Chapters The train ride was quite exciting as the ponies were treated to a delightful view of Ponyville as the train climbed in spirals up the mountain, the huge castle city of Canterlot on a distant cliff.
"We need another member will be sure to get the job done. We can't take any risks." Princess Celestia said.
"Princess, we already left Ponyville. Is this somepony in Canterlot?" Twilight asked curiously.
"No. She's on this train with us." Princess Celestia said. "I'm sure some of you are familiar with her?"
She stepped aside, revealing a light yellow pony with a flowing black and grey mane. Her purple eyes darted around, a mischievous smirk on her face.
"No... Way..." Twilight shook her head slowly.
"You're real?" Rainbow Dash gaped at the figure.
"They aren't just books, you know." Daring Do said, shaking hands with the ponies.
"Looks like a lot of you have read her books?" Celestia smiled.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my go-" Applejack stuffed a hoof into Rainbow's mouth, muffling the remainder of her highly repetitive sentence.
"I see I do have some fans..." Daring put on her light green signature hat.
Rainbow Dash leaped forward and skid to a halt before Daring's hooves, lying on the floor and looking up expectantly.
"Pleeaaase Daring.... You have to teach me those tricks!" she begged.
Twilight chuckled.
The remainder of the ride was spent with the ponies enquiring about Daring Do's adventures, all listening intently as Daring told her stories in pony herself. They hardly noticed when the gleaming white-and-gold castle towers of Canterlot loomed over them.
A white unicorn with a blue mane and a pink pony with a multi-colored mane greeted them at the train station.
"Cadence! Shining Armor!" Twilight squealed and leaped into their arms as the train doors opened.
"Princess Cadence. Shining Armor." Applejack bowed.
"So good to see you! How are you two? Did you spend a lot of time together? How's Canterlot? It seems sunny don't you agree it's so sunny here..." Shining Armor was prepared for Pinkie's barrage of questions, and replied in kind.
"Yes, it's all very nice here." he said, then patted Twilight in the head. The two siblings never saw each other often, as Shining Armor is the captain of the royal guards, and Twilight is assigned to research duty at Ponyville.
When the greetings were over, they got straight to business.
"How are you feeling, Luna?" Cadence twirled Luna's hair. "Think you can handle this?"
"I'll be fine." Luna said. "Just get out of my way if Nightmare Moon comes out. I'm just scared I might kill somepony and not even get the chance to apologize."
"Don't worry. I'm sure Twilight and the others can handle it." Shining Armor said, but doubt still lingered in his words as they trotted towards the castle.
"Twilight, you think you can keep the spell going?" Celestia asked. Keeping the spell intact was of utmost importance, as Nightmare Moon may easily escape should the spell break down in the middle of the operation.
"I've practiced it." Twilight said. The princess had given her the book months ago. "I think I can handle it fine."
"That's my good student." Celestia smiled proudly, and was the closest to a grin she ever got- although keeping graceful was quite important too, so grinning didn't happen often.
Pinkie was talking with Fluttershy and Rarity, while Rainbow Dash took the opportunity as team leader to talk to Daring Do more about the plans. Princess Celestia had explained each pony's role in the operation on the way, and Daring, Rainbow and Applejack were the frontline fighters should they encounter any of Nightmare Moon's minions.
"Pinkie is the architect, so she'll construct the dream. We can add anything to it, but can't change any of he dream's environment- so we can have heavy armor if we want." Rainbow said, walking along side Daring.
"Good equipment won't get us as far as good teamwork my dear." Daring patted Rainbow on the back.
The huge golden gates to the castle grounds loomed over them, and the guards on either side opened them with their magic. The castle grounds were immense, filled with the most beautiful of plants and cutest of animals. This was heaven for Fluttershy. She danced around the gardens, birds crowding and chirping around her.
Princess Cadence chuckled. "Come on now, Fluttershy. We need to fix Luna up first. I promise you can have your time here afterwards."
Luna moaned, and rubbed her head, an involuntary spark of magic escaping her horn.
"We really need to get you to bed." Twilight said, looking worriedly at Luna.
The climb to the top of one of the castle towers was excruciating, but it was a secure location and there was an army of royal guards on standby.
Applejack flinched as she entered the room in which the operation will be performed- the forcefield Shining Armor conjured was invisible, and the sensation put the creeps on her. "Shucks! What in the name of Celestia-" she suddenly zipped her mouth. "Sorry."
"Quite all right." princess Celestia said in an urgent and dismissive manner. "Twilight, set up the spell. Captain Armor, I need your guards ready, and on high alert for the next seven hours. Good luck, all."
"On it, ma'am." Twilight said, and started charging up the spell in her horn. Shining Armor went off to issue orders.
"Rest, sister; for it'll all be over soon- one way or the other." Celestia gently lay Luna to bed.
"This has got to be the worst birthday ever." Luna moaned.
"Don't worry princess, we'll try our best to make the dream a happy one." Applejack assured her.
"Everypony, drink your sleep potions. Good luck again." Celestia bowed, signaling the beginning of the operation.
"All right everypony! Three! Two! One! Let's go!" Pinkie Pie yelled, and the team gulped down the potions Celestia gave them. Twilight released the spell, and then they all collapsed onto the ground, their eyelids already closing when they fell through the air.
Rainbow Dash's eyes abruptly flung open, and she peered through her lashes to shed out the burning sun- looks like they are in a desert. Well, she was in a desert.
She swerved around, checking all around herself. No sign of Twilight, no sign of Daring. She was alone in the desert. She knew it was a dream, but couldn't help but feel frustrated that Pinkie probably didn't do her job properly.
