Here we go. The nightmare's not over yet…
A "T" rating allows one f-word usage, right?
And in this fic, I say on Equestria instead of in Equestria because my personal canon is that "Equestria" is the name of the planet.
This chapter came out MUCH longer than I anticipated; I worked to flesh out the fight scenes, and got much more than I had at first anticipated. Not that I'm complaining…
Also, let me just say: GOD DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN YOU, AUGMENTED REALITY TRAINING (specifically, the Advanced courses)!-!-!-!-! TO PROPERLY CONVEY MY EMOTIONS REGARDING THESE WOULD REQUIRE MAKING SOUNDS THE HUMAN VOICE BOX IS PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF PRODUCING!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-! I lack the skills for it! I have always lacked the skills for it! I always will lack the skills for it!-! The Achievement is a 100% humanly impossible thing, and anyone who gets it is either superhuman or an avatar of God Himself!-!-!
I had to abandon said venture permanently before I gave myself an aneurysm or something. I'm not kidding; around the 25th "Augmented Reality Training failed", I was so angry I could literally feel something throbbing in my head.
MID-CHAPTER UPDATE: The news of Hasbro's removing of old episodes from YouTube has greatly soured my mood. My attempts to watch the show on The Hub's website met with a black, blank box where the video was supposed to be, no matter what I tried or how long I waited. It is highly likely that I won't be able to watch the show anymore, seeing as I don't wake up early enough on Saturdays to catch new episodes. With time, without ponies, my bronyhood will wither, fade, and die like an un-watered plant. This may or may not happen before I can get Chapter 3 made… and even if it doesn't, my depression over this may kill all desire to see this story through to completion. If this turns out to be the last chapter, I am sorry.
-CHAPTER START-
The previous few months had been… eventful. Trixie had been accepted by most of the Ponyville populace without too much trouble, especially once they'd seen what kind of shape she was in, both physically and mentally. The doctors got her on a meticulously-planned diet that soon got her back up to a healthy weight. Now that she'd finally dropped her defenses and allowed herself to make friends, she was happier than she ever remembered being in her whole life. Of all the ponies, she seemed particularly close to Twilight (whom she now lived with) and – oddly enough – Fluttershy. She'd joined them at the Gala… and witnessed the ensuing spectacle, though she managed to avoid getting caught in things until the final burst of chaos that accompanied Fluttershy's freak-out. However, she'd been sick with influenza during Discord's brief chaos, and had thus been unable to help in defeating him (though she had convinced the 'Discorded' Twilight to read the stack of letters that poor Spike had been made to receive, setting into motion the events that led to Discord's downfall and resealing). Trixie had also been instrumental in stopping Twilight's OCD breakdown before it could get off the ground, since she was right there when Twilight started coming unhinged over not having sent her weekly report to Celestia.
Most of the gang's little adventures were insignificant, slice-of-life events. They assumed that the "Mare-Do-Well" incident – a little something to get Rainbow Dash to accept a little humility and grace – would be just another Friendship Report and footnote. Unfortunately, they severely underestimated how bad Dash would take it, and failed to take into account how the townsfolk would react.
Rainbow Dash's reputation was shot to hell. What's more, she'd lost essentially all trust in most of her friends for what they'd done. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Trixie had been roped into it, so they were cool. But Applejack and Rarity had gleefully gone along with it… and Twilight had been the ringleader in their little plot to utterly humiliate and destroy her. They'd betrayed her. And now, damn near the entire town had lost any and all respect for her, seeing her as a useless braggart who'd never be a proper hero. …And the more she thought about it, the more she delved into her own self, the more she realized they were right. She was always coming up short, always screwing up, never being quite fast enough or strong enough or smart enough or… good enough.
Over the days – nearly two weeks – of stewing in her own negative emotions, and being subjected to the townsfolk's harsh and unforgiving opinions, Dash's resentment and bitterness grew and grew, as her sense of self-worth and her faith in her herself and her abilities became less and less. She became reclusive, locking herself away in her house for most of the day, only coming out for quick food runs (pegasi had the highest metabolisms out of the three subspecies of pony, and Dash's need for sustenance was greater than average for a pegasus, so her 'food-runs' were actually relatively frequent, each of them leaving her open to the town-ponies' ridicule, insults, and such).
Of course, by this point Dash herself was starting to come apart, and though plenty of ponies were certainly saying mean things to and about her, there were also multiple instances where somepony said something totally innocuous but Dash took/interpreted it the wrong way, or when they meant something mean, but Dash took it as far meaner than it was actually meant to be.
One night, after a particularly bad day involving more ponies than usual hitting her with comments of a rare harshness, Rainbow Dash was lying on her bed, curled up but awake, lost in dark thoughts. Suddenly, she heard a sound that came from everywhere and nowhere. She looked over to her window, as through it a black mist flowed into her room.
-SCENE BREAK-
The next morning was quite overcast and cloudy, the gray clouds covering the sky near-completely. Rainbow Dash, though nearly always doing so later than she should have, was the one who did most of the heavy lifting in terms of pegasus weather control. With her recent reclusiveness and locking herself away, the few other pegasi on weather control duty were hard-pressed to pick up the slack, and in fact weren't able to get all of the clouds, allowing them to build up over the last 15 days. Now, the leftover clouds had combined with a cloud-bank that had blown in from the east, completely shrouding the sky. What's more, these clouds were a dark grey, like one would expect from a storm.
Over the course of a few hours, the inhabitants of Ponyville noticed as the clouds merged into a single, massive cloud large enough to cover the entire town and then some, and had turned from a gray to almost black. Ponyville was now directly underneath the mother of all storm clouds. And Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Trixie, Fluttershy, and Rarity were gathered in Twilight's library, one of the sturdiest buildings in the town, and hoping that staying in it would be enough.
"Has anyone seen Dash?" Twilight asked. "Her cloud-home isn't a safe place to be in this level of storm; she should know that."
"Oh, now you're concerned about her…" Pinkie muttered angrily, her mane & tail deflating slightly. Twilight winced; Pinkie was, of course, still very, very angry over what Twilight's plan had done to "her" Dashie. Twilight had already been subjected to a full-blown, vicious chewing-out from Pinkamena; she really didn't feel like going through another one.
"Pinkie, I've always been concern-"
"Stop" Trixie interrupted. "Both of you, shut up now before you get started again."
Initially, opinions on the "Mare-Do-Well" idea of Twilight's had been divided; Applejack had been all for it, Pinkie and Fluttershy had been rather against it, only going along because Twilight badgered them into it, Trixie had been against it but kept her mouth shut, but also refused to participate in any way, and Rarity had gone along with it but had secretly felt that it was too much. Over the last few weeks, even Applejack had changed her tune upon seeing how badly it had affected Dash and her reputation. Twilight herself had been hit hard by just how badly her little plan to teach Dash some much-needed humility had backfired, and the fact that the pegasus' reputation was left in tatters had caught her completely by surprise.
"If I have to, I c-can fly up there and see if she's alright…" Fluttershy suggested.
"I don't think that would be wise, dear" Rarity replied. "If a storm of this magnitude unleashed itself before you could get to a safe point, you could get seriously hurt, maybe even killed."
Before anyone else could say anything, a sphere of light formed in the center of the room. It grew to about eight feet across, and then vanished to reveal two very important and unexpected guests: Celestia and Luna.
