  The farmer looked even more confused.

“You are not just a crazy person that stole a sword and clothes from a dead samurai are you?” she asked hesitantly.

The samurai laughed.  “That’d probably make more sense, wouldn’t it?”  As her laughter died down she stared into the fire, her brow furrowing in thought.  “Ah appreciate what you did for me, Carrot Top.  But I should probably get moving soon.  I don’t want to impose on you any further.”

As she stood up Carrot Top did as well catching her before she could stumble.  “You’re not going anywhere like that.”  A loud growl came from the samurai’s stomach.  Carrot Top chuckled.  “Plus I don’t think it’s wise to leave on an empty stomach.”

The samurai nodded respectfully and sat down again.  Carrot Top grabbed a bowl and ladled the samurai some stew.  The samurai took the bowl and brought it to her mouth with a long slurp.  “That’s pretty darn good.”

Carrot Top smiled.  “Best vegetables in ten leagues.  I wish I had something more substantial to offer you but…”

“Trust me,” the samurai smiled.  “This is enough.  That is unless you’ve got some apples?”

Carrot Top frowned and shook her head.  “I’m sorry.  That’s a luxury not many can afford these days.  Not since the daimyo-”

“Ah know,” the samurai muttered.  “Lord Fuji.  Ah know.”  She smiled at her again.  “This is perfect, thank you.”

Carrot Top nodded her head.  “What is your name?”

The samurai finished her stew and turned to her.  “Applejack.”

Carrot Top waited for her to continue.  “No… Neighpon name?”

“Nope.”

Carrot Top’s eyes widened in realization.  “You’re a foreigner!”

“Yup.”  Applejack poured herself another bowl of stew and sipped.

“But… how can you have that sword and hakama?” Carrot Top asked.  “Are you a ronin?  How does a foreigner even go about becoming a samurai let alone a ronin?”

Applejack chuckled.  “Long story.  Probably not the best place or time for it.”

Carrot Top frowned and looked around her house wondering why it wasn’t worthy.  “Why?”

“Cause we’ve got company.”  A loud crash came from the door as a pony in black jumped in and threw a series of kunai knives at the both.  Applejack moved expertly fast and pushed Carrot Top out of the way.  With another movement she unhooked her lasso and tossed it at the attacker, clasping the end of it with her teeth.  The lasso missed the pony just barely as he jumped out of the way and onto the wall.  He followed by kicking off it and throwing himself at Applejack.  She let her lasso go and spun around to face her back towards the ninja.  With a loud yell she let her back legs fly and bucked the black clad pony in the face, breaking a few teeth in the process.

Carrot Top watched in shock as all this took place within the span of seconds.  The ninja lay unconscious on the floor of the hut.  “What was that?” she asked hysterically.

Applejack grabbed her lasso and began to coil it again.  “Why I should have moseyed along a while ago.”  She gave Carrot Top one last nod before grabbing the pony by the legs and dragging him to the door.  “They’re not trained to attack on their own so back up will be here soon.  I’ll be long gone and out of your hair by then.”  She tipped her hat and charged out the door with the pony on her back.  Carrot Top could hear the sounds of darts being shot outside and the mutters of curses as each shot missed.  The trees outside rustled with movement before disappearing.  Carrot Top was left alone in the silence of her home.

She looked down at the fire.  “Just what has that pony done to deserve that?” she asked herself.

“That is not information for you to know, peon.”  Carrot Top jumped in the air as she just noticed a pony sitting next to her by the fire.  How had she gotten in?  She heard no sounds and the only opening was the door.  The pony took a sip from the stew and grinned.  “Not bad.  I can recommend you to a local lord if you would like?”

Carrot Top stared at the pony dumbfounded.  She was young, younger than her.  Her coat was orange with a purple mane.  Two wings sprouted from her back popping out of dark black clothes like the last pony wore.  “I… I’m sorry.  Who are you?”

The Pegasus looked up at her with a pensive expression.  “That’s something you do not need to know.”  She sat the bowl down and stood up with a bow.  “Thank you for the meal.  If you would be so kind, could you tell me where the mare said she would go next?”

Carrot Top gulped as she stared into the Pegasus’ eyes.  Her words and smile were kind and polite but behind them was a burning intensity she had not seen before.  “Sh- She didn’t say.”

“Is that so?  Not surprising.”  The Pegasus sighed and walked to the busted door, two black clad ponies meeting her outside and greeting her with a polite bow.

“Wait!” Carrot Top shouted from her door before they could leave.  “If I may be so bold, what did she do?”

The Pegasus did not turn around but stopped her departure for a moment.  She turned her head slightly so that Carrot Top only saw her eye, fixed in a serious expression.  “She committed the gravest sin one can make.  She betrayed her lord.”

<____|=O

Applejack was sure that she had messed up her bandages during that dash over the hill.  Though she really didn’t have much choice.  The only way past the assassins was the direct route.  Luckily she found the perfect shield for those blow darts.  She heaved the unconscious pony off her back.  “Thankfully your friends didn’t have the guts to shoot you.  Well, that or they’re all just terrible aims.”

She took a look at her surroundings.  She was in a forest again.  Perfect place for hiding but that counted for both fugitives and bandits.  She would need to find a safe spot somewhere to sleep, preferably in a tree.  Applejack rubbed her back in dread of the pain she was going to feel in the morning.  “Die, traitor!”  A voice shouted through the forest and she turned quick to intercept an overhead blow from the previously unconscious assassin.  She flicked her hooves up in a defensive strike to distract him and destroy his attack.  After that she went in with a spin kick which connected with the stallion’s torso sending him flying into a tree.

“Glad to see you’re alright,” she muttered, rubbing her bandaged wounds.  “For the most part.”  The stallion tried to get up but Applejack planted both her front hooves on his and covered his hind legs with her knees.  She stood above him face to face.  “Now let’s see who you are.”

“No!” the stallion shouted.  Applejack didn’t stop as she grabbed his mask with her mouth and ripped it off.  The pony underneath was gray with a black mane.  He bore an angry expression as he continued to try and get her off him.  

Applejack raised an eyebrow.  “Don’t think ah recognize you.  What’s your name and rank?”  The stallion continued to struggle and even tried to bite her.  Applejack simply leaned her head back and drove it into his forehead with a headbutt.  The stallion cried out in pain as tears started to form.  “There’s more where that came from if you can’t answer me!”

The stallion gritted his teeth but nodded in defeat, his eyes still full of anger.  “Ranbaru.  Rumble.  Fifth wing, twenty second squadron.”

Applejack’s eyes went wide.  “Twenty second?”  She snarled and dug her hooves a little deeper into the ground.  “Tell me what you know about Gakusei Kokan!  Who was in charge of it for your squadron eight months ago!?”

“Gakusei…?”  Rumble looked confused.  “The student exchange?  There was no exchange eight months ago!”

“Lies!”  Applejack twisted her hoof and heard a crack in response.  Rumble screamed in pain.  “I know there was a pony transferred during that time!”

Rumble grit his teeth in pain and looked her in the eyes.  “There was no exchange!”

“Why are you protecting him!?”  Applejack shouted through tear filled eyes.  “Why don’t any of you care about mah sister?”

“I heard it this way!”  Applejack turned her attention to a voice in the distance.  All the sound she and Rumble had been making must have tipped off her pursuers.  She would need to disappear fast.  She gave Rumble one last headbutt that distracted him enough for her to disappear into the surroundings.  Rumble cleared his head and shot up in a battle stance but knew that she was long gone.  He waited several moments as his companions arrived.  “Ranbaru, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he mumbled as he grabbed his mask off the ground.

“You don’t seem fine.”  Rumble turned at the voice and gave a small polite bow.  An orange pony with purple mane had entered through the trees with them.  She gave the area quick look before pointing at Rumble.  “Your head is bleeding.”

Rumble quickly put his mask back on and apologized.  “I didn’t know you would be here, Lady Sukutaru.”

She smirked.  “Please don’t call me that.  What did you find out?”

“I…” Rumble didn’t exactly know where to begin.  “She did not say where she was going but she did… interrogate me.”

Scootaloo’s eyebrow raised.  “And?”

“She wanted to know about the gakusei kokan.  Specifically one held eight months ago for our squadron.”  Scootaloo’s eyes widened for only a moment before she turned away from her subordinates.  “Is everything alright, my lady?”

Scootaloo sighed.  “You have a brother, have you not?”  Rumble nodded.  “And would your brother not fight heaven and earth to find and protect you if you went missing?”  Rumble took a moment before nodding once more.

“My lady, what does this have to do with-”

“Our fugitive searches for a lost loved one.  Somepony she believes was sold by our lord.”  The ponies gasped in shock.

“My lady, these are drastic accusations,” Rumble whispered.  “To speak of Lord Fuji like-”

“Do not presume to know my intentions,” Scootaloo shot back.  “I will hunt this fugitive down just like the rest of you because it is what my lord commanded of me.  I follow the teachings of my master.  Do not question my loyalties.”  The ponies grew silent with Rumble stepping forward with a salute.

“Forgive my brazenness.  She knocked me for a loop before escaping but I believe she went west.”  Scootaloo nodded in agreement and motioned for her squadron to move forward.  They all rushed past her and into the trees, Scootaloo staying behind.  When she was sure that they were all far ahead she let out a trembling breath she had been holding.

“Apple Bloom,” she whispered.  “Forgive me for what I do.”  With another deep breath she shot forward into the trees following her team.

<____|=O

Applejack couldn’t fight back the tears but she did keep in the sobs.  It was imperative that she remain quiet.  Not only were the assassins still after her but her latest escape had landed her too close to a bandit camp.  She held her breath and stayed beneath a bush as she watched the bandits preparing their early breakfast.  The sun wasn’t even out yet, which probably meant that these guys were planning on some kind of attack today.  She focused her attention on the two sitting by her and listened to their conversation.

“Why has the boss got us up so damn early,” the first one yawned.

“Because we need to act fast if we want to get in and out before sunrise,” the second grumbled.  “Word is there’s a bunch of soldiers lurking about the woods.  They’re after some crook but we might get caught in the crossfire if we don’t move soon.”

“Makes sense,” the first mumbled.  “But we can eat first, right?”

“Oh yeah,” the second laughed.  “Can’t do a good pillaging with an empty belly.”

