Nightmare Moon on Oak Street

Chapter 4: Running Won’t Save You

Twilight stumbled and fell onto her face, gritty dirt grinding into her mouth. Spitting out the soil, she quickly rose to her hooves. Fluttershy darted into the treeline, followed by Rainbow Dash, still supporting Rarity. Twilight’s magic winked out, and Pinkie fell into the dirt next to her. Gasping for air, Twilight looked behind her.

The inside of the barn looked like an artist’s depiction of Tartarus. Fire ate away at the support beams, clawing its way to the roof, and setting the hay alight. The front of the barn didn’t have any doors, just a massive, circular hole ringed with charred, smoking wood. Nightmare Moon strode out of the barn with a grin. Backlit by flames and the agonizing screams of whatever remained of Applejack, Nightmare Moon approached Twilight as if she had all the time in the world.

“Running away? I suppose when Luna is frightened enough to run away from me, you should, too. Ahhh… but you can’t, can you?” Nightmare Moon asked, her grin growing wide. “I’ll answer the question that must be… burning inside of you! Ha-ha-ha!” Nightmare Moon laughed at her own little joke. “Applejack isn’t dead— not that I don’t have the power to kill her. You see, she’s my plan B. She’s going to stay right there, in the barn, rooted to the spot, screaming in agony. Pain like that does a good job of grinding away your sanity. So long as I hold Applejack’s mind in place, she won’t die or wake up.” Nightmare Moon glanced behind her with a wicked smile, as she stopped in front of Twilight and Pinkie.

“You’re a monster!” Twilight sobbed out between tears.

Nightmare Moon held a shod hoof to her chest, in mock offense. “Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Twilight. Of course, you could always just let me in…” Nightmare Moon used her magic to toss the weeping Pinkie Pie aside, as her shadowy mane lifted Twilight by the chin so the two alicorns could look at each other in the eyes. Tears slid down Twilight’s face, while Nightmare Moon’s eyelids fluttered. “It will feel so good if you just let me in, Twilight. I promise.”

Twilight closed her eyes, tears still leaking out of their corners. Her head would have dropped were it not being held. Sniffling, she replied, “Yes, you can have me. Do with me what you want, just let Applejack go.” Nightmare Moon gasped at Twilight’s reply and brushed Twilight’s bangs aside with a forehoof. That same forehoof slid down Twilight’s neck, tracing the line of tears. Nightmare Moon’s mouth parted, her pupils dilating, and she drooled just a bit.

POW!

Nightmare Moon growled and her forehoof fell away. Twilight opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash swooping at Nightmare Moon like a predatory bird. “Are you crazy, Twilight? Get out of here!” Dash yelled.

Twilight shook her head, blinked, and charged towards the flaming barn. “Applejack, I’ll save you!”

“BEGONE, PEST!” Nightmare Moon’s voice boomed behind Twilight. Thunder detonated behind Twilight, causing her heart to pound faster in her chest. Lightning blasted into the air, tearing a jagged, white-hot line across the sky.

Twilight felt the hairs on her coat stand on end. She chanced a backwards glanced, praying that Dash hadn’t been hit with lightning. Dash swirled around Nightmare Moon with fantastic speed. Nightmare Moon gritted her teeth at the rainbow-colored tornado forming around her, flicked her eyes to the barn, and smiled. Twilight realized what Nightmare Moon intended at the last second.

“NO!”

Nightmare Moon let loose a fantastic blast of lightning that could have hit Rainbow Dash, but she clearly aimed it at the barn. Twilight screamed, her brain kicking into overdrive, desperately trying to stop the lightning.

CRACK-BOOM

Twilight’s heart raced as she skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding the metal rod. It appeared in a flash of purple light, just when she needed it. The lightning rod absorbed the deadly discharge, while Twilight’s brain tried to keep up with what happened around her.

“No more lightning for you, Nightmare loser!” Dash taunted.

Nightmare Moon turned to Rainbow Dash, sniffed, then smiled— like a predator finding prey, hiding without anywhere to run. “You enjoy saving your friends, playing the big heroine, don’t you?” Dash stopped flitting around Nightmare Moon. Instead, she opted to hover high in the air out of Nightmare Moon’s reach. She swallowed the lump in her throat, but watched Nightmare Moon anyway. “Who do you like more, Pinkie… or Rarity?”

