Light was filtering in through Rainbow Dash’s bedroom window. Her saddlebags were packed and ready to go. She looked at a picture of her family that was sitting on the nearby dresser and let a few tears come to her eyes.

“Don’t worry guys. I’ll make you proud.”

The mare left her house and took to the air, a sensation that at other times would leave her overjoyed now felt melancholy. The nightmare had returned and the princess had drafted every pony deemed capable. Rainbow Dash was the only one out of the other five in her group that was deemed war material other than Apple Jack.

Her friends were waiting for her at the train station in Ponyville. They looked at her and she knew that they were going to try and force her to stay. She didn’t look at them, they had already tried as hard as they could with pleading for her not to go. Nopony had a choice in the matter though, and she had to go no matter what.

“Rainbow you can’t go. What about the rest of us? We need you Rainbow Dash. Can’t you just work on Apple Jack’s farm to supply food to the soldiers instead?” Twilight pleaded.

“I’ve made my choice guys. I am going to fight in this war and there is nothing you can say to stop me.” The mare said before turning to face the train.

She gave them heartfelt goodbyes and climbed into the train that housed the other soldiers. She looked outside and noticed that Fluttershy was no longer looking at the train. The other soldiers gave her nods in her direction while she placed her things in the rack above her seat. This ride was going to take her out past Canterlot and up near the mountains in the north where the Nightmare’s forces were gathering.

She could feel the tense atmosphere as they approached the mountain range. The armor that Rainbow Dash was wearing was a little too big for her and chafed in all of the wrong places. In the distance she could see the moon rising behind the mountains. She could make out several thousand tiny dots arranging themselves in the distance, but they were too far away to have any distinguishable features.

Adrenalin began to pump into Dash’s veins as the battlefield came into view. Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach at the sight of the forces she was going up against. Several thousand bat ponies were engaged with Celestia’s soldiers. Nightmare was overlooking the field and smiled as the fresh meat arrived.

Rainbow Dash was given her sword and blades were equipped to her wings in preparation for the battle that lay ahead. She gulped and nearly vomited when she noticed all of the blood and dead bodies ahead. Nightmare looked down at her and beckoned the new faces to enter the fray and dare to defy him. This was going to be a fight that Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to want to enter, yet something within her begged for the fight.

[Warning: light gore ahead]

Rainbow felt the surge of adrenalin again and she charged mercilessly into the fray along with the rest of her companions. The bat-ponies rushed up to meet them and blood instantly began to spray into the air. The ponies around Rainbow Dash were finding the bat-ponies to be formidable foes, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t having as much trouble.

She threw her wings out to their full span and sliced all of the bat-ponies before her into ribbons. She swung the blade in her mouth just as another one leapt at her and she plunged the blade into its throat while getting sprayed with blood. Her balance remained stable while she fought enemies in the air while on the ground. She was happy that the horse shoes that she was wearing were specially modified to be similar to a cleat, and could be used as both a stabilizer and a weapon.

She began to bash the heads of the ponies in front of her in with incredible speed, and took off into the air in order to take down some of the flying bat-ponies. She uppercut the first bat-pony in front of her with bone crushing speed sending shards of bone into the pony’s brain. Then she swerved and sliced another bat-ponies head off with the blades equipped to her wings.

A bat-pony tried to land on her in midair and stab her in the throat, but the mare spun around and pushed the pony away while ripping off a bit of skin. Rainbow then swerved around the bat-pony when it came in for another strike and sliced its wings off sending it to the hard ground below. The screams of ponies rang out around her, but she was a warrior bent on doing her duty, and that duty was defending her country.

A bat-pony came down and tried to attack Rainbow Dash from above, but he underestimated the mare and wound up having her sword plunge into its soft belly. Blood and small amounts of gore rained down on those below the two ponies in the air. The bat-ponies in the surrounding area began to swarm around the mare while trying to remove the threat she posed.

Rainbow Dash looked at the approaching bat-ponies and flew down towards the ground while picking up speed. The sound barrier began to vibrate and hum around the young mare trying to stop her, but she pushed through and performed a Sonic Rainboom that sent out a shock wave that pushed back any nearby bat-ponies.

The Nightmare looked down on the battle and began to get worried at the sight of the Rainboom. Only the great commander Hurricane was capable of performing it back when the three tribes were still settling feuds over territory with the nearby Griffin Kingdoms. It was a weapon of great destruction depending on how it was used, and that cyan Pegasus wasn’t likely to pass up the chance to use it as one in the middle of a fight.