"Girls…" Celestia said with an unusually serious tone. "Something is very wrong. This storm is not natural by any stretch of the imagination. It carries the magical signature of Nightmares Moon and Azure."
After several seconds of shocked silence, Rarity spoke up. "So somepony else has been taken by their own darkness?"
"Indeed" Luna said. "This storm is a manifestation of their power. It has been supercharged by dark magic. When it activates, it will be capable of causing catastrophic damage.
"Where is Rainbow Dash?" Celestia asked.
"Twilight broke her spirit," Pinkie said with a sharp tone, "and she's hardly ever been seen outside of her home since it happened."
"…Twilight, please explain."
"Um…"
The six mortal ponies suddenly felt as Luna, never one for patience, psychically reached into their minds and went over the relevant information manually, passing it on to Celestia at the same time. When she was done, she glared at Twilight.
"That is not how the situation should have been handled!" she snapped at the violet unicorn, who withered under her gaze and her own guilt.
Celestia let out a weary sigh. "We'll discuss your mistakes later, Twilight. Right now, Rainbow Dash must be found. Only the Harmony Elements can purify a Nightmare Pony."
Suddenly, there was a near-deafening thunderclap from outside, accompanied by a brilliant bolt of black-tinged violet lightning. The group ran to the front door, opened it, and had a look outside. The storm had awakened; fierce, tearing winds blew throughout the town, the ground was pelted by strong, heavy rain that randomly alternated between freezing cold and near-scalding hot, and massive bolts of black-and-violet lightning ripped across the sky, occasionally striking things on the ground with devastating results.
Celestia, looking as serious as she had when Discord broke free, turned to the group. "You all must find Dash immediately! Luna, go with them; assist in the search, and if you all encounter the Nightmare before Dash is found your power will be the only thing capable of matching it."
"Understood, sister. But what about you?"
"I have to stay here and do whatever I can to protect Ponyville's citizens. I'm going to gather everyone I can find in one location and then cast the strongest shield spell I can to protect them all."
"But how can you get everypony together in time?" Pinkie asked.
"We'll help with that."
Everyone looked at the sudden arrival of a force of Royal Guards, along with the entire Wonderbolts line-up.
"We'll assist the Princess in gathering everyone and in damage control" Soarin said. "You girls go do what you gotta do."
"Twilight Sparkle," Luna said to the girl, "I will cast a group levitation spell on you all… Yes, even you, Miss Fluttershy; I can fly while telekinetically carrying you faster than you can fly under your own power. Twilight, you will need to cast a shield-barrier around us to shield us from the storm as we fly to it. Also, I will need your directions to Miss Dash's dwelling."
After a few moments of preparation, which included grabbing and donning their Elements of Harmony, as well as Rarity insisting on fetching a pair of saddlebags she called her "Bags of Holding", which Twilight & Trixie could feel were enchanted by a "Bigger on the Inside" charm, the group clustered together around Luna. The younger princess' horn glowed, and the deep-blue magical energy enveloped the six mortals present. Twilight's horn glowed, and a magenta-hued, spherical shield encapsulated them all as they rose up off the ground. The floating sphere of ponies then shot off into the air, disappearing into the raging clouds.
-SCENE BREAK-
The pony-filled sphere of magic cut through the thick black clouds, making best speed for Dash's cloud-home. Soon, it was in view. Unfortunately, though, it seemed that the enemy had found it as well; it had been transformed into a huge black fortress, wreathed in lightning and with huge spikes of violet-tainted ice jutting out of it.
"The Nightmare must have Dash hostage!" Applejack shouted.
"This could complicate things…" Luna muttered.
As the sphere approached the now-massive front door, it picked up speed and was reinforced by Luna's power. It punched through the barricade, taking its occupants inside. Luna cast a cloud-walking spell on Twilight, Trixie, Rarity, Applejack, & Pinky, and then set the shield-bubble down, having Twilight dispel it. Unlike the lair of Nightmare Azure, which had been crawling with low-level hostiles, this place seemed to be deserted.
"Let us move quickly but cautiously" Luna commanded.
They made their way through the opening hall, up a staircase with steps made of ice, and to the same floor that Rainbow Dash's room was on. As they advanced down the hallway on this floor, however, there was a sudden, three-dimensional pulse of magical energy radiating out from ahead. Twilight recognized it as a scanning spell, made to detect any sapient life within a certain radius of its user. It washed over the group before they could react; if the Nightmare Pony didn't know they were he before, it did now. What was unexpected, however, was Trixie and Luna suddenly stumbling as a pulse of pain wracked their heads.
"Trixie!" "Your Majesty!"
"I… I remember now…" Luna said. "I remember what it did to me…"
"What do you mean?"
"The memories behind my Nightmare transformation," Trixie said, "and apparently Princess Luna's, were… blocked. But that pulse of a Nightmare Pony's energy seemed to have awakened it. …It probably wasn't supposed to happen – a former Nightmare and a current Nightmare in close proximity."
"So what's there to remember?" Applejack asked. "Y'all both got corrupted by your Hearts' darkness, and-"
"No" Luna interrupted. "That is not what happened. It was something else. The corruption came from outside."
"The thing that corrupted Princess Luna and turned her into Nightmare Moon…" Trixie continued, "was the exact same thing that turned me into Nightmare Azure. And that thing… is sapient."
"What?-!" Rarity shouted. "You mean it's alive?-!"
"According to this information on it I received when it was merged with me, its name translates in our language as 'Nightmare'" Luna said. "It found this world approximately 1,300 years ago. I was its first host on this world… but not its first ever host."
"It's… not from this world?" Fluttershy asked with fear and shock.
"No" Trixie replied. "It's a daemon, similar to Discord and yet vastly different… a malevolent abomination that's been corrupting and then possessing sapient beings all over the whole galaxy for over 200,000 years."
"It seeks out thinking beings when they are at their most emotionally vulnerable," Luna explained, "tempts them while using its dark powers to psychically twist and amplify their darker emotions, until they are vulnerable to corruption and possession. It has done this to countless beings during its long existence."
The group took several seconds in silence as they processed this startling new info. They were fighting something that had been around longer than Equus sapiens had even existed. Suddenly, there was a horrified gasp from Pinkie, whose mane and tail visibly deflated as she talked.
"If it seeks out ponies at their lowest moments... and Rainbow has been really down... lately..." Her eyes went wide as fear and horrified realization entered them, and she went pale. "Oh no... No... No, Please No... DASHIE!-!-!"
Faster than they'd ever seen her move, Pinkie took off sprinting toward the large door at the other end of the hall, as for the rest of them it finally sank in what might really be happening. Realizing the gravity of the situation, they all took off right behind her, Luna firing a concussive blast that blew the door down. They raced through the dust and into the large chamber that Dash's bedroom had become.
"You all took longer than expected."
They froze as a figure leapt down from above, landing before them… and as they took a good look at her – deep-blue coat, slit-pupil red eyes, black wings crackling with violet electricity, wild hair in seven shades of gray and faded purple, and a corrupted Cutie Mark consisting of a dark-gray cloud with black lightning coming from it – their worst fears were realized.
"No…" Pinkie let out a tiny, horrified whisper. "Dash…"
"Rainbow Dash cannot hear you right now. We are Nightmare Maelstrom."