The crack of a beam splitting heralded the collapse of the barn. A large chunk of the roof fell in, spitting embers into the sky. “Applejack!” Twilight cried.

Nightmare Moon ignored the flaming barn. Instead, she continued to taunt Rainbow Dash. “Well now, I’m going to give you a special reward, just for heroines! You get to make a sadistic choice. Who will you save?” Nightmare Moon asked, laughing. Dash glanced at Twilight, a pleading look on her face. Then she glanced back at Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, visible from her height, but not to Nightmare Moon. Twilight knew Dash had less confidence than she liked to show, and right now, Dash looked nervous.

Nightmare Moon cackled as thin wisps of black mist leaked out of Rainbow Dash. Nightmare Moon popped her neck, like a weightlifter preparing to break bricks, then split! The amorphous shadows around her peeled off of her, forming an equine shape… then another… and another! Dash looked on in horror as three Shadowbolts stood laughing at her. “That’s not fair!” Dash screamed.

Nightmare Moon tittered, turned to the Shadowbolts, and commanded, “Go find the others and kill them. I would prefer it if you picked them up and dropped them from the sky. It’ll be amusing to watch the blue one try and catch both of them.” She turned to Twilight and continued, “Now then, where were we? Ahhh yes, doing just what Pinkie Pie wanted… let’s burn down that barn, shall we?” Nightmare Moon and the three Shadowbolts kicked off the ground and took to the air in different directions.

It would take only seconds for the agile Shadowbolts to find Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity from the air. Dash shot forward and tried to tackle the first one, but passed through it, as if it were made of smoke. The Shadowbolt continued forward, but took the time to twirl in mid-air and laugh at Dash. “So, which one are you going to save?” the Shadowbolt asked.

“W-what are you talking about?” Dash asked with a quaver in her voice. Sweat beaded on her brow, but she stared down the Shadowbolt anyway.

“You can’t save them all, you know. You WILL fail— it’s the only option. Sure, you can save one of them, but you can’t save them all. And we both know letting one of your friends die is a big, fat, failure, isn’t that right, Rainbow Dash? We all know you’re not a heroine, and we’re going to show you how big of a failure you really are.” The Shadowbolt spoke with a raspy voice that held all of Dash’s attention. Dash shuddered once, and a tear slid down her face. “You always wanted to know if you’ve got the stuff to be a heroine, so we’re giving you the gift, the thing you’ve always wanted. You should thank us. Of course, as villains, we’re just going to have to give you a sadistic choice. Try to stay in the moment, heroine! Now choose!”

Twilight’s hooves pounded the dirt as she surged forward towards the burning barn. She skidded to a halt only three pony-lengths away, because Nightmare Moon dropped out of the sky like a meteor, landing in front of her with a billowing cloud of dust. “Now then, where were we? Oh yes, you were going to let me have you...” she purred, then added, “It’s alright if you scream and squirm. I like it that way!” Nightmare Moon licked her lips.

Breathing hard, Twilight screwed her eyes shut. Her horn glowed, and a beam of bright, purple light shot straight up into the sky. The clouds darkened, and with a distant crack of thunder, rain poured down. Twilight sank to her haunches and looked up at the sky with pure joy. Rain washed down her face, clearing away her salty tears. The fire in the barn sputtered under the downpour.

“Oh, Twilight!” Nightmare Moon moaned, with a lewd forehoof rubbing herself between her hind legs. “Precious child, why do you delay the inevitable? Why deny yourself such pleasure?”

“Just go away!” Twilight cried.

Nightmare Moon stopped and tilted her head. “But why? Our union will be perfect. You’ll know no pain, only pleasure. Trying to deny yourself such a fate is impossible. It would be like… trying to deny gravity!”

“AHHHHHH CATCH ME!” Two simultaneous screams echoed out from behind Twilight. She snapped her head around just as lightning lit the sky. For a brief, horrible instant, she could see them.