Rainbow Dash swerved up into the air and began to rotate like a drill on her descending dive into the groups of bat-ponies that lay below. Her innate Pegasus magic flowed from within her causing the air around her to form a deadly cyclone capable of ripping ponies apart. The bat-ponies were easily disposed of as the mare flew through their ranks.

The battle raged on for centuries as rainbow Dash butchered any bat-pony that came close enough. Brains and internal organs were splattered all over the mare as she continued to fight for her homeland. The Nightmare was thankful that in the land of dreams he had an infinite number of soldiers because Rainbow Dash like commander Hurricane was an unstoppable force of destruction in the field of battle.

Rainbow continued to fight and even grabbed one of the bat-ponies and ripped its wings off with her bare hooves before letting it fall to its death. The Nightmare was starting to feel uneasy about this situation. He had made sure that the ponies within the dreamscape had their realistic abilities in order to avoid an advantage, but the bat-ponies had been boosted by the Nightmare’s power.

Eventually even the infinite tide of bat-ponies began to dwindle until only one remained. Rainbow Dash went up to it and sliced its jaws off with one of her bladed wings causing the pony to drop its only weapon. Then the mare sliced the creature open from up between its legs, eliciting a high pitched squeal from the poor creature. Its other limbs were quickly hacked off and soon its belly was ripped open and left to fall onto the field.

Nightmare just hovered in the sky trying to discern whether or not this mare was capable of existing. Rainbow Dash advanced on the black alicorn giving no head to the stares her comrades gave her. The Nightmare awaited her approaching form, hoping that the mare could give him some answers.

“Very well done. Commander Hurricane is the only Pegasus warrior that even comes close to matching your skills. Are you related to the mare by any chance?”

“Taste steel demon!” The mare said while charging at the Nightmare.

“I should have known that a warrior would not talk to an enemy in battle. Especially one as powerful as myself.”

The Nightmare was quick to attack and blew the mare into the distance with a fireball. Rainbow Dash twisted in the air putting out any fires on her fur and flew after the beast that had singed her coat. The Nightmare watched her while flinging fireballs with deadly accuracy at the approaching mare. Rainbow Dash swerved and rolled through the air around the flaming orbs while expertly changing her thrust based on the heated air currents.

The Nightmare grew frustrated and threw arcs of lightning at the mare knowing that they would home in on her. The Pegasus mare smiled and reached into her internal Pegasus magic and collected the charged bolts within her wings before letting loose deadly blades of lightning at her foe. The Nightmare reeled at the unexpected blows that ripped at his body, thankfully an alicorn was capable of taking more damage than a normal pony before death was eminent.

The ground tried to rush up and swat the cyan mare out of the sky, but the mare easily dodged the pillars of rock in her advances. The Nightmare attempted to use lightning against the mare, but she redirected it with her Pegasus magic and aimed it back at the Nightmare. She was coming in hot on her approach, all of the Nightmare’s attacks being either dodged or deflected.

The Nightmare called upon the very ground itself in an attempt to end the mare. Rainbow Dash may not have been capable of using the ground trying to crush her to her advantage, but she wasn’t one to sit still long enough for a blow like that to land. She swerved through the field of convulsing rock and flew out above the grips of the land below.

The Nightmare hadn’t realized that Rainbow Dash was above the ground because of the obstructing nature of the spell, and Rainbow Dash knew that was a fatal mistake. The mare flew around the clouds in the air reaching out to them with her innate magic and began to collect the lighting they had begun to generate. She floated around in the clouds paying mind to the Nightmare’s state of awareness.

When the mare had collected enough lightning within her that a blue glow and crackling energy were being emitted by her body she flew higher into the air, and aimed at her target below. The Nightmare was beginning to wonder why it hadn’t heard a scream from the mare or anything for that matter, it was too quiet. By the time the Nightmare had realized its mistake its fate was already sealed.

Rainbow Dash dove at her target punching through the sound barrier and spiraling into a drill of force yet again. The energy contained within the mare merged with the Rainboom producing a drilling spear of pure energy. Rainbow dash’s body became ethereal and intangible as she approached her target and unleashed the full might of her power. She heard an audible scream before it was suddenly silenced and the deafening roar of a giant explosion greeted the mare.