-SCENE BREAK-
Down below, Celestia stood firm, a serious look on her face, as a translucent dome-shaped energy shield encapsulated her and the many Ponyville inhabitants that had gathered or been gathered here, blocking out the powerful winds and freezing & near-scalding rain, and blocking the black lightning bolts. A hoof-picked team led by Nurse Redheart and Celestia's own Royal Guard's medic Iron Gaze tended to those wounded by the hellish storm. Suddenly, a "packet" of knowledge transferred to her, sent by Luna. As the information on Nightmare's nature and Rainbow Dash's current fate hit her, Celestia felt that things couldn't possibly be worse, for the Elements of Harmony were needed to defeat Nightmare… and one of the bearers of said Elements was Nightmare's current host. Only Celestia herself could equal Nightmare Maelstrom in power, and she was far too busy keeping the townsfolk alive to join the incoming battle. Thus… there may in fact have been nothing they could do…
-SCENE BREAK-
"This is bad…" Luna muttered. "The six Elements are needed to purify a Nightmare host… so Nightmare possessed an Element-bearer to prevent that…"
"H-how could this have happened?" Fluttershy let out in a despaired tone.
"C…C'mon, Dash" Applejack called out. "Y'all are gonna let this thing take ya just like that? What happened to the best, fastest pegasus on Equestria? Aren't y'all always sayin' you're the best? How could ya let this happen?"
"Don't bother, farmer" Nightmare Maelstrom said. "The one called Rainbow Dash is lost to darkness – her self-image and confidence utterly shattered, bitterness and loneliness swallowed her heart, the pain of betrayal overwhelmed her, convinced that every single pony down there in town feels naught but contempt and disgust toward her… all thanks to you ponies; your breaking of her spirit enabled us to become one, to become Nightmare Maelstrom. Your accursed Harmony Elements cannot help you now that one of them is a part of me. Tell me… How does it feel knowing that, in your attempt-gone-horribly-wrong to humble your friend, you personally enabled the creation of that which will destroy you?"
Twilight's legs felt weak as the full ramifications of her mistake finally hit her, coming out in a shaky, horrified whisper:
"…What have I done? Rainbow…" Her eyes, now cast down to the floor, began to tear up. "I'm so sorry…"
Before anyone could react, a field sprang up around Luna, catching her (and everyone else except Maelstrom) by surprise. She tried to call forth magic, but it was drained away as fast as she summoned it. She tried to manually force her way out of it, and it bounced her back with a ripple.
"No interference from you, my former host" Nightmare Maelstrom said; Luna glared at the possessed pony, eyes glowing blue, but could do nothing.
"Now then… Before I choose whether or not to deign to fight you all myself, I believe I shall see just how strong you are without your precious Elements. …You know, my Moon self - incompetent though she was - had one good idea over my Azure self when it comes to underlings."
"And what would that be?" Rarity asked. Nightmare Maelstrom grinned, her fangs bared.
"Quality over quantity."
Six swirling columns of black energy formed between Maelstrom and the six mortal ponies, soon coalescing into six pegasi with dark-purple flight-suits with black muzzles and leggings, dark-grey coats and wings, midnight-blue manes & tails, and glowing-yellow eyes partially hidden by goggles.
"Now, my Shadowbolts, strike them down!"
(MUSIC: Mass Effect 2 Kasumi: Stolen Memory OST – "Making Our Escape")
The six elite shadow-ponies all gave feral grins and then charged at the Mane Six, each of them picking a target. As each of them got close enough to their intended targets, each pony-and-Shadowbolt pair was encapsulated in a roiling black-and-violet dome that was, from the outside, about five feet across. The still-imprisoned Luna stared in shock at the half-dozen half-spheres spaced across the room near her.
"Those pocket realms will give you all more space to move about in than this little room, give my Shadowbolts room to fly, and most importantly will prevent you mortals from helping each other."
-TWILIGHT-
After leaping out of the charging Shadowbolt's path, Twilight looked around, finding herself in a realm where everywhere she looked was a roiling, shifting barrier of black and violet. She sent out a navigation pulse, determining that the area was somehow 65 meters across and 65 meters high. She quickly deduced that she'd been placed in some tiny pocket dimension. Her thoughts were cut short as the Shadowbolt came at her from the left. Twilight barely ducked under what was a clothesline strike aimed at her neck, and lashed out with a telekinetic strike strong enough to shatter a quarter-ton boulder, but the Shadowbolt – now identifiable as a female-form version – dodged the blast. She came in for another attack, but Twilight summoned a swirling disk made of fire in front of her – something that she had come up with during the "escalating war" of spell development between her, Trixie, and Rarity – and the 'bolt pulled up to avoid smashing into it, flying over and past Twilight again.
Twilight then telekinetically threw the disk after the shadow-pegasus like a large shuriken. The Shadowbolt ducked, dove, climbed, and banked with the lifeforce-seeking fire-disk in hot pursuit, trying to shake it off. She changed course, dove, and then leveled off a few feet off the ground, racing straight at Twilight. Much to the dark being's disappointment, when she pulled up, leaving the fire-disk heading towards its master, Twilight dispelled the attack milliseconds before it could hit her, leaving her unharmed. However, the Shadowbolt took the brief opportunity she saw, pulling a high-g turn and tackling Twilight in the side before she could react. Twilight rolled with the blow, but it still hurt. She glared at the circling shadow-pegasus, and lashed out with another telekinetic strike, which struck a glancing blow on her foe, sending her spiraling only to regain control and pull up before hitting the ground. She hovered and growled at Twilight, before charging in again.
-FLUTTERSHY-
Fluttershy barrel-rolled to avoid the Shadowbolt's tackle, keeping an eye on her foe. From what she'd gathered, this guy wasn't the fastest, toughest, or hardest-hitting of pegasi, but he was a respectable average in all three fields. When she was serious – like now – Fluttershy could fly a little above the average for pegasi in terms of speed and agility, so she'd been able to avoid most of his attacks. However, she had yet to be able to land a solid hit on him either, partly due to her innate dislike of fighting leading her to subconsciously hold back, and partly because he was just fast enough to avoid her strikes; so far, she'd only landed about three glancing blows, while she had taken the same from him. (At least she wasn't trying her usual method of trying to convince her foe not to fight; she was quite aware that she was fighting a pure-evil artificial being literally made of darkness.)
The Shadowbolt came around for another pass, lashing out with a foreleg strike, a right cross that caught Fluttershy across the chin, snapping her head to the side. However, the girl wrapped her tail around her foe's leg and turned the momentum imparted by her foe's punch into a spin that quickly led to her throwing him down toward the ground, where he impacted with not-insignificant force. Fluttershy landed, using a foreleg to check her face. No blood, but it would definitely bruise. The Shadowbolt pulled himself back up. He growled at her and shook off the pain in his back, and charged her again.
-RARITY-
Rarity stood back from her foe, staring him down. The contents of her bags now floated free around her: gems of various type, shape, and size, all uniquely attuned to her magic to allow easier manipulation. They served as her weapons both offensive and defensive in this fight, obeying her every thought to strike at him or block his strikes. …A few shattered gems on the floor showed the effects of the latter. For a pegasus, he was rather large, his muscled form poorly concealed by the bodysuit worn over it. He was also rather slow for a pegasus, enough that she could evade nearly all of his attacks, and didn't take to the air that often. The problem was that he was very strong, and very durable. Every one of the few blows of his that did land was enough to shatter her Jewel Shield in a single blow – something that only Applejack had ever done before – and he shrugged off every one of the multiple blows she had landed thus far, blocking most of them and tanking the few he didn't or couldn't block. Rarity didn't want to think about what might happen if he landed a direct, un-softened blow on her body.
