Nightmare Moon on Oak Street

Chapter 7: Embrace Fear

Ding.

The elevator doors opened. A cool breeze brought an earthy smell into the elevator car. Twilight didn’t look up. “Pinkie, if you get Rarity, I’ll get Dash and Twilight,” Fluttershy said with a sniff.

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Rarity’s body getting dragged away, leaving a blood-slick trail. A hoof gently tried to lift Twilight, but with a vicious swipe, Twilight batted that hoof away. “NO!”

Fluttershy gasped; it was a mousy sound, but it made Twilight look up. “You don’t have to be angry anymore, Twilight. It isn’t your fault Nightmare Moon pushed all that anger on you.”

“What?” Twilight asked, focusing on Fluttershy.

“Um… you’re not mad at me, are you?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No, why would I be mad at you? There’s no logical reason for that.”

Fluttershy visibly relaxed. “Oh, that looks better,” she said, staring at Twilight’s face. “I was scared when Nightmare Moon flung all that red mist at you. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Anger, I guess; you suddenly got really angry right afterwards. You didn’t even notice Dash gasping on the floor, trying to get your attention.”

Twilight looked between Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, still cradled in her limbs. She wept quietly over Dash. “I’m so sorry. What a terrible friend I am, getting angry instead of helping you.”

Fluttershy helped Twilight to her hooves. Together, they lifted Dash’s body with their wings, like she was a war hero going to rest. “Don’t blame yourself, Twilight. It’s Nightmare Moon’s fault.”

Dusk settled over Twilight as she walked onto a grassy field. Tombstones stood in solemn rows, empty epitaphs etched onto each one. Following Pinkie was extremely easy; they only had to follow the blood trail. Twilight felt guilty losing control, but she had to know something. “Did I… burn Nightmare Moon alive?”

Fluttershy nodded and replied, “Yes. She didn’t seem to mind, but you burned everything above the table. I don’t understand it; why would Nightmare Moon make you angry, only to let you kill her?”

Twilight’s brain kicked on. She didn’t want to think because everything seemed to hurt, but her mind didn’t allow itself to stay idle. “I don’t know. I have more questions than answers. Why aren’t you sad about Rarity and Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked. Just saying the name sent another stabbing pain into Twilight’s chest.

“I am sad. It’s horrible, but I just wanted to help you through it instead of crying about it. If I think about it too much, I will start crying, and I won’t be able to stop,” Fluttershy replied. Twilight looked at Fluttershy and saw her breathe out a steady stream of grayish vapors.

“Oh…” Twilight mumbled, and let the subject drop. She and Fluttershy slowly walked around a wide oak tree to find Pinkie standing in front of two open graves. Pinkie sat on her haunches, with Rarity in the grave to her left. The scalpel had been removed, and Rarity’s body lay curled up, as if she slept peacefully with her head resting on her right hoof. The missing hoof was hidden under her, so it looked as if she were whole.

Twilight froze in front of the empty grave. Fluttershy took Dash’s body and placed it inside, while Twilight stared, dumbfounded. Fluttershy posed Dash as if she slept on her back. Fluttershy closed her eyes for a moment, and a necklace that looked like the Element of Loyalty appeared on Dash’s neck, covering her fatal injury. “There, doesn’t that look better?”

Twilight cried again. Still, her mind itched with questions. Why did Rarity attack them? Besides fear, what other emotions could Nightmare Moon play with? Why did Nightmare Moon allow events to play out this way? What did Dash’s last words mean? Why wasn’t Rarity affected by the fear that Nightmare Moon struck Dash with? And why did Nightmare Moon hit Twilight with anger instead of fear?

Pinkie produced her special bag of candy again and took out another mouthful. Before she could stuff them into her mouth, Fluttershy slapped them away. “Pinkie! Stop eating those, they’re full of… well, crazy!”

Pinkie looked forlornly at the candies that fell on top of Rarity and mumbled, “Sweets for the sweet, I guess.” Pinkie turned to Fluttershy and asked, “What do you mean, they’re full of crazy? That’s what I eat when I get stressed out. News flash: I’m super stressed out right now!” Pinkie’s hair went flat. “What am I supposed to do without a stress reliever?” Her eyes drifted in different directions.

“I’m sorry, Pinkie. How about a hug?” Fluttershy asked. She hugged Pinkie, who returned the gesture. “Let’s focus on something else. How about… digging?”

Two shovels appeared in the piles of nearby dirt. Pinkie sniffed and nodded. Pinkie and Fluttershy slowly filled the graves, quietly sobbing.

“Why, Rarity, why?” Twilight asked, looking at Rarity as the dirt slowly covered her.

Fluttershy paused her work. “She ate the apple Pinkie imagined, and it was full of cra—” Fluttershy glanced at Pinkie, who looked away. “...rainbow candies. After she ate it, she… changed,” Fluttershy finished.

Twilight clenched her teeth and said, “If Nightmare Moon wasn’t ashes, I’d burn her again!”