As Rainbow Dash expected when she initially thought of her plan, the Nightmare had been obliterated by her attack. Now all that was left of him was the smoking chunks of flesh that had survived the initial explosion. The Nightmare was gone and Equestria could rest easily yet again, and it was all thanks to Rainbow Dash.

Cheers rang up around Rainbow Dash as she was carried back to Canterlot. She was treated like the greatest of war heroes and she felt like one. She had endured endless waves of enemies and had even purged the world of the Nightmare’s presence. Her friends were waiting for her at Canterlot, but they weren’t pleased with her. Had she done something wrong? Of course not!

“Rainbow Dash you abandoned us! You should have stayed and helped Apple Jack on the farm and fed the soldiers like we did.” Twilight said to the mare.

“Listen Twilight, being loyal does not mean I am a slave to you or anypony else. It means I’ll do anything to protect you, even if it hurts your feelings at first. The war may have made me be just as un-loyal to you as I was loyal. But I need to be loyal to myself before I can ever hope to keep anypony as my friends. If you can’t respect my decisions then you were never my friend to begin with.” The mare said while feeling oddly wise.

The world began to fade at Rainbow Dash’s last sentence and the mare looked around with obvious disappointment.

“Aw! Can’t I collect my awards first?” The mare said while the world faded.

(_o_============================================_o_)

“Fuck! That Rainbow mare didn’t show any signs of being capable of that when I searched her memories. At least my other guests are easier to keep in place.” The Nightmare said as he entered Apple Jack’s dream.

The mare was a tough one to figure out how to manipulate. She was an honest hard working mare that enjoyed doing her work and didn’t like it when others insisted on doing her work for her. Her seemingly flawless character was a hard one to come by and was no doubt ingrained in her since she was a child. Her stoic brother was also the result of this, but at least their family was happy and together.

That happiness was what the Nightmare recognized as the safest point of attacking from. A lie that kept others complacent and happy would be one that hurt to break, especially if the lie was constructed from the truth. The Nightmare prided himself with his honesty, and as a result learned how to manipulate others with it.

The mare was currently caught in a web of misconstrued truth among all of the other ponies that had entered the forest with her. Twilight, and Cheerilee currently believe that Apple Jack has a crush on Spike, while Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy believe that she hates all of them. It wasn’t too complex, but it didn’t need to be, all he needed was time.

The Nightmare watched as the Apple mare went about her duties from day to day, unaware of what her friends thought. The Nightmare wondered if the mare noticed the unnatural lifespan he had given all of the dream world’s residents, surely she could count the days and years that passed.

The mare barely went outside the farm unless it was to man her stall. The hatred that over half of the others in the dream believed that she had easily kept them away from the mare, while the other two merely giggled at the sight of her. The mare wasn’t willing to hurt Apple Bloom by telling the full truth. For Apple Bloom was the one who spread the rumors.

The mare continued with her work while being content for the most part. Her family was enough company for the mare, but her friends still believed what Apple Bloom had implied. She felt guilty for having to keep from telling them things, but some ponies were important. Then the Nightmare looked down upon her and wondered how long it would take for her to realize what was going on.

“Howdy there Silver Moonlight! What’s a thestral doin’ around these parts?” Apple Jack said to an approaching bat-pony.

“I’m surprised you still remember me. It’s been a while since you’ve been to our town of Night Haven. I’m here because I heard that your apples are the beast in the country.”

“Well that’s mighty kind of ya to say, but ah thought that ya weren’t allowed to leave yer town.”

“Well the princess has forgiven us for our allegiance with the Nightmare and I decided that I should visit an old friend.”

“So ya’ll no longer support the Nightmare, never thought I’d see the day.”

“Well I no longer support him. There are still a few who hold on to the old ways and wish for the return of the patron of dreams.”

“Sounds like yer an odd one out then huh? Ah hope ya do well fer yerself, the stars know ah’ve tried.” Apple Jack said while letting a bit of sorrow show in her voice.

“Speaking of which I can’t help but notice your slightly sad demeanor. I hope I haven’t upset you.”

“Oh its nothin’. Apllebloom’s just run her mouth again an’ ah don’t want others to hurt her if they find out the truth.”

“That is highly unusual for you Apple Jack. You of all ponies should know that clearing up any form of confusion or dishonesty is something that can’t be dismissed without the consequences building. You should clear up the confusion your sister has caused.”