Applejack rubbed her temples in frustration.  Now all the sadness about her sister had turned into rage at these criminals, again.  It seemed like every time she came close to a lead something else would pop its ugly head in and she would just have to get involved.  Applejack stayed in those bushes for a long time, seriously considering just leaving and hoping that they would be caught by the soldiers.  But she knew she wasn’t that lucky.  Stay true to yourself, she reminded herself.  You may not have title anymore, but you can’t abandon a pony in need.  She snickered to herself.  “Ma always said honesty is the best policy.”

In one swift motion Applejack burst from the bushes and grabbed the two bandit’s heads.  She brought them together with a sickening crack and they both slumped over.  Now she had the rest of the camp to deal with.  By her count it had to be seventeen.  Not a number to shake a stick at and even worse considering she was injured.  The bandits all looked at her in confusion.  She took full advantage.

Applejack dashed forward and plowed into the chest of another bandit knocking him into a guy behind.  She did another spin kick and brought both ponies down in one go.  This was when the rest of them finally started to realize they were being attacked.  They rushed her as she planted her feet and stood her ground.  “Come get some,” she said as she grabbed her lasso and ran toward the impending doom.

<____|=O

Nearly an hour later, Applejack brought her hoof down on the last bandit’s leg.  A snap was heard throughout the forest as well as a scream.  She dropped the limp body and sat on the ground, looking up at the sky.  It was still night for another few minutes or so.  She could still make out the stars.  All around her unconscious ponies lay in heaps as she sat and watched the stars begin to fade into an orange sunrise.  “I’m not gonna stop,” she muttered.  “Not gonna stop till I find you.  Apple Bloom.”  She heard a slow clap from her right and returned to the earth to notice an orange mare with purple mane a few hooves away from her.  She wore a black suit like the rest of the assassins but no mask.  Though she didn’t need one.  Applejack knew exactly who this pony was and wasn’t surprised that she had gotten the drop on her.  “Scootaloo.”

“Applejack,” Scootaloo replied in an emotionless tone.  “For crimes against the daimyo you-”

“Have you found her?” Applejack interrupted.

“For crimes against-”

“HAVE YOU FOUND HER!”  Scootaloo stopped talking and sighed.

“I do not know what you are talking about.  The forces of Lord Fuji do not waste effort searching for deserters.”  Applejack slammed her hoof into the ground.

“You seem pretty darn fixated on me!” she shouted.  “And you know Apple Bloom didn’t just run away!  You knew her!  You were her friend!  If anypony would be on my side I thought it’d be you.”

Scootaloo took a deep breath.  “My loyalties lie with the house of Fuji.  They do not extend to friends or even family.”

“Would you say that if he had sold Rainbow!?”  Applejack’s voice had grown harsh.  She could feel fatigue beginning to set in.  If this resulted in a fight she would surely lose.

Scootaloo’s expression did not change but she did dig her hooves into the ground a little more.  “You have no right to speak of the lord that way.  Why do you even suspect the gakusei kokan?”

“It’s the only time that pony vassals from the high families are traded.  It’s supposed to be a chance for learning and developing skills.  But ah know the truth,” her voice became venomous.  “I’ve seen the records of servants sold as slaves under the table.  Great teachers and warriors sold as courtesans to some lofty lord.  And for what?  Favors?  Land?  Ah don’t give a damn about that!”

Scootaloo did not respond for a moment.  “You cannot insult the house-”

“ENOUGH!” Applejack shouted.  “You want me?  I won’t go without a fight.”  Applejack turned to her left and grabbed her katana with her mouth drawing it out in a graceful stroke and flipping it to face her opponent.

Scootaloo frowned and drew her hoof back, getting low into an offensive stance.  “So be it.”  The two narrowed their eyes at each other, several seconds passing as each debated who would be the first to attack.  Then without flare or shout they both charged.

Scootaloo was the first to land a hit as she flipped up in the air and caught Applejack with a kick between the shoulder blades.  Applejack grunted in pain but she did not let go of her sword.  She planted her back hooves and did a spin attack towards Scootaloo who dodged it by flying into the air.  “Not only are you wounded,” she said.  “But I have the higher ground.  Give up now and I can help to commute your sentence to servitude.  There’s still a chance, Applejack.”

“Not without her,” Applejack murmured through her sword.  Scootaloo sighed again and drew a kunai from her belt.  She put it in her own mouth and flew at Applejack with super speed.  Applejack was just barely able to deflect the strike as it flashed off her katana.  But she knew that was not all Scootaloo had planned.  Just after the flash she made sure to stomp on the ground as hard as she could.  Scootaloo was stunned at shaking beneath her hooves and missed her second strike.  The two warriors continued to clash in close combat.  Applejack stopping Scootaloo’s savage attacks with her kunai at every swipe.  Unfortunately it seemed she was too weak to strike back on her own without giving the Pegasus an advantage.

“You can’t… keep this up… forever,” Scootaloo insisted as they dueled.  Her breathing only slightly labored.  Applejack was now panting heavily with sweat on her brow.

“Ah don’t… plan to,” she snarled as she drew her blade down in an arc.  Scootaloo moved easily away from the strike by dodging to the side.  Then she came back at an angle and delivered an elbow into Applejack’s wounded side.  She screamed in pain and dropped to a knee, still barely clutching her katana in her teeth.  Scootaloo took advantage of the moment and brought turned to bring her kunai up to the earth pony’s throat.

“Submit,” she demanded.

“Never,” Applejack muttered.  Scootaloo was taken off guard when Applejack turned her head to face her, both raising her sword for a killing strike while also shallowly cutting her own neck.  Applejack was able to nick Scootaloo’s ear before she jumped and dodged.  Scootaloo raised a hoof to her ear and looked at Applejack.  Her neck was bleeding but it was nothing life threatening.  She had stayed away from the major arteries.  Perhaps Applejack knew that.  “Ah know you still care about her.”  Scootaloo gritted her teeth and tried to block out Applejack’s words.  “Ah know you don’t want her to come home to find out her sister was dead.  That’s why you’re goin’ easy on me.”

“I am not!” Scootaloo shouted.  “You will be brought to justice for your crimes!”

“What crimes!?” Applejack shouted, taking a step forward.  Scootaloo had the higher ground and the upper hoof at the moment, yet she still felt herself tremble as she looked into Applejack’s eyes.  Sweat and blood dripped down her face and neck resulting in a vision that would make anypony wonder how the hay she was still alive let alone standing.  “What grave injustice have I committed?  Searching for my kin?  My family?”

“You abandoned your duties!” Scootaloo shouted.  “Rainbow Dash trusted you with the daimyo’s safety and you betrayed her!  You betrayed us all!”

“The only pony ah betrayed was mahself!” Applejack shouted angrily.  “For believin’ in that demon of a lord.”

Scootaloo heard a noise and turned to see a couple of her squadron had finally found the place.  They all waited hiding in the trees, most likely waiting for her signal.  There was no going back.  She needed to lead her team the same way her master had taught her.  Ultimate loyalty.  Ultimate honor.  Scootaloo flew down for a strike.  “Ultimate loyalty!  Ultimate honor!”  They clashed once more with metal against metal.

“Honor!?” Applejack shouted through her katana.  “You think what you’re doin’ will bring you honor?”  She took another step forward which pushed Scootaloo back and dug her hooves into the dirt.  “Honor doesn’t come from blind loyalty.”  She took another step forward.  “Honor doesn’t come from unquestioning devotion.”  Applejack leaned forward and pushed Scootaloo into a crouched position.  “Honor comes from bein’ honest to yourself.  And ah can see it in you.  You’re lying to yourself.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes as she began to tremble under Applejack’s overpowering strength.  There was so much she could do to end her right now.  She could summon her team and have them take her down.  She could even use the spring loaded kunai in her belt to stab her in the heart.  However…  No matter how hard she wanted to deny it, there was truth in her words.  Scootaloo was lying to herself.  She had failed to protect her best friend and in so doing brought nothing but misery to herself and Applejack.  No.  She did not truly believe in what she was doing.  Scootaloo closed her eyes and took a deep breath before reaching into her pouch and pulling out a smoke bomb.  She turned her body to block her squadron from seeing what she did next.

Scootaloo tossed the bomb on the ground and it exploded into a cloud of smoke.  “Damn,” she shouted.  “You cut my pouch!”  Applejack looked at her confused before Scootaloo let go of her katana and Applejack nearly brought it down on her arm.  She pulled back just in time.

“What are you-”  Scootaloo interrupted her as she grabbed Applejack’s sword with her hooves and brought it down on her shoulder herself.  Applejack gasped and let go of the sword.

Scootaloo cried out in pain but gritted her teeth and leaned in to whisper to her.  “It has to look real.  Now go.  Go!”  Applejack tried to say something but couldn’t get it out.  She instead mouthed a thank you and grabbed her sword, slipping away into the smoke.  Scootaloo knelt to one knee in pain as her squadron jumped down to attend to her and give chase.  “She cut my pouch.  Damn bombs went off.”  Rumble was next to her giving her aid.  He took a quick look at the pouch at her side.  He could see no cut.  He was about to say something when Scootaloo gave him a serious look.  Rumble stood hesitantly before nodding a silent consent.  The trackers returned a few minutes later with no leads.

<____|=O

Applejack felt pretty good, for being half dead.  She had successfully escaped Scootaloo’s soldiers and hopefully gained a helpful ally.  Still despite the small victory she still felt like shit.  She had to stop as she walked over a hill and lean over into a bush to vomit.  Her side was killing her.  Applejack lifted her robe to look at the bandages once more.  They were covered in blood.  Her wound had done more than reopen, it seemed to have torn even bigger.  “Bucking luck,” she muttered.

Applejack stumbled away from the bush to try to make it to a house or someplace that she could rest and maybe find aid.  Her vision got blurry after a few steps, her coordination after another few.  She tripped and rolled down the hill, her clothes getting covered in dirt.  She came to rest at the bottom of the hill.  She sat there blurrily looking at the morning sky.  So orange.  Just like her eyes.  Applejack slowly reached out toward the sky.  She swore she could even feel the earth shake.  There was a loud boom close by.  Her consciousness faded as she watched the orange sky turn blue.  Four ponies seemed to appear in front of her, looking down anxiously as her vision turned black.

When Applejack awoke again she was surprised to not find the sky above her.  Instead there seemed to be a bright white light staring at her.  “Is this… the afterlife?” she asked hesitantly.

“If it is I’m converting,” she heard somepony mutter.  The white light turned away from her and her vision cleared to see somepony in a blue and purple suit with a large hat and mask was looking down at her.  “You’re sure she’s going to be okay, Filli-Second?”

Another pony, this one bright pink in a white bodysuit, zipped up to them and nodded.  “I gave her the full treatment.  She should be good as new.”

Applejack blinked a few times before leaning up and looking at herself.  She was lying on some kind of special bed made of fabric she’d never seen before.  She looked back at the white light and saw that it had been some kind of lamp.  A very wonky looking lamp she’d never seen before.  Finally she noticed just where she was.  It was a large cavernous room with giant pictures on the walls that moved.  They seemed to depict several different scenes of ponies that looked like her.  Even ponies that looked like ponies she knew.  “Rainbow?” she muttered as she saw a rainbow colored Pegasus on a screen.

“Yo!” Applejack turned to the end of the room to see her former friend sitting spinning on some kind of chair, looking kind of bored.  She also wore a really weird looking blue uniform.  “Do I know you?”

“But… I… what?” Applejack stuttered.  The pink mare grabbed her hoof and patted it gently.

“Don’t worry, we’re not here to hurt you,” she said softly.  “You were almost dead when we found you.  I’ve tried to recruit the rest of us by choice but you we had no option but to bring you back here.”

Applejack took her hoof away and brought it to her lasso just in case.  “Where am I and who are you ponies?”

The masked pony stepped up to take the question.  “We’re ponies from different realities.  All brought together by her.”  She pointed to the pink one.  “I’m Mare Do-Well.  That’s Filli-Second.  I see you already know a Rainbow Dash in your world.”  Rainbow Dahs nodded to them as she tried to balance a remote control on her nose.  “And there’s one more.”  She looked up and frowned.  “Come down here!”  Applejack screamed with a start as a bat winged pony flew down from the rafters and landed in front of them.  Applejack gasped in shock as she recognized the face.

“Fluttershy!” she yelled.  Filli-Second gave her a motion not to say that name.

“Flutterbat!” Flutterbat shouted back.  Applejack bit her lip before nodding.  Flutterbat turned away and walked towards Dash.

“Yeah, she doesn’t like it when ponies call her that,” Dash said nonchalantly.  She proceeded to give Flutterbat a scratch behind the ears.  Flutterbat began to purr in appreciation.

“So I take it you know a Flutter… bat in your world too,” Mare Do-Well said with interest.

“Yeah,” Applejack muttered, still blown away by everything she was seeing.  “She’s, uh, a shrine maiden.  Fights demons with talismans.  Honestly never thought I’d see here like this.”

“You get used to the surprises,” Mare Do-Well muttered.

“I’m sorry, but why am I here?” Applejack looked to all of them.  The other three turned to Filli-Second to answer.  She nodded and walked over to the wall of many moving pictures and pressed a button on a dashboard.  A new image appeared that took up the entire wall.  It was a city in shambles.  Buildings that used to touch the skies now lay scattered in pieces.  Fire roamed the streets and Applejack couldn’t see any life in it.

Filli-Second let out a sad sigh.  “Meet Maretropolis.  Or what’s left of it.  A couple of days ago a creature was brought into my world that destroyed everything.  It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.  All my friends were wiped out by this monster.  I was left with no one.”  The group fell silent as most lowered their heads in respect.  Only Mare Do-Well didn’t do so.  “However, my friend and team leader, the Masked Matterhorn, had devised a plan in case of apocalyptic situations like this.”  Filli-Second grabbed a handle beneath the dashboard and pulled to reveal a hidden cabinet.  She pulled out a wrinkled sheet of paper.  “She was the smartest pony I ever knew.  So she had created a machine that allowed her to view alternate realities.  She created this list in case there ever came a foe too great for us to face alone.  She listed all the ponies with the qualities necessary to overcome such an obstacle and stop it before it could destroy everything.”  She lifted the paper before the team.  “That time is now.”

Applejack nodded and got out of the bed.  “Ah don’t really appreciate being spied on.  But ah guess if all of reality is in jeopardy then I can’t blame the girl.”

“Won’t see me complaining,” Rainbow Dash added with a smile.  “Sounds like fun.”  Flutterbat growled an agreement.

Mare Do-Well crossed her hooves in thought.  “If you’re Maretropolis was destroyed then where the hay are we?”

Filli-Second smiled and punched in a few more buttons on the dashboard and the picture changed again to show the outside.   Everypony gathered around in amazement.  Outside the fortress they stood in was a swirling array of lights and colors.  “We are currently inside the Veloci-Source.  The place beyond reality that I draw my speed from.  Twili- Matterhorn suggested I build it for a situation like this.”  Her smile dropped.  Mare Do-Well did not take the chance to comfort her.

“Okay.  So we’re free from the sight of that entity then,” she muttered.  “What do you want us to do now then?”

Filli-Second turned to the list and winced.  “There’s actually one more pony we need.”

“Really?  And who’s that?”

Filli-Second frowned as she punched in some new coordinates and a new picture popped up.  The group gasped in shock, Flutterbat letting out a hiss.  A tall black unicorn with ethereal violet mane stood atop a castle looking down at a bunch of ponies in chains.  Mare Do-Well raised an eyebrow at Filli-Second and scowled.  “Yeah, I figured I was going to get that reaction from you.”

<___|=O

Rumble knelt before his captain back at the Daimyo’s residence.  A single pony with a bow knot in her rainbow mane sat across from him.  He gulped as he awaited what she would say after hearing his report.  Finally she broke the ice.  “So… she escaped again.”

“Yes, my lady,” he muttered.

“And she injured Sukutaru?”

“Yes, my lady.”

Rainbow Dash steepled her hooves together and attempted to do some breathing to calm herself.  “Captain Niji!” a voice broke her concentration.  A single pony in the same black clad clothes flew in and bowed before presenting his news.  “We followed the traitor’s tracks for a few leagues but they simply vanished.”

Rainbow’s eyes shot open and within a blink she was at the soldier’s throat.  “You came here to tell me exactly what this one told me?”  The soldier gagged before being dropped to the ground.  “Don’t waste my time.”

The soldier took a few breaths before trying again.  “It’s not that.  It’s that she really disappeared.  Witnesses around the area say she rolled over dead and then four strange ponies appeared out of thin air and whisked her away.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow.  “What do you mean strange?”

“Well,” the soldier gulped.  “The witnesses say that… one of them… um… looked like you.”  Rainbow turned to throttle him again.  “Andtheothersworeamaskawhitesuitandtheyhadademonwiththem,” he rattled off fast enough to spare his neck.

Rainbow stopped and considered this.  “A demon?  A mask?  Could Applejack be working with dark spirits?”  She rubbed her chin in consideration then noticed that she hadn’t dismissed the two.  “Go,” she waved a hoof at them and the soldier turned to leave.  Rumble got up as well.  “Wait,” she called.  Rumble stopped and waited.  “When you see Sukutaru, tell her I will avenge her loss.  This has just become a more personal matter than it already is.”

Rumble nodded.  “Yes, my lady.  And…”

“What?”  Rumble wanted to tell her what he knew of the battle between Applejack and Scootaloo, but he was conflicted.  Too conflicted to say anything at the moment.

“Nothing, my lady,” he bowed once more.  “I will tell her your intentions.”  He turned to go and left Rainbow all alone.

Rainbow sat back down in her seat at the front of the grandly furnished room.  “What are you up to, Applejack?”  She closed her eyes and began a state of meditation, her thoughts focused on her mission.  Then an image appeared in her mind.  It was loud and harsh and was there for only a split second but it made her jump up with surprise and breathe heavily.

Rainbow spun around to search her room.  It just felt like somepony was watching her.  “Show yourself!” she demanded.

Rainbow yelled in frustration as she delivered a hurricane kick to the folding screen behind her.  The screen was cut cleanly in two.  Nothing was behind it.  “More demon work,” she muttered.  “Either that or I’m losing my head.”  But why did the image of an eye pop into my head?

> A Nightmare in Violet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Rarity you’re designs are simply marvelous!”  “Astonishing!”  “They seem to pop!”  “Beautiful!”

Rarity had never felt happier.  She stood before the Canterlot elite with her new signature line of dresses, bathed in accolades.  She was the most famous designer in all of Equestria.  Truly, she had everything she could ever want.  “Thank you!  Thank you!  You have no idea the depth of which I appreciate your kind words.  I just wanted to say that-”

“Fraud!”  Rarity’s ears perked up as she heard a pony in the back of crowd speak up.  “Fraud!  Liar!  Fiend!”

The crowd parted in confusion as an old mare in tattered clothes and hood approached her.  Rarity frowned.  “I’m sorry?”

“You’re nothing but a charlatan!” the pony shouted.  “You have everything you could ever want and yet you stay here!  For what?  To listen to the applause of ghosts?”  As if on cue the crowd’s faces changed from confused to joyous as they began to applaud no one.  Rarity looked around in confusion before a realization hitting her.

“Enough,” she muttered, staring at the floor.  The crowd continued.  “I said enough!”  With a loud stomp from her hooves the crowd vanished in a wisp of mist.  She turned to the dresses beside her and swung a hoof through them, dissolving them into mist as well.  The scene around her went dark and all that was left was her and the old mare.  “I know it’s a lie.  But it’s the only respite I have from the nightmare.”

The old mare smirked and walked up to her until they were mere inches away.  “You want to be free of the nightmare?  Fine.”  She lowered her hood to reveal an angry dark blue unicorn with glowing eyes and tiara.  “Just give me control!!”

~`(\/)’~

Rarity awoke with a start.  She clutched her chest as she breathed heavily.  She was in her bed in her castle that dominated over the Everfree forest.  She looked down at her body.  Still black as night.  She had been able to do so much with this power but for some reason she could not change her appearance.  What once had been white and pure was black and tainted.  She could feel it inside every day, struggling for control.  Tonight was no different.  “You will not get out that easily, beast,” she whispered to herself.

She laid her head back down but could not get back to sleep.  All she could think about was the image of the Nightmare’s face.  She got out of bed and strolled over to the balcony doors.  A cool night breeze greeted her when she opened them.  It was always night.  That was another thing she couldn’t stop.

Two months ago she had won her personal battle with her demon.  Driving it down into the depths of her subconscious.  However, without its guidance, many of the spells it enacted went unchecked.  Rarity tried to undo such curses but nothing worked.  She let out a long sigh as she looked out over her kingdom.  Ponyville stood a few miles away, a large statue of her rising above the tree line.  It depicted her as powerful and regal in nature, but Rarity did not feel that way.  She would always be a small town pony pretending to be something bigger than what she was.  This past year had just cemented that fact.

“Rarity?” came a small voice from behind her.  Rarity turned to see a familiar face.  Fluttershy walked in with her placid smile and a cup of water.  “I heard you walking about.  I figured you would like a glass of water.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy.  But please, you don’t need to get up in the middle of the night for that.”  She took a trembling breath as she looked down at her friend’s neck.  The diamond collar still attached.  “You… you can go to bed.”  The collar glowed for a moment and Fluttershy’s eyes along with it.

“Yes, Rarity.”  Fluttershy nodded and left the glass of water on her nightstand before heading out the door.  Rarity bit her lip and cursed herself for being so powerless.  She had been free for months and yet one of her dearest friends was still cursed to obey every order of her.  Just like the other curses she had tried to undo it, but any attempts came close to causing Fluttershy near fatal pain.  Her anguish brought back memories of how it all started.

~`(\/)’~

“Rarity don’t do this!” Twilight shouted.  “We’re your friends!  You can fight Nightmare Moon’s influence!”  The five mares stood before their friend turned super villain as dark magic cascaded around them.

After a bunch of nightmare creatures foalnapped Rarity and dragged her to the moon, she returned as Nightmare Rarity.  Brandishing an army of nightmares made real the newly resurrected evil used her body to commit unspeakable acts of evil.  She even succeeded where Luna had failed and managed to imprison Celestia in the sun and Luna back in the moon.  All that stood between her and total victory were the elements of harmony, of which she was one of them.

In that moment, struggling with her desires and her fears, Rarity faltered.  She simply did not have the strength to overcome her weaknesses.  And in that moment, Nightmare Rarity struck back.  She shouted as power began to envelop her and she blasted a ray of magic into Twilight’s chest.  The alicorn shouted in surprise before her entire body was frozen in blue crystal.  The others gasped as Nightmare turned her attention to the rest.

“Long live the conquering heroes, hmm?” she laughed viciously.  Rainbow Dash flew at her to deliver a punch but Nightmare turned into ethereal smoke and she passed through.  Rainbow landed on the other side with a swirling mass of black smoke around her face.  She began to shout in fear as the smoke obscured her vision causing her to see nightmarish beings where her friends had once been.

“What did you do!?” she shouted as she flew back into her friends and tackled Pinkie Pie.  “Where are my friends?!”  Applejack tried to pull her off her but Rainbow simply elbowed her in the face causing a cut above her left eye.  Fluttershy was too scared to move.  Nightmare simply laughed as she flew into the air and pulled the veil of smoke from Rainbow’s eyes.  Rainbow shook her head in confusion before looking down at what she’d done.  “No.  No!  I… I didn’t!  I…”

“What you thought you were doing and what you did are two entirely different things,” Nightmare smiled down at them.  “In fact, that worked out better than I thought.  Maybe I’ll just do that to the whole town!”

“No!!!” Applejack shouted as she grabbed a nearby barrel and bucked it at Nightmare.  But she was too late as Nightmare raised her hooves and let the aura around her grow until it spread across the whole of Ponyville.  Nopony was spared from the effects.  Brother fought brother.  Sister fought sister.  The only pony not affected was Rainbow Dash who still couldn’t take her eyes off Pinkie’s still body.

She watched as Applejack and Fluttershy fought each other and laughed as the rest of the town gradually joined in.  Nothing stopped it.  The fighting went on all night.  When it was all over half the town was close to death, many dying in the days to come.  Applejack lay battered and bruised on the street, her left eye bleeding profusely.  Rainbow Dash had seemed to slip into a catatonic state of fear and guilt while Pinkie Pie hadn’t moved all night.  Fluttershy was the only one still standing with many broken bones and a fractured wing.  Nightmare floated down to the street and gave the pony a slow clap.  “Bravo,” she said.  “I have to say, out of all the ponies here I never expected you to be the one to come out on top.”  Fluttershy tried to back away in fear but stumbled from her broken leg and fell.  “Please, don’t try to get back up on my account.”  She began to cry to herself as she surveyed the damage around her and her friends.

“Why?” she asked with a pleading look.  “Please, Rarity.  Please come back.”

Nightmare grinned and leaned down to whisper in her ear.  “Rarity was too weak to help.  But you can.”  With a swift motion she snapped a collar over Fluttershy’s chest.  Fluttershy twitched with a start but was surprised to find that most of her wounds were healed.  “Rise,” Nightmare commanded.  The collar glowed and Fluttershy obeyed instinctually.  She began to panic as Nightmare beckoned her to come with her.  “I’ll need a vassal if I’m going to be Queen once more.  I see no problem with you.”  With her magic she grabbed the Twilight crystal and flew into the air with Fluttershy in tow.  Applejack struggled to get back up and held out a feeble hoof in desperate hopes to stop her.

“Don’t… do this,” she barely whispered.  Nightmare smiled cruelly down at her.

“Come try again when you have an army,” she joked.  “In the meantime, everypony of this town will swear their loyalty to me at the Castle of the Two Sisters.  Failure to do so will result in… unwanted events.”  With one last laugh of triumph she flew off to the castle.

~`(\/)’~
And that was it.  Everypony left in Ponyville came over later and was forced to rebuild her castle brick by brick.  Nightmare reigned over the land for two years until Rarity was finally able to wrest control from her.  She was a small town mare in the disguise of one of the most feared and despised ponies in all of Equestria.  She hadn’t even seen hide nor hair of Applejack, Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie after that.  Thought some of her soldiers reported raids on several food storage units and farms, perhaps indicating a small insurgency.  She hoped it was her friends.

A knock came at the door.  “My queen,” the porter said as he peeked his head in.  “Breakfast is ready.”

“Thank you,” Rarity replied.  “I’ll be right down.”

“You’re sister awaits,” he said as he left.

Rarity smiled.  At least Sweetie Belle was here.  After finally getting control back the only thing she wanted to do was see her sister.  She found Sweetie working in one her fields and took her from there, explaining everything to her.  At first Sweetie seemed suspicious and untrusting but after a couple of weeks it seemed like she was coming around.  Rarity left her room to go downstairs.

She always hated going down this way in the halls of the castle but it was the only way to the dining room.  She paused in front of the giant crystal statue that held one of her close friends inside.  She placed a hoof on the hard surface and looked into Twilight’s frozen terrified eyes.  “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.  “I promise I’ll fix this.”  She let go hesitantly and continued her walk into the dining room.

Sweetie was waiting for her when she entered.  She gave her friendly nod but said nothing else.  Rarity was still happy to see her.  “I’m glad to see your exploring the castle a bit more,” Rarity said.  “I really do want you to be comfortable.”  Sweetie didn’t respond as she stopped eating her breakfast.  “Is everything okay?”

Sweetie returned her attention to Rarity.  “Oh!  Um, yeah… everything’s fine.  I had a weird dream last night that kept me up a bit is all.  Anyway I… was just wondering if maybe I could invite over Scootaloo?”

Rarity saw the apprehension and fear in her sister’s eyes.  She sighed.  “Sweetie, I’ve told you before that you don’t need to ask anything of me.  I’m your sister again.  Though I know I don’t quite look it.”  She tried to give her a smile that Sweetie might remember but the filly still had a hard time looking her in the eye.

“You could probably convince a lot more ponies if you lowered the moon or freed the princesses,” Sweetie mumbled.

Rarity frowned as she sat down at the table.  “I’m trying!”  Her words came out louder than she intended.  Most of the castle staff froze in place as the felt saw the chandelier shake from her outburst.  Rarity shrank back at her own words.  “I’m sorry.  I just want this to be over as quickly as you do.”

Sweetie nodded her head and went back to her breakfast.  “Yes, sister.”

After breakfast Rarity went back to her special room.  It was formerly a dungeon but after regaining control Rarity freed any prisoners in it and converted it to an area where she could study her powers.  Rarity stood on a large hay covered floor with several nooks in the walls outfitted with bars.  She took a deep breath and focused her attention on a set of bars across from her.  She wanted to rip them out of the wall.  Rarity focused her horn on the bars and squinted.  She gritted her teeth but no power flowed from her horn.  When she finally gave up she let out a long breath and slumped to the ground.  “Damn it,” she murmured.  She grabbed a bunch of hay from the floor and tossed it at a wall.  “Damn it!”

Rarity stomped back up the stairs, passing by all the staff without notice.  She paused only briefly to give a sideways glance at Twilight’s crystal.  Then she burst into her room.  She walked over to her mirror and grabbed the sides of it, looking into her own eyes.  “Alright,” she demanded.  “I’ve had enough of this.  This is my body.  You are not in control anymore!  Time we settled this!”

She waited for a moment angrily glaring into her reflection before her reflection changed.  It gave a whistle and pulled away from its side of the mirror.  “Well, look at the big bad mare,” it chuckled.  “Hope you don’t turn me to stone or banish me to the moon.  Hmm, wait, I think the moon is occupied right now.”

Rarity smacked the side of the mirror.  “Stop fighting me!”

The mirror pushed her head forward threateningly.  “Did you stop fighting when I was in control?  No?  Then why the hay should I?”

Rarity’s face fell and she bit her lip.  “I’m never going to be free of you am I?”

The mirror went over to its bed and sat down on it.  “Not with your friends missing and everypony hating you.”  Rarity gave the mirror a glare.  “Tell me, why haven’t you just announced to the world that you defeated the great Nightmare?  Why keep it a secret?”

“You know exactly why!” Rarity shouted.

The mirror raised an eyebrow.  “Indulge me.”

Rarity sighed.  “I tried telling Sweetie and she didn’t believe me.  I practically had to command her to come to the castle.  I told the castle staff and they thought it was some weird joke I was pulling.  Everypony I tell wants me to fix what I’ve done and I can’t do that so they won’t believe me.  I fear that…”  Rarity stopped before she could say anything else, but it was too late.

The mirror grinned viciously.  “You FEAR that if everypony knew, while you still looked like that, that they would come after you.  Attack you.  END you.”  She got up and sauntered over to the mirror again with a skip in her step.  “And let me tell you your fear is delicious!”

“Stop twisting my words!” Rarity shouted.

“But twisting is what I do!” the mirror spat back.  “It’s who I am.  I am Nightmare.  Corruption incarnate.  If I had a cutie mark it’d probably be something quite twisted, wouldn’t you agree?”  Rarity covered her ears and tried to hold back her panic.  The mirror continued to talk.  “There’s nothing wrong with being afraid, you know?  Fear is an appropriate response for somepony in your position.  Everything stolen from you.  Everypony you ever cared about hurt or dead all because of a moment of weakness.”  The mirror stopped as it tilted its head and cocked its ears.  It grinned as it turned back to her.  “Tell you what.  I’ll give you that power you so desperately wanted.  Out of the kindness of my heart.”  Rarity turned to the mirror and frowned.

“What are you playing at?” Rarity asked.

“Nothing,” the mirror replied.  “In fact, if you feel like getting rid of me while you’ve got all that power, I’ll go quietly.”  Rarity was stunned.  She didn’t want to believe it but it was true.  She knew it inside because the Nightmare was inside.  It was telling the truth.

“Deal,” Rarity said hastily.  “Now give it to me.”

The mirror grinned again and began to fade.  “It’s already done.”  Rarity watched the reflection fade from the mirror.  Hesitantly she brought up a hoof to the mirror and lowered her horn at it.  Her horn glowed with ethereal power and she fired a blast into it.  The mirror shattered into a million pieces.  Rarity looked around at the broken shards and laughed.  A joyous laugh that she hadn’t had in quite a long time.  She lifted a shard of the mirror in the air with magic and took a deep breath as she took one last look at her Nightmare form.  With a little concentration, right before her eyes Rarity began to transform.  She shrank a little but it was worth it.  She saw her curly violet mane and brilliant white coat.  It almost brought tears to her eyes.  It was time for this nightmare to end.

The first thing she would do was free Twilight.  With her help she could set the others free and maybe even cast out the last of whatever was left of the Nightmare.  Rarity opened the door to her room with a joyful heart, but was shocked by a loud explosion she could hear from downstairs.  The castle shook and Rarity lost her footing.  She fell to the ground with her head on the floor.  She tried to get up but stopped when she heard voices and shouts from the floor beneath.  “Storm the castle!” came a familiar voice.  “Find that monster and bring her to me!  She’s weak!”

“Applejack?” Rarity whispered.  She got back up and ran down the hall now hearing screams and the sounds of battle.  She came to the edge of the grand hall and peered out tentatively.  About twenty ponies decked out in camo suits and swords were storming the hall.  A few staff and guards fought back.  Most of them under a spell that she couldn’t remove.  She didn’t want them to die.  Rarity ran out onto the stairs revealing herself.  “Stop!!”

For a brief moment the fighting stopped and everypony looked to her.  Another pony at the other end of the hall stopped her fighting and stood atop the collapsed entry way.  Rarity gasped as she saw her friend standing there.  Applejack was decked out in a tan jacket with knives in sleeves all along it.  On her hooves were muddied leather boots.  But what surprised her the most was an eyepatch strung across her left eye.  Applejack’s eyes widened as she saw her.  “Rarity?” she whispered in disbelief.  Rarity wanted to smile after seeing her friend after so long but Applejack’s mood changed within a second.  Her expression turned to anger and she pulled out a crossbow that was strapped to her back.  She took aim and fired, the bolt embedding itself right next to Rarity’s head.  “No more games, monster!”

Rarity was struck dumb by the shot and fumbled her words.  “Please!  Applejack I- I- can fix this!  Just g-give me a moment to-”

“You don’t get that luxury,” Applejack hissed.  She sprinted forward, getting extremely close to Rarity within seconds.  Instinctively her fight or flight response kicked in.  Rarity ran.

Why am I running, she thought to herself.  I just need to focus and all this will be over.  As she ran Rarity began to screw her eyes and focus her energy into her horn.  Just find the right spell.  Her horn began to glow, but another bolt whizzing past her halted her concentration again.  She looked over her shoulder to see Applejack just a few paces away.  The look on her face wasn’t something Rarity ever wanted to see from one of her friends.  She only had one choice.  Rarity turned a corner and slammed against a book shelf the shelf spun around and landed her in another room while Applejack turned the corner and froze at the sight of an empty hall way.  Rarity bit her lip and fought back her tears as went into a fetal position and waited for Applejack to leave.  Instead she roared with anger, making Rarity hug herself a little tighter.

Applejack stood there for a moment before walking forward again very slowly.  “Ya know why ah hate you?” she shouted into the empty hall way.  “It aint cause of this here eye.  And It aint cause of what you did to the princesses.  It’s cause you took everything from me.  Pinkie Pie has been on a respirator for close to a year now.  Dash?  She hasn’t stopped muttering to herself while she curls into a ball in her room.  You took Fluttershy and Twilight.  All ah had left was mah family!  But you took that too!  I’m endin’ it today, monster!  Mark mah words!”  With that last word she left the hallway.

Rarity sat there for the longest time crying into her mane as she waited for somepony that might just come and kill her.  A small voice in her head started speaking.  “You see how strong fear can be?  How it warps what we see right in front of us?  They were never going to believe you were free.”

Rarity shook her head of the depressing thought and stood back up.  There was still one pony that would believe her.  Even if she had a little trouble before, Sweetie would not abandon her.  Rarity rushed through the castle still hearing fighting going on and working to avoid it.  She finally stopped in front of an ornate door, Sweetie’s room.  She took a deep breath and prepared to see her sister.  She opened it slowly and saw Sweetie standing at the window looking down at the battle below, her back turned to her.  “Sweetie,” Rarity said softly.  Sweetie turned with a start and gasped at Rarity.  She stumbled back and grabbed at the wall.  Rarity walked forward to try to comfort her.  “Sweetie please, just listen to me I-”

“Stay back!” Sweetie shouted, finally grabbing and brandishing a fireplace poker.  “Stay back or I swear I’ll… I’ll…”  Tears began to fall from her eyes and her lip began to tremble.

“Sweetie,” Rarity croaked out through tears.  “It’s really me.  I-”

“Enough!” Sweetie shouted and close her eyes trying to block out the image of her sister before her.  “Stop pretending to be her!”

“But I am-”  Sweetie screamed and lunged at Rarity before she could complete her statement.  Rarity gasped in surprise as she felt the poker go through her shoulder.  She took a deep breath and looked to her right where the weapon stuck out.  Sweetie backed away with a fearful look on her face and Rarity knew exactly why.  There was no blood.  Rarity grabbed the poker and slowly began to pull it out.  She felt no pain and the wound closed almost immediately as the poker left her body.  She tossed it to the side, her face a deathly pallor of fear.  She turned to Sweetie who still looked on shocked.  “I… I…”

Sweetie fell to her knees and began to sob.  “I know she’s gone.  I’ve known for so long.”  She looked up and choked back her sobs to deliver a hateful stare.  “But you’ll be gone soon too, monster.  Who do you think called them?”

Rarity took a step back.  Even her own sister had not believed her.  “You see?” said that little voice in her head.  “Rarity is dead.  At least in the minds of everypony here.”  Rarity shakily turned her head to the mirror in Sweetie’s room.  Her reflection stood there with a look of victory in its face.  “Now it’s time for Rarity to do the only thing she can do.  Accept that she’s beaten.”

Rarity’s lips trembled for a moment and she fought back tears as lowered her head in defeat.  The mirror began to laugh triumphantly as its voice and form changed, the mare in real life changing with it.  Nightmare Rarity rose again.  She grinned as she checked herself in the mirror.  “Ah, it does feel good to be back in my body even if I wasn’t gone for long.”

Sweetie looked up at her in horror and curiosity.  “Wait, you mean-”

Nightmare chuckled.  “That’s right, little one.  Your sister was free of my control.  She had beaten me.  Who knew that I didn’t even need to lift a finger for you and your pony friends to beat her back down for me?  Tell me, does stupidity run in your family?”  Sweetie let her mouth hang open as she dropped to the ground and curled up in a heap of tears.  Nightmare laughed and looked out the window.  “It seems to be getting pretty dicey out there.  Better go put a stop to it before somepony gets hurt, eh?”  She disappeared with another grin.

~`(\/)’~
Nightmare rematerialized back in the grand hall.  Ponies were still fighting but her appearance seemed to turn the tide of battle in the brainwashed’s favor.  The insurgents were surprised by her appearance and took a lot of attacks from the mind controlled servants and guards.  “Now this is what I call a party!” Nightmare shouted.  “All it needs is a little music and a-”

“Nightmare!” Applejack shouted from the steps at the end of the hall.

“dance partner.”  Applejack shot off another bolt but Nightmare dodged it by turning into smoke once more and laughing.  “Remember this little trick, Applejack?”

“Everypony!” Applejack shouted a command to her forces who were still in the game and pulled out a gas mask.  The rest of her insurgents did as well.

“Interesting strategy,” Nightmare chuckled.  “Let’s see if it does you any good.”  Nightmare spread her smoke across the hall.  Everypony who wore a gas mask was protected from the effects, however the guards and staff were not so lucky.  They began to act even more fervent in their attack, biting and gnawing at the insurgents like scared rabid dogs.  Nightmare laughed again.  “I simply love fear.  It’s such an easy emotion to exploit.”  Applejack put her mask away and ran up the steps and grabbed the end of a rope attached to a chandelier.  She cut it and the weight of the chandelier sent her flying toward Nightmare.  She turned in midair to deliver a kick.  Nightmare tried to dissipate once more but Applejack’s boots connected with her ethereal form and she was sent flying into a wall.  She groaned as she pulled herself back up.  “Looks like you found yourself some magic resistant material.”

Applejack pulled out another bolt and aimed it dead center.  “This one’s magic resistant too.” She bit her lip and hesitated for only a moment.  “Goodbye Rarity.”  Applejack let the bolt go.  Nightmare close her eyes in expectation of pain.  But after a moment she felt none.  “NOOOOO!!!”

Nightmare opened her eyes in surprise to see a yellow mare standing before her.  She dropped to her knees as she turned and revealed a bold sticking out of her chest.  Applejack looked dumbfounded as she dropped her crossbow in shock.  Fluttershy turned to face Rarity fully and spat up a little blood before falling.  Nightmare instinctively rushed over to her and held her head.  “What… I didn’t command you to do that,” she stuttered.

“You didn’t have too,” Fluttershy whispered weakly.  “I never gave up on you, Rarity.  I couldn’t let… Applejack do something she would regret.”

“So you let her do something she would regret to you?” Nightmare’s voice was changing as well as her demeanor.  Tears began to surface as she looked down at the Pegasus in her arms.

“I didn’t know… what else to do.”  Fluttershy began to cough.  “Please… don’t let her blame herself.  Tell her it was my choice.”

“But… they...” Rarity’s eyes began to flow tears.  Fluttershy smiled as she raised a hoof to her face to wipe them away.

“I know… but promise me that you’ll persevere.  If nopony believes you, just keep trying until you… until…” Fluttershy couldn’t complete her words.  Rarity pulled her still friend close and weeped into her mane.

Applejack’s eye began to twitch as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.  “I didn’t mean to… I would never… No.  It’s that collar.  The collar!  You!”  She pointed at Rarity with tear filled eyes.  “You ordered her to do that!  You did this!”

Rarity stopped her sobs enough to listen to her friend.  She grit her teeth in frustration.  She gently lowered Fluttershy to the ground before turning back to Applejack.  “You don’t believe me that I’m your friend?  Fine.  I can accept that.  But if you think for one moment that this pony sacrificed herself to protect something she didn’t believe in, didn’t love, even under the influence of magic.  Then you don’t know Fluttershy!”

“Don’t say her name!!” Applejack shouted as she grabbed her crossbow off the floor.  Rarity created a flash just before AJ could get a shot off.  When she reopened her eyes, Rarity was gone along with Fluttershy.  Applejack shook her hoof at the sky in anger.  “Damn you!!”

~`(\/)’~

Rarity rematerialized just on the outskirts of the Everfree, outside a specific cottage.  She carried Fluttershy in her arm as she walked past the abandoned petting zoo her friend had once operated and loved.  Without any emotion she brought her inside the cottage and up the stairs into a dusty bedroom.  Rarity used her magic to remove all the traces of dust and even fix a few of the damaged pieces of furniture.  Then she lay her friend down on the bed.

Fluttershy looked peaceful lying on her bed back home.  Rarity smiled to herself as it appeared that the mare was now where she belonged.  She crossed Fluttershy’s arms and brushed back her mane to keep it out of her eyes.  Rarity tried to fight back her tears but she failed.  She knelt next to Fluttershy’s bed and continued to weep.

When she finally felt she was done grieving Rarity left the cottage and walked for a while until she came to a lake.  She looked down into the water and wasn’t surprised when she saw her reflection glare back at her.  “You think you won?!” it asked angrily.  “You think her death means anything?  All it did was buy you time.  Time before you give up again.  And I know you will.”  Rarity did not reply, nor show any emotion to the reflection’s taunts.  “You’re weak.  Tonight just proves it all the more.  I will be free again!”

“No,” Rarity muttered.  “No, you won’t.”  Rarity pulled her head back earning a confused look from the reflection before its eyes shot open at a realization.

“Wait!  Stop!”  Rarity didn’t listen as she walked into the lake.  The water gradually got deeper and deeper around her until it came up to her chin.  She looked up and gave one last look at the fading sun.  Then with a final resigned breath she dove under the water.  Rarity continued to look up at the water’s rippling surface as she sank deeper and deeper.  Soon oxygen began to leave her lungs and her vision began to tunnel.  Blackness encroached and Rarity lost consciousness.  For the first time in a long time, she felt at peace.

Rarity awoke as she burst from the water.  She drew in a large breath before spitting and coughing up a gallon of water from her lungs.  She shook her head to clear her mind then saw that the lake floated just below her.  She looked up with bleary eyes to see a yellowish figure pulling holding her and flying her out of the lake.  It set her down just on the bank and Rarity struggled to her hooves.  She wearily looked around and saw four other ponies before her, the fifth yellow one landing behind them.  “Well that got dark,” one said in a familiar raspy voice.

“Are you serious about this?” asked another one with a clearly disguised voice.  “She was on Matterhorn’s list?  She’s a total flight risk.”

“Ah have to agree,” came another familiar and frightening voice.  “Ah mean she tried to take her own life.”

“No!  Applejack!!” Rarity shouted and jumped back covering her face with her hooves.

“Huh, not as fearsome as I imagined a Nightmare Moon would be,” the raspy voice joked.

“Rainbow?” Rarity muttered.  She lifted her hoof and finally cleared her eyes.  Five familiar looking ponies came into vision.  Rainbow Dash was there with a Wonderbolts uniform on.  Next to her was Pinkie Pie in some kind of tacky white jumpsuit.  Beside her was a pony in a full dark suit and hat with mask.  Applejack stood behind these three, but she looked different.  She didn’t have her eye patch and her magic resistant boots were nowhere in sight.  Instead she wore some kind of black dress with white robe shirt.  Then behind her was the pony that saved her.  “Fluttershy!?”

“Flutterbat!” the five replied all at the same time.  Flutterbat smiled at their reply.  True enough, it looked like Fluttershy but she had bat wings and fangs.  Rarity raised a hoof to her head and tried to think clearly.

“Hold on, just what is going on?” she asked them all.

Pinkie Pie stepped forward.  “You may know all of us, but we’re not from your world.”

“We’re from other realities,” the masked mare continued.  “Brought together to fight an oncoming evil that threatens all of our worlds.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Rainbow continued.

“Need help in fight,” Flutterbat whispered.

Applejack held out a hoof to her.  “Ah’m sorry we don’t have more time to explain but will you help us?”

Rarity looked at the odd crew.  We’re they for real?  Alternate versions of her friends?  She looked back at the lake.  She was going to end it all just a moment ago and now some ponies wanted her to stop an interdimensional war?  She could still feel the Nightmare right there inside her, fighting.  It wouldn’t be long before she was overpowered.  Obviously these ponies wouldn’t let her end it all… but maybe they could provide a proper place for her to be let loose.  If the Nightmare reappeared in another dimension entirely then all her friends would be spared its wrath.  She decided.  She would help.  But only until the time came to end it all.  “If it gets dangerous then I can’t guarantee your safety,” she assured them.

“Don’t worry,” Rainbow Dash said with wave.  “I’ve already dealt with a Nightmare Moon on my world.”

“Did you kill her?” asked Rarity.

“Uh, no,” Rainbow replied hesitantly.  “She… was already dead.”

“Then you didn’t really deal with her did you?” she asked with a sneer.  Rainbow gave her a stink eye.

“Enough!” the masked mare shouted.  “Filli-Second, get us out of here.”

Pinkie Pie ushered all the ponies to grab hold of her and she began to vibrate.  “Next stop, the Veloci-Source and then… we kick some world destroying butt!”  Rarity took a deep breath before she and the other five vanished into thin air with a sonic boom.

@#$%&(*)&%$#@

GlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGlitchGLITchGlitchGlitchGLithcglithgGlcigGLitchGLithcGLitchGLithcGLitbcLgithcLgj’gKJdkfjsml,,.,,………………………………………………

…

…

4

> The Girl Who Lived
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Out of the way, Shimmer!”  Sunset Shimmer grunted as her rival, Adagio Dazzle from Siren house, pushed past her and knocked her to the floor.  Sunset dropped all her books and watched in horror as they began to fall down the long winding stair case.  “Nice,” Adagio smirked as she left.

Sunset growled in frustration.  This was life in Hoofwarts Academy.  It was a school for young magic users to come and learn their art while in a safe space.  Sunset had been here close to a year now and she didn’t feel entirely safe.  With students from Siren house who could, she thought.  She trudged back down the stairs to grab her books, quite sure that once again she was going to be late.  As she bent down to pick up her final textbook from the base of the stairs she stood up to see Flash Sentry standing in front of her.  “Oh my god!” she spouted in surprise.  She accidentally tossed her books in the air once more.  Flash moved with the speed of his namesake and grabbed them out of the air.

“Woah,” he chuckled.  “Don’t want you being late again thanks to some clumsiness.”  Sunset began to blush profusely behind her large glasses.  She took her books back and tried to hide her face behind her hair.

“Um, yeah, thank you,” she muttered.  Flash gave her a grin and walked up the stairs.  Sunset stayed back a bit to watch him walk away.  She gave a small sigh then shook her head.  “Why am I so stupid!?” she argued to herself.  Why does everything just have to be so hard?”  She took another deep breath and climbed the stairs once more.

Though she was just a freshman at Hoofwarts, Sunset had kind of made a name for herself.  Not for anything she had done in particular but because of what she had lived through.  Most of the students here knew her as the girl who survived a confrontation with one of the darkest and most evil wizards on the planet, Lord Tirek.  When she was only a child the dark lord came to her home and killed her parents, however he was not able to kill her.  Sunset rubbed the small sun shaped scar on her forehead as she remembered the past.  She was too young to remember her parents but thinking of them still brought her pain.

She finally made it to the top of the stairs and hesitantly opened the door to Potions 101, her least favorite class.  She immediately saw Adagio Dazzle smirk at her from her seat before the teacher took notice of her entering.  “Ms. Shimmer,” Professor Cinch hissed.  “So glad our little celebrity could deem it worthy to join us.”

“Sorry professor,” she replied weakly as she sat at her chair.  Professor Cinch walked forward and glared down at her, Sunset trying to not make eye contact.

“Perhaps you were studying and simply lost track of time,” Cinch smirked.  “In that case maybe you can be the one to tell me why Manticore hair doesn’t mix with griffin extract.”

“Griffins and manticores share the same ancestry from lions,” Sunset immediately replied.  “However due to this commonality the effect of both can be neutralized when used together in a standard potion.”

Cinch raised an eyebrow at her.  “Very good, Miss Shimmer,” she murmured.  “Perhaps Miss Dazzle can learn a thing or two from you.”  Sunset’s eyes popped open as she looked to Adagio who was shooting daggers at her.  Great, that was just what she needed.  She answered a question Adagio couldn’t answer.

---<^^>---

Mare Do-Well stayed back from the group as they sat around the monitors of what Rainbow Dash had dubbed “The Veloci-Lair.”  Filli-Second worked frantically to locate where in the multiverse the great danger had gone to.  Images flashed by so quickly that even Mare Do-Well had trouble keeping up.  Nightmare Rarity stayed back from the group as well, finally walking over to Mare Do-Well after a while.  They sat together facing thee group with their backs turned to them.  “So,” Rarity began.  “I’m going to make an educated guess and say that you’re Twilight under that mask.”

Mare Do-Well did not answer her for a minute.  She simply wondered to herself how these ponies like Rarity or Filli-Second knew that name.  It was quite obvious that they were friends in those various realities, but why?  And why these ponies in particular?  The only one that Mare Do-Well thought she could trust was Applejack and she wasn’t even entirely sure of that.  Applejack may be a good pony on my world, she thought, but this version could be something else.  The same went for all of them.  She was beginning to need some answers.

Rarity chuckled next to her causing Mare Do-Well to lose her concentration.  She turned to the slightly taller black unicorn with a slightly angered look.  Rarity tried to compose herself.  “Apologies, dear,” she said with a slight smile.  “It’s just that focused stare kind of gives it away.”  Mare Do-Well didn’t respond to the line and turned away once more.  Rarity frowned and sighed.  “You don’t like me.  I get it.”

“I don’t like anypony here,” Mare Do-Well finally replied.  “I don’t like this situation.  Too many variables.  Give me magic and titans any day of the week but when you start to mess with alternate realities, that’s when it gets… complicated.”

“You have… experience?” Rarity asked with an air of curiosity.  Mare Do-Well realized she had already said too much and shut her mouth.  Rarity took notice and stayed quiet.

After a few more minutes Filli-Second struck pay dirt.  “Eureka!” she shouted.  Mare Do-Well and Rarity walked forward to join the group and look at the monitors.  Displayed across the enormous screens was string of spherical objects, Mare Do-Well saw that they an array of worlds.  Filli-Second had highlighted one around the center of the string.  It flashed an eerie red.  “We should get going,” she finished and left her chair.

“Hold on,” Mare Do-Well said in a slightly threatening tone, putting her hoof down in front of Filli-Second.  “We’re not leaving without a plan or an explanation of what we’re up against.  I may not know these ponies but I’m sure as hay not going to just lead them to their deaths.”

Filli-Second frowned and looked back at the monitor, worrying if the threat would move soon and be lost again.  Though with the agreeing glares from the other ponies she conceded.  “Alright,” she sighed and sat back down.  “I… suppose you should know what you’re up against.”  She pressed a button on the dashboard and a microphone sound kicked on.  “Computer.  Access video file: Filli-Second.  File name: … Great Disaster.”  The computer acknowledged and a video came on screen.  It seemed to be filmed from a very fast, very jittery cameramare.  Filli-Second nodded to the group.  “Each member of the Power Ponies was outfitted with a recording device so Matterhorn could review our battles for future reference.”  Rainbow Dash stifled a giggle at the words “Power Ponies,” earning a stern glare from AJ and Filli-Second.  The video continued.

“You’ll never get away with this, Maneiac!” shouted a purple unicorn in a mask and body suit.  Mare Do-Well assumed that was Matterhorn.  Her uncanniness made her a little bit uncomfortable.  Matterhorn and the rest of the Power Ponies seemed to have cornered a super villain at the top of a sky scraper.  The villain they called Maneiac laughed triumphantly as she caressed some kind of sinister looking device.  It sat on three metal legs and pointed down like a drill, however the top had a large cone shaped object that seemed to be sending out a glowing green pulse.

“You’re too late, Power Ponies,” the Maneiac shrieked.  “I’ve already sent the signal out.  And here at the tallest spot in Maretropolis, it will have enough strength to echo into space and draw in a meteor that will smash this pathetic city to rubble!  Bwahahaha!”  Mare Do-Well smirked at the amount of cheese the villain was throwing into her speech.

“Never too late for me!” came a familiar peppy voice.  Suddenly the camera shifted and the next moment the villain was tied up.  “Power Ponies: 100, Villains: 0.”

The group fell in and began to congratulate Filli-Second on another win.  Mare Do-Well began to feel a little insulted at the fact that these ponies called themselves heroes.  She had fought tougher opponents and come out on top and she didn’t even have super speed.  Then Matterhorn’s attention was drawn away from the group.  “Oh no,” she uttered with wide eyes.  The rest of the group and Filli-Second turned to the machine to see that it had begun to malfunction.  Sparks were flying from it and several key components had been messed around with.  “Filli-Second what did you do?”

Filli-Second shrugged.  “I just moved a couple things around.  Tried to get it to stop.”

“Well I think now its-” A large blast of sound broke her off and the ponies stared up into the sky.  They looked on in shock and awe as what appeared to be a giant glowing hole in the sky began to form.

Mare Do-Well’s eyes widened at the sight of it.  “No,” she whispered frightfully.  It was a hole she had seen before.

“Turn it off!” Matterhorn shouted frantically.  Radiance and Mistress Marevelous ran to the machine and tried to bring it down but a blast of energy from it sent them rocketing back.  Matterhorn shouted to the two airborn members.  “Zapp!  See if you can use the clouds to close up that hole!  Saddle Rager!  Use everything you’ve got to take this thing down!”  As she said this she shot a beam of ice onto the floor of the rooftop.  Saddle Rager grew to her enraged form and charged at the machine, bursting through its field of energy and easily sending it over the edge of the building with the slippery ice.  Zapp however was having a harder time as she struggled to close the hole.  She shot lightning into it and forced the clouds around but they all seemed to simply be sucked into the gaping hole. 

“I think we need to-”  Zapp shouted but her last words were unheard as the lightning that had been sucked into the hole was spit out once more and struck her in the back.  Zapp cried out in pain and fell from the sky with Saddle Rager to catch her.  The group ran up to her as they landed back on the roof.  The camera was very wobbly and hard to focus as it centered on the burned Zapp.  “I’m fine,” she spat out and waved away her worried friends.  “I said I’m fine.  I can take a hit.”

“But ah don’t know if they can,” whispered Marevelous.  The camera turned to see what she was looking at and they saw the city begin to be hit by wave and wave of lightning from the hole.  Pretty soon they could make out the sound of civilian’s screaming in terror.  It brought some bad memories back to Mare Do-Well.  Though something about this seemed off.  If this was the same hole that she remembered then more should be coming out of it than lightning.

Just as the Power Ponies were about to move to start saving the city another blast of sound bowled them over.  This time the low sonic boom gave way to a high pitched screech.  The image on the camera feed began to crackle and waver as it looked around in every direction.  More and more screams could be heard but Filli-Second was moving too fast to notice most of what was going on.  However for one brief moment the feed stopped moving and centered on the hole.  Filli-Second was now on the street looking directly up at the hole from below, her friends by her side.  “What is that?” asked a terrified voice.

The Power Ponies didn’t respond as they stared dumbfounded at the sight before them.  Mare Do-Well looked on with amazement as well.  This truly wasn’t the hole she had known.  In the center of the massive glowing swirl was giant eyeball.  It looked down unblinkingly at the city of Maretropolis.  Filli-Second and her team could only stand still and watch as the eye did what eyes do.  It blinked and the world went dark.  No sound or image appeared after that.  All that the group could hear was static.  Rainbow Dash turned back to Filli-Second.  “What happened?”

“The feed was lost after that,” Filli-Second muttered morosely.  “We tried to save all that we could.  And while we did that eye just kept staring at us.  There was no more lightning no more sound.  It just looked at us.  About an hour later Matterhorn discovered that the eye was disrupting the signals and electronics in the city.  We attempted to recreate the blast that brought it here with the machine Maneiac tried to use, but…”

“Something else happened?” AJ asked.  Filli-Second nodded in response.

“It was pure luck that got the machine to work.  It took us close to a week to repair and replace.  We closed the hole and the eye disappeared.   But something was still wrong.  Still none of the electronics worked.  And… other things were beginning to happen around the city.  Around the world in fact.”  Everypony was silent as they waited for Filli-Second to finish.  “Strange things.”

“What do you mean ‘strange’?” asked Mare Do-Well with concern.

Filli-Second bit her lip and Mare Do-Well saw hesitation and fear in her eyes.  “Like… a pony would walk into a room he knew all his life and suddenly he’d be in another building entirely.  Or music would start to play out of nowhere without any instruments.  Or ponies and buildings would simply… disappear for a few moments and then reappear as if nothing happened.  Matterhorn spent weeks trying to figure everything out.  She called them… glitches.”

“Glitches?” Mare Do-Well asked when everypony else seemed confused.  “Like errors in a computer program?”

Filli-Second smiled slightly.  “I suppose you would know, Mare Do-Well since you’re the only other one who comes from a technologically advanced world, but yes.  Matterhorn said that what was happening around the world equated to glitches in the system.”

“What do you mean system?” asked AJ trying to follow the conversation.

Filli-Second brought up the schematic of the line of spheres and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the red dot was still located where she left it.  “Ponies like Mare Do-Well and I come from worlds where we’ve created things called computers.”  She motioned to the screen to give the others an idea.  “We can essentially do whatever we want with these.  However every now and again something called a glitch appears.  It’s like if this red dot were to suddenly split in two or some other odd happening that made no sense.”  The rest of the group nodded their head.  “So Matterhorn believed that this eye, this creature, was a glitch in reality.  Somehow the Maneiac’s machine tore open a rift in time and space.  And whatever that eye did while it was here affected my world.  Affected it in such a way that everypony became afraid.  So afraid that they started to attack one another.  Anypony who showed a glitch was ostracized or beaten.  Pretty soon it became so bad that our world leaders decided… destroying Maretropolis was the answer.”  Once again everypony was silent.  “After losing our home, Matterhorn became obsessed with finding the creature.  We all agreed with her mission and journeyed into the unknown.  So that’s why we’re here.”

“Alright!” Rainbow shouted.  “Then what are we waiting for!?”

“Hold on,” Mare Do-Well said in a cold tone.  “There’s something you’re still keeping from us.”  She eyed Filli-Second who tried to avoid her gaze.  “I’m sure you’ve all noticed it.  Where are the Power Ponies?”

The rest of the group widened their eyes at the realization.  True enough, the only pony they had seen in the Veloci-Lair was Filli-Second.  Filli-Second shuttered and tried to keep herself composed as she answered.  “They’re gone,” was all she said.  “I’m on my own now.”

The rest of the group seemed to accept that answer but Mare Do-Well still looked at Filli-Second with a look of distrust.  “Fine,” she said.  “Then I guess we should get going if we want to stop this thing.”

{(SxT)}

“That little pony thinks she can upstage me?  Take what’s mine?” Suntrix shouted to herself, the only company within her wagon her shadow.  “Who does that pathetic magician/dressmaker think she is?”  Suntrix kicked a trunk in anger and regretted it immediately as she held her hoof in pain.  “Grrr!  All I need is a shot.  Something that can get me back on top.  Maybe I’ll steal that silly crown of hers.  I’m sure that with that I’ll-”  Suntrix was caught off guard by the sound of laughter to her left.  She spun around and saw a pony sitting in the corner of her petty wagon laughing his flank off.  He was blue with a darker blue mane and thick black rimmed glasses.  “How did you get in here?!” she yelled but the pony simply continued to laugh.  She thought about just blasting him out but something just felt off.  Like the more she looked at this pony the more the world began to spin.

Finally the pony settled down.  He wiped his eyes and walked toward her.  “I’m sorry.  I’m sorry,” he chuckled out.  “It’s just... you get more and more ridiculous each time I see you.”

Suntrix frowned.  “I’ve never met you before.”

The pony smirked and walked forward brushing a hoof through her hair.  Suntrix growled and tried to hit him but her hoof came up short.  How?  He was right there in front of her, how could she miss?  He continued to walk around her like lion around its prey, sizing her up.  “Gold and Silver hair mix.  Blue coat with yellow accents.  A mixture of Trixie and Sunset then.”  Suntrix looked at the pony in disbelief.

“My name is Suntrix,” she said defiantly.  “Who are Trixie and Sunset?”

“So this is a world where ponies are fused?” the pony seemed to just be talking to himself.  “How many elements of harmony are in this world?”

Suntrix didn’t want to answer him before he started talking but she saw she was not going to get anywhere with this fool unless she got physical.  “I think it’s time you returned to whatever mental ward you came from.”  She shot a beam of magic at him that the pony didn’t even flinch at.  The beam froze right before him and he simply walked around it.  He turned to Suntrix with a smirk as the beam unfroze and continued its path into the wall.  She looked on in amazement.  “You’re not a unicorn!  How did you do that?”

The pony smiled at her.  “I didn’t do anything.  Perhaps your magic is just flawed.”

Suntrix glared at him and saw his blank flank.  “You don’t even have a cutie mark!”

The pony looked at his flank as if in surprise.  “So I don’t.  Do you mind if I borrow yours?”  In a blink her own cutie mark was on him.  Suntrix looked at her own flank and saw that her Sun and moon cutie mark was gone.  “Though I actually to be without,” he mused.  Another blink and it was back in place, his own flank blank again.  “It gives me so much more options.”

Suntrix growled again.   “That’s it!  I don’t care who you are!  Get out!”  The pony’s smile changed to an emotionless slit as he saw the anger on Suntrix’ face.

“No, I don’t think I will,” he said seriously and stepped forward, pushing Suntrix back.  “I think I’ll stay.  And while I’m at it, I think your home could use a little more decoration.”  Suntrix looked at the pony’s hooves while he walked and saw that the grain of the wood beneath him warped with every step he took.  The warping began to spread outward until the walls began to shift and push back.  Suntrix watched in astonishment as her small wagon became much larger on the inside.  The pony went to sit in a big comfy couch which Suntrix was absolutely certain she did not have before.  His cold expression returned to a smirk and he motioned to a seat next to him.  Again, pretty sure she didn’t have that.  With a slight gulp of apprehension she took a seat.  The pony crossed his arms and smiled a wicked grin at her.  “So… about those elements?”

“Three,” Suntrix replied with slight trepidation.  “There are three of course.  Apple Pie, Flutterdash, and my nemesis Rare Sparkle.”

“Fascinating,” the pony said as he continued to stare at her.  “I’ve never been to world where there are only three elements.  I wonder what they represent.  Maybe this world has a different view of harmony.”  Suntrix waited patiently while the pony seemed to talk to himself.  He noticed and chuckled.  “Oh, sorry.  Me and my mumbling.”

“Who are you?” Suntrix asked, raising an eyebrow.

The pony smirked again.  “Nopony worthy of note, I assure you.  But for the purposes of friendship, just call me Mr. 4.”

“Mr. 4?”  Suntrix let a small chuckle out.  “What are you some kind of spy?”

“In the sense that I enjoy my privacy and secrets, yes, perhaps.”  He took a sip from the tea he’d been holding.  Wait, had she offered him tea?  Did she even have tea pots?  “But that’s not why I’m here.  Or rather it is.  It’s all pretty twisted really.”

“What is?”

“Reality,” Mr. 4 replied without a hint of irony.  “Apologies if I’m not much of a dinner guest.”  He took a bite out of the salad he was eating.  Wait, there was no salad.  And it wasn’t dinner.  Suntrix looked out the window to find it was already night time.  That wasn’t possible it was barely noon.  She was also sitting with Mr. 4 at a giant dinner table laden with food of every kind.  How did all this get here?  Suntrix jumped from her chair in shock at the sudden changes and looked at Mr. 4 with fear.

“WHAT are you?” she asked.

Mr. 4 finished his salad and wiped his mouth before answering.  “I told you, miss Suntrix.  I am Mr. 4.  As for why I’m here, that’s where you come in.”  He got up from the table and walked over to her.  Suntrix was too afraid to move as he placed a hoof around her shoulder.  He walked them to the door and opened it to let them outside.  Suntrix had to hold a hoof to her eyes as the sun shined down.  But it had just been night time hadn’t it?  “I’m here to offer you a proposition.”

Suntrix frowned as they continued to walk down the empty road she had parked on.  “What kind of offer?”

“Nothing harmful I assure you,” he said calmly.  “Here’s the deal.  I’m in a bit of a bind with a couple of ponies that I might have pissed off a while back.  They’ve been tracking me for quite a while but I was finally able to… shall we say “hinder” them, quite recently.  However their threat is not entirely out of the picture.  I need your help to… distract them.”

Suntrix pushed away.  “Look, I think I’m beginning to get it.  You’re some kind of god or demon or something with god-like power.  Obviously whatever is chasing you have to be gods as well.  What makes you think I’m able to do anything about that?”

“You’re telling me the great and powerful Suntrix isn’t capable of dealing with a few measly ponies?” Mr. 4 asked jokingly.

“The great and powerful Suntrix can accomplish anything!” she spat back with a bit of spite.  “However, I am no fool who believes she can take on gods.”

“Trust me, my dear.  These ponies are far from gods.  In fact, if you agree to my terms, I’ll give you a power that would make your princess Celluna or Lunestia, whatever you call her here, look like a sparkler compared to your fireworks.”

Suntrix looked at him with caution.  Was she seriously considering this deal with a supposed devil?  She frowned and folded her arms in thought.  “Why me?” she finally asked.

“Because the ponies I’m trying to avoid are specific.  And I think that introducing a specific rival that they may know would hinder them more.”  Was that all she was?  A hindrance?

Suntrix grit her teeth and stood proudly as she came to her decision.  “Alright, do it.  The great and powerful Suntrix can take anything you throw at her!”

“Excellent,” Mr. 4 smiled.  “Just don’t close your eyes.  The next part’s going to be interesting since I’ve never done it before.”

“Wait what?” Suntrix was cut off as Mr. 4 shoved his hoof into her chest.  She barely had time to react as his other hoof grabbed her chin and forced her to look him in the eye.  Or should she say, eye.  He had removed his glasses and only one glaring large amber eye remained.  She wanted to scream but there was no pain, instead a blinding light began to pour out from her chest.

“Suntrix of Equestria,” Mr. 4 muttered.  “Feel the fault of this world.  Reach into the deepest depths of magic.  Do you see what supports it?”

Suntrix’ eyes began to glow as she felt her mind flying through an infinite space of stars.  She could feel the magic around her.  She was a part of magic itself.  Then she saw it.  What Mr. 4 had been talking about.  That long line supporting the very foundations of magic.  And on it she saw infinite worlds.  Infinite possibilities.  “Yes,” she whispered in wonder.  “I see it.”

Mr. 4 smiled.  “Touch it.”

Suntrix moved closer until her hoof was mere inches away, but she hesitated.  This was power beyond comprehension, beyond everything she thought possible.  A small thought flickered through her mind for a moment.  Did she truly want it?  Suntrix smiled viciously.  “Yes.”  She touched the support and small crack formed where she had.  She felt the crack extend into her as well, making her entire being fissure.  Suntrix’ eyes burst even more with light as the road where the two stood was consumed with power.  When the light died down the two were left standing in a barren field of charred grass.  Mr. 4 pulled his hoof away and grinned at her.

“So how do you feel?” he asked.

Suntrix looked at her hooves and willed them to crackle with power.  She smiled once more.  “Like I’m reborn.”

===SS===

Adagio pinned Sunset against the wall after class.  First making sure that they were far enough away from anyone who could intrude.  She glared into the bookworm’s eyes.  “You got a lot of nerve showing me up,” Adagio growled.

“I didn’t mean to.  I was just answering a question.” Sunset tried to avoid Adagio’s gaze.

Adagio smirked.  “Well, Professor Cinch thinks I should learn from you.  How about we have a lesson here and now?”  Sunset shrank back to the wall as Adagio moved in closer with an evil grin.

“Wait I-”  But Sunset was cut off as she was struck by something.  Her eyes began to glow with a fierce power and her body felt limp.  Adagio backed away in shock and horror as she crumpled to her knees.

“What the hell?” Adagio said in a worried tone, the light from Sunset now attracting attention.  Sunset writhed and hugged herself as she felt pain like she’d never felt before.  Then she saw it.  The cracks.

---<^^>---

Mare Do-Well’s eyes burst with light as she began to writhe on the floor.  The rest of the group looked at her in horror as she screamed in agony, powerful light flowing from the lenses of her mask.  What the hay was happening to her.  She could hear the others barely in the back of her mind but the pain she felt was unbearable.

“What’s going on?” asked Dash.  Rarity walked forward with concern.

“I don’t know,” she said.  “But maybe I can find out.  If I just look inside of her then maybe…” Rarity trailed off as she touched Mare Do-Well, her own eyes beginning to glow.  Rarity screamed in pain as a vision seen passed through her.  “Heavens above!  Make it stop!  Make it stop!” she screamed as the vision filled her mind.

===SS===

“It’s breaking!” Sunset screamed in pain.  Most of the students began to congregate to watch as Adagio backed away in fear.  A teacher ran up and grabbed her.

“Did you attack her?” the teacher asked strongly.

“No, I didn’t,” Adagio shouted back.  Another pulse of light shot from Sunset’s eyes and she screamed again.  She rolled around on the floor in terrible pain, pure magical power flooding from her eyes.

“It’s breaking!” she shouted.  “The wall!  The wall!  The fourth wall is breaking!”

@#$%^&(*)&^%$#@


To Be Continued in Ponyverse...