Two Shadowbolts had captured Pinkie and Rarity. They had flown a good distance apart, and dropped their captives. Rainbow Dash watched her two friends falling, in stunned silence. Twilight caught only a distant glimpse of Dash’s face, but she knew Dash had choked. Rarity’s tears streamed upwards while Pinkie flailed about uselessly, her flattened mane and tail flowing upwards.

“NO! I WANT WATER! SAFETY! ” Twilight screamed. A flash of purple light, and they were gone.

~~~~~

SPLOOSH!

Twilight breathed in water, fear racing through her as she drowned. One second, she wanted to save her friends, the next, she dropped into a frigid lake. Bone-chilling cold stabbed at her like a million needles. Her lungs burned for oxygen. Squirming, flailing her limbs, she rose to the surface. With a gasp, she broke through, sucking in freezing air and sputtering out water.

Twilight shivered in pain, the icy water soaking her fur as she swam forward. It didn’t take long for her hooves to touch sticky mud, and eventually she dragged herself onto land and flopped forward. Shaking herself like a dog, still shivering, she looked around.

Three of her friends coughed and sputtered behind her, struggling in her wake. Dash flew in the air just over the surface of the water. Like an eagle catching a fish, she plucked Rarity out of the freezing lake, and the two of them landed roughly on the bank next to Twilight.

“GYAH!” Rarity yelped as she landed on all four hooves. She flopped onto her left side, curling her bleeding foreleg to her barrel. Fluttershy and Pinkie shook themselves much like Twilight did, both of them shivering from the cold. “Ap-p-plejack?” Twilight asked hopefully.

They stood on a rocky stretch of ground under a large tree. Twilight’s face quickly lost hope when she realized it wasn’t an apple tree. Instead, the evergreen dislodged a mass of snow when another snowflake floated down and landed on an already snow-covered branch. With a sound like a load of laundry being dumped into a bin, snow buried Rarity. “H-help!” Rarity moaned, muffled under the drift.

“Rarity!” Dash stumbled to the mound of snow. Using her wings, she brushed snow aside, digging down.

“I’ll h-help,” Fluttershy offered. Fluttershy still dripped with lake water, and shivered constantly. Frost crept into her long mane and tail.

“Haven’t you done enough?!” Dash barked. Fluttershy squeaked and recoiled from Rarity like she’d been bitten.

“Where’s Applej-jack? D-didn’t you t-teleport her t-too?” Pinkie asked Twilight while her teeth chattered.

“I d-don’t kn-know,” Twilight replied. “I j-just want-ted us-s t-to be s-safe.” Her teeth chattered as well. She looked around, searching for shelter. This cold would get them if they didn’t do something about it.

It took a few moments, but Dash eventually uncovered a violently shivering Rarity. She looked even whiter than usual. Twilight screwed her eyes shut in concentration. What makes me warm when I’m cold? she thought.

“Here you go, Twilight,” said a coltish voice. Twilight opened her eyes and looked down. Spike stood in front of her, seemingly unfazed by the cold. Somehow, she had a blanket on, one of her favorite comforters. Spike held a thick book with a steaming teacup full of hot chocolate resting on top of it. The beverage even had three small marshmallows in it.

The wind kicked up, causing Twilight to shiver again. She ducked under the canopy of the evergreen and called out to her friends, “Under here!”

Dash and Fluttershy had to carry Rarity, while Dash shot angry glares at Fluttershy. Pinkie sat with her back against the tree’s trunk and pulled out a small plastic bag with a yellow smiley-face emblazoned on it. She reached in with a hoof and withdrew several pastel-colored candies. She stuffed her face, as if this would be the only food she’d ever get. Yet, no matter how many times she reached into the bag, it always seemed to have more candy. Rarity moaned again.

“Oh my gosh, how could I forget about you girls? Spike, do you have more blankets and hot cocoa?” Twilight asked.

Spike stood right where Twilight left him, cleaning one of his claws with a small nail file. “Hmm? Oh, sure,” he replied. He reached behind himself with both claws, and when he brought his claws into view again, they held blankets and hot chocolate. He balanced these items with perfect precision, something nopony had ever seen him do before. He wrapped each pony with a blanket, starting with Rarity, and gave them all a drink.