“Yer right. Ah…ah just don’t want her to suffer the consequences, they’ll hate her.”

“It will pass my friend. Now how much do you want for an apple.”

“They’re a bit. Now ah’ve got to go tell my friends the truth, an’ the truth behind why ah didn’t want to reveal my sister’s assumptions. Ah just hope they’ll forgive her for the mess she caused this time.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The bat-pony said as the world faded.

(_o_============================================_o_)

“I couldn’t have expected much longer from the Apple mare, even that small amount of time was pushing it. I didn’t expect her conscience to manifest itself as a thestral though. Her memories of Night Haven weren’t too prominent, but maybe I overlooked something.” The Nightmare said while entering Dusk Shine’s dream.

Dusk Shine found himself sitting at a table in an unimaginably old library. It was something that looked like it was taken straight from the past itself and brought to the present. Many dusty tomes littered the place and all he had to do was pick one and read it. His friends could wait outside for now, he had reading to do.

Dusk Shine was in the middle of a really good book when he felt the presence of another pony behind him. The stallion set down the copy of The Night Watcher that he was reading and turned to face his visitor. The unicorn stallion stared up at the form of a black alicorn wearing a three piece suit and a tie with a picture of the moon on it.

“I do hope you are enjoying my collection Dusk Shine. It consists of all of my favorite stories and any factual information that I remember from two thousand years ago.”

“W-what are you doing here?”

“I thought that would be quite obvious considering that I’ve let you sit her for what would constitute as a millennia’s worth of time. Although I doubt you would pay attention to that aspect enough to notice something wasn’t quite right, the others didn’t.”

“So I’m asleep. Why would you tell me that I’m asleep? Wouldn’t that hinder you?”

“It’s been too long since I’ve been able to talk one on one with a pony my dear stallion. I was hoping you would be more open to just chatting for a while.”

“Okay? So what were you hoping to talk about?”

“Anything really, being bound to the moon for two thousand years is quite lonely. Knowing my sister though she probably forgot when she did that. Now why would you be running around as a mare? Is my sister truly that terrifying?”

“I’m running around as a mare because society won’t let me study as her student any other way. I’m not sure if it has always been this way, but society today is mare-centric. Your sister is more mysterious and slightly snobbish more than anything, but you should always fear a being capable of rotating a planet. Also if you’re over two thousand years old how can you understand me and speak perfect equish.”

“Hm… Things have definitely changed during my imprisonment. I suspect from the memories you just dug through that you peaked into my sister’s secret stash of forbidden literature. As for being able to speak perfect modern equish when I returned I looked through all of that mare Rarity’s knowledge on the current language.”

“Okay I guess that makes sense. Is… is it true that a male alicorn is actually a draconiquus?”

“Yes… but we prefer to shape our bodies to that of an alicorn in order to avoid too many stares, unless you’re like Discord who enjoys any form of attention.”

“So what do you really look like?”

“I’ll leave that up to your imagination. Now I’m sure you’ve heard of that silly little alicornation process being my sister’s student and all.”

“Yeah, Celestia has a book on it.”

“Now did you know that the process isn’t entirely voluntary? The process will proceed without the ponies consent unless it is forcefully stopped, and doing such results in a much worse fate than any can imagine.”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason why an alicorn becomes immortal is because of a few basic principles. Their immense godlike magic sustains their existence, and when any pony capable of ascending does ascend they do so because of an enlightenment of sorts. Now I don’t know what my sister says but even an earthpony can ascend if they are enlightened. This enlightenment changes the very nature of the pony’s internal magic turning them into an alicorn or draconiquus depending on gender.

If you are female you are sent to the alicorn plane, or the plane of order as Celestia calls it. If you are male then you are sent to the draconiquus plane, or the plane of chaos as it is known. Your dominion depends on what your cutie-mark or emblem is along with what you were enlightened in. For instance you could have more than one alicorn or draconiquus specializing in planet rotation or any other thing you can think of.

If the process is stopped and the pony refuses to ascend then they return to the mortal plane unchanged, but their magic is still different because of their enlightenment. This causes their body to go into what I like to call thaumo-nucleic decay. This painful process dissolves the very genetic structure of a pony and then their very flesh.

What is left is something akin to a zombie pony with parts of them made of pure energy. The process finishes when the last of the pony is gone. Then their internal energy goes into an ionic discharge that ruptures their very soul and causes the most painful death in existence.”