He made the next move, charging straight toward her while flapping his wings to give himself a speed boost, exactly what Fluttershy did whenever she needed to cover a lot of ground quickly without flying. As he got close, Rarity made a dodge-feint to the left, and he fell for it and responded accordingly, but then she sprang to the right, avoiding his charge. He responded by taking off, flying up and circling over her like a vulture. She 'fired' a barrage of sharpened rubies, and he swerved through the air, avoiding most of them. Most of the rest that hit him simply bounced off. But Rarity, with her keen eyes (a necessity for a mare in her line of work), noticed that as three ruby-darts looked to be heading for somewhere on his midsection, he took the time to block them with his foreleg, and they lodged into the not-flesh of that limb. He growled and shook his foreleg, dislodging the rubies. He had taken a damaging hit on his leg to avoid the attacks from hitting somewhere else on his body.
"Curious…" Rarity muttered as the rubies telekinetically returned to her side. It was time for a little trial-and-error…
-APPLEJACK-
As soon as the fight had really started, Applejack had realized it would be tough. Really tough, for this dark pegasus seemed to be as fast as Rainbow Dash, darting in and landing blows, and then flashing away before Applejack could land a return strike. Times like this she lamented that Apple Clan ponies, while renowned for their strength, stamina, and durability, weren't exactly known for their speed. Fortunately, though, the Shadowbolt couldn't hit very hard, so the many blows she'd landed on Applejack so far didn't do much individually, and from the looks of her she probably wouldn't be able to take much punishment. But a hundred insect bites add up. AJ knew she couldn't keep enduring those little hits forever. But what else could she do? She had to… She had to calm down, that's what she had to do. She took a deep breath and planted herself firmly in one spot.
"What's wrong, mud-walker?" the Shadowbolt shouted in a derisive tone. "Can't keep up?" This was followed by a malicious cackle.
Applejack ignored the taunt, tuned out and ignored the occasional light blows that struck her, and focused, remembering the things her big brother had said that one time when his army buddies came to visit him. She moved her hat back and let it hang from the back of her neck by the drawstrings, closed her eyes, steadied her breathing, flicked her ears about, and waited…
-PINKIE-
The Shadowbolt who had chosen to go after Pinkie soon realized she had gotten more than she bargained for. In contrast to the bits of memory her Creator had given her of a bubbly, hyperactive pony who was always playing around regardless of circumstances, the pink-furred girl was eerily calm, her mane and tail near-totally deflated and an uncharacteristic, dead-serious look in her eyes. Pinkie was genuinely upset and angry, and in no mood for her usual games. This was a problem for the Shadowbolt, for instead of messing around and moving about Pinkie was staying within a small area, patiently waiting for each of the 'bolt's moves. This particular Shadowbolt was the second fastest of the six, and she copied her faster sibling's methods. Unfortunately for her, the earth-pony was now applying her Pinkie Sense to combat, using it to predict each and every one of the Shadowbolt's attacks and respond accordingly.
Pinkie was in the zone, letting her body do the talking for her and responding to its warnings. Two left-ear flicks and a tingle halfway up her left forearm; she raised the limb to block a sideways chop from the dark pegasus, who blitzed away when she realized she'd been foiled again. A crawling sensation on the bottoms of her rear legs' hooves; she leapt straight up, dodging a low-altitude flying tackle. While in midair, a twinge of pain on the back of her neck on the left side, followed immediately by a sensation like being touched by an ice cube just above the base of her tail and then an itch on her right elbow; she twisted to the left in midair, moving her right foreleg in a different direction and feeling the whoosh of air as the attack that had been aimed at her right shoulder missed entirely, and she returned to the ground. She took a bipedal stance, and responded to another Sense cue by twisting out of the way of a punch aimed at her face, grabbing hold of her foe by the wingtip, and pulling her into an elbow strike to the side of the head. The Shadowbolt felt dizzy, and barely managed to flash-step away before a stomp aimed at her knee could hit.
The Shadowbolt took to the air, flying in random patterns all around Pinkie, trying to confuse whatever was allowing the other pony to predict her attacks. After building up as much speed and momentum as she could, she made a final lunge at Pinkie… who had already dropped onto her back and readied her rear legs. Before the Shadowbolt could even open her mouth to curse in surprise, the double rising kick impacted her hard in the torso; ribs made of solid darkness cracked, and she was launched upward in an arc, landing with a thud several meters away. As she tried to pull herself up, Pinkie walked over and stood on top of her.
"I won't let anyone or anything stop me from saving my Dashie…" the pink pony said in a low tone. "Especially not you."
Her Element of Harmony necklace glowed, and so did the hoof of her right forearm, which was now raised overhead, as magical power flowed into and through it. Before the Shadowbolt could do anything, Pinkie cried out and struck downward. The blow reduced the Shadowbolt's head into its constituent raw-darkness particles, and the rest of the shadow-pony's body dissolved soon afterward.
-TRIXIE-
Contrary to the stereotype involving unicorns, Trixie was not physically weak at all. In fact, she was quite strong (a combination of genetics – an earth-pony father – and taking care to hone her body over the years). She could run fast and – as many a hapless mugger had discovered – hit hard. What was even more unusual for a unicorn was that when she fought, Trixie was a brawler, at her best when up-close and personal. Her fighting style was heavily bipedal (she'd long since trained herself by now to be just as agile and steady on two legs as on four), a mixture of grapples & throws, heavy attacks mixed in with darting, light strikes, and elements of a style she'd picked up from that old, eccentric yet wise far-eastern pony who'd taken her in for a couple of months over in San Franciscolt, a style that included circular & sweeping motions, elbow & knee strikes along with forehoof "palm" thrusts, and forcing one's way around a foe's guard rather than through it.
This Shadowbolt she was fighting seemed to prefer close combat, like her. He was fast, strong, and durable, and Trixie was fighting her hardest, almost constantly in motion. Both of them had spent nearly the entire fight striking, dodging, evading, blocking, and very occasionally taking hits. Rarely did either of them get the chance to fire off a spell or take to the air. Trixie backflipped to avoid a leg sweep, coming into a foreleg-stand and springing to the left to avoid a follow-up strike, landing on all fours and lashing out with a small but tightly focused telekinetic strike, which hit the Shadowbolt in the face like a punch. He rolled with it, shrugging it off.
And then he was shrouded in a dark aura.
It didn't take Trixie long to realize things had gotten more difficult. He was now even faster, more powerful, and logic dictated he could probably take more of a pounding, too. It wasn't too much of an increase, really, but it was enough to give him a slight but noticeable edge in the previously-evenly-matched fight. After about a minute of combat, he managed to land an uppercut that sent her spinning through the air, but she managed to pull off a successful four-point landing.