Suddenly the world around her started to melt, but she stayed where she was, sitting on nothing as the ground collapsed beneath her. Darkness overcame everything, but she could still see herself clear as day. This was odd, and she knew it was odd. Often in normal dreams this would've seemed normal and she wouldn't have questioned the laws of physics in this dream world, but Twilight's spell caused the brain to function normally, joining the minds together into the same dream, also sharpening their senses too, so their minds function as they would while being awake.
Color started swirling at Rainbow Dash's feet, and everything expanded and exploded into a city.
"Manehatten? Pinkie- quit fooling around!" Rainbow yelled, disregarding whether or not Pinkie could hear her.
The streets were filled with ponies, talking, drinking, or just walking. Tall concrete sky-rise buildings reached for the sky all around her, the grey skies covering the entire area. The sun barely penetrated the polluted skies, but the city was still oddly bright. She heard a loud horn go off somewhere, and saw ponies in the distance scrambling away from a thick column of smoke that rose to the sun.
She stayed there for a moment, listening to the chaos and watching the source of the smoke speed towards her. Then she heard the cracking of concrete, and got a full does of adrenaline.
She sprang into action, her wings beating at the air as she jetted towards the sky. There was one final beep from the horn that rocked her bones and made her jaw clatter, then a deafening roaring accompanied it as a freight train sped underneath her, the wind hitting her hard and launching her through the air. She landed on her back on the roof of the train, her mane flowing in the wind as the train wrecked havoc across the city.
"Pinkie... I knew I shouldn't have made her the architect." Rainbow muttered, but she couldn't even hear herself over the howling wind. She stretched her wings, then leaped forward, getting an extra boost from the train's speed and darting forward. She glided alongside the train, checking the windows on the sides. All with curtains drawn.
She flew closer, and kicked one of the windows with all her strength. It shattered, and she tumbled into the empty compartment. She sprung up, ready to engage an enemy- but none came.
Shadows played across the floors and walls as the filtered light constantly changed angles. She slowly walked forward, her light footsteps barely audible in the constant screeching of the train's wheels on concrete. Light was coming from the next compartment, and she already expected what she was to see before she opened the door.
"Found you guys." she muttered.
"Rainbow! Shucks, we thought we'd never find you." Applejack said.
"Well, for the record you almost ran me over." Rainbow Dash growled.
"No time for arguing. We have seven hours to get to Nightmare Moon- she's located at the most remote place of Luna's mind- her personality itself." Twilight said.
"And how are we supposed to get to that?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.
"Nightmare Moon's minions will be guarding the way there. The closer we get, the more concentrated they will be." Twilight explained.
Suddenly the train rocked, and an explosion shook the entire train.
"And I think we're heading in the right way." she finished.
A series of clunks echoed across the roof.
"Here they are." Rainbow Dash looked up. "Derpy, Daring, on me. Let's go!" she said, and flew up, busting a hole in the roof, followed by Derpy Hooves and Daring Do.
"Come on ponies! We need to keep them clear of the train!" Pinkie shouted, and her party cannon appeared at her feet.
"Watch out for the sides- that'll be where they'll come in." Applejack warned. While the pegasi are covering them from the air, they won't be able to take care of everyone. Fluttershy was cowering in a corner, but Twilight chose to ignore her as she probably won't be able to help anyway.
"Doctor, we need you to repair the barricades if they break in." Twilight said. The Doctor nodded, and the sonic screw driver appeared between his teeth.
"First wave- oh." Rainbow Dash flew through the air, and fell silent as she spotted the first wave of enemies souring through the sky, leaving a trail of thick smoke and lightning behind them. "Shadowbolts! Incoming!"
She charged forth, a shining bubble of disrupted air and energy forming in front of her as she threatened to enter sonic speed.
"More to the left- Derpy! Go with Rainbow! I'll handle the left side." Daring said, and swooshed away.
Rainbow Dash heard a loud explosion behind her, lighting up the sky with multiple colors. She is now at sonic speed, and just then she performed a sonic rain-boom. Now she had a clear trail of rainbows following her as she sliced through the air. She hit one of the shadowbolts head on, and he vaporized into shadows.
The train rocked as something collided with its side.
"Uh-oh. That can't be good." Twilight struggled to regain balance, before being thrown off her feet again as the train shifted to the side.
"We need to set up a defense system-" Applejack rolled from one side of the train to the other.
"Okey dokey lokey!" Pinkie said, and bounced through the hole Rainbow made and hopped onto the roof.
Twilight looked worriedly at Applejack. "What might Pinkie-"
Suddenly there was the noise of exploding confetti and swoosh and bangs of fireworks. Multicolored lights flowed into the cabin.
"Pinkie! You're gonna get us shot down too!" Rainbow swerved right to avoid a rocket.
"But I didn't make these!" Pinkie yelled from below, trying desperately to blow the fuses out- but for some reason, not even the howling wind could extinguish the sparks.
"Sure you didn't- wait, what?"
"They keep popping up!" Pinkie screamed, waving her hooves in the air out of desperation as a few more boxes of fireworks appeared on the roof.
"Pinkie! What's going on out there? You do know you're supposed to shoot the Shadowbolts, right?" Twilight's head popped up from inside the hole.
"I'm not doing this! This dream is going crazy!!" Pinkie was running around in circles, trying to knock the boxes off the side.
"You look crazier than the dream is." Twilight muttered, and went back inside.
"Dash! There's more of 'em!" Daring yelled.