“Twilight! Stop that, stop breathing that red gunk,” Fluttershy admonished her.

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I should just let it go. It’s over. Now is the time I should reflect.” A fresh pair of tears slid down her face. “I just wish they were still here. I can just imagine them.”

Rarity flashed into existence right in front of Twilight.

Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy gasped. The new Rarity that stood between the graves blinked in the fading sunlight and asked, “Is everything alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“R-Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed. She looked between the grave with Rarity’s body and the Rarity who stood before her. “Um… Rarity, are you… you?”

The new Rarity tilted her head and replied, “I believe so. Of course, if I’m a figment of your imagination, then I would believe I am me.” This Rarity glanced at the grave, the dead Rarity’s head and one hind hoof still visible. “It seems I’m a figment of your imagination,” it said. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut and a single sob tore fresh tears out of her. “Darling, stop that! You’ll ruin your complexion with so much crying.”

“B-b-but you’re d-d-dead…!” Twilight sobbed. “Th-there’s s-so much I w-wanted t-to say.”

The figment of Rarity smiled and said, “Well, I’d be happy to listen in the real me’s stead.”

Twilight opened her mouth, but no words came spilling out. The figment of Rarity just smiled and nodded. Twilight swallowed and said, “Um… I’m sorry Dash had to kill you, and I wish you weren’t dead. Funny... that’s all I really want to say.”

The figment of Rarity hugged Twilight, who closed her eyes and wept. “Oh Twilight, that’s kind of you. And I don’t blame Rainbow Dash, I blame Nightmare Moon. I just wanted to help, and she twisted that against me. Oh, and Twilight, if you ever want to talk to me, remember I’m always in here.” Twilight stood back and opened her eyes. She expected to see Rarity pointing at her heart, but instead, Rarity pointed at her head. Twilight nodded. The figment of Rarity faded and vanished.

Pinkie stood, mouth agape. “Twilight, you can imagine friends!”

Twilight sniffed and closed her eyes, just trying to breathe evenly. “I guess I can.”

Pinkie pronked in place. “Do Rainbow Dash! I want to see her!”

Fluttershy put a wing over Twilight. “Your aura looked better after your talk with Rarity. I think Pinkie has the right idea. Um… I’d also like to say sorry to Dash, if that’s okay with you.”

Twilight nodded. “Of course you can.” Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Rainbow Dash appeared in a purplish flash, hovering just in front of Twilight. She appeared pristine and uninjured. “Hi, Egghead. What’s up?”

Twilight opened her eyes and sighed. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”

“Which is why I do it. Seriously, you’d think an Egghead like you would have figured that out by now. Or I guess you already did, but you still get irritated by it. Funny how that works, huh?” Dash spoke with a cocky little grin.

Fluttershy spoke up. “I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash! I didn’t mean to be afraid, but I can’t help it. I wish I were as brave as you. I wish—”

The figment of Dash cut her off. “Flutters, it’s okay! Really, it is! I know you didn’t do it on purpose. I know I got irritated over it, but that’s only because it put other ponies in danger. I still hate Nightmare Moon. Just remember, no matter how angry I might get, I’d never leave you hanging.” The response quieted Fluttershy, who cried quietly over the real Dash’s grave.

“I wish you weren’t dead,” Twilight said, her voice flat.

The figment of Dash barked out a laugh. “Yeah, me too. I still had stuff to do, but I got to go out in a blaze of glory, didn’t I?”

Twilight nodded, then the question popped into her head again. “Dash, what did you—” Twilight glanced at Fluttershy and Pinkie. “—your final words mean? Did you only intend for me to hear them, or can I tell the others?”

The figment of Dash pursed her lips. “Sorry, Egghead— I don’t know anything you don’t know. You’ll have to figure that one out on your own.” Dash stretched and yawned. “I guess I should go to sleep now. That’s a nice way to say it, isn’t it? Just close your eyes and drift off peacefully…” A fluffy white cloud appeared just under the figment of Dash. She laid on it and sighed.

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t do that!”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight. “Do what?”

“I didn’t imagine a cloud bed, so who did?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie shrugged and said, “Not me!”

“I got sleepy, so I imagined the cloud,” the figment of Dash replied.

Twilight stared at her creation in awe. “But I imagined you!”

The figment of Dash nodded. “Yep, and I got sleepy and imagined a cloud. Which means you imagined Rainbow Dash being sleepy and carefree. And what would the great Rainbow Dash do in that case?” The figment gestured with a haughty smile and a hoof pointing to herself.

“Sleep on a cloud,” Twilight finished with awe. “I didn’t know figments could imagine figments of their own.”

“You’re an Egghead— I’m sure you can figure all this dream stuff out. Why don’t you just think about it for awhile?” the figment of Dash asked. Twilight sighed, her wings drooped, and she seemed to fall into herself. The figment of Dash and her cloud vanished.