'I guess I'll have to use it…' Trixie thought of her most recent technique. 'I haven't used it in an actual fight before, and it'll have to be to a higher degree than I've ever gone before…'
The Shadowbolt sneered and charged at her again, getting in close for an overhead strike… and then immediately using his wings to dash backwards to avoid hitting Trixie, around whom an aura of blue lightning energy had formed. Her body crackled with sparks of bluish electricity, the hair of her mane and tail stood somewhat on end, and her eyes had a faint light-blue glow to them. About two years ago, Trixie had created a way to reinforce her body with finely-tuned lightning magic. This "shroud" of lightning acted to stimulate her muscles, boosting their capabilities, and greatly reduce damage taken, as well as speed up her body and her reflexes. She had created it to enable very fast getaways for when the times her "Great and Powerful" persona got her into trouble, the shroud shocking anyone who tried to pursue her and got too close. But talks with Spike, of all beings, had opened her eyes to the offensive applications of the spell. The defensive shield of armor could allow her to take much less damage from hits, the muscle enhancement boosted her already-impressive physical strength to allow potentially-devastating attacks, and the speed and reflex boost would make her that much harder to hit.
By adding more power than she used to when pulling defensive escapes, she could upgrade all those fields of her ability to dramatic levels.
The Shadowbolt readied himself for a full-ahead charge… and, faster than most unaided/untrained eyes could perceive, Trixie struck, covering the short distance between them with a speed that would leave Rainbow Dash impressed, hitting him in the upper chest with a forearm strike that sent him flying. When he landed and, after a few seconds, picked himself up off the ground, he raised his head just in time to be hit by a rising "palm" strike that rocketed him upward, followed by the lightning-user unicorn leaping after him, catching up in midair and striking with a kick that sent him crashing to the ground hard. She landed a few feet from him, body crackling with energy. He leapt to his feet and charged again, but she caught his charge and stopped it. She then shifted into a grab around his torso, lifted him into the air, and poured every bit of power she could into her next move.
The resulting tiger-bomb left a huge crater beneath them, lightning energy shooting out in all directions. The Shadowbolt was subjected to such enormous levels of blunt-force trauma that he was 'killed' near-instantly. As the dust faded and the shadow-pony's body dissolved into nothingness, Trixie let her lightning aura fade, panting lightly from exertion as she returned to all fours.
-APPLEJACK-
Applejack's senses reached out, as if extending away from her body, as she assumed perfect stillness. Soon she could feel, through her short fur, the tiny movements of air stirred up by the Shadowbolt; hear the minutely-moving wings along with the whoosh of air with her passing; smell the faint but unmistakable "scent" of its corruptive darkness (actually, the sensation couldn't be directly comprehended by a sane mortal mind, but the pony brain was capable of interpreting it as scent). It continued to taunt her once in a while, unaware that it was aiding her in doing so. She went into what was almost a trance, every part of her body relaxed and yet simultaneously ready to spring into action in an instant. The Shadowbolt charged…
…and Applejack ducked, the shadow-pony passing right over her, missing her by inches. The Shadowbolt felt great shock at this. She flitted about some more and then went in for a forelimb strike… and Applejack reacted to the cues her senses had allowed her, raising her right forelimb and blocking the hit, her durability – abnormally high even for an earth-pony – meaning she took no damage from the high-momentum contact, while her target flashed away, clutching her limb in pain. She snarled as she began moving even faster, building up more and more energy and adding increasing erratic movement. Again and again the orange-furred girl narrowly dodged, and as this went on the Shadowbolt grew more frustrated and angry. She flew in at a shallow angle from the right and-
POW
Applejack's uppercut, perfectly timed and powered both by her own enormous strength and her enemy's enormous kinetic energy, impacted the Shadowbolt in the chin, snapping her head back with enough force to snap her neck instantly and nearly shatter her skull. The now-dead Shadowbolt tumbled end over end through the air away from Applejack at high speed, dissolving into particles of darkness as she went. Her half-gone body smashed into the "wall" of the barrier-realm and broke apart on impact. Applejack calmly reached up and adjusted her hat.
-FLUTTERSHY-
The fight had been mostly even, but now it was starting to tip in the enemy's favor. The Shadowbolt had become more aggressive, working to wear down Fluttershy's defense and will. …And then he made one critical mistake: he started talking.
"Once we're done with you girls, we're gonna have some fun" he said in a wicked tone. "My siblings and I will leave you six barely alive, just enough that you'll still be able to scream when we take you."
He could see Fluttershy standing, head down, trembling. He grinned maliciously, landing several meters away and slowly stalking towards her.
"Maybe our Mistress will bring what's left of your prismatic friend close enough to the surface to watch us break you all. …I bet the purple one's a screamer, and the pink one's got such a sweet-looking body. And that brat that admires Mistress' host, as well as her little friends… I wonder how much we'd get out of them… And maybe after that, we'll be hungry. We could go down to that forest you live by, maybe swing by your place, have some… rabbit stew?"
He laughed evilly as he grew closer, the yellow-furred pegasus still trembling. His mistress had not shared much data on her host's former friends, but from the impression he'd gotten from this girl, she was weak-willed and would break from the mere words and mental images he sent her way. …And then, as he got close, he felt like something was somehow horribly wrong. He could see a hint of gritted teeth, and then Fluttershy's head rose up to face him, and he realized to his horror that she had been trembling not in fear, but in anger.
"You… will do no such things…"
Fluttershy's stare, normally bearing maternal dominance and used to pacify and scold disobedient creatures, was now filled with anger and hatred, and the Killing Intent was so powerful that it nearly brought the Shadowbolt to his knees. Her teeth were bared in feral rage, and her voice had dropped to a low, spine-shivering growl. Before he could compose himself, she flashed forward, striking him with a rising double kick to the chest, and he learned something the hard way:
For a pegasus, Fluttershy hits really damn hard.
He was sent flying with great force, and a yellow-and-pink blur shot after him, catching up easily. She delivered a strike that sent him flying up at an angle, then another that sent him further up in the opposite direction, and then she came in from directly below him, striking him with a withering high-speed barrage of heavy blows. She then maneuvered up and hammered him from above with a crushing forelimb strike that sent him careening straight down, crashing to the ground with great force, landing on his stomach. Before he could do anything, she came down hard, both rear feet first, right onto his back, causing a loud crack. She bounced off into a high-speed spin through the air that ended with a sideways kick to his face that sent him tumbling several feet away, coming to rest on his back. Again she came in with frightening speed, landing atop him. She raised a forehoof high, charging it with as much of her considerable physical strength and her Harmony Element's power she could muster, and then with a hoarse cry she brought it down, hitting him in the center of the chest with enough force that the ground beneath him fractured. The Shadowbolt's chest was caved in by the blow, ending its life.
The shadow-pony dissolved into particles of darkness, as Fluttershy came down from her other state. How ironic that, though it had caused nothing but trouble its first appearance, this time "Flutterrage" had won the day.
-RARITY-
The Shadowbolt felt confident. He had successfully weathered the white mare's attacks with little difficulty, aside from a few of her random, desperate attacks that got too close to his Core, which he clandestinely blocked or evaded. Luck would not be on her side this day. She was visually tiring, her supply of enchanted gemstones steadily dwindling from either being broken by his attacks or by being left on the floor and she not getting the chance to retrieve them. He watched as the girl formed several diamonds into a flexible bladed whip with a sharp tip, and lashed out at his legs. He jumped straight up to dodge, and the whip went dead, lying beneath him. He directed a confident, taunting grin at the girl.