"Reckon we're getting closer?" Rainbow swished around, speeding straight for the Shadowbolts in tight formation.
"Pinkie! Can you erase the fireworks?" Twilight asked.
"I tried! But they won't go away!" Pinkie yelled back.
So somepony is controlling the dream alongside Pinkie- they can't change each other's modification deliberately- so we'll just have to keep the fireworks off the best we can. Twilight assessed the situation in her head. Nightmare Moon must be controlling the dream as well.
"Um... Girls?" Fluttershy said. "GIRLS!"
"What Fluttershy!" Twilight yelled, pacing anxiously and helping the Doctor reinforce barricades with her magic.
"I... Look..." Fluttershy pointed out the front window.
Twilight walked over to the window, certain there was nothing there. She peered through it, struggling to see through her own reflection. Her certainty turned to shock and horror as she spotted what was ahead of them- one solid brick wall, stretching across the horizon and out of site. It rose right in front of them, rising all the way to the sky.
"Pinkie!" Twilight yelled. No reply. "PINKIE!"
Applejack leaped onto the roof.
"Come on y'all!" she yelled, started dragging a protestant Pinkie- she was kicking and screaming at the fireworks. "We gotta get inside!"
"Daring!" Rainbow Dash cried out- Daring Do was engaging an entire squad of Shadowbolts, and was slowly being overwhelmed. "Get back here!"
But even as Rainbow said this, she could tell running wasn't an option for Daring. The Shadowbolts had completely surrounded her.
"Buck this." Rainbow cursed, and darted for Daring.
Two of the Shadowbolts were right on Daring's tail, almost catching up. The other two were turning around to meet her head on.
A small bubble started forming at Rainbow's outstretched hooves, sparkling with energy.
Daring seemed to notice her inevitable defeat as the four Shadowbolts closed in on her.
"Come on... Come on..." Rainbow urged her wings.
Daring tried to fly higher up, but the Shadowbolts followed her easily.
Suddenly the entire scene exploded into multiple colors as Rainbow Dash performed a sonic rain-boom right in the center of the battle. Daring was flung backwards, and the Shadowbolts disappeared into vapor.
Daring was falling now, her eyes closing and the world spiraling around her. She could feel reality tugging on the other side, and she fought with all her mental energy to avoid waking up. She was traveling in a steady arc from the blast of the sonic boom. Her mane flailed in the air, her hat gliding somewhere above her. All the spinning blurred colors were starting to make her even dizzier than she already is- and she didn't think that was possible. Then something flashed, the bright and distinct colors of a rainbow. The world stopped spinning now, and the buildings of Manehatten were passing by her eyes. She felt a hoof digging into her side, holding onto her jacket and keeping her from falling. She tilted her head, sore with injuries; and watched as Rainbow Dash, with a rainbow trailing after her; speeding for the train. She cursed silently as she realized they probably won't make it.
The train was almost at the brick wall now. Rainbow was faster, but was also quite a bit behind. She looked at the other carriages of the train, and had an idea. Instead of going after the front, she flew for the carriage in the middle- because the last would be unlike to smash all the way through the brick wall- and she also doubted it was just a brick wall.
There was a defeating clang and groaning of metal as the front of the train hit the wall, smashing through it. Rainbow Dash and Daring Do slammed into a window on the middle carriage- it shattered, and they tumbled onto the carriage floor, slamming their backs against it and breathing hard.
There was more groaning of metal, and a temporary darkness settled over the carriage as the past through the wall. The wall was at least five layers thick, from what Rainbow saw.
She felt a slight shift in gravity, and wondered if her headache was causing that, but then she saw things starting to topple to one side, and forced herself to get up.
The front end of the train had already flipped on its side, skidding on the floor and sending up a myriad of sparks. The back started catching up with the front, and the entire length started crumbling into a gigantic zig-zag. It was chaos on the streets as ponies scrambled inside buildings. The back carriage suddenly detached, hit a bump, and was sent soaring vertically into the air. It disappeared behind a building, then re-emerged, smashing right through the concrete structure, sending debris flying all over the area. And still it went, coming back down into the streets and erupting into a huge fire ball.
Rainbow forced her tired wings to take flight again, dragging Daring Do with her towards the top, or what was the right side. She hit the window with a hoof, but her drained strength did little but scratch the glass. She hit it again, but it was no use. They had to get out of the carriage.
Suddenly Daring Do leapt up, her back hooves smashing right through the window. Rainbow hauled them out, but Daring Do was the one who actually lifted them both away from the carriage, her wings beating as hard as she could against the air.
"Just a temporary concussion." Daring explained. Rainbow Dash nodded weakly. After all, this was Daring Do.
"Hold on a sec, where's Derpy?" Rainbow's eyes widened, and she looked back to the hole in the wall. Guilt turned to anger as she spotted Derpy Hooves flutter her way out of the hole in the wall, looking curiously at the wall. Rainbow wondered why they didn't do that in the first place.
This temporary annoyance was swept away as they realized the train was still going on its side- with the rest of the ponies in the front carriage- right towards a building that would obviously stop the train.
Twilight's eye lids flung open. She must've been knocked out- thank Celestia she didn't wake up. She groaned, and tried to stand up, but fell back down again as the train hit a bump and she was thrown into the air. She fell hard on her back, the air knocked from her lungs. She noticed that everypony else was conscious and grabbing hold of something.
"Twiligh'!" Applejack yelled. "Hold on ta somethin'!"
Twilight quickly got her breath back, and dived for one of the beds. It was on its side, and the railings were enough for her to put a hoof through and secure herself.