“Thank you, Spikey-wikey. I knew you’d come to my rescue!” Rarity said in between sips.

“No problem, Rarity. You were the coldest, so I gave it to you first,” Spike replied.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy mumbled. “I didn’t mean to—”

“THIS IS YOUR FAULT!” Dash shouted, cutting her off. “You’re always a scaredy-cat, and now that’s going to get us killed!” Dash wailed.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Twilight said, rubbing her chin with a hoof. “Unless… Nightmare Moon... How devious…”

Rainbow Dash bundled herself in the blanket, drank the entire hot chocolate in one gulp, and asked, “What’s Nightmare Moon doing?”

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, “Did you want Applejack to be a tree?”

Fluttershy’s eyes shone with tears. “NO! I just… didn’t want to be afraid anymore. I hate being scared.”

Twilight nodded. “Then it must have been Nightmare Moon. She’s using our fears against us, but she’s even more powerful than just pulling them out and showing them to us.” Dash and Fluttershy nodded. “She’s even using the fears of one pony against another pony. I guess it’s because our dreams are linked together?”

Rarity sighed. “I thought we had defeated Nightmare Moon. None of this makes any sense to me. Nightmare Moon being in our dreams, Luna trying to kill Applejack, and Spike not doting on me. The only thing I get is the cold. I suppose that’s my fault, I hate being cold.” Rarity crouched lower into her blanket and sipped cocoa. She fidgeted with the blanket, trying to get it over her horn.

Twilight tilted her head. “I don’t like being cold either, but are you afraid of the cold? And what do you mean Spike isn’t—”

Suddenly, Spike tore at the edge of Rarity’s blanket and squirmed into it with her. “Don’t worry, Lady Rarity, I’ll keep you warm,” he said, while wiggling his eyebrows. With a small, deft flame, he blew on the base of Rarity’s cup, heating the beverage again.

Rarity, Fluttershy, Dash, and Twilight blinked. “Um, that was quick,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Well, at least this is familiar,” Rarity said, as Spike nuzzled into her side.

“Hold on one second,” Twilight exclaimed, her ears going straight up. “I just wanted to be warm, and I thought about Spike bringing me a book, blanket, and hot chocolate. I didn’t think about Spike so much as what he brought me. Then you,” Twilight said, pointing to Rarity, “mentioned Spike acting differently, and I realized you were right. And now…”

“...He’s acting just like the Spike we know,” Pinkie finished with a mouth full of candies.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “I believe that makes this Spike a figment of Twilight's active imagination,” Rarity said, as Spike continued nuzzling into her. “I don’t remember him being quite this forward in real life.”

“Um… where are we?” Fluttershy asked, looking around. Beyond the lake and shoreline, the terrain looked featureless, aside from a few evergreens. Far into the distance, Twilight could see the shadow of a snow-covered mountain range.

Rarity sighed, then replied, “This is the lake house my parents and I visited when I was a filly. I hate this place.”

Once Rarity finished speaking, the mist parted and a log cabin appeared a short distance down the shoreline. Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked at it again. It isn’t that far away, how could I have missed that? she thought. Maybe Rarity didn’t think about it until she said it. How scary— things can just appear if we think about them! Keep thinking happy thoughts, Twilight! “Everypony, we need to stay positive. Don’t be afraid,” Twilight commanded.

Everypony’s breath steamed in the air, but on the next exhale, Fluttershy breathed out black mist. The black wisp of vapor flowed in between Dash’s legs and lost itself in the lake’s waters. Dash watched it go, then snapped her head back to the group to glare at Fluttershy. “Stop doing that!”

Fluttershy hung her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do… whatever it is I did!” she replied.

“Stop being afraid!” Dash barked.

“Fluffy bunnies… fluffy bunnies…” Fluttershy mumbled to herself.

“And don’t turn any of us into bunnies!” Dash snapped.

“Pretty birds… pretty birds…” Fluttershy chanted quietly to herself.