“Well… so you’re basically saying I’m fucked either way if I ever become enlightened.”

“Pretty much, draconiquus in training. I really hate it when sister plays games like these with mortals. She expects everypony to want immortality and godlike power. It isn’t hard to expect such a desire, but she never tells them exactly what it entails or means for them. They are still a pony on the inside even if their outside likes to suggest otherwise. At least you have a sweetheart who is lined up to be an alicorn after her training finishes. I just hope you two have as good a relationship as my parents, those two immortals were inseparable until they died.”

“How can an immortal being die?”

“Oh! We don’t age, and we can take more hits than a mortal can, but we can still be killed if you know how to do it.”

“How did your parents die?”

“I guess I can tell you a story. Now before I get started I need to tell you that an alicorn and draconiquus produce foals that are the same species as their parents. So if you and your girlfriend ever get busy after choosing to ascend then you will be dealing with high maintenance god-foals. Imagine the mayhem they would cause... My parents always said I was the problematic one when I was younger, although back then I merely stuck to bringing in bugs that I made big enough to be put on a dog’s leash.

Needless to say my parents weren’t entirely amused when I brought my pets inside. My sister Celestia was a fun pony to play pranks on, she never forgave me for the time I made her chair make fart noise at the dinner table though. It turns out draconiquus’ have a natural wild streak, probably due to their innate binding with chaos even if it’s not your calling.

Now the death of my parents wasn’t as expected as I’d like to say it was. You see there were a few other alicon and draconiquus communities at the time, nothing large enough to amount to a city or anything, but there were a few scattered around, and the rule of my parents at the time went against most beliefs of our kind.

Our kind believed that living a normal life alone and giving occasional bits of wisdom was the best way to go about things. I remember my grandfather saying “Let the mortals govern themselves, it will make us happier in the long run”. The circumstances involving their rule wasn’t popular among their mortal subjects either.

You see way back when the ponies moved into Equestria from their old homelands Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Pudding Head, and the newly crowned Queen Platinum ruled alongside each other trying to form a community from the nearly extinct tribes they were a part of. From your memories I understand that my sister has told all of you a more… happy version of that story. Unfortunately it paints the wendigoes as nothing more than bringers of wintery weather and not a creature that starved so many ponies that only four hundred ponies remained when the tribes united. I can only imagine what it must be like to finally know that every pony in Equestria is at the farthest fifth maybe tenth cousins.

Now the united tribes of Equestria fell when my parents felt that the ponies weren’t happy with the arranged marriages that kept inbreeding minimal and took over, to the resentment of a few ponies. This led to Queen Platinum fleeing to what was the Crystal Empire back in the day. Her grandfather became insane in trying to find out how to take back their thrones and he eventually became the Tyrant King Sombra. Hey are you listening?”

“What? Oh yes. I was just wondering about the Crystal Empire… I never heard of that part of its history… I never knew it had a tyrant king.”

“That’s because my sister managed to lure Sombra away from the empire before attempting to deal with the threat he posed. Now before Sombra came about our parents took care of the kingdom while growing resentment among all of the ponies mounted over the shift in leadership, and fear spread because of the power they wielded. Things kind of went to Tartarus when war finally broke out, and because my parents were immortals that meant the other alicorns and draconiquus had to get involved because of our policies involving immortals going to war. This led to a war that mortals fled from while we fought each other. My sister, Discord, and I were the only ones left after the war. Discord had went insane after the destruction he had witnessed and you know where he resides now. Such a sad fate for a mortal pony who proved that ascension was possible again, to live as a statue. You do know that ponies frozen in stone or crystal can see everything that happens in front of them as long as their eyes were open, and they can hear everything as well. I think that’s enough stories for now though.”

“I never expected you to be so… well open about things. I still feel like you are trying to fool me being the Nightmare and all.”

“It would be unwise to try and trust a monster from legends long past. For all you know I could be trying to get you to like me for my own personal gain.”

“I’ll take my chances.” The stallion said while bumping hooves with the Nightmare.

“You so foolishly trust me. At least your act of friendship ended the dream. Now you can come find me in Fluttershy’s paradise. I’m sure you will just love trying to get out of that one, especially when you are dealing with a mare that doesn’t want to wake up.” The Nightmare laughed will the world faded away.