The windows at the bottom had already shattered, and they all watched in a horrified manner as the rough gravel and concrete mixture scraped against the window frames, passing under them at blurring speeds. Sparks were jumping everywhere, and some portions of the frames were glowing orange.
Without warning, the train hit something large, and was crashing through layers and layers of fancy hotel walls.
Twilight's hoof was jerked from the railing, and she was launched across the carriage, her eyes watching the chaos. Everything was flying everywhere, shattered remains of glass vases floated in temporary zero gravity as the train was abruptly stopped.
She watched a vase, floating across the carriage slowly, hit one of the bed railings, and slowly break apart into twenty pieces. She thought the dream's physics were corrupt at first, then the slow motion stopped and she slammed against what was once the ceiling. She crumbled down onto the floor, whimpering at her dislocated shoulder. She was quite grateful after thinking about it for a moment, since all she got was a dislocated shoulder.
"Y'all right sugar cube?" Applejack crouched next to her, a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry..." Twilight gasped at the pain. "Just a dream, right?"
"Oh you poor thing..." Fluttershy walked up to her like she was one of her injured animals. "I can help with that- just grind your teeth and..."
Twilight was about to protest, but didn't have the time to as Fluttershy grabbed hold of her arm, and yanked at it, twisting at the same time. Tears shot out of Twilight's eyes and she screamed in agony- but it was only instant. The pain was now gone, and her shoulder felt normal again. She waved her once injured arm around.
"Fluttershy... That was incredible. But next time, give me a warning." she said.
"I thought I did..." Fluttershy said quietly, but not sarcastically. She always meant what she said.
There was a clang from the ceiling, and one of the windows broke. Rainbow Dash poked her head through.
"You girls all right? And... A boy." Rainbow added, seeing the Doctor.
"We're fine! That was fuuuuun..." Pinkie said, bouncing around excitedly.
"We haven't much time though. The concentration of Nightmare Moon's minions here is still at a relatively low level. We only have six hours of the seven, so best we start moving straight away." the Doctor said.
"Seriously? No rest?" Rainbow complained.
"We're all sleeping, and constantly getting rest. In fact, a little too much for the day. Let's go." the Doctor said, using his sonic screwdriver on a wall. It fell apart, and they stepped through.
The group was immediately alerted by the amount of ponies casually walking by them.
"What's this about?" Twilight wondered.
"Subconscious." the Doctor murmured, Derpy following close behind as he paced around the area. "Give them a reason, and they'll swarm on you. This is Luna's subconscious, not Nightmare Moon's. The minions were hers."
"Right. So these gals are on our side?"
"These gals are on no one's side. And if somepony threatens them, they'll turn on that pony immediately. So best avoid contact." Doctor Whooves explained.
"Awww..." Pinkie seemed rather disappointed.
"Where do we go now?" Applejack asked.
"Try to get through this hotel. Nightmare Moon put it here, so we can't just make it disappear. It'll be dangerous even if we could because we're on the tenth floor with a bunch of ponies that will spring at us if we make a move." the Doctor said.
"Wait- tenth floor?" Twilight peered through a crack in the wall. The rest of the train was at the bottom on the streets, while the main carriage was stuck in the wall. It must've been launched up here by some kind of ramp.
"Wait- then how did Dashie get here?" Derpy frowned.
"Oh yeah. We could go out the same way." Daring said.
"No, cause a lot of us can't fly." the Doctor shook his head.
"Summon our hot air balloon?" Pinkie bounced excitedly.
"We'd be sitting ducks. Targets. We might get ambushed in here, but we're still not sitting ducks waiting to be picked out." the Doctor said. Pinkie lowered her head, disappointed yet again.
"Let's just go. We don't have much time left." Twilight said, and started moving forward into a corridor.
"Wait-" the Doctor began, but was cut off as a wall sprang up between Twilight and the other ponies.
"Doctor! Applejack!" Twilight's voice was faint on the other side.
"Nightmare Moon's trying to separate us. Meet you on the other end." Rainbow Dash said. "We went through this once with Discord, we can do it again."
"Yeah, except for last time it didn't end pretty." Twilight yelled from the other side, but what reached the ponies were just at normal volume.
"Whatever you do- don't get distracted!" the Doctor yelled. "Should've learned that by now!"
"Let's go. Come on, y'all. We need to stick together." Applejack said, and led the way towards a different corridor.
All the walls were painted white, and golden lights shone down from the ceiling above. The walls were lined with doors made out of expensive red wood, fitting in with their equally expensive frames.
"This is some hotel..." Daring murmured.
"Just keeping going straight in this direction, and we'll-" Applejack stopped- the corridor suddenly turned left. "Shucks."
"That could be a problem." Rainbow said.
"A maze, eh..." Daring looked around. "Heh, I guess princess Celestia was right in bringing me here after all." with years of experience solving mysteries and puzzles, Daring started leading the way. "This one's a lot more complicated than the others." she said, deciding whether to turn left or right at an intersection.
"Keep to the right wall, so they say." Rainbow looked temptingly at the right wall.
"I'm surprised you know that. Doing research?" Daring raised an eyebrow.
"Always wanted to be like you." Rainbow said with a shrug. "Didn't think you were real."
"Mmm." Daring said, and headed right, forgetting about waiting for the others. She yelped in surprise as a wall sprang from the ground, cutting her off from the rest of the group.
"Daring!" Rainbow yelled, smashing a hoof on the wall.
"Find your way through. I'll be fine." Daring Do said, and they heard her trot away.
Suddenly the lights above them flickered, sending shadows scattering over the walls. They didn't notice that none of the subconscious ponies were here- until now. Shadows danced across the corridor as the source of light constantly changed, and Fluttershy shuddered, covering her eyes with her hooves.
Shadows.
"Lookout everypony!" Applejack ducked down just as a blade of shadow swiped through the air where she was a second ago, cutting her beloved hat in half. "Well 'at just sucks." she said, looking at her shredded hat.
"Uh-oh. Here they come." Rainbow Dash said as the light returned to normal, but this time the room was crowded with shadow ponies.
One of them dashed at Rainbow, who briskly stepped aside and diverted the pony into the ground. These really were more like changelings- except they don't change. Well, they shape shift, but they can't put on a disguise.
"Keep Fluttershy in the center!" the Doctor yelled- Fluttershy was no fighter, and could barely defend herself.
One of the shadow ponies disappeared behind a cloud of confetti. Pinkie had summoned her party cannon, and was firing boxing gloves into the crowd of shadow ponies, knocking them back and keeping them at bay.
Applejack kicked with her back legs. "These legs are for buckin' 'em apple trees! Ya think ya stand a chance?" a shadow pony was launched off its feet as it took a hoof right in the chest.
"Girls! Stay together-" Rainbow Dash yelled, but the walls had already sprung. Now everypony was separated, with their own crowd of shadow ponies to deal with. "Keeps getting better." she muttered.
One of the shadow ponies bared its fangs at her, and lunged. Rainbow stepped aside like she did earlier, avoiding the biting teeth. She hooked her left hoof into the pony's arm, and reached all the way out until it passed its head, pulling it into an armlock, disabling it. Another sprang at her, and she simply swung the one she had in a lock around as a melee and slammed them both together- just like she read about in one of Daring's books. The two collided and vanished into dark mist.
She spun around, kicking back with her right leg and taking her left hoof off the ground, launching herself forward. The pony she kicked turned into mist, and she propelled herself into another shadow pony, taking it down.
However, Nightmare Moon, being Nightmare Moon; had way more tricks than simple shadows up her sleeves. A streak of lightning zapped at Rainbow Dash, and she barely dodged it in time, ending up with a fried tip on her tail.
"Not this again..." she muttered, the memory of Derpy bouncing on the rain cloud fresh in her mind.
The lightning attacks were coming from some of the shadow ponies- one of them raised its hoof, and that was enough a gesture for Rainbow to dodge sideways. The bright line of electricity hit the shadow pony behind her and It disappeared. The shadow pony that fired the shot sheepishly sank back into the crowd.
Using the ponies as shields, she was able to avoid the lightning bolts several times. She grabbed a shadow pony's hoof and twisted it around just as it was about to fire, sending the lightning bolt into another pony's chest.
She spotted something out of the corner of her eye, and was just in the process of reacting and turning around when a shadow pony tackled her, slamming into her side; sending them both through a wooden door and into a hotel suite. They tumbled onto the carpet, and Rainbow slammed the shadow pony into a cabinet. It vanished.
Now Rainbow Dash is in a position she doesn't want to be in. She was trapped inside the room, with a swarm of shadow ponies slowly filing in. She desperately looked around for something she could use.
A shadow pony charged in, and Rainbow shattered a glass vase against its head, knocking it into oblivion. She took down another few by flipping a cabinet at the door.
The room was quickly running out of stuff to hurl. Rainbow had already used up all the chairs, the tables, and even the bed- all that was left was the cabinet. She ripped the right cabinet door from its hinges, and threw it across the room. It exited the door, and a loud cracking noise erupted from somewhere out of sight.
Rainbow was about to take the other door when she spotted the railing inside the cabinet that held all the clothes- and a mischievous grin slowly spread across her face.
She ripped the railing away from the cabinet, shook off the clothes, and started using it as a pole. She balanced it in her hooves.
"Delicate." she said happily, and took a fighting stance Daring had told her once. The best part was, the pole was made of metal.
She dashed outside into the corridor again, knocking down shadow ponies with her new weapon as she charged out.
The shadow ponies seemed a lot more wary now that their opponent had a weapon that basically changes everything. One of them fired a lightning bolt at her- and she didn't bother dodging it.
Rainbow pointed one end of the pole at the lightning bolt, it made contact, and started traveling down the length of the pole. She twirled it around, and the lightning bolt was fired off from the opposite end and it hit a shadow pony.
Unstoppable. Rainbow thought.
A shadow pony leaped up, and its hooves turned into two blades. It slashed down, and Rainbow brought the pole up to block both of them. The blades failed to cut through the inch-thick metal, but they did get embedded. Rainbow twirled it around, flinging the shadow pony back into the crowd. There weren't many of them left now.
*
Daring Do was sprinting through the corridor, and slid on the ground as a dark blade passed right in front of her face. She stopped to get up for a second and caught her breath, then kept running. The maze seemed quite massive, and she must get to the end as fast as she can- time is of the essence in this situation, after all. Nightmare Moon grows stronger by the second.
A shadow pony tried to block her way. She took off her hat and spun it into the pony's face. While it was distracted, she slammed a hoof into its nose, taking the hat and placing it on her head again as she ran past; listening to the satisfying thud behind her as it dropped.
She heard a whistling noise, and jumped up just in time to avoid a swarm of arrows that passed by her feet.
This is all becoming disturbingly familiar... She thought as she trampled over another shadow pony.
A shadow pony crashed through a wooden door, clearly involuntary as it didn't get back up. Something white flashed as Daring passed the door, and she instinctively brought her hooves up to protect herself. A second later she found herself in a lock with Rainbow Dash, who was holding a pole.