Dash ground her teeth. “Is that black stuff… like… fear?”

Twilight nodded her head. “Maybe? Everypony, be careful what you think about. If you imagine it here, it just might become real.”

Rarity sighed. “Easier said than done, Twilight.”

Pinkie laughed, spitting a few candies into the snow at their hooves. “Quick! Don’t think about pink elephants!”

Within two seconds, an enormous pink elephant appeared, standing a short distance away. It looked like an oversized plushie. Pinkie’s eyes grew as wide as her smile. Twilight looked on nervously and gulped. “Wow, that’s… um… it’s really hard not to think of something when you say that, Pinkie.”

“I know, isn’t it great?” Pinkie bounced up and down. The elephant flapped its ears, fanning itself.

“I’m sure glad to be here!” Spike piped up. He sighed as he nestled into Rarity’s coat.

Dash put up a hoof, like a filly in class. Twilight was all too happy to call on her. Dash asked, “If this is all a dream, and we can make stuff by imagining it, why don’t we just imagine Rarity’s leg getting better?”

Twilight blinked, and her face brightened. “That’s a great idea!” Fluttershy gently tugged Rarity’s hoof out from under the blanket. The other ponies looked at Rarity’s hoof intently, while Rarity winced.

“Feel better?” Dash asked hopefully.

Rarity sniffled. “No, please give me my hoof back. It’s painful to have it stretched out like that.”

Fluttershy gasped, “Oh, I’m sorry, Rarity.” She released the injured hoof.

“I don’t get it.” Dash frowned. “How can I make that,” she said, pointing to the pink elephant, “but not fix Rarity’s leg?”

“I’m not sure. Did anypony not imagine Rarity’s leg getting better?” Twilight asked.

A moment of silence passed, Dash searching the other ponies for doubt. When her eyes settled on Fluttershy, they narrowed. Fluttershy crouched and hid behind her mane. She actually shrunk in size until Dash’s eyes went wide at the sight. Dash blinked, and looked at a Fluttershy that couldn’t have reached past her chest. She’d make a good playmate for Tank at this point.

Rarity coughed and cleared her throat. “I’m afraid it’s my fault. I just can’t imagine my hoof getting better instantly. It really hurts!”

Dash pulled her eyes away from Fluttershy to look at Rarity. “Don’t you want your hoof to get better?”

Rarity nodded, while Twilight shook her head sadly. “I don’t think wanting something is good enough. You have to imagine it.” Twilight squeezed her eyes shut for a second and a blackboard, complete with chalk, appeared. Twilight opened her eyes and smiled at her creation. With a few taps of the chalk, she outlined several equations. “I’m willing to bet that we all have to believe something is real for it to actually be real… or as real as things get in here. Wouldn’t that be something? There’d be a few philosophers that would have something to say about ponies creating a reality they all have to agree on.”

“Which is why you’ll get more powerful without your friends getting in your way. Why not ditch these losers and become goddess of this place?” A harsh voice echoed from above, out from the slowly falling snow. The friends looked up, peering around the canopy of the evergreen. High in the air, a Shadowbolt hovered, standing on a dark thundercloud. She watched Twilight with an insane grin.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Never!” she cried.

The Shadowbolt chuckled, “Well, that makes the mistress’ job easier. I’ll just call her now.” The Shadowbolt jumped and landed on the thundercloud, sending a crack of lightning to strike the evergreen the friends hid under. The tree split down the middle, flames erupting out of its husk. Thunder followed the lightning, rolling out over the lake like an air-raid siren heralding impending doom.

Pinkie bounced onto her hooves, her blanket falling to the ground. “RUN!” she hollered. The elephant vanished in a cloud of white smoke.

Blankets and mugs of hot cocoa flew everywhere. Spike hopped onto Twilight’s back and held tight. Twilight and Pinkie darted for the only nearby shelter they could see— the log cabin. Dash hauled Rarity to her hooves and together, they hobbled towards the cabin as well. Fluttershy could hardly keep up with the injured Rarity; her smaller stature made her already slow flight even slower.