(_o_============================================_o_)

When Dusk Shine became conscious the first thing her realized was that he was Twilight again. The second thing that he noticed was that he was in a prison cell with a magic inhibiting ring securely fastened to his horn. His cell was dingy and damp, but nothing above what was to be normally expected in an equestrian dungeon. The cell door was open and outside of it was what amounted to a prison complex.

Rarity had befallen a similar fate to that of Twilight’s. Her magic didn’t come to her and she was being forced to make clothes for the empress that had apparently imprisoned her. Rarity never knew what to make for the mare, she was always so demanding and critical of her work. If only she had the use of her magic, then she would be able to create a proper dress that suited the picky queen’s needs.

Apple Jack and Cheerilee were reduced to working for the rulers by smashing rocks and collecting what gems were inside. Where the rocks were coming from wasn’t a question that was on their mind at the moment. All they cared about was trying to break free of the shackles that kept them in place.

Rainbow Dash had the unfortunate predicament of not being able to move other than walking on a treadmill that was hooked up to some gear assembly. Her midsection was encased in solid adimantium, a metal she knew wasn’t going to come off without her taking fatal damage. Her neck was incased in the indestructible metal as well, making it so that she could only look forwards where a carrot lay just out of reach of the starving Pegasus.

The entrance to the cell block opened up and the Nightmare along with a regal looking Fluttershy. Fluttershy walked over to Rarity allowing the mare to go over the pegasus’ measurements again. Twilight looked up at the Nightmare who only smirked at the little unicorn before him. This was going to be a fun way to mess with them.

“Hello Twilight. It’s quite nice to see you again. Now before you get started there is a key hidden in this room that will free you alone. The rest of the shackles take another key.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because by the time you find the throne room it will be too late.” The Nightmare said while returning to Fluttershy’s fitting session.

The rest of the day and the next few hundred after that were spent with Twilight trying to find the illusive key that the Nightmare mentioned. She even took a bite out of Rainbow Dash’s carrot to see if the key was in there. Instead she got a mouth full of carrot and an enraged, hungry pegasus.

Twilight’s next attempts were more sensitive towards her companions. The rocks full of gems held no promise and the carts the gems were being put into were just as useless. Rarity was the pony’s next destination, but she seriously doubted the key would be hidden with her.

The pony was busy sewing another fancy dress for Fluttershy when Twilight arrived. The mare looked over at Twilight with an annoyed huff and continued with her work. Twilight stood in the doorway hoping to talk to the mare before anything worse could happen.

“Rarity?”

“I’m dreadfully busy darling, if you could please wait until I’m finished I would appreciate it.”

“But the Nightmare said there was a key hidden in the prison somewhere that will free us.”

“Really? I’m sorry darling but I think you’ve been sent on a wild goose chase.”

“Why would he do something like that?”

“He’s the Nightmare darling, I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s probably trying to distract you so you are less likely to find a real solution.” Rarity said while accidentally pricking herself on a sewing needle.

“Ow! I seriously wish I had my magic for this!” The mare said in a rage.

“Hey Rarity? How easy do you think it will be for you to unlock my magic inhibitor ring with a sewing needle?”

“It may take a few hours and some luck, but it’s possible. Although I can’t help but wonder what condition must be met for Fluttershy to awaken?”

“What do you mean?”

“Seriously? You didn’t notice that there was a trigger for your escape after everypony told you what got them out of their dreams?”

“Eh he… I was a little too preoccupied to pay much attention and Rainbow Dash only said that she was badass and learned something about loyalty.”

“Remember when you talked about the five known elements of harmony dearie? I think Fluttershy is supposed to represent kindness with how all of our dreams have worked out. The question is, how do we get her to learn the lesson when she doesn’t want to listen to us or wake up?”

“I think I have an idea. One that doesn’t require magic.”

“I’m listening dearie...”

When Fluttershy and the Nightmare returned some time had passed and Rarity came forth with her knew dresses. The queen looked over the pieces of fabric and looked at Rarity and pointed out a small bit of stitching that was more prominent than the rest. The mare apologized to Fluttershy cueing Rainbow Dash who was nearby to start moaning.

“Ooh! I’m starving and my wings cramp. I can’t move my neck and I really need to go to the bathroom!”

“Silence war maiden! I, queen Fluttershy, have given you this punishment for your treason. You will not be spared for the insolence you have shown.”

Twilight facehooved at the sound of Fluttershy’s voice realizing that the Nightmare’s whispers had affected her more than she had originally anticipated. Which meant it was time for the next part of Twilights plan. Rarity looked at Fluttershy before turning to fix the seam. Then came the voices of Cheerilee and Apple Jack.

