Fluttershy awoke in a hospital bed in Mercy General Hospital outside of Canterlot, her friends surrounding her, all of which look peaceful asleep. She then closed her eyes, trying to remember why she was in the hospital.
"Ow," Fluttershy cringed, she tried to move her left wing, it was half-gone, she then remembered, all too clear, what had happened that day.
----------------------------------Twenty seven hours, twenty seven minutes earlier-----------------------
"So Pinkie, how much do i owe you?" Fluttershy reached into her saddle bag, pulling out a tiny change purse.
"Well, a bit a piece, that's twenty seven bits," Pinkie Pie said, closing the large box of cupcakes.
"Twenty Seven, that's odd, I thought I ordered twenty seven, that would be fifty four bits," fluttershy said, confused.
"Well normally, but today is 2727, the twenty seventh day of the twenty seventh month since we released Luna, so I gave you half off, 27 27," Pinkie smiled a big smile, amused by her own cleverness.
"Oh-Okay, Fluttershy emptied 27 bits on the counter.
"Why do you need twenty seven cupcakes anyway?" Pinkie asked, putting Fluttershy's bits into the register.
"For Twilight's party tonight," Fluttershy said, a look on Pinkie's face told that she had not been informed.
"Twilight's having a party?" Pinkie said, confused, she thought everypony liked her party planning, why was she not informed.
"Did I forget to tell you, I'm sorry," Fluttershy said sincerely.
"Oh, it's okay, so when is the party?" Pinkie asked, the smile returning to her face.
"Tonight at 8:19, I thought it was a weird time, but Twilight insisted," Fluttershy said.
"Hey, guess what!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
"What?" Fluttershy asked, wondering what Pinkie had come up with now.
"8+19=27, weird how much 27 is coming up today right, I meant you walked in exactly at 12:27:27, and I opened the store 27 minutes late," Pinkie Pie said.
"Hmm, yeah, that is a little weird," Fluttershy said, she thought it as nothing more than a coincidence, boy was she wrong.
As she walked home, she counted the clouds, one two three, thwenty six, twenty----twenty seven, okay this was starting to freak her out. She dropped the cupcakes off at her cottage, she then headed out for Twilight's to see if she had an explanation.
Fluttershy walked to the library, she went inside, looking for a book on uncommon coincidences, she looked under U, C, and then she finally found it under N, nightmare, hmm, that didn't reassure her.
"Okay, get a grip Fluttershy, uncommon coincidences, the guide to curses, great," Fluttershy was getting more worried by the minute.
"Okay, numbers, that is on page twenty seven!" Fluttershy screamed, attracting the attention of Twilight, who was upstairs.
"Fluttershy are you okay?!?"Twilight said, worried.
"No, I'm not, the number twenty seven has been haunting me today," Fluttershy was gasping for air in an environment that seemed too small all of a sudden.
Fluttershy skipped to page twenty seven adn read the passage aloud, Twilight listening.
"Numbers may seem to haunt oneself in the case of an important date, some are actually the cause of the release of evil in the world, one such case was in the year 1674, a stallion by the name of Sevener Wensley was killed at his own hand when he claimed that the number twelve kept haunting him." Fluttershy read, it made her more worried.
"However, if the number is also a known date for evil the haunting may be actual, in that case, such a the infamous spirit, Nightmare, may haunt it's enemies, until their death," Fluttershy started to hyperventilate.
"Fluttershy it's okay, twenty seven is not haunting you," twilight said, reassuringly.
"Yes, I am, it won't leave me alone," Fluttershy said, a tear in her eye.
"Well, I'm sure that the Princesses can work this out," Twilight said, grabbing Fluttershy, and they teleported.
They teleported right outside of the royal palace gates, they were let in immediately by one of the guards, since he recognized Twilight. the two of them ran through the hallways, all the way to the royal chambers.
"Is Celestia here?" Twilight said to a royal guard, who was stationed outside Celestia's chamber.
"No, she is in Stalliongrad for the week, but Luna is here," the guard said, gesturing to Luna's chamber.
"May we see her?" Twilight said with urgency.
"Yes," the guard said, looking back down the hallway.
Fluttershy and Twilight burst through Luna's doors, Luna was sitting at her desk, reading a book, the book's title was 'Obscure unicorn history, volume seven' apparently Luna wasn't completely caught up on today's times. Luna turned around, her book flew off the desk, it landed open on page twenty seven.
"Why are you here, what's wrong Twilight Sparkle?" Luna said, now in front of them, yet her voice was more worried than angry.
