Nightmare of a Blank Flank
Author's Note
Disclaimer: I do not own "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," or its characters. They are property of Hasbro Studios and DHX Media.
Nightmare of a Blank Flank
"Nightmare of a Blank Flank"
By TwilightSparkle3562
All Babs Seed could do was run.
A group of tormenting fillies were chasing her down the streets of Manehattan crying out "Blank Flank!" as they chased her while ponies just stood there and watched as she ran. The rain pelted down on her face and her hooves splashed through the deep puddles of water caused by the rain.
"Go away! Leave me alone!" pleaded Babs as she soon found herself in a corner as the fillies, with evil grins on their faces cornered Babs and drew closer to her like a pack of wolves.
"We warned you what would happen if youse didn't get a cutie mark!" sneered one of the fillies, punching her hooves together.
"Time for a game of 'Slugging the Blank Flank'!" said another one of the tormenting fillies as they grabbed Babes and stood her on her rear legs, leaving her underbelly in full view. Babs could only close her eyes and brace herself for the hurt that was about to be inflicted upon her.
Just then, a dark blue sphere surrounded Babs and sent the startled fillies back several feet, freeing Babs from their grip.
"Enough!" boomed a loud voice and the fillies screamed as they all disappeared.
Still traumatized by what had just happened to her, Babs could only cower and shake like a wet leaf in an October rainstorm. Just then, a set of hoofbeats were heard and Babs suddenly felt a horseshoe touch her cheek and opening her eyes, looked up to see a dark blue pony with wings and a flowing dark blue mane. A small black tiara sat upon her head and a black chest plate adorned her chest.
"It's all right, Babs Seed," said the alicorn pony in a warm voice. "You are safe now."
Babs gasped when she realized who was in front of her. Up until now, Babs had never seen an alicorn before and she had heard stories about this pony from her cousin, Apple Bloom and her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
"Am I dreaming or is it…?" gasped Babs as the pony nodded her head warmly. "You're Princess Luna, the princess Apple Bloom told me about."
"I am," replied Luna, bending down to Babs' level. "And I understand the torment that you are going through, Babs Seed. It is not right of thou to be bullied just because they have no cutie mark."
Babs suddenly realized that maybe Luna had a point, she didn't deserve to be bullied. But, Luna could see that Babs was not able to defend herself in situations such as this. She sensed that Babs was a strong filly like Apple Bloom and her friends and Luna realized that she needed to help Babs become strong.
"What am I going to do, Princess?" cried Babs Seed, using her tail to hide her blank flank. "All my life I had been bullied because I have no cutie mark. I've tried to talk to my sister, but all she says that I should do is just ignore it."
Luna listened in and thought of what Babs had just said. It appeared to her that Babs' sister was not giving enough advice to stand up to the bullies. There was only one way for Babs to understand and Luna activated her horn much to her surprise.
Suddenly, the surroundings of Manehattan disappeared and in its place was a dream landscape surrounded by clouds. Babs was amazed by all this and wondered what was going to happen next.
"What's happening, Princess?" shuddered Babs.
"It's all right, Babs Seed," cried Luna as she turned her attention towards a staircase of clouds. "Follow me. I will help and inspire you to stand up for yourself."
Although hesitant at first, Babs took an enormous gulp and followed Luna up the staircase of clouds. Once at the top, the two ponies came up to a bottomless pit which made Babs nervous. In her mind, she thought that they would end up in a place that she didn't like.
"Are you out of your mind or something?" remarked Babs, shockingly. "You expect us to jump into that?"
"It's where I will show you to learn how to stand up for yourself and remain strong," answered Luna. "There was a time not too long ago, where I was in a position just like yourself. If you follow me, you will see, young filly, what I am talking about."
Luna jumped down into the chasm and after taking another enormous gulp, Babs jumped off the cloud cliff and followed Luna into the chasm. After passing through a vortex, Babs found herself in Canterlot's throne room with Luna.
"Is this Canterlot, Princess?" asked Babs, admiring all that she could see around here. "I've never been to place like this before."
"Rather than paying attention to the surroundings," advised Luna, who was standing in front of Canterlot's throne room. "I want you to pay attention to the situation that will take place before you."
Luna directed Babs in the direction of three alicorns that made Babs' heart sink. She was looking at not just Luna, but also Celestia and Cadence. However, she noticed that something was not right about them. She noticed the three princesses were slouched down on the throne with their flanks missing and bags were under their eyes.
"I kind of remembering hearing something about this," remarked Babs. "Some prisoner had escaped from Tartarus and was stealing magic."
"You learn so fast, Babs Seed," replied Luna. "The creature that had escaped from Tartarus was much more than a dangerous creature. He was also a creature that never let anything or anypony stand in his way. As you will see, the creature had come for our magic and he will see that we had given it up to our youngest equal."
Babs then noticed an uncomfortable look on Luna's as the ground suddenly began to rumble. Although they were witnessing an event in the past, it felt like it was real and happening before their eyes as if it was alive. The doors were flung open and broken down as a red and black creature with a humanoid body and pony's legs stormed towards the weakened princess with a look of evil in his eyes.
"Come on!" cried Babs to the holographic princesses. "Fight back! Don't let him beat you!"
"It is no use, Babs Seed," said Luna, her voice filled with uncomfort. "They can't hear us. For what you are about to see is an example of how we were in your position once."
Babs watched as the creature used his magic and grabbed Celestia, bringing her to his mouth to absorb her magic. However, there was no magic for him to take.
"What have you done?" asked the creature, only to be met with a sly smile from Celestia. After finding no magic from Luna and Cadence, the creature lost patience. "WHERE IS YOUR MAGIC?!"
The sounds of the creature's roars made Babs uncomfortable and caused her to shake with anxiety. Luna took notice and calmed her down by draping a wing over her backside.
"These are the sounds of our own bully, Babs," said Luna. "Did you notice how my sister smiled at the creature with no fear in her eyes?"
"You weren't afraid of him?" remarked Babs, surprisingly. "But, he treated you the same way those fillies treated me."
"He did," replied Luna. "He wanted to instill fear into our minds and make us feel what he felt while imprisoned in Tartarus, Equestria's main prison."
Just then, Luna forwarded the scene to a few moments later. Now, the creature sat on Celestia's throne and the three alicorns were at the base. Babs and Luna soon found themselves next to the throne room watching Celestia, Luna and Cadence with "no fear" looks on their faces.
"Giving up your magic so I cannot take from you? That was your plan?" remarked the creature with sarcasm in his voice and producing orbs of unicorns, earth and Pegasus ponies in each one. "How does it feel knowing that everypony will bow to my will and there is nothing you can do to stop it?"
The sounds of the orbs being smashed caused Babs to flinch and close her eyes in fear. But, Luna still wanted her to pay attention, even though Babs didn't want to.
"You will not prevail, Tirek," said Celestia, weakly but defiantly.
"That's who the creature was?" asked Babs, looking back to Luna. "Tirek? I learned about him in school back in Manehattan in my Equestrian History class."
Luna nodded as they watched Tirek open a portal to the prison known as Tartarus and to Babs' shock and horror, saw the three alicorn princesses sent flying through the portal into the prison.
"Give my regards to Cerberus," said Tirek, evilly. In fact, seeing herself being sent into the prison made Luna feel uncomfortable once again, but she had to quickly pull herself together in order to continue teaching to Babs.
Once again activating her magic, she and Babs found themselves in Tartarus prison where they looked down to see Luna, Cadence and Celestia in a cell with shackles stuck to their ankles. The sounds of demonic voices were heard and made Babs feel scared once again.
"Welcome to Tartarus," Luna said, solemnly. "Where the evil of Equestria are placed. What you see is ponies that held no evil in their hearts placed in here against their own will."
Just then, they took notice of several creatures in another cell making catcalls and taunts towards the princesses. Babs was horrified to see such conduct being directed towards such regal ponies.
"We have to stay strong," Celestia groaned, her body weak from the magic being drained out of her body. "Twilight will find a way to stop Tirek. We must not lose faith in her. Don't let the prisoners break you."
Babs almost felt like crying for the alicorns, but she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of Luna and didn't. With each minute that they were there, the louder the taunts towards the princesses had become.
"What you are seeing Babs Seed," explained Luna. "Is our resilience to those who long to taunt us and break our minds. We were just like you: subjecting to the taunts of those fools who want nothing more than to see us bow to their needs."
Babs watched the verbal abuse coming from the prisoners and began to think to herself that maybe what Luna was doing was nothing more than a wakeup call. If she was to ever get a bout of confidence to stop those that torment her, she had to watch and listen.
"I can't believe what I am seeing," thought Babs. "They are being bullied and they are not even begging for them to stop. Could it be that Luna is trying to get me to realize that I can stand up for myself?"
Before Babs could realize the gravity of the situation, she and Luna both heard a loud cry coming from the cell and the two of them saw Luna's past self, attempting to stand on her feet and defend herself from the verbal abuse.
"Enough!" she cried, her royal Canterlot voice weakened by the energy drain. "You all are fools and that is why you are in here to begin with! Princess Twilight and her friends will find a way to defeat your friend and return him here! We may be without our magic and our cutie marks and we don't know if we will survive in here, but no matter what you do, no matter what you say, you will never crush our spirits and the spirits of our subjects!"
The captive voices were silenced and Babs was left with her mouth wide open. Could it be that this is how she would defend herself from the bullies that have been tormenting her? That was the question that went through her mind.
"That's what you must do, Babs Seed," cried Luna as the surroundings around them began to fade. "You must prove to your tormentors that you are stronger and that you are going to get your cutie mark one day!
Soon, after a few parting words, Babs opened her eyes and gasped as she found herself back in her bedroom.
"What a dream I had!" she cried, scratching her neck with her hoof. "I just hope what Princess Luna said was true."
So, Babs left her home and went to her school still thinking about what Luna had said. Suddenly, she came towards the bullies from her dream and upon seeing their victim, the bullies came towards Babs with grins on their faces.
"Well, hello there, Blank Flank!" said one of the bullies, walking over towards her. "You haven't gotten your cutie mark yet? Guess its time for a little after school target practice, isn't it girls?"
The other bullies laughed with their leader as they surrounded the Manehattan leader of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Babs was of course, scared, but she took Luna's words to heart and displayed her "no fear" face.
"I'm not afraid of you!" she barked, causing the other bullies to gasp. "I'm stronger than you think. You may continue to bully me because I have no cutie mark, but no matter what youse do, no matter what youse say, you will never break my spirit, ya hear?"
The bullies all backed away in shock upon seeing their primary victim say such a thing and quickly dispersed. Just then, Babs looked back and saw Luna looking through a window, smiling at Babs.
"Well done, Babs Seed," she whispered. "Well done."
Babs watched as Luna quickly disappeared and smiled, knowing that the Princess of the Night had taught her that as long you remain strong, nopony will ever bring you down.