“Ah sure do hope Fluttershy likes all of these here gems. Ah broke one of my forelegs gettin’ some of these.”

“Your foreleg! I’m so sorry for you, at least you aren’t incased in adimantium and starving while a purple unicorn eats something right in front of you. I can’t imagine what that kind of torture would be like.” Cheerilee said while making Twilight feel guilty.

“Aw! You had to remind me about the carrot! I can barely stand the pain from starving anymore and you mention the carrot!!” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“Ouch! I think I’ve hurt myself trying to sew without magic again!” Rarity whined.

Fluttershy just stood there looking at all of the others around her while their constant complaining started to form into one big roar in her head. The Nightmare looked at her levelly and nodded to the mare. Fluttershy eagerly went to the ponies that had been trapped and freed them. She began profusely apologizing for punishing them more than what they deserved and made sure Rainbow Dash ate something.

“Come find me young ones, for the castle awaits. Beware the silent thinker whose thoughts are hidden, and watch out for the overly kind whose darkness lies hidden within… dear sister.” The Nightmare said while his voice was drowned out as the world faded.

(_o_============================================_o_)

When the six ponies awoke they found themselves sprawled out on a path that ended with a decrepit rope bridge that was substituting for a stone bridge that had collapsed long ago. What threw off the ponies the most were the gleaming pairs of eyes that appeared randomly within the trees before vanishing. The bridge appeared to be stable and Rainbow Dash barreling across it proved it. The rest of the ponies slowly followed her taking in the sight of the crumbling palace.

The decrepit walls were barely supporting what was left of the roof of the palace. Within the halls of the palace was a large pedestal with five stone orbs being held aloft on it? Each orb bore a mark representing the element of harmony that it used to be. The Nightmare was nowhere in sight an oddity to say the least, especially since he kept them in a dream state for so long.

“Why isn’t the Nightmare here? We were out cold for what cold have been days for all we know.”

“Twilight. Do ya honestly think the Nightmare would hang around the place that the only weapons capable of beatin’ him are at?”

“Well no… but he didn’t even try stealing any of them from what I can tell. Even the sixth dormant element in the center is present.”

“Hm… maybe he wants us to get the elements? But what kind of plan would that be if you just give your enemies a weapon capable of stopping you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I don’t know Rainbow? But we have to try… otherwise we don’t know what will befall Equestria.”

“So what do we do? We already know the elements we represent. So do we just shout that we are here to retrieve the element we represent like this? HEY I’M RAINBOW DASH AND I’M HERE TO CLAIM THE ELEMENT THAT I REPRESENT!” The mare screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Rainbow dash these are ancient artifacts I seriously doubt they… Oh you can’t be serious…” Twilight said as the elements began to break free of their petrified form.

The elements once free of their prisons of stone flew through the air and floated before the pony who represented each element. The elements floated there while their forms shifted to that of the respective pony’s cutie-mark. The gems colors shifted to match the exact colors of the bearer’s cutie-mark as well. Then five necklaces of pure gold materialized around the necks of all of the ponies except Twilight.

Twilight’s element morphed into a blue starburst and was placed into an imperial gorget. Unlike the others this one was banded with iron and bronze, and had very few precious metals contained within. The design was still appealing to the eye and the blue starburst managed to catch every pony’s eye.

“Hey! Why is yours the wrong color?” Rainbow dash asked.

“My original cutie-mark was blue before I changed its color to magenta…” The unicorn said knowing that it wasn’t technically a lie.

“Why hello my dear subjects. Did you enjoy the dreams that I gave you?”

"Mine was wonderful" Fluttershy responded.

“Ah thought ya woulda high tailed it outa here considerin’ that we have the elements of harmony now.”

“I’m not one to back down from a challenge dear Apple Jack. Now I must confess that there were a few interesting pieces of information in your memories… But don’t worry, any of you. I won’t tell anypony your secrets… isn’t that nice?”

“Shut up ass hat. I’m not falling for your tricks. You think you can be nice so we won’t use the elements on you.” Rainbow Dash said with venom in her voice.

“Really? Then you should have no problem handling me then.”

“Come on girls lets show this guy that we mean business!”

“Oh, uh… I guess if we have to.” Fluttershy mumbled.