“Thank you, Twilight. I needed that,” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie gasped. “That was so cool! It’s like bringing a pony back from the dead, but not like a zombie!”

Twilight snapped her head to look at Pinkie. “Don’t say, or even think about zombies! Honestly, Pinkie— we’re in a graveyard for crying out loud. Keep your thoughts in check!”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Pinkie replied. “Shouldn’t there be a eulogy or something?”

Twilight closed her eyes and cried again, softly. “Yes, there should be. This is all happening so fast. I just want everything to slow down for a second. I just want a moment to myself to think.” A flash of purple light burned past Twilight’s eyelids. “Huh?”

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes, and found herself standing in front of... Twilight Sparkle. “FINALLY!” the new Twilight exclaimed. Pinkie and Fluttershy backstepped, astonished.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked.

The new Twilight smiled, saluted with a wing, and replied, “Subconscious Twilight Sparkle, reporting for duty!” With a wry grin, she glanced at Fluttershy and Pinkie. “Would you two excuse us for a moment? I’d like to have a private conversation with myself.”

~~~~~

Twilight and her subconscious stood a short distance away from the gravesite, out of earshot. Twilight’s subconscious circled around Twilight, grinning the whole time. “Hi, you can call me Ego.” Ego stopped at Twilight’s hindquarters. “Nice, I like dat flank. You’ll get Flash Sentry’s attention for sure if you shake it at him. You won’t have to use your hooves to…” She ran a forehoof over Twilight’s flank and down the back of her hind leg.

Twilight jumped forward, tucking her tail between her legs, blushing furiously. She whirled on Ego. “Stop that! What are you doing?”

Ego giggled. “I’m you, and not just a figment of your imagination. I’m you, uninhibited and unfettered. I’m what you desire, what you hope for, long for, and what you say to yourself so quietly you don’t even let yourself hear it.” Ego circled around Twilight to face her front, and gently held Twilight's face with her hooves, like a lover. “In short, I’m you.”

“What do you want with me? Why did you want to talk to me alone?” Twilight asked, as she shied away from Ego’s invasion of her personal space. Then again, Ego probably considered that her personal space as well.

“Because I’m the private you! The you no other pony gets to see unless you want them to. By the way, you don’t. At least not all at once. Plus, it means I don’t have to worry about embarrassing you in front of your friends. As for what I want? Easy— I want what you want. I want you strong, healthy, loved, and admired. I’m immune to being embarrassed, but I’m not immune from feeling embarrassment from you. That’s why I think you should just show Flash Sentry your flank and drive him wild. He’ll figure it out, and if he doesn’t, you’ll drive him insane. Serves him right for ignoring you!” Ego shook her hoof in the air as if Flash Sentry had just insulted her.

Twilight blushed and shook her head. “Wait, what? He hasn’t ignored me, we’ve hardly said more than two words to each other.”

Ego giggled and put her hoof back down. “Yeah, sometimes I get a little carried away. Your desires and thoughts are raw for me, and I’d just act on them. It’s all those higher brain functions that keep me in check.”

Twilight sighed. “I was hoping you could help me figure out my current problems. I guess you’re only as smart as I am, and I don’t have enough data.”

Twilight felt odd hearing her own giggle coming out of another’s mouth. “Oh, I’m much smarter than you.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me? You are me. How can you be smarter than I am?”

Ego clapped her hooves. “Easy. Your conscious brain needs to process data and put everything together. You wouldn’t believe the sky is blue without at least a dozen data points confirming it. You can’t synthesize what you’ve seen, because you use logic. I don’t waste my time with that garbage. I use intuition; it’s faster. Oh, and bonus, I have access to your logic outputs as well, which means I can synthesize information using both the raw data points and what you’ve figured out.” Twilight couldn’t believe how confident her subconscious sounded.

“Intuition is unreliable; that’s why I use logic instead. I don’t want to draw a wrong conclusion,” Twilight replied.

Ego blew out an exasperated breath. “Yeah, I guess intuition can be wrong sometimes, but here? In this place? Thoughts are reality, so why don’t you let me do the thinking for a bit? Please?” Ego begged, her hooves pressed together in supplication.

Twilight bit her lip. “Well, okay, tell me what you… or I… think.”

A huge smile appeared on Ego’s face as she pumped a hoof in the air. “YES! In the driver’s seat at last!” Twilight felt a rush, like a shot of adrenaline into her heart. Her body felt hot. Sounds and images assaulted her.

“S-Stop!” Twilight cried, covering her eyes with her forehooves and pressing her ears to her head.

The assault on Twilight’s senses abruptly ceased. Ego’s grin was huge. “Heh, too much for you? Then I’ll just tell you— that way you can process it in your dumb, slow way.”

“Th-Thank you,” Twilight mumbled.

Twilight could see Fluttershy talking to Pinkie; the conversation seemed lively. Ego began, “Nightmare Moon can control emotions in dreams, track them, read them, and push them around. She can’t make an emotion from nothing, but she’s good at tricking you and your friends into feeling something, then using that material. So know thyself, Twilight. And here we are,” Ego finished by pointing to herself with a smug grin.

Twilight blinked, trying to keep up. “Right, but what I really want to know is—”

“In dreams, anything you imagine becomes real. With multiple ponies in the same dream, the strength of your belief determines what becomes real and what thoughts get pushed aside. So quit doubting yourself. Your doubt’s going to get us killed.”

Twilight nodded. “Oh-okay. Um, how do I—”

“If you imagine something that needs continuous thought, like another pony, the two of you will know what the other thinks and sees, but only intuitively. If you wanted to see through the eyes of that figment you made of Rainbow Dash, you’d have to focus on that. The tricky part? The part that’s going to bake your noodle? That same thought process may not be under your complete control, unless you believe it is. Quick! Imagine Flash Sentry doing what you want him to do to you. Go!” Ego grinned salaciously.

Twilight’s eyes went wide. She mumbled, “Cold shower, stargazing, new book smell…”

Ego smiled and nodded. “Nice! If you keep your thoughts in check, you can’t easily be manipulated. Emotions drive thoughts, but thoughts are what become real. Emotions are just vapor here, color-coded for your convenience. You cannot sense your own emotions without great self-reflection. You can see the vapors, but it’s better if you smell them, because that way you can get a better handle on who’s feeling what. That’s how Nightmare Moon tracks you, by the way. Seeing is like logic, smelling is like intuition, follow me?”

Twilight nodded silently, her brain on fire.

“Anything you take into yourself here will affect you emotionally. Food is especially potent, because it’s a basic need, which means I want it. Thus, it has all kinds of powerful emotions already tied to it. Pouring your negative emotions into a vessel is a useful way to protect yourself, but only if you keep the vessel safe. It only works for one or two emotions, because most ponies only associate a food with a couple of emotions at most. If you’re tired, think coffee. If you’re scared, think comfort food. And for the love of the sun and moon, don’t eat or drink anything you didn’t create yourself. That’s just asking to get yourself manipulated.” Ego was on a roll now.

Twilight nodded, taking notes with a pencil and pad of paper she had imagined. “Fascinating, but how do I wake—”

“If you imagine something, and you lose your concentration, the thing you imagined will vanish and return to the original mind that created it. The more concentration required for that thing, the easier it is to lose it. Figments can imagine other figments, but it all depends on the original mind. You will not face the shadowbolts again unless you imagine Rainbow Dash. Follow me?”

Twilight nodded, smiling. “Incredible! But how do I—”

“Everything here is a metaphor for what’s going on inside your head. Your dead friends over there? Not their real bodies, just their minds. You don’t want Nightmare Moon to have access to them, so burying them is a good idea. You might want to encase them in cement or burn them. Safer that way.”

Twilight looked horrified, but nodded.

“Which brings me to the important part. Your best weapons are belief and imagination. Be creative, and Nightmare Moon won’t know what hit her.”

Twilight nodded. “Um, Nightmare Moon is dead. I burned her alive.”

“Psh, yeah right. No way Nightmare Moon is that dumb. Either she somehow escaped, which I doubt, or she imagined something else. Like say… herself,” Ego said with a smug grin. “If she imagined a figment that was a double of her, she could safely attack you without exposing herself to harm.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “What?!”

“Hello?” Ego waved. “Look at me, I’m a double of you! If Nightmare Moon is as smart as I think she is, she doubled herself, then attacked you with anger to make you crazy. Crazy is much better for her than dead. If you’re dead, she can’t possess your body, but if you’re crazy, then she can get inside you. Technically it means she’d replace me, which means I’d die.” Ego suddenly glared at Twilight with an edge to her voice. “I don’t want to die, Twilight.”

“Uh… no, that would be bad,” Twilight replied.

“Damn right it would be. Self-preservation is my number one priority. That’s why crazy is so bad, it suppresses that instinct. It also helps you resist other emotions, like fear. Fear is bad here, but crazy is the worst. Don’t you dare give up, Twilight. Keep using your dumb logic, no matter what!”

Twilight nodded and giggled. “I’ll make sure I’m me.”

“Imagining a double of yourself as a figment is a good idea, but don’t use me to fight. I’d be super strong, because I don’t have doubts, but if I got killed, you’d become a vegetable. Nightmare Moon could easily possess a pony without an ego to resist her. After you beat her, a great, anticipated fall will wake you when you hit bottom. Do you understand everything I’ve told you? Can you put it all together?”

Twilight nodded.

Ego snorted. “Of course you understand, we have an amazing mind. Now then, for our self-preservation, lose your concentration, okay?” Ego rhymed, but looked dead serious.

“What?” Twilight asked.

Ego rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Dimwit.” Ego suddenly reached out and smacked Twilight across the cheek. Hard.

The world snapped into focus, and Ego vanished in a puff of white smoke. Twilight blinked and watched as the smoke drifted away, splitting into a rainbow of colors. The colors didn’t mix; they were an ordered rainbow. Twilight decided to test Ego’s advice and took a deep breath, sniffing like a bloodhound.

She breathed in the rainbow vapors, and felt whole again. Everything Ego said suddenly made more sense. She could smell… herself, an incredibly complex, beautiful perfume.

She could smell other things around her as well. She sensed the acidic mixture of her friends bleeding off from their animated conversation. There was another scent as well, something akin to burning hair.

Twilight pinched her nose shut and focused on seeing the vapors around her. The smells were so complex she couldn’t make heads or tails of them. However, she could see the green vapor drifting across the grounds and between the gravestones. Her eyes followed the vapors to Pinkie and Fluttershy.

Pinkie laughed maniacally, slamming the shovel into the mound of dirt that covered Rainbow Dash. Rarity had already been uncovered. Pinkie kept shoveling the dirt out, back onto the pile, while Fluttershy darted around her, begging her to stop. Twilight focused on her friends. She could see Pinkie, wreathed in a miasma of mottled, rainbow colors. She could see Fluttershy in a dirty orange cloud. She could even see the cool blue vapors Twilight herself breathed out. Looking at them made the rest of the world grow fuzzy and unfocused, so Twilight focused on Pinkie instead.

Twilight galloped back to her friends and cried, “Pinkie, what are you doing?”

Pinkie turned her head to Twilight, like a doll without a spinal cord. Her hair hung limp around her, and her eyes didn’t look in the same direction. The frown on her face looked to be the only normal thing about her. “I’ve got to get our friends out of the ground, Twilight. That way, you can imagine them back to life!”

“I keep trying to tell Pinkie it doesn’t work that way, but she won’t listen!” Fluttershy cried.

“Pinkie, stop digging,” Twilight said calmly. “I can imagine some new friends for us, but it’s based on my imagination; they’re not our real friends.”

Pinkie pursed her lips. “Are you sure about that? Isn’t belief the most powerful thing here? I believe if I put some smelling salts under Rarity’s nose, she’ll wake up. That’s what’s going on here, right? We’re all just asleep, remember?”

Twilight shook her head. “You have to listen to me, Nightmare Moon is still alive! The thing I destroyed was just a figment of her imagination. We have to keep our friends’ bodies… minds… whatever, safe from her! I really hope they’re not dead in the real world, and if they’re not, we can’t let Nightmare Moon near them,” Twilight finished.

Pinkie grinned and said, “Well, then I know just where they’ll be safe.”

Twilight eyed Pinkie. “We need to hurry, Nightmare Moon could be here any—”

“Speak of the devil, Twilight… ha-ha-ha!” Nightmare Moon laughed from her perch on a dark storm cloud. “And then there were three. You can end this anytime you want, Twilight.” Nightmare Moon licked her lips. “You know what you have to do.”

Twilight glared at Nightmare Moon, while Fluttershy gasped and hid behind her. Fluttershy leaked a bit of black vapor, while Pinkie kept digging furiously. Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself; when she breathed out, her breath appeared as a cool blue.

Twilight focused, and the Element of Magic appeared on her head in a flash of purple light.

Nightmare Moon laughed, “Going to use the Elements of Harmony on me? It seems you’re three friends and five elements short.” She focused on Fluttershy. “Hmmm… what do you think I should do next, Fluttershy? Did Pinkie mention any good ideas? Zombies perhaps?” Nightmare Moon sniffed the air like a predator, smiling as Fluttershy leaked more black vapor.

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She put a wing over Fluttershy and whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Just stick by me. You trust me, don’t you?”

Fluttershy cracked an eye open and nodded. “Yes, but what are you going to do?”

Twilight smirked. “Get imaginative,” she said simply.

Fluttershy shivered and replied, “Okay.”

Twilight looked back at Nightmare Moon, still smirking. “Having a little trouble there? Not enough vapor to fuel your attacks?” She could see the black vapor from Fluttershy flow into the Element of Magic. She breathed out a bit of black mist as well, but once the Element absorbed it, her breath solidified to a cool, pale blue.

Nightmare Moon growled at Twilight. “Had a little chat with your ego, did you?” She sniffed again, her nostrils flaring. “Logic. How banal. You know you cannot defeat me with mere logic.”

Twilight grinned. “I know. That’s why I imagined the Element of Harmony. It’s the one thing that I know for a fact banishes fear. Try to imagine just how much I believe in it, while it absorbs all of your fear and leaves you powerless.”

Nightmare Moon let rip the highest, smuggest laugh Twilight had ever heard. “I’m sorry, you think something that absorbs fear is going to defeat me?” Her laughter boomed across the landscape.

Twilight focused, ready for anything. The air around Nightmare Moon appeared greenish, now mixed with yellow. Twilight searched, but couldn’t find even a hint of black. “How can that be? Everypony is afraid of something! Unless…”

“Die, you mewling filly!” Nightmare Moon snarled. She lit her horn and let loose a white-hot, jagged lightning bolt.

It tore across the sky and hit… Twilight’s lightning rod. “You’ll have to do better than that,” Twilight quipped, smiling.

Nightmare Moon shook her head. “So predictable. Let’s heat things up a bit, shall we?” With a flick of her horn, Nightmare Moon circled the ponies in a ring of fire. “Your turn to burn!”

Twilight shrugged and lit her horn. The thundercloud Nightmare Moon stood on rumbled and let loose rain. The deluge caused the fire to hiss, sputter, and die. “Is that all you can come up with? We’ve done this dance before.”

“Oh, I’ll get creative!” Nightmare Moon’s snarl turned her face into a rictus of rage. She flicked her horn again.

Rotting, cracked hooves burst from the ground. Moaning, decaying ponies climbed out of the surrounding graves. Only Rarity and Rainbow Dash didn’t move. Zombies crawled out from every direction, their milk-white eyes searching for Twilight and her remaining friends. Each had a unique set of bleeding gashes, rotting flesh, and organs hanging out of place. With a howl, the nearest one, a brown stallion with no tail and a bleeding eye socket, charged at them. His teeth were either yellow, cracked, sharp, or missing. He snapped at Fluttershy, who yelped and literally shrank in size.

“I’m not afraid of you! There’s no such thing as zombies,” Twilight said with a stomp.

Nightmare Moon laughed. “Oh really? Don’t believe your eyes? Why don’t we try an experiment, hmmm? What if… we let them eat Rarity and Rainbow Dash? Your friends might come back to life! Wouldn’t that be grand?”

“Get off me!” Pinkie cried. Twilight turned to see a pair of ponies trying to bite Pinkie. One held her right forehoof; Pinkie bucked the other in the face as he bit her tail hair.

Twilight lit her horn. “What’s making you move? Some kind of disease?” Several of the sickened ponies stumbled towards Twilight, growling. As she spoke, many of them bled from their eyes, ears, and mouths. “I see, some kind of hemotoxic bacteria. That means antibiotics should cure you.” In a purple flash of light, dozens of filled syringes appeared, floating around Twilight. With a smirk, she sent them through the air like darts. Each found a mark in the bleeding flesh of their attackers.

Nightmare Moon growled, her breath morphing to a dark red. The sick ponies fell around them, moaning in muted pain. “I’m going to make you feel such agony, Twilight,” Nightmare Moon purred. “I’m going to—”

With a sickening crack, an anvil fell on Nightmare Moon’s head. “That really hurts, trust me,” Twilight said with a grin, as Nightmare Moon stumbled and fell to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. “Time to finish you off!” Twilight said, taking a step forward.

Without warning, Nightmare Moon vanished in a puff of white smoke. Carried on an unfelt wind, the vapor hurtled away. Far in the distance, a black dot appeared, the vapor rushing towards it. The ground rumbled. The faint sound of fillies singing carried on the wind: “One, two, she’s coming for you...”

“What’s happening?” Fluttershy asked. “Did we win?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, that was just a figment of Nightmare Moon’s imagination. I guess you could call it her self-image. I’ll bet Nightmare Moon imagines she has no fear.”

More singing. “Three, four, lock the door...” The ground trembled again, worse this time, as if a giant approached.

“Show yourself, coward!” Twilight’s voice boomed across the landscape. Fluttershy gasped at Twilight’s words.

Nightmare Moon fell out of the sky like a meteor. She slammed into the ground, leaving a crater wide enough to fit a dozen ponies. Still smoking, she rose to her full height and spread her black wings. Her eyes burned bright, the cat-like pupils sharp enough to cut diamond. “My apologies, figments don’t have much creativity. I suppose if you want something done right…”

“This ends now, Nightmare Moon.” Twilight stood tall, her wings spread. “I’m ready for you.”

Nightmare Moon smiled. “Ah yes, I can smell the change in you. Spoke with your ego, hmmm? Must have been an interesting conversation. It smells like it subtly transformed you.” Nightmare Moon looked at Pinkie Pie. “Transforming is so easy in dreams. You can be whatever you want to be. Isn’t that right, Pinkie?”

Twilight followed Nightmare Moon’s gaze and gasped. Pinkie cradled her right forehoof. A bloody set of teeth marks had left an impression on her leg. “Am I going to become a zombie?” Pinkie asked, rocking back and forth.

“Don’t be absurd, Pinkie. There’s no such thing as zombies,” Twilight assured her. “Those ponies were just sick. You should clean that wound and take some antibiotics. You’ll be fine as soon as I—”

Nightmare Moon lit her horn and let loose a lightning bolt that had enough energy to turn the air into ozone. The grass wilted and died, blistered by the incredible heat of Nightmare Moon’s attack. Twilight blinked, spots fading from her vision. A ring of lightning rods set in a circle protected them. “Excellent reflexes, Twilight,” Nightmare Moon said, licking her lips. “I MUST have you! Time to get… imaginative!”

Twilight focused on Nightmare Moon. She stifled a gasp; Nightmare Moon breathed out nothing but rainbow vapors. She’s totally cracked! Twilight thought.

Nightmare Moon lit her horn and smiled. A pack of monstrous diamond dogs burst out of the open graves around Twilight and her friends. They howled and charged, frothing at the mouth and snarling with rage.

Fluttershy yelped and shrank to the size of a large butterfly. She scrambled onto Twilight’s back while Twilight gritted her teeth. The first diamond dog snapped at Twilight, forcing her to pull her head back. His rotting breath washed over her, a thick soup of stinking meat and earth. With a glare, Twilight imagined a femur with a bit of flesh still attached. The diamond dog tried to bite down again, but the bone appeared in his mouth, holding it open.

Three more diamond dogs stalked around Twilight. She ‘fed’ them all with meaty bones. The first diamond dog snapped the bone in half with his powerful jaws. Instead of pouncing on her, he sat and gnawed on the marrow of his treat, blood dripping between his teeth. Soon, Twilight and Fluttershy were surrounded by the sounds of splintering bones, ripping flesh, and the moaning of the sick. “Pinkie? Where are you?” Twilight called.

Nightmare Moon circled around Twilight, aiming her horn. “You don’t have time to worry about Pinkie; worry about yourself!” She let loose her spell. Twilight stood ready to counter something dangerous, like a lightning bolt or a fireball. The fog took her by surprise. Thick, grayish fog boiled out of Nightmare Moon’s horn. Within seconds, Twilight could see only shadows of the creatures and objects around her.

Fluttershy gulped. “Is that a tombstone, or a diamond dog?” she asked, pointing at a shadowy patch of fog to her left. The crunch of bone caused her to yelp. “That’s definitely a diamond dog! They won’t be distracted forever, and I need to help those poor, sick ponies. Can you blow away this fog and distract Nightmare Moon while I—”

“HA-HA-HA! This will be the last act, Twilight. My self-image collected enough fear for the grand finale! I’ve been saving it up! Now, weep with fear!” The fog grew thicker and the sun suddenly dropped below the horizon. A blood-red moon rose into the night sky, the only source of light. It rained, a freezing drizzle, covering everything in crimson liquid. Twilight shivered as an icy chill crept up her spine. “Those zombies are just lying around, useless. Shall we make a meal of them?” Nightmare Moon asked from beyond the crimson fog.

The crunching of bones continued, but now Twilight could hear the wet ripping of flesh as well. A sound just to Twilight’s right drew her eye. She turned to see a nearby diamond dog standing over a moaning, sick pony. The diamond dog growled, then tore into the pony’s throat. Putrid blood splattered all over the dog’s muzzle and the ground. It appeared black in the red light of the moon. The rotten flesh of the pony seemed to quickly spread to the diamond dog; his flesh crinkled and withered. Yet still he ate, and ate, his gut distending, and his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he continued to lap up black, fetid blood and wet chunks of raw meat.

Twilight felt bile rise in her throat. A warm, wet spot on her back told her Fluttershy had urinated or vomited. The smell was the worst: the disgusting flesh of the sick ponies and the smell of blood-wet diamond dog combined into a new, horrifying odor. The smell hit Twilight with almost physical force. Gagging, she stumbled back a step. “Do something, Twilight!” Fluttershy begged, then she gagged as well.

“We’ve got to get rid of this smell and fog first.” Twilight lit her horn and let the cold seep into her bones. A whistling wind stirred the fog; it quickly grew to a howl. The rain turned into flakes of crimson snow, still illuminated by the moon.

The fog blew away, revealing a freezing graveyard. Rime caked everything: diamond dogs, dead ponies, gravestones, even the blades of grass on the ground had frozen. The diamond dogs moaned and curled into little balls, shivering. Twilight shivered violently as well, and the quivering little ball on her back told her Fluttershy fared no better. “S-so c-cold,” Fluttershy complained.

Nightmare Moon still stood on the storm cloud, slowly drifting around Twilight. “I could freeze one of your limbs off again. Honestly, Twilight. Is it a good idea for you to make things cold? What would Rainbow Dash say?” She laughed again, her laughter echoing over the frigid landscape.

“You’re right, being cold in the dark is scary. So let’s warm things up a bit.” Twilight shot a beam of purple light at the moon.

“Oh no you don’t, that’s my moon! Don’t you dare touch it!” Nightmare Moon snarled. She focused on the crimson moon, keeping it in place.

The moon didn’t move, but it instantly heated up. The sky turned a pale blue, the fog vanished, and the rime quickly melted. “Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to move it. But, a red celestial body should be the sun, not the moon, right?” Twilight mocked.

Nightmare Moon glanced between the moon and Twilight before she realized the orb in the sky had transformed into the sun. “NO!” she screamed. “HOW DARE YOU! You’ll pay for that! You’ll be eaten like the prey you are!”

Twilight crouched, ready for the diamond dogs, as they stumbled to their paws. They all whimpered sadly, their bodies covered in boils, blisters, withered flesh, and weeping sores. One diamond dog howled as his overinflated, bloodshot eye popped out of its socket. Another scratched at a boil on his ear until his ear tore off, causing him to howl in agony.

A diamond dog crawled to Twilight, his body covered in sores. Seeping puss from dozens of places, he stumbled and fell to the ground only a single stride away from her. She snorted and looked at Nightmare Moon. “Your diamond dogs don’t seem to be doing so well after eating that infected flesh.” Twilight raised a brow at Nightmare Moon, whose expression made her blood run cold.

Nightmare Moon’s grin spread wide, her body wreathed in mottled, rainbow-colored vapor. Her rictus grin didn’t falter as she lit her horn and pointed it at the closest diamond dog. Twilight quickly focused on the diamond dog, and a wire cage appeared around him. Nightmare Moon let out another lithium-laced laugh. “Don’t you know trying to contain a thought only makes it stronger? Trying to keep things in isn’t going to work… not when they hunger to get out!”

Twilight and Fluttershy gasped. The diamond dog’s putrid skin rippled. His eyes went wide, and he opened his mouth to howl… when a rat crawled out of his mouth! Hundreds of clicking scarab beetles and squeaking rats burst out of him. Nightmare Moon shrieked with laughter as she pointed at the other diamond dogs, one at a time. Each of them howled in agony and burst at the seams, releasing hundreds of hungry beetles and rats. Fluttershy cried as the diamond dogs and dead ponies were stripped to the bone by these scavengers.

Nightmare Moon laughed and laughed. “Soon, they will run out of dead flesh to feed upon, and they’ll search for something else. Something warm, something alive… something injured and bleeding!” Her eyes lit upon Pinkie, then Twilight. “What’s your plan now, little pony?” she asked with a smirk.

Twilight retreated near Pinkie. She watched a rat chew itself out of the back of a diamond dog’s eye socket and spill out of his still-bleeding skull. With a hiss, the vermin scurried towards her, the first of many. More of his brothers followed as they ate the last of the diamond dog’s flesh.

Twilight panicked as she shot the first rat with a bolt of magic. How do I stop rats and insects? she thought frantically. Rat poison? Bug repellent? I can only stop one group of them at best! Teleport away? What about Dash and Rarity? Should I heal Pinkie? Can I? What do I do? Twilight shot rapid-fire bolts of magic to keep the vermin at bay, but it was like trying to push back the tide with a broom.

“I’m afraid! I’m sorry!” Fluttershy cried.

A light bulb appeared over Twilight’s head for a moment. “That’s it!” she cried. With a flick of her horn, she lit a small campfire in front of her. Embrace fear.

Nightmare Moon laughed. “If you’re going to protect yourself with fire, shouldn’t you at least surround yourself with it? It won’t help you anyway; scarabs will just fly over it, and rats will burrow under it.” Her laughter died on her lips. The fire billowed a thick cloud of black smoke. Twilight fed the fire with the Element of Magic, fanned it with her wings, and blew it out around her. Dark vapor spread rapidly outward in a thick cloud. The rats and beetles scurried or flew away from the cloud as fast as they could go, as if it were acid rain.

“How do you like me now?” Twilight asked smugly. With a flick of her horn, she snuffed the fire, returning the landscape to a semblance of normalcy.

Nightmare Moon’s eye twitched. She chewed her tongue and frothed at the mouth. The last beetle flitted past her, clicking its mandibles. “MY MOON! MY FEAR!” she screamed. Her bloodshot eyes focused on Twilight, her breath quick and shallow. “MY BODY!” she screamed, spittle flying everywhere. Nightmare Moon whipped her horn in a circle and flapped her wings, stirring the air around her. The rainbow-colored vapor swirled into a vortex, a psychedelic ball of crazy. Nightmare Moon smiled her insane smile again, breathing out more of the rainbow vapor. “MY LUNACY!” she howled, then with a powerful beat of her wings, she flung it at Twilight.

“LOOK OUT!” Twilight cried. She dove to the ground and covered her head with her hooves. Fluttershy tumbled off of her back and landed behind a nearby gravestone. The mass of raw emotion sailed over her head like a cannonball. With a thud that she felt more than heard, it struck. Twilight raised her head and looked behind her.

Standing in the open grave over Rarity stood Pinkie. She blinked, then slowly tilted her head. Her smile didn’t move. Her eyes floated freely, unfocused and uncoordinated. Her head continued to tilt, far past the point a normal neck would allow. She suddenly snapped upright, like a soldier at attention, and her eyes focused on Twilight. “I’m not scared, I just need to eat something to keep myself calm. Hang on, Twilight— I’m going to keep everypony safe!”