"Twenty Seven Months, Twenty Seven Months ago, you were released from Nightmare's grasp, the number twenty seven is haunting Fluttershy, and we think it's because of Nightmare," twilight said, panting.
"Twilight Sparkle, you need to exit my chamber, I need to talk to Fluttershy alone," Luna said, her eyes went wide, Twilight knew that she knew what was going on.
Twilight left her chamber, closing the doors lightly as she left, Twilight then headed to the castle's library.
"Now Fluttershy, what is the number 27 doing to you?" Luna asked, sitting near Fluttershy.
"it's well, it's effecting dates, times, money, objects, everything!!" Fluttershy was so worried.
"You say objects, how has it effected them?" Luna asked, intrigued.
"The amount of clouds in the sky, page numbers on books, like that.." Fluttershy said, pointing to that book on the floor.
"Whhat!!" Luna gasped, grabbing the book, she threw it twenty seven feet, and it landed open on page twenty seven.
"Fluttershy, Nightmare is here in this room," Luna said, worried.
"You always were very bright, Luna," a low voice said as all the shadows in the room formed into a dark pony, his hair flowing black.
"Nightmare, why are you here!!" Luna yelled, the Nightmare walked past her and looked at Fluttershy.
"For her, of course," Nightmare said, pointing a shadowy hoof at Fluttershy.
Luna jumped between them, and she yelled, "If you want her than you'll go through me first,"
Nightmare smiled and he said, "Agreed,"
Nightmare touched a hoof to Luna's head, a large bust of darkness filled the room, Fluttershy watched in horror as Luna came under Nightmare's grasp of control. When Nightmare had finally completely overtaken the Princess, it looked over at Fluttershy.
"You will die, but you will suffer, kindness,"
Fluttershy ran from the room, past the guard and hid behind a curtain.
"Guard where did she go?" Nightmare asked, but the guard noticed too late, after he said the main halls.
"LIAR!!" Nightmare said, putting a hoof through the guards chest, breaking his ribs and crushing his heart.
Nightmare ran to the library, looking for Fluttershy, but she passed right by where Fluttershy was hiding, but somehow didn't notice her. Fluttershy slipped from behind the curtain and ran over to the injured guard. When Nightmare Moon had hit him, her hoof went through, him, and he died in twenty seven seconds.
Nightmare ran right past Twilight, who had seen her coming, Nightmare then ran to the main halls, anyone who got in her way was killed immediately, the chef, dead, two more guards, dead, and then there was Helga, the front desk unicorn mare with a small Goatee.
"Move or die!" Nightmare said, looking Helga in the eyes, Helga didn't flinch.
"What did you do with the Princess?!" Helga said, digging at the floor.
"I am Nightmare Moon, so I am the Princess, now MOVE!!" Nightmare yelled, attracting thirty guards.
Helga shook her head and smiled, Nightmare ran at her, Helga met the power, a huge explosion destroyed the main roof in that room, Nightmare and Helga were both thrown back ward, Nightmare hit a wall, and Helga slid across the floor, they both rose back up. Nightmare was across the room in three seconds, she grabbed Helga, and before she could react, Nightmare ripped ripped Helga in half, down the middle.
"Guards, attack!" the guards' commander yelled, pointing a hoof at Nightmare, who smiled.
Thirty guards ran forward, when the first guards reached Nightmare, the were immediately killed, one of the guards received a hoof through his head.
Nightmare took care of twenty of the guards relatively easy, but now the veterans were the only ones left, including their commander. two of the guards ran at Nightmare, she cast a spell that shocked one, more electrocuted him, and his body burned inside his armor, his ashes blew out of his armor, they were blown by the wind coming from the open ceiling.
The other guard landed on Nightmare's back, her mane grabbed him, it strangled, more garroted him.
The final eight guards ran at Nightmare, all at once, they tackled her and held her down, the guards; commander repeatedly punched Nightmare in the face, and in the stomach.
"Who's winning now? I am!!" the commander yelled in Nightmare's face, causing a flare of anger, she exploded with energy, sending three of the guards out of the castle, to their death.
Nightmare took care of the rest of the guards holding her, she used the electrocution spell on three of them,for the last two she used a newer spell that she had read up on, it was a spell that shut down people, she was feeling amazingly evil now.
"Now for you, I'm winning," Nightmare picked up the commander and threw him onto a rock slab with a sharp needle sticking out, it impaled him, she ran up t him and used a torture spell that made him go unconscious, but he had nightmares for the rest of his very shortened lifetime.