The six mares gathered around each other and began to focus on defeating the Nightmare. They stood there for a good five minutes before noticing that nothing was happening. They looked at each other in confusion before the Nighmare’s laughter broke the silence.

“Oh this is too hilarious! My sister sent six ponies into a forest to retrieve a weapon they didn’t even know how to use!”

“Let’s try again! It must be like using unicorn magic or something!” Twilight said while trying to focus the elements power.

Unlike the previous attempt the six elements began to glow and emit a rainbow light that was one of the colors of the rainbow. The six beams of light merged into one rainbow colored blast of energy. The six mares felt the power give them a decision on what to do with the Nightmare. Surprisingly only Rainbow Dash wanted to banish him again.

When the light cleared a now midnight blue alicorn stallion was standing where the Nightmare once was. He didn’t look too startled by the change other than examining his body. A brilliant whit light flooded the room as the sun rose and Celestia walked into the castle. She at her brother who was standing there and back to his normal coloration.

“I see that you have freed my brother from the Nightmare’s grip my student. I also see that you have made some friends while you are here as well. Now if you excuse me I need to go calm down the nation after the sun was left lowered for longer than intended.”

“Um… excuse me princess… but what is going to happen to Night… I mean Artemis now?” Fluttershy asked.

“You know his real name? I’m surprised young one. Don’t worry though, he will be named prince and will be given charge over the night. His duties will be limited and he will be receiving therapy… but that should satisfy him.”

“Indeed dear sister. Now I’m sure you are quite busy with running the country and all, but I believe a certain pink pony was wanting to throw a return party for me. I’ll be in attendance if you don’t mind leaving me out of your ever present gaze dear sister.”

“Just make sure that my guards escort you to my castle by nightfall.” Celestia said while her eyes narrowed.

When the white alicorn left Fluttershy was the first to follow her lead back to Ponyville and the rest quickly followed save for Artemis. She noticed that the forest wasn’t as scary as she thought it would have been. Something about being in the alicorns presence just seemed to melt away all fear. She briefly wondered how long Artemis would take to get to Ponyville, he had wanted to look at his old home one last time.

(_o_============================================_o_)

“It’s alright my children you can come out now.” Artemis said to the forest once all of the other ponies were far enough away.

Not long after the words had left his mouth a legion of thestrals gathered before him. Most of them were older ponied ranging between young adult and elderly. There were a few of them that were younger, but Artemis hadn’t planned on using them for an assault. Now he paced before them ready to give them orders.

“My brethren, today was a mighty victory for us. I have regained the trust of my sister and removed the parasite know as Nightmare from my mind through sheer cunning. The bearers of the elements view me as an ally and it would grieve them to come against me. I will proceed to take my rightful throne by spreading my influence among her ponies and slowly withering her dominion over their lives. Now my brethren I task you with the restoration of this ancestral castle while I prepare Equestria for you. As you remember from the stories of old I used my blood to turn you from normal ponies into my army, but I want you to know that you are not a weapon in my eyes. You are family. I may not have perfected your bodies like I had set out to do, but by the power invested in me I will make Equestria a kingdom that can thrive as easily at night as it does in the day.”

The legion of thestrals before him erupted into a roar of applause and began to swarm the castle and clean away the rubble. The young ones were being watched by a few of the more elderly and were romping around a small clearing. Artemis enjoyed the sight of the ponies, they were some of the few that were descendants of his original army that had found refuge under the mountains.

He left his ponies in order to make it to Ponyville on time. When the stallion arrived he was treated to a rather enthusiastic party. Although it wasn’t the wildest party he had been to either, he had a drunk Discord to thank for that experience. He noticed that the party was being hosted by a pony that was pink all over save for her blue eyes. He also noticed that the mare had an unnaturally wide smile that was as creepy as it was good looking on her.

Artemis smiled at the sight of all the fun, it had been quite a while since he had last enjoyed the company of happy ponies. Today couldn’t have turned out any more perfect. He still made sure to make a mental note to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash after she looked at him funny. Now all he had to do was wait.

Author's Note

Rainbow Dash is OP.

So here is the next installment of this tale and the official starting point for the events leading up to the Grand Galloping Gala. Oh Pinkie! What are we going to do with you?

Thinking of anything to throw at Apple Jack was hard.

Feel free to comment and please let me know how I can improve the story I enjoy reading what you think about the story.

I can only imagine Artemis' parents having a similar situation to this: