Nightmare Idiot

It has been said that the Royal Equestrian Air Force contains the fastest ponies in all of Equestria. This is not entirely true. The bearer of the Element of Loyalty, Rainbow Dash, was known for her extraordinary speed and agility. A miniature war had been raging for some time within the scientific community as to whether Dash's feats were physically possible. Indeed, her "Sonic Rainboom" seemed almost superpony. Within the Pegasus community, she represented the ideal flier. If the notoriously bibliophobic Pegasi had done their research, however, they would have set their standards higher still.

A double streak of gold and midnight tore through the air, heading for the sky at a high angle. Nearly two miles up, a series of shock waves broke from the twin columns, shaking houses for miles around and sending roosting birds into a panic. Still the dichrome ribbon ascended, tearing a hole in the air itself and causing a constant rumbling as the void rushed to fill itself. Eventually, when it was nearly out of sight, the trail leveled out, heading toward the small town of Ponyville.

Nightmare Atlas was really beginning to dislike Ponyville. Sure, the air was clean, the food was fresh, and the ponies were friendly, but the air was clean, the food was fresh, and worst of all, the ponies were friendly. So far, Atlas had escaped exactly nine ponies trying to talk with him, ranging from the enthusiastically polite Aloe and Lotus to the cheerfully oblivious Derpy Hooves (or was it Ditzy Doo?). He was halfway paying attention to his current conversation partner, Lyra Heartstrings, when the mint-green mare stopped mid-sentence to stare at the sky. Naturally, the Nightmare did so as well and nearly wet himself where he stood. A giant arc of pure Solar and Lunar magic appeared to be descending towards the quiet town. Why couldn't they have waited just a few more hours? This will ruin all of my plans! I was almost beginning to enjoy Miss Heartstrings's company, as well! In fact, when I have crushed those impudent sisters, I may come back to continue out chat... enough of that, you fool! There will be time enough later for that. The important thing now is to protect yourself. Atlas reached out with his mind, feeling for the creatures he had previously possessed and calling them to his aid. As he did so, the band of light and dark halted just above the ground, the Royal Sisters (for of course it was them) floating with wings outstretched. Their armor gleamed with an ethereal light, and their horns arced with magic. Celestia brandished a flaming longsword, nearly five feet from pommel to tip and forged over the course of fifty years in the heart of the Sun, while her sister hefted a massive hammer, the reinforced shaft topped by an intricately designed head of iron inlaid with silver. Together, the Princesses radiated power.

"WHERE DOTH YON NIGHTMARE RESIDE?" boomed Luna in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Ponies scattered, tripping over themselves to escape the impending battle. The Princess's eyes burned white as her head swiveled to and fro, eventually locking onto Nightmare Atlas. "GIVE UP, DEMON. THOU CANNOT HOPE TO ESCAPE US." She punctuated the statement with a solid blow of her hammer to the ground, cracking the earth and breaking windows all around. Celestia fixed Atlas with a glare, though she said nothing.

Nightmare Atlas dropped his disguise, to the narrowed eyes of the Royal Sisters. He stared right back at her, despite his fear, simultaneously checking the locations of his creatures One of my beasts is nearly here. I hope it will be powerful enough to distract those two until the rest of my army arrives. Slowly, he responded to Luna's statement: "I have served my punishment already; I have not harmed a single pony yet. You have no reason to threaten to harm me except to settle a personal grudge. It is unwise to allow your emotions to control you; any good ruler knows that." Atlas let some of his anger spill into his last sentence.

Celestia spoke up next, without amplification but commanding nonetheless. "You have enslaved the entirety of the castle staff, you stole from us both, and worst of all, you replaced my favorite chair with a collection of pornographic magazines!" The Solar Princess kept her voice steady, though a slight blush made itself evident. She pointed her sword at Atlas. "Give up now, and we will be lenient. Resist, and we will have no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony against you."

Atlas merely grinned. "Giving up implies that I could possibly lose in a fight against the two of you. But I don't even need to fight you myself; I have some rather vicious creatures to do that for me." He pointed to a large street, and right on cue, the first monster of his dark army leaped forward, its croaking cry echoing across the town center.

The princesses stared at it.

Nightmare Atlas stared at it.

The small toad stared back at them with Nightmare-infected eyes. It croaked again, somehow in the Royal Canterlot Voice, hopping angrily towards the Royal Sisters. With a final leap, it latched on to Celestia's leg, biting for all that it was worth, which wasn't very much. Luna gasped at the amphibian's sheer cuteness while her sister tried to gently remove the possessed toad without incinerating it. All the while, Atlas remained frozen in his previous position, trying his hardest to comprehend the situation. A fly flew into his open mouth before deciding that the conditions were not to its favor.

The Nightmare finally overcame the initial shock, closing his mouth with a sharp snap. "This was not supposed to happen. Whatever possessed me to possess a toad in the first place?"

Luna glared at him with the fury of a thousand fires. "SILENCE! WE ARE ENJOYING THE COMPANY OF HOPPER THE TOAD! UNLIKE THYSELF, HE DOTH BE A TRUE GENTLETOAD!" She turned back to the angry amphibian, who was currently trying to untangle himself from the Lunar Princess's mane.

It was at this point the hydra decided to show up.