Nightmare continued facing small defense throughout the castle, she then headed out of the castle to the labyrinth, Twilight wasn't sure why, but she knew that she needed to find Fluttershy,
"Fluttershy, are you okay!?!" Twilight yelled in the direction that Nightmare had come from.
"i'm fine Twilight, but these guards aren't," Fluttershy said, looking up from the guards body.
Twilight ran over to Fluttershy, she was shocked by what she saw what had happened to the guard.
"C'mon Fluttershy, we need to go to Luna's study, the answer is in there I bet," Twilight aid, the world became very dark then, all the shadows flew from where they were placed, and formed a bubble around the castle, keeping almost all light out,, and trapping all of the staff that was still alive inside.
Twilight and Fluttershy jumped inside of Luna's chamber, Twilight casted several spells to keep the doors closed, all more powerful than the last.
"Okay, books, books, found it," Twilight was searching through Luna's personal collection, and she found a book on Nightmare.
"The incarnation of a nightmare, such as the spirit of Nightmare itself, see page twenty seven..." Twilight saying that number made Fluttershy flinch.
"Okay, I found it Fluttershy, to defeat Nightmare, use the Elements of Harmony, see page 45, or use the spell only obtained off the four keys of Princess Luna's chamber, located at the four corners, say the following words, alright Fluttershy, we need to move everything, at least from the corners," Twilight set the book down, she levitated three bookshelves whilst Fluttershy pulled one from the opposite corner.
"One more shelf," Twilight moved a shelf from corner number four, and then all four corners had a word appear, the words were Peace, Hope, Light, and the last one was Day.
"Fluttershy, read this aloud," Twilight pointed to a passage in the book.
"Nightmare come here and face your fear, hope, and then you will see that we have Hope, and we will live through this day, and this Day will live on, we will make peace, Peace is why you aren't here, and as final, the light from us, the Light we have made, and the Light you won't live through, we will be Victorious," Fluttershy said, as shesaid each word, the words on the walls lit up, and with the final word, Victorious, the room filled with light, adll of the shadows disappeared, the shield around the castle disappeared.
"Is she gone?" Fluttershy opened her eyes, the room that they were in before the spell was gone, her and Twilight were in a field of grass, nothing else for miles.
"Where, what happened?" Twilight looked around, the sun wasn't there, it was just a bright blue sky, and green grass.
"Fluttershy, what happened?" twilight asked.
"Well, a bright explosion ripped apart the room, and you passed out," Fluttershy said, suddenly an idea that she didn't want to think about the possibility that they might be dead.
Were they dead? No.
"Fluttershy, Fluttershy, wake up!!" twilight slapped Fluttershy across the face, waking her from her dream, they were in Luna's chamber, true it had been ripped apart, but it had been Fluttershy that had fainted.
"Is Luna back?" Fluttershy asked weakly.
"Yes child, I am," Luna said, she looked injured, she had cuts all over her body.
"Fluttershy, we got Nightmare ou of Luna, but Nightmare is still out there," Twilight said, helping Fluttershy up.
"Fluttershy, that spell killed almost everypony else in the castle, it ripped it apart, but the guards were all dead," Twilight said, a tear in her eye.
"I'm so sorry Princess Luna, i-I" Fluttershy pleaded.
"Relax Fluttershy, I'ts okay, I forgive you, but only if you can capture or kill Nightmare will their deaths be not in vain," Luna said.
Fluttershy looked into the hallway, the walls were mainly gone, and the roof was gone.
"Can you help us Luna?" Fluttershy asked.
"No, I am too weak right now, but I know the location of two who can," Luna said, Twilight and Fluttershy disappeared, reappearing at Zecora's hut.
"Zecora, of course!" Twilight exclaimed.
Fluttershy and Twilight walked into Zecora's hut and were surprised by who was also there, it was Trixie.
"What are you two doing, why did you arrive when the Great and Powerful, oh forget it, why are you two here?" trixie asked, looking at Twilight and Fluttershy.
"We need you two, Nightmare is on the loose, he is killing anyone who doesn't obey his will," Twilight said, looking from Zecora to Trixie.
"Why did you come to me and Zecora?" Trixie asked, looking ever more closely at Twilight.
"Well actually, we were sent by Princess Luna," Twilight said.
"Well if it's the Princesses will, let us not stay still," Zecora said, rising from the chair she was sitting in.
"Well, I might as well go too," Trixie said, walking towers the door.
"Great, let's go," twilight said, walking out the door.
"Where are we going anyway?" Trixie asked.
"The royal Palace," Twilight said, grabbing all of them, teleporting them all right outside of Luna's chamber.
They all reappeared inside the Palace, right outside of Luna's chamber, as planned.
"Ah, Twilight, you're back and with the two i said, thank you," Luna said, a grin on her face.
"No problem Princess, I..." Twilight watched as Luna turned into a ghostly figure that was black, black flowing hair, it was Nightmare.
"Thank you," Nightmare said, sending a shadow over to Zecora, whose eyes glowed bright yellow as she was lifted up into the air.
"I am Zenorath, goddess of hate," Zecora said, her voice sounding like it was coming form a thousand directions at once.
Another shadow shot out at trixie, she too raised in the air, her eyes glowing bright red.
"I am the great and Powerful Garishal, goddess of Loneliness," Trixie said.
"You see, Twilight and Flutterdie, I used you both, I took care of Princess Luna earlier," Nightmare said with an evil smile.
"No you didn't," Luna said, her and Celestia were standing in the doorway, horns glowing.
"Now Twilight, Fluttershy, you both will need power to fight, so here you go," Celestia's horn glowed, and Fluttershy gained muscle, and some height, but Twilight, Twilight's mane caught ablaze, and her coat turned white, she was leaking pure energy.
"Fluttershy, you take Trixie, I will take Zecora," twilight said, as she walked, she discovered that she was faster than she was before.
"Luna and I will take Nightmare," Celestia said.
"GO!" Twilight yelled, flames exploding from her scream.
Fluttershy, Twilight, and the two Princesses ran at the Nightmares. Fluttershy jumped and kicked Garishal in her mouth, she hit the wall on the far end, Garishal shot a killing spell that would have burned Fluttershy's insides out if it had her. Fluttershy got mad, she ran up to Trixie and punched her in the jaw, but Trixie shot one final spell, it missed Fluttershy though.
Twilight shot flames at Zecora, or her possessed body, it set her cloak on fire, she threw it off, her hair caught ablaze as well. Zecora's possessed soul was burning with the hair, the demon seemed to have left, but when Twilight got closely, the yellow eyes were still there, Zecora kicked Twilight and she flew into the far wall. Twilight was injured, Zecora was about to finish her off with a head stomp when a spell hit Zecora and her skin caught on fire, Zecora stumbled backwards, screaming, she finally collapsed, her body on longer on fire.
Luna and Celestia ran at Nightmare, who put up a shield, the two sisters stopped, a single spell from Garishal hit Luna, the second of impact, it exploded on her skin, she was thrown through the wall, hitting a statue on the other side. luna rose, stumbled, and collapsed.
"Luna!!" Celestia yelled, she got angry, her mane turned into a bright yellow, it flowed white and yellow actually, and her body turned black as the blackest night, a mix of her mother and her father.
Nightmare stepped back a few steps, not sure what to expect, Celestia's eyes glowed bright white, all of the magic in the universe couldn't stop her now, she walked forward, the round behind her started to crack, and break up.
"Nightmare, you will die!!" Celestia yelled, the room broke apart, the shields disappeared, and Nightmare was against a wall. Celestia got closer, and Nightmare started to dissolve, screaming, his body slowly disappeared before him, Celestia arrived, she placed a hoof on his forehead, his body exploded, a million screams filled the room, and then it was silent.
Celestia's magic disappeared, she returned to normal, along with Twilight, Fluttershy and Trixie. Zecora was too far burned, she was killed by Trixie, or at least Trixie's possessed soul.
Fluttershy looked over as a book hit the ground, it fell open, the page number being twenty seven, the wind blew it over and closed the book, and with that, Fluttershy passed out.
Celestia gathered up everybody, and they teleported to Canterlot Mercy Hospital.
"i'm glad to see you awoke," Celestia said, looking the door.
"What happened to Luna, Trixie, Twilight, adn Zecora/" Fluttershy asked.
"i'm sorry Fluttershy, our friend Zecora won't be able to see you again, she died yesterday, Luna and Twilight will be alright, trixie will be sent to Canterlot Insane Asylum over losing her very dear friend Zecora, and her realizing it was her fault," Celestia said, a tear in her eye.
"And Nightmare?" Fluttershy asked, hoping that he was gone.
"He's gone," Celestia said with a slight smile, Fluttershy was relieved, she drifted off into a nice, dream filled sleep.
The end...