The Shadowbolt laughed and sniffed the air. “Ah, so that’s what Fluttershy’s fear smells like. So sweet, like honey! Does that make me a bumblebee? Should I come and harvest you?” The Shadowbolt laughed again. “What do you think, Fluttershy?”

Twilight and Pinkie reached the cabin just as Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder. With a tear in her eye, she whispered, “No.” Her word came out as more dark smoke.

The Shadowbolt sucked in a deep breath and drew in the smoke. She held a maniacal grin for an instant, while her skin crawled and bulged. With a loud, wet rip, the Shadowbolt burst into a buzzing mass. Thousands of bees, like a dark, angry cloud, expanded where the Shadowbolt had been an instant ago. They converged on Fluttershy, Rarity, and Dash. Each pony screamed as the insects stabbed them dozens of times. The three felt like they were taking a bath in Rarity’s sewing needles.

A bee stung Dash on her right eyelid, causing her to open her mouth and scream. A mistake, as a couple of bees took the opportunity to sting her on the inside of her cheek. Rarity received a number of stings on her soft underbelly, causing her to double over. Fluttershy received fewer stings, only because her small size left less surface area, but each sting felt more like a spear rather than a needle. Each pony jerked with every sting, like they were being electrocuted, slowly.

Twilight, Pinkie, and Spike reached the cabin. Pinkie yanked the door open and the three darted inside. Standing in the doorway, Twilight screamed, “Get in here!”

With a final cry, Rainbow Dash let go of Rarity and shot skyward, bees following her rainbow trail. She didn’t have to fly far to find a thick, steel gray cloud. With a swift buck, the cloud rumbled and dislodged rain. A rippling curtain of rain spread to all the surrounding clouds, like a pebble hitting a pond. Within seconds, the entire landscape weathered a deluge of icy rain, instead of lightly falling snow. The bees melted instead of flying away. When the rain hit them, they seemed to turn into some kind of inky, black sludge that stained Fluttershy, Rarity, and Dash’s coats. Hobbling, flying, and moaning, they made their way to the cabin.

“Good thinking, Dash!” Twilight nodded with a weak smile. Once all six of them were inside the cabin, Twilight shut the door, plunging the friends into a pitch-black room.

With a small pop, a light flickered to life. Pinkie held a sputtering lantern on her head. Twilight looked around to take stock of their situation. Pinkie once again took out her “happy candy bag” and stuffed her face. Dash flopped to the floor, moaned, and quietly cried. Fluttershy curled into a fetal position, whimpering. Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity each sported a coat covered in angry, red welts. In particular, Dash’s right eye swelled shut. A black sludge stained their coats, running down in rivulets like cheap eyeliner.

Rarity curled into a ball on the ground and cried; salty tears leaked down her face to form a puddle beneath her head. “And now the nightmare is complete,” she said, between swollen lips. Spike waddled to her side and gently stroked her mane with a claw.

“W-what do you mean?” Twilight asked breathlessly.

Rarity sobbed quietly, but deeply. Her tears wracked her frame, and her breathing became hollow. “The one and only vacation I took as a filly here turned into a disaster. I got motion sickness on the way here. I threw up on the side of the road in front of another family of four at a rest stop, completely embarrassing. Then, once we arrived here, I got stung by a bee while exploring the nearby forest during the day. It rained on my way home, and it grew so cold. I remember being miserable on the way back, hurting from the bee sting, and sick of being cold. I wanted the trip to be over so badly. And then—”

“STOP!” Twilight shouted. A shiver ran down her spine and into her wings. “Don’t say or think anymore, Rarity. It’s already happened, don’t dwell on it. Forget the rest of the trip, think happy thoughts!”

Rarity moaned and rolled onto her back. “Oh, my leg, my stomach, it hurts so much,” she complained. Twilight winced when she saw Rarity’s stomach. The bees had stung her at least a dozen times in the thin skin of her belly. Instead of several, small welts, Rarity sported a single large, red welt on her stomach. It looked like the size of an orange.

“We need some more light in here. We need to find these three something for the pain,” Twilight said.

Pinkie nodded, “Yeah, we should look around.” The light in the lantern flared brightly, spewing light across the cabin. The ponies squinted for a moment; Twilight could see the cabin clearly now. It looked dusty and plain. Old, paisley curtains hung on the windows. Crude, wooden carvings of woodland animals peeked from the few shelves scattered across the cabin. A stone fireplace sat on the far wall, next to an old, cast-iron stove. A few rocking chairs sat on the hardwood floors, spaced around an open area with a beige, shaggy rug. A short flight of stairs led to a small upper floor with a wooden banister overlooking the rest of the cabin. The entire cabin smelled musty, and a fine layer of dust covered everything.

“Is there a medical kit in here?” Twilight asked, then facehoofed. “What are we doing? We want a medical kit? Lets just imagine one.”

Rarity gagged, and rolled to her hooves. She quivered, spittle forming on her mouth. “No, not again…” she moaned. With a heave, she clutched her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie stuffed her mouth with candy and said between bites, “Maybe it’s something she ate? She did say she threw up in front of an audience before she got here.”

“Pinkie! Why would you say that?!” Twilight cried.

“Glahh!” Rarity vomited right in front of her friends, hot tears leaking out of her eyes. Spike stumbled backwards, away from her.

Twilight held Rarity’s mane with her magic and said, “It’s okay, Rarity. We’re your friends. There’s nothing to be embara— ewww!” Twilight’s eyes went wide when she saw what Rarity produced.

A dark, tar-like liquid came out of her mouth. Splattering on the ground in front of her hooves like mud, Rarity wept as it continued to flow forth. The gunk formed into long, snake-like creatures that slithered away from her. Pinkie and Twilight yelped as the creatures shot between their hooves. Like a black wave, they flowed up the stairs. After a moment, they congealed to form shapes on the other side of the banister.

“Ha-ha-ha…” Nightmare Moon’s voice rolled down the stairs like freezing mist. “Don’t worry, Rarity. I would never think to deny you an audience for your disgusting performance!” Nightmare Moon and the three Shadowbolts coalesced out of the shadows on the other side of the banister, leering at the ponies below. “And of course, don’t forget your grand finale!”

Dash rose to her hooves and stood beside Twilight. Pinkie stood on her other side. Even Fluttershy stood, but stayed behind Twilight, Dash, and Pinkie. They gritted their teeth and crouched like tigers, ready to fight. Spike held Rarity’s mane as she heaved, but nothing came out. “I’ve got the hang of this place now, Nightmare Moon. You’re finished!” Twilight said with defiance.

“I doubt that,” Nightmare Moon tittered as she looked over the group. “My-my, Rainbow Dash, you don’t look so well. Can’t see out of your eye, hmm?” Dash snarled, but shifted her left side forward to face Nightmare Moon. “And you’ve given me such good friends to work with... just look how quickly they’ve found you!” Dash blinked her one good eye at the Shadowbolts, and hung her head.

Nightmare Moon settled her eyes on Rarity. “Well? You threw up with an audience, got stung by bees, and trudged miserably through the cold rain. Forgetting something, aren’t we?” Nightmare Moon asked casually. Rarity cried again, her eyes shut. “You were so excited before this trip, you read all you could about camping and the outdoors. Even some first aid books. Why, didn’t you run across a section telling you about frostbite? Didn’t you have horrible dreams about one of your hooves snapping off?” Nightmare Moon mocked a gasp. “Just think of it, the three-legged Lady Rarity!”

“Leave her alone!” Spike snarled.

“Didn’t Rarity tell you all what happened just before she arrived at this cabin?” Nightmare Moon asked. The ponies nervously glanced at Rarity; Twilight bit her lip. “She didn’t know her way around up here, and she didn’t see the lake she was walking on.”

Pinkie tilted her head. “You can’t walk on water without floaties on!” she cried.

Nightmare Moon let loose another lithium-laced laugh. “You can if it’s frozen. Of course, the ice wasn’t very thick…” Nightmare Moon stared at Rarity. “Don’t you remember? Halfway across, the ice cracked…” Rarity wept, while Twilight spread her wings to cover her. Nightmare Moon couldn’t see Rarity, but feathers are no protection from simple words. “The ice cracked and broke. Just. Like. THIS!” Nightmare Moon twitched once and an ice cube appeared at her hooves. She raised a shod hoof and brought it down.

crack

At the sound, Rarity shuddered again. With each sob, she breathed out a dark vapor. Nightmare Moon smiled and sucked in a deep breath. Black smoke flowed into her as she breathed in, as if magnetically drawn to her. With a slow exhale, she breathed out, all while staring at Rarity.

A cone of frozen air and spreading ice shot out of Nightmare Moon’s mouth at the friends. With a cry, they darted away, but Rarity either didn’t see it or couldn’t get out of the way. “NO!” Twilight cried.

There came a rush of air as Spike exhaled. “I’ll never let you hurt Rarity!” he said, steam spreading around his feet. His fire breath neatly countered Nightmare Moon, who looked at the puny dragon with narrow, cat-like eyes. He stood in between Rarity and Nightmare Moon with his chest puffed out.

“Got you!” Dash shouted, as she darted recklessly at Nightmare Moon. Without any warning, or even a delay in reaction, the three Shadowbolts intercepted Dash and held her in mid-air. “Get off me, freaks! How are you all so fast?” Dash thrashed about, but couldn’t seem to shake the three Shadowbolts all at the same time.

Nightmare Moon shook her head slowly while giggling. “Those are your figments, Rainbow Dash. They’re always going to react to you, because they know what you’re thinking. Didn’t you know that? No? Oh well…” She laughed again. “Aren’t you going to save her, Fluttershy?” Nightmare Moon asked. Fluttershy shivered behind Twilight. “No? How about you, young Spike?” Spike glanced at Rarity behind him. “No? I suspect Lady Rarity is incapacitated at the moment, and Pinkie can’t fly… which leaves you, Twilight Sparkle. Why haven’t you trapped me in a cage by now?”

Twilight blinked, smiled, and squeezed her eyes shut. After a moment, she opened them, to find that the situation hadn’t changed. “Why?” Twilight growled.

Nightmare Moon tittered again. “Because you’re too busy imagining a realistic Spike there. Not to mention Luna foolishly linked your dreams, and your friends are having some trouble agreeing with you.” She closed her eyes for a moment and drew in a slow breath. “Hmm… let’s see… Dash is imagining tearing me apart with her bare hooves, Fluttershy wants to be even smaller than she is now, Pinkie actually does agree with you, but the real weak link? Poor Rarity can only think of the pain she felt when she fell into the lake.” Nightmare Moon breathed in deeply again, drawing in the rest of the dark mist from the air. “It would be horrible to lose a limb, wouldn’t it?”

Spike’s eyes went wide; he sucked in a quick, deep breath, ready for Nightmare Moon…

...who let loose her icy breath at Rainbow Dash. Still thrashing in mid-air, she managed to twist to the right and shake off two of the Shadowbolts, then she trashed to the left, with one Shadowbolt still hanging on. That’s when Nightmare Moon’s breath hit them.

“AAHHHHH!” Dash screamed. The Shadowbolt still hung onto her left foreleg, frozen solid. Dash’s left foreleg and wing were frozen solid as well, encased in glittering ice. The weight of the Shadowbolt, and the lack of one wing, caused Dash to tip and fall.

“Catch her!” Twilight screamed at Pinkie, who stood below. Nightmare Moon flicked her eyes at Pinkie, and the other two Shadowbolts darted forward, slamming her into the far wall with a thud. She struggled against them, but to no avail.

Dash and the frozen Shadowbolt hit the ground. Like shattering glass, the entire mass of ice broke into thousands of shards.

Now Dash truly did scream, an ear-splitting yell. The Shadowbolts holding Pinkie, and many pieces of dark ice, vanished in a cloud of white smoke. Pinkie stumbled forward, knelt, and held Dash in her forelegs.

“Yes… oh YES!” Nightmare Moon moaned. She drank in the scream as her eyes rolled up into her head. “Scream in agony for me! Let the pain bleed into you, and unleash your delicious fear,” Nightmare Moon said, as she rocked her hips back and forth, moaning.

Pinkie cried, looking at Twilight for help. Twilight’s brain froze as she stared at the blood pumping out of Dash’s stumps, and the hundreds of pieces of frozen wing and leg scattered across the floor.