And then he felt pain, as the seemingly-dead weapon beneath him came alive, and the diamond-tip pierced straight up into his body just below his sternum… straight through his Core. He coughed as he felt his body slowly begin to dissolve, dying.
"H-How…" he wheezed out "did you know?"
Rarity smirked. "I'm a seamstress. A keen eye for detail is a necessity in my line of work. It didn't take much – a few well-aimed attacks and a little observation of your reactions to them – to pinpoint your tiny little weak point. It was just your bad luck you went up against me. Now be a sweetheart and die already."
And he did, fading away into black particles of darkness.
-TWILIGHT-
Twilight ached in several places, and she was bleeding from a few abrasions and cuts. The Shadowbolt Leader continued to attack her, alternating between aerial strikes & tackles and up-close blows. She felt her strength beginning to falter. And thanks to the Shadowbolt's words, so was her confidence.
"You do realize," she had said, "that this is all your fault, dearie. Your half-cocked scheme to teach your so-called friend a little humility enabled my Mistress to consume her. You have claimed to have been sent to that little town to learn about friendship, as a sort of test by Princess Celestia. Well, it's plain to see you've failed that test horribly. Not only that, but you subverted the Harmony Elements of those you pulled along – convincing Applejack to participate in a great big lie, forcing Fluttershy to act with such cruelty, bringing a definite, unforgiving halt to Pinkie's joy, taking advantage of Rarity's generosity to get her to create the tools with which you destroyed Rainbow Dash. And worst of them all: the bearer of Loyalty, you betrayed."
Twilight felt her eyes begin to tear up as she realized that the Shadowbolt Leader was completely correct in all of that.
"I-It's not… too late…" Twilight whimpered. "I… We can save her. I can… a-apologize; throw myself at her feet, beg for forgiveness… even though she probably won't grant it. I c-can fix what I broke; make everything how it was – how it's supposed to be…"
"You are pathetic" the black pegasus snarled. "To think that Celestia chose such a foolish child as her apprentice… perhaps it shows that she herself is not worthy of the populace's praise, either."
Twilight twitched at that remark.
"Yes…" the Shadowbolt continued. "Celestia's choosing of you was a great folly, indeed… but perhaps the blame in that is not yours at all. She is, in truth, weak; not in power, but weak where it truly counts nonetheless. And when we have slain your pitiful group, our Mistress will lay low the sun-princess, strip away the illusions she has built up, and show the world just how pathetic she really is! And then… well, her pelt will look lovely on Nightmare Maelstrom's wall, wouldn't you say?"
"…Don't…"
"Hmm? What was that, dearie?"
"Don't… Don't… Don't you DARE SPEAK OF HER THAT WAY!-!-!"
The Shadowbolt Leader was thrown backward by the sudden shockwave of raw magical energy, shocked beyond words. Twilight's violet fur had turned a brilliant white, her mane and tail now made of roaring red flame that soon brightened and increased in intensity to a yellow-orange. Her horn lengthened and crackled with energy. Her eyes burned red with rage and power. Twilight Sparkle would not allow any more slander against the woman who was a teacher, mentor, and second mother to her.
'I seem to have made a rather devastating mistake…' the Shadowbolt Leader thought to herself.
That was her last thought before dozens of huge spheres of white-hot fire sprang into existence all around, above, and below her, and then all zoomed toward her at the same time from all directions. She was incinerated near-instantly.
The flame that was Twilight calmed and faded away, returning to her normal state, panting for breath.
"It's not too late" she swore. "I swear it."
-REALITY-
Princess Luna's eyes widened as one of the six barrier-bubbles faded away, revealing Pinkie, who cast a cold glare at Nightmare Maelstrom. Seconds later, the other five mini-realms came undone, returning the other five members of the group to reality.
"Impressive" Nightmare Maelstrom said. "To have overcome my Shadowbolts shows you are all strong indeed."
"For the sake of a friend, we will conquer any obstacle imaginable" Trixie stated with utmost confidence.
"So you say. So… let us see if you can conquer me."
(MUSIC: Mass Effect 2 Kasumi: Stolen Memory OST – "Death From Above")
She leapt down from her platform, sparks of black electricity playing out along the floor where her hooves landed. She snapped her wings out wide open, and a wave of black and violet lightning shot out in all directions. Black lightning danced about on the top of her head, coalescing into a long, sharp horn made of solid Darkness. Her eyes glowed crimson with dark power.
"Come at me!"
There was a flash of blue light as Trixie's Lightning Armor formed, and she charged with great speed, appearing directly in front of Nightmare Maelstrom in the blink of an eye, right forelimb coming in for a rising strike to the black alicorn's chest. Maelstrom called forth a small, focused shield spell, which pushed back against Trixie's strike. The blue unicorn struggled to break through the barrier… and was unprepared for a foreleg strike that sent her tumbling through the air across the chamber; her Lightning Shroud protected her from most of the damage, while Maelstrom was near-completely unaffected by the electrical shock that striking the Shroud had given her. Rarity was next up, calling up several arrowhead-shaped gems and using them as cores around which daggers of magic formed. With a thought she launched them at Nightmare Maelstrom, who leapt high to avoid them. Some of them turned to track her, chasing her through the air. Focused on evading them, she failed to notice Fluttershy coming in from above, landing a powerful kick to the back of her neck, sending her down to the ground.
Maelstrom landed on all fours, avoiding a crash, and had to take action to avoid a dual assault from Applejack and Trixie, dodging and dancing to avoid crushingly-powerful blows. Nightmare's durability depended upon that of its host; Luna, who was a semi-immortal alicorn, could tank anything, the physically-trained Trixie was quite durable as well, but Rainbow Dash was not built to take the kind of blows that Trixie, AJ, and Fluttershy could dish out when truly serious, and thus Nightmare Maelstrom lacked the defense stats of Azure and Moon, relying on evasion instead of endurance when it came to stronger attacks.
Finally, Trixie pulled a feint, landing a lightning-enhanced clothesline on the black alicorn… who responded by letting out a pulse of dark magic that sent the two mortal ponies tumbling several meters. A pair of Twilight's fire-disks came whirling in, but Twilight was low on stamina at the moment, so Maelstrom was able to counter them with twin lightning disks of her own. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her back as Pinkie dropped in from above, lashing out with a kick aimed at her solid magic horn. The kick landed, and though it did not destroy the horn it did briefly break Maelstrom's connection to magic… which allowed Princess Luna to bust out of her barrier-prison.
A wave of Luna's restorative magic washed over her six allies, rejuvenating them and healing their wounds. Even so, however, she knew that their renewed strength along with her own may not be enough…
Luna spread her wings, her body surging with ancient magic, and she charged.
-SCENE BREAK-
Celestia chanced a look upward. The clouds had parted just enough to render the heavily-transformed fortress that was once Rainbow Dash's home visible to Celestia's magically-enhanced eyes. Huge cascades of energy were visible as bright flashes of light from within, and she could sense her little sister's power being unleashed, matching a huge, malevolent power that matched her own in strength; Nightmare Maelstrom. There was an explosion of bluish light that took out a "small" chunk of the airborne fortress' roof, followed by a barely-visible blue that was Nightmare Maelstrom after being sent flying by Luna's attack. Maelstrom steadied herself, and black and violet lightning came to her from the clouds, surrounding and coalescing at her command. After several seconds, a black-tinted purple beam of energy shot at Luna, who was now airborne as well; Luna dodged the beam and flew along the outside of it, towards Maelstrom. They clashed, the traded blows making the sound of thunder, and then both bolted back into the floating fortress while locked in close combat, where the battle continued with the support of Twilight and her friends.
All the while, the storm responded to its creator's power, growing in intensity such that Celestia was now visibly straining a little to keep the protective dome-shield steady. Several unicorns came forward, transferring donations of their magic into Celestia, which slightly lessened the burden on the Princess. A massive bolt of black lightning struck a sturdy, 100-year-old tree on the edge of town, vaporizing the tree in an instant. Roofs began to come apart in the terrible winds. A few feet behind Celestia, she could sense a quartet of young fillies – an earth-pony, a pegasus, and two unicorns – huddling together and clinging to each other in fear. The mother of one of them – a grey-furred, blond-maned pegasus with several bubbles as her Mark – came up and held them close to her protectively; they latched onto her tightly.
The battle high above continued.
-SCENE BREAK-
The fight came out as a stalemate. Luna and the six others were together only able to match Nightmare Maelstrom's power, not surpass it. Of the various Star-Beasts that Luna could summon for help, the only ones nearby were an Ursa Major and a Scorpio, neither of them capable of flight needed to participate in the fight. While Nightmare Maelstrom was visibly tired, Twilight and her friends were about ready to collapse. And Celestia couldn't come to help, lest she leave the population of Ponyville to die.
"I…" Applejack said through gritted teeth as she stood on sore legs. "I don't think we can do this…"
"We're giving it all we have and it's still not enough" Rarity lamented.
"Dash…" Twilight whispered. "I'm sorry… I can't…"
"No!"
The sudden shout caught everyone's attention.
"We cannot give up!" Trixie shouted. "We can't leave our friend like this! We have to keep going!"
"But even if we could overpower her," Fluttershy said, "we can't do anything to help Dash without the Elements of Harmony."
"We'll find a way" Trixie said, her voice steady. "We cannot give up hope, no matter what. Do you hear me? You have to have hope. It'll give us strength; fill our hearts with the power to pull a miracle. …When I was a child, hope was all that kept me going – hope that I would step out from the shadow of my sisters, hope my mother and brother would find a way to get us out of the troubles we were in. …When I left my home far behind, and started my travels and my shows, I hoped for a better life, a way to bring recognition to my name, a chance to find something and somewhere I belonged. …I lost all hope after Ponyville, when I ran into the Everfree Forest, and that allowed Nightmare to possess me. But when you girls saved me, took me in, became my friends, I regained it. It has given me the strength to go on all these years, it has never let me down, and it's what we need to beat this abomination and free our friend!"
To everyone's shock, there was suddenly a swirling white light surrounding Trixie. The particles of light and magic coalesced at her neck, and in a flash of light they formed into a necklace holding a blue gem in the shape of a five-pointed star.
"A new… Harmony Element…" Twilight said in astonishment.
"Even the most ancient of records never even suggested the possibility of a seventh Element…" Luna said. "But it seems young Trixie was correct. Hope can pull off a miracle… It makes sense that, as she has embodied it for so long, she would wield its Element – The Element of Hope."
With renewed faith, the other five pulled themselves up. In flashes of light their Elements materialized, all six glowing with power. Nightmare Maelstrom snarled, and prepared to charge in hopes of striking them down before the energy could be unleashed, only to stop in shock as multiple binds of deep-blue magic sprung up from all around, holding her in place. Luna stood, bracing herself, horn glowing with power.
"Do it!" she shouted.
After several seconds, the beam of six-colored energy fired, hitting Nightmare Maelstrom dead-on. There was an explosion of power, and Luna's binds retracted.
"We… We did it…" Pinkie said.
"Are you sure?"
Everyone gasped in horror. The dust cleared, revealing a noticeably injured Nightmare Maelstrom.
"H…How?" Twilight stammered out. "The Elements…"
Nightmare Maelstrom chuckled. "The Elements of Harmony purified my Moon and Azure selves because the hosts were fighting back, trying to break free. But this time… Rainbow Dash does not want to be saved."
"…What?"
"Her self-worth is gone, the pain and darkness of her Heart holds her fast, and she truly views herself as not worthy or deserving of saving. After all, why would she return to a world where she believes everyone shuns and mocks her? To friends that betrayed her? To solitude and loneliness? Face it, mortals; your friend was lost the moment her body became mine."
There was shocked silence and stillness for several seconds. Then, Pinkie took a few steps forward. She said nothing, only stood on her rear legs and clutched both forelimbs to her Element, closing her eyes and sending out her very thoughts.
'Dashie… Please… Hear me…'
…
…
'…Pinkie?'
Nightmare Maelstrom jumped in surprise, and then snarled. "I won't allow that!"
She charged at the six, only to be interrupted by Luna.
"I'll keep her occupied!" she shouted to the girls. "Just do whatever you have to do!"
With that, she charged after Maelstrom, soon engaging her in another epic duel, this one evenly matched due to Maelstrom's weakened state.
"Girls…" Pinkie spoke. "Come here."
The other five obeyed, walking up to Pinkie and each placing a hoof on her.
'Dash… Please listen to me…' she sent out, and the other five could now hear her thoughts through their Elements. 'Please come back to me… I'm so, so sorry… for everything… You're the one who can always make me laugh, bring me joy… I can't lose you… Please…'
'…What's the point in it? The others showed me… how I'm not strong enough, or fast enough, or smart enough, or good enough… I'm just no good at all to anyone… You're the only one who cares…'
'That's not true!' Rarity made herself known. 'I felt it was a bad idea from the start, dear. I never wanted to hurt you; none of us did. And how could you say you're not fast enough? If you weren't the fastest flier in the world, if you hadn't been ready to give everything you had for me, I wouldn't be alive today!'
'Because I… saved you…'
'Rainbow…' Fluttershy sent. 'You and I have known each other since we were toddlers. I've always known that you've never really thought as highly of yourself as you've always claimed to. But you're better than you think you are. You protected me from the bullies at Flight Camp. You always stood up for me and cheered me on, just as you've always done for all the other friends you've made. You were the first one to show me kindness. If it wasn't for you, none of us would have ever found our special talents You're… the first pony I ever trusted…'
'Dash…' Trixie's thoughts reached out. 'You gave me a second chance. You helped save me from myself and from Nightmare. And… I wasn't present for that incident where the Crusaders went around asking about how we all got our Cutie Marks, so I'll tell you how I got mine. When I was a little kid, my big brother was sick, and I couldn't find anything to cheer him up. But one day, I was outside moping about it when a beautiful rainbow shockwave lit up the sky, its light reflecting and refracting off the ice crystals in the clouds above and making the most beautiful light show I'd ever seen. Inspired by that, I put my newfound magic into making the most brilliant and dazzling show I could muster for my brother. It brought happiness to him in that difficult time, and he went on to recover fully. …After talking with Fluttershy and Rarity a little while ago, I realized that shockwave was from you. We were friends over a decade before we even met. Please don't give up hope. We need you.'
'Dash, I…' Applejack started. 'I consider you one of my first real friends, as well as the best rival a gal could have. Without you pushin' me to outdo myself, I wouldn't be half the mare I am today. What's more… you're one of the few I can be honest about my shortcomings with, when we're always discussin' with each other what we think we can do better about ourselves. And… I'm sorry I screwed up so badly…'
'Rainbow…' Twilight finally sent, her mental voice wavering with emotion. 'I… I'm so sorry… I'm so, so sorry… I should've known you would be affected like that by my stupid, short-sighted scheme, but I was blinded by my own stupidity and ignorance. I… I never wanted to hurt you. I've… I've failed you as a friend. I know you can probably never forgive me for betraying you, but… I'm just so sorry. Knowing I've done this to a friend… I can't take it… Please… please come back to us…'
…
'…They all still hate me… You girls may not, but they all do… And they're right to…'
Suddenly, in that dark realm of nothingness, Rainbow Dash saw a flash of light. Celestia, sensing the six girls' Hearts reaching out, had now created a link between Dash's Heart and the Hearts of everyone down below in Ponyville. All those down below were made to understand everything – they all felt Dash's despair that was their doing, and they all were made to know the truth behind Nightmare… and how their actions and rejections had created Nightmare Maelstrom.
Then Rainbow Dash felt something. At first, it was weak and unclear, but as it grew stronger and louder she realized what it was: the emotions and thoughts of those below, all being sent up to her.
'You stood up for me whenever those ponies made fun of my eyes.'
'You saved my husband from being crushed to death at the construction site.'
'Your flight tricks inspired my little brother into finding his special talent and his Mark.'
'You saved my father from plunging to his death.'
'You rescued my little girl.'
'I'm sorry.'
'I'm so sorry.'
'Please forgive us; we didn't mean to'
'You're stronger than this!'
'You're the most awesome pony in Ponyville!'
'You're the most loyal and trustworthy pony I've ever known.'
'We need you!'
'We forgive you!'
'We love you!'
'Fight her!'
'Show that ethereal son of a bitch what happens when they fuck with the most badass pegasus in Equestria!'
'Come back to us!'
'You can do it!'
'Rainbow pony is best pony!'
'You're better than this! We all know you are!'
Empathy. Sorrow. Shame. Forgiveness. Acceptance. Love. Friendship. Hope. Encouragement. All these and more, Dash felt in the Hearts of those below and heard in their thoughts, all directed toward her. Slowly, her will came alive, and her faith in others, so badly broken, began to return.
'Be strong, my child' Celestia's voice came over the connection. 'Despite what you believe, you are loved, and you are needed. Release the unconquerable strength I have seen in you, let it become even stronger and join with your friends', and strike down the abomination that holds you. I believe in you. We all do.'
'Listen to me…' Pinkie sent. 'I don't have anything that can directly wake you, but I want you to know you're not alone. Okay? And all their love keeps coming, and it won't stop! All over town, they're sending it to you. They need your help. You're the only one who can do it. Feel their hope! Feel their strength!'
'…I… I feel them.'
Just as she was about to launch a spear of lightning to impale Luna through the chest, Nightmare Maelstrom felt shock and horror as her body completely froze up. She felt as her host, against all expectations and plans, fought back with incomparable strength and vigor.
'You can't control me anymore!-!'
"This… can't… be happening!"
Pinkie's eyes snapped open. "Now's our chance!-!"
The six girls got into position, their Harmony Elements glowing a brilliant white as they charged power. Finally, a large wave/beam of six colors shot forth, hitting Maelstrom dead-on. Her scream turned into a deep, monstrous roar from Nightmare itself as it was again forcefully expelled from its host. Cascading lights and magic danced around the target, obscuring her from view. In a flash of light, they lowered to the ground and then faded away, revealing a small, exhausted blue-furred pegasus curled up on the floor. Outside, the monstrous storm withered and died within seconds; the winds, rain, and lightning stopped altogether, and the clouds went from a foreboding black to the light grey of a typical overcast day. Down below, the ponies celebrated, as Celestia dispelled her shield.
"She did it!" Scootaloo shouted. "She did it!-!"
Back in the floating palace, Luna lowered herself to the ground, battered and tired but otherwise alright. In the center of the room, Rainbow Dash regained consciousness slowly, feeling herself being held, one forelimb supporting her head and the other resting on her chest. She opened her eyes, and Pinkie filled her vision, tears of joy starting to fall from her light-blue eyes. The girl tried to speak, but couldn't get the words out, and so settled on pulling Dash close and hugging her tight, burying Dash's face in her upper chest, stroking the back of her head, wrapping her tail around her waist, kissing her on the top of her head. Dash relaxed into the embrace, her forelimbs slowly coming up and returning it. After several seconds, she felt Fluttershy embracing her from behind, followed by Applejack's forehoof resting on her head, and one each from Trixie and Rarity on each of her shoulders. Nothing was said; nothing needed to be.
"Dash…"
They broke away from Dash enough for her to see as Twilight walked up. She was crying, her face wracked with guilt and sorrow.
"I'm… I'm…"
She threw herself at Dash's feet, bursting into tears.
"I'm so sorry! I j-just wanted to... I n-never meant to h-hurt you! Please! You h-have to believe me in that! I… I did something unforgivable! If you want to hurt me, please do it! I deserve it! I failed you as a friend! I-"
"Twilight."
The girl stopped her lamentations mid-sentence and fearfully looked up… just in time for Rainbow Dash to grab her in a hug.
"I…I…"
"It's okay, Twi. It's okay."
Dash held her as she cried, continuing to choke out half-coherent apologies and pleas. After about a minute of this, she started to calm down.
"Look! Over there, by the window!"
Luna's sudden shout caught everyone by surprise, but they followed her gaze… and saw the mass of black mist with glowing red eyes as it reared up, hissed at them, and then flew out the window.
"Nightmare's getting away!"
"No she's not" Dash snarled. "No way. No-one else! We kill that thing now!"
A blur of color heralded Dash taking off and shooting out the window, in hot pursuit. Less than a second behind her were Fluttershy, Luna, and the five non-flyers in Luna's telekinetic hold. As they pursued the daemon, Celestia joined them, flying alongside.
"It's headed for Canterlot!" Twilight shouted.
"We have to catch it!" Celestia said. "I don't want to think about what it could find there!"
Nightmare knew it was almost out of options. However, it also knew, thanks to the knowledge gleamed from its first and third hosts on this planet, that it had one final trump card. Knowing that, it flew even faster, hitting Mach 2 (its lack of a material form meant there was no sonic boom) to outpace even her most recent host's maximum speed of Mach 1.7 – which she wasn't flying at now anyway – , and heading for the Royal Castle, for the Royal Garden… and for a certain statue.
As the heroes got close to the Castle, they heard the sound of shattering stone, and then a pillar of violet and black chaotic darkness shot up into the sky. There was the sound of two deep voices in evil laughter simultaneously, which merged into one voice toward the end. The sky grew dark, a sickly, roiling color that shouldn't be. As they got close, they saw the pillar's epicenter… and felt horror unmatched by anything before.
"His life-force…" Luna said, her voice quaking in terror. "It's merged with Nightmare's…"
From the pillar of darkness arose a massive, serpentine creature. Its whole body was a mix of midnight-blue, dark purple, and pitch-black. It bore vague similarity to an Eastern Dragon, but the nine recognized it for what it really was: a Draconequus mutated by raw Darkness.
"We are so screwed…" Dash muttered.
"WE… I AM NIGHTMARE CALAMITY!-!-!"
-CHAPTER END-
Cliffhanger!-!