"Nice find." Daring said, releasing the pole.
"Thanks." Rainbow Dash said, lowering her weapon.
Both of their eyes widened, and instantly they both knew what to do. Rainbow brought the pole up and stabbed forth. Daring stepped aside, spinning and bringing her leg up for a decent kick. Both attacks struck the shadow ponies that tried to sneak up on them from behind.
"Good move." Daring said, back to back with Rainbow, her hooves ready to strike down any more enemies should they be in the vicinity.
"Thanks." Rainbow Dash scanned the area.
"Now, which way was I going again?"
"You forgot?"
"You distracted me."
"I lunged at you from the right. So it must be this way." Rainbow Dash pointed down the corridor.
"Ah-ha." Daring said, and started running down that way, followed by Rainbow.
"Poor Fluttershy." Rainbow muttered as they turned a corner.
"She'll be alright. She'll just wake up." Daring said, galloping at a consistent pace.
"Very reassuring." Rainbow rolled her eyes.
"Forgive me. I'm not used to having a partner around me."
That made Rainbow smile, since Daring considered her a partner now. To be the partner of Daring Do- now that, is cool.
*
Everything around Twilight was purple, lit up by her horn. She tried changing the color before, but didn't find a spell that would allow her to do so in her books- and now she regretted that she didn't try harder, because the purple was of a slightly darker shade and didn't do much to help her see in the dark. Everything was dark. The lights had decided to fail earlier on, and now she was starting to see things. Hear things. Like just then, there was the scrambling of footsteps behind her. She wondered if she was being paranoid.
She had her horn ready, just in case something did leap at her. The spell was all charged up, ready to be released. Despite knowing that this was only a dream, and if she gets killed she'll just wake up; it didn't comfort her the slightest bit. It was equally haunting.
Equally real.
She listened to her own footsteps, so loud in the silence. No pony else was here. She was all alone.
More noises. Teeth- no, fangs- grinding together. They were coming closer.
Twilight let out a nervous chuckle, hoping her own voice could provide some comfort, some sort of presence other than the shadows that tried to break through the light.
Her steps were controlled and restrained by her fear. She didn't dare gallop and attract attention, nor walk slowly and let whatever was behind her catch up.
She just wanted to curl up in bed with her Smarty Pants doll, and lie there for hours; knowing there's nothing watching her from the shadows. Most of all, she wanted her friends here.
She shook her head vigorously. Don't get distracted.
But she couldn't help it. The shadows were giving her the creeps.
A door suddenly creaked open, and she yelped in surprise; letting out a blast of energy from her horn that fried the ceiling. Nothing came out of the door, and she was left with cold sweat sticking to her skin, panting with fear. She gingerly tip toed around it, gazing in, afraid of what she might find. To her relief, there was nothing there.
Come on, come on... She thought to herself. We defeated her once, plus Discord, we can do it again.
Uncertainty rose inside her, and she tried to shake it off. It stayed quite stubbornly, but eventually Twilight was able to overcome it with her fear, giving her mind something else to worry about.
More scrambling behind her. She dared herself to peek behind her, but all she saw was the darkness beyond the light of her horn, and the shadows that feasted on the light.
Shadows that don't make any sense.
She panicked, and started backing away. The shadows twisted and turned, not of her doing. They ate at the light, swallowing it, curling around and herding it away.
Twilight let out a whine as they began to circle around her.
MLP-Inception fanfic
Luna Nightmare
Prologue:
The dark-purple colored alicorn rested by the lake, watching one single strip of reflected moonlight shimmer and disappear into the horizon. The moon was above it all, a bright white sphere and the only light source in this remote location. Her chest piece glimmered along with the lake, and her long dark mane flowed in the breeze, reflecting the stars. Her blue eyes were lowered, looking down at the dirt and grass, trying to take her mind off her headache.
She heard a fluttering behind her, but didn't move. She heard her sister's footsteps come closer, walking slowly towards her. Still she didn't look up.
"Luna. Still have the headaches?" Princess Celestia nudged her with her cheek.
"They won't go away." Luna said, her head still lowered.
"She's getting stronger, isn't she?" Celestia asked softly, masking her worry.
Luna nodded. Nightmare Moon coming back wasn't the subject she wanted to talk about. She looked up finally, and checked the moon's position. Cursing her headache and noticing it was a few degrees off, she quickly adjusted it to the correct position.
Celestia laid a gentle hoof on Luna's back.
"Rest, sister. Build up strength." she said softly.
"I refuse." Luna said without hesitation, somewhat weakly. "As always, I shall guard the night."
"I have managed both before. I can do it again. This is a crisis, dear sister- you must rest. Plus you have your party tomorrow. You must, absolutely must make it." Celestia said.
Luna thought about it. She didn't particular fancy the party, but her headache was killing her- and not even Celestia's magic could recover her damaged brain cells. She knew she needed rest, but she didn't want her sister taking over the night as well. As much as she worried for Celestia, she also wanted to stand her ground and stay- but she saw no logic in her instinct, and reluctantly obeyed.
"We're not gods, you know." Luna said as she stood up from her crouched position. "We both need rest when it is appropriate."
"I can handle it." Celestia said, patting Luna on the back lovingly.
Luna's eyelids drooped as she walked away from the lake, another wave of pain sent through her head. She shook it off, stretched her wings, and took off.
*
The light blue sky stretched over the pure white clouds, one site the rainbow-color-maned pegasus saw everyday. She rested on a piece of cloud, and despite being a top-class athlete, laziness was apparent. She flipped over, burying her chin in the soft cloud. It had baked in the sun for hours, and was warm and cosy. Nothing better on a sunday morning. Well, Rarity would say silk pajamas were better, but Rainbow Dash herself preferred a nap, even after a good nights' sleep.
A village was laid out not too far below, only just close enough so Rainbow could see all four corners of Ponyville. The Everfree forest was dark in the distance, and not even the bright sunlight could change that. A narrow dirt road led it to Ponyville, one that most ponies never trudged upon.
Except for us. Rainbow Dash thought. Just two years ago they had entered the forest, searching for the mysterious Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon.
She wasn't that bad. Princess Luna is actually pretty nice to us ponies. If only she could fully master her normal voice and not occasionally let out her supposedly 'royal Canterlot voice'- last time that happened, it didn't end well. Rainbow Dash just kept thinking, wondering where her train-of-thought would lead her.
The train derailed as she heard a shout from below.
"Rainbow! Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash peered over the cloud, her eyes half closed.
"What?" she called down, leaning slightly over the edge of the cloud.
"Pinkie's party! You forgot didn't you?" a purple colored unicorn trotted away towards Sugar Cube Corner.
"Not surprising considering she hosts all the parties in Ponyville." Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself, then yawned, her wings flapping and lifting her from the cloud.
She flew down near the ground, and drifted centimeters away from it, hovering next to the purple unicorn.
"What was the occasion again?" she asked.
"Luna's birthday, if I remember correctly." which I always do. Twilight Sparkle added in her mind.
"Oh, right." Rainbow said, and yawned again. "Where's Spike?" Spike was a baby dragon Twilight obtained during her first test in Canterlot, where she got her cutie mark.
"He's there already. Helping make cupcakes for Pinkie." Twilight said.
"What a keen worker. I wish Tank could be like him sometimes." Rainbow complained.
Sugar Cube Corner was a cake shop on the side of the street, seemingly made of various candies, cakes, frostings and chocolates. While being a big jumbled of everything, it wasn't a mess when you looked at it. In fact it was quite neat and orderly- 'Organized Chaos', as Rarity would call it.
The bell ringed inside as Twilight opened the door, her unicorn horn glowing light purple as she used magic to push it open.
The inside was ablaze with activity- Pinkie Pie, a pink earth pony; was firing her trademark party cannon randomly at tables, causing confetti to explode and the table she fired at to be instantly decorated into a party fashion. Fluttershy, a light yellow pegasus with flowing pink hair was sitting in the back with Princess Celestia, supreme ruler of the Equestria. Despite calling her 'supreme ruler', she really was much of a kind and caring pony for her subjects- but she still showed power and authority when she needed to.
J 'Artison' W and Bailey 'DJ' Nunes were in a corner, talking about fanfics of something called 'MLP'. They never told any pony else except for a small group what it stood for.
Applejack and Big Macintosh were rolling in large barrels of Sweet Apple Acre's signature apple cider.
Rainbow Dash was about to fly over before Pinkie could drink all the cider, but was stopped by a white unicorn with a curly purple mane.
"Rainbow Dash! What happened to your mane?" Rarity gasped.
Rainbow looked up. The nap must've disrupted her hair a little. She combed a hoof over it.
"Done." she said.
"Come on- we've got royalty here!" Rarity looked around, making sure neither Princess Celestia nor Luna saw her.
"But Princess Luna specifically asked for a casual party!" Rainbow complained.
"There's nothing casual about visiting royalty!" Twilight added in, like she did last time when Princess Celestia visited.
"I'm just following orders." Rainbow said quickly, and fluttered away. She was later on disappointed to find that Pinkie had finished the first two barrels- again. At least she didn't have space for the rest.
Twilight caught sight of a grayish shape near the ceiling. She looked up, and was surprised by what she saw.
"You're on the ceiling." she said, looking up.
"I know." Derpy Hooves said, her wings by her side and her hooves stuck to the ceiling through no apparent magic or source.
"You're on the ceiling." Twilight repeated. "Without the help of any magic or science."
"So?" Derpy said happily, and started trotting around in circles upside down.
"It's not possible." Twilight finished.
"It isn't? Derpy asked, her crossed eyes seemingly looking in every direction but at Twilight.
"No, it isn't." Twilight confirmed. Suddenly Derpy dropped from the ceiling, and lay splayed on the floor, a disappointed expression on her face. Twilight quickly walked away before she could feel guilty about ruining Derpy's fun.
Princess Luna was at the main table with several other ponies, talking and laughing and generally having fun. Her dark blue hair wavered in the air, despite it being indoors and there is no breeze to lift her hair. Twilight never figured that one out- just like she couldn't figure out how Pinkie could go into mirrors.
"Happy birthday princess." Twilight bowed politely when Luna caught sight of her.
"Quite the thanks, dear." Luna chuckled. "But you can ditch the formalities now."
Twilight was still a little nervous about that, and warily walked off to sit down at her spot on the table.
Rainbow was gulping down entire cups of cider when she felt a light tap on her shoulder.
"Er... Hi, princess." she said gingerly as she turned around.
"Greetings, Rainbow Dash." Princess Celestia said friendlily, and Rainbow wondered if she should've listened to Rarity's advice. "I was just wondering if you could lend me a hand? I thought a top athlete could handle the job just fine. Although you'll need other ponies too, you can pick teams later." the princess pulled Rainbow somewhere out of earshot of all the other ponies.
"What is this favor you were talking about?" Rainbow asked curiously once the princess made sure no one was listening.
"Luna. I'm a little worried for her. She's been getting headaches lately, and says she always dreams of Nightmare Moon." Celestia said seriousely.
"Wait- she's afraid of herself?"
"Rainbow, you have to understand- Nightmare Moon is a whole different story from Luna. An evil self, if you will. I think she might be coming back."
"What? But we defeated her!" Rainbow Dash gasped.
"On the outside, yes. But Nightmare Moon is Luna, and I'll need you to defeat her again, this time once and for all."
"Er... You want me to defeat Luna."
"No! I need you to get into Luna's head. Defeat Nightmare Moon by the root. If you remove her from Luna's head, then she'll be gone for good." Princess Celestia said, and Rainbow became instantly lost.
"Wha-?" she began.
"There's a spell that will allow you to enter somepony's dreams. I can teach Twilight that. You need your team fast. It'll be a lot harder to deal with Nightmare Moon if she comes into the real world."
"So," Rainbow tried to straighten things out. "You want me, and my team; to, um.... Infiltrate Luna's mind, and defeat Nightmare Moon there?"
Princess Celestia nodded her head in a graceful manner. Rainbow couldn't for the life of her figure out how the Princess behaved so graceful in everything. She then handed Rainbow a sheet of paper, with a list of things written on it.
"These are the kind of ponies you need for your team. It must be specific- you'll need different ponies for different situations." the princess handed her the sheet. "Well, can you handle it?"
Rainbow Dash seemed lost in her own thoughts for a moment or two, then her eyes focused and she looked directly at the princess for the first time since the conversation, new determination rooted and sparkled in her dark purple eyes. She pulled her hoof up to her forehead in a royal guard salute.
"Don't worry princess! We'll handle the problem!"
"I'm sure you will." Princess Celestia intentionally ruffled Rainbow's already messy hair, making it clear that formalities were unnecessary.
Rainbow's shoulders sagged a little once the princess left.
Who am I supposed to have in my team? She wondered as she stared down at the list the princess gave her.
"Architect- this pony must be creative." Rainbow read aloud, emphasizing the 'must' as it was underlined multiple times in red ink. "Hmmmm." she hummed aloud, casting a gaze across the party. Derpy was talking with Doctor Whooves, but Rainbow immediately abandoned that thought. Wild Derpy may be creative in her own way... Well...
She spotted Pinkie bouncing around, her eye lashes bent into an upward arch accompanied by a grin which she wore everywhere. Rainbow thought about it for a moment, then walked forward.
"Pinkie!" she called.
After a frustratingly long time of attempting to explain the situation to Pinkie Pie without her being interrupted, Rainbow Dash got Pinkie to understand what was going on.
"Nightmare Moon?" Pinkie said in her squeaky voice. "What can I do?"
"Er... You can be the architect. Says it'll all be revealed what means what when we enter Luna's dream. But it told me to find someone creative- so, er, Pinkie, you're up."
"Okie dokie." Pinkie said as if it were no big deal, then bounced away.
"I don't exactly have the best feeling about this..." Rainbow Dash muttered.
Somepony to keep the time... She read on, and started looking around again. Time, eh...
She approached Derpy and the Doctor and took in a deep breath. She didn't talk to the strange pair often, and for that exact reason- they were strange.
"Hey Derpy." Rainbow bowed her head slightly. "Doctor."
Now that she had their attention, she went on explaining the whole thing over again. Looking down at the list, she groaned in frustration as she realized she had to explain the same thing about six more times before she could have a decent team.
"Well, I need a timer for all that. Apparently the time must be kept precise, or else something bad will happen." Rainbow shrugged at that. "Think you two will be up to the job?"
But the Doctor wasn't listening, he was just bouncing around like Pinkie Pie and all excited.
"Going into a dream!? That is one of the coolest things I heard of! You know, I travel around in the TARDIS all the time and there are all these other cool things, but colt, going into a dream!? So excited so excited..."
Rainbow Dash reached her hoof to the side, and the Doctor's face bounced right into it as he came skipping round the table, effectively knocking himself over.
"Right... Right..." the Doctor said, standing up and rubbing his face. "Sure, we can do it."
"Um... 'We'?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"Well, of course. Me and Derpy. You can't possibly be suggesting that you let one of us miss out on the adventure?" the Doctor said in a British accent.
British? Rainbow thought. Where the hay did that word come from? Sounds right for his accent though...
She stared into his expectant eyes, and those crossed pleasing ones of Derpy.
"Wha... I..." she stammered. "No. Of course not. You two, coming with me. Meeting after the party." she said, and trotted off, frustration creeping into her promise to Celestia.
"What do we have next..." she muttered to herself, unfolding the sheet she scrunched up in her hoof while talking to the Doctor and Derpy. Some reason she didn't even notice herself do that. "Spell conjurer- Twilight, no doubt. Mmm... Fighter? That'll be Applejack."
As much as Rainbow Dash didn't want to admit it, not even to herself; she knew Applejack was a worthy athlete and could potentially beat her- although she wouldn't allow that to happen any time soon.
So she went to explain everything.
"Al' righ', I ain't do'in anythin'. Next batch o' apples ain't ready yet..." Applejack said in her thick barn-yard accent. "This all safe? This stuff abou' enter'n a dream?"
"All you gotta do is sleep." Rainbow said matter-of-factly. "You might die in the dream, but then you'll just wake up."
"Wait, why would we die in the dream? Again?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.
Rainbow shrugged, and walked away. "Taming animals... Fluttershy." she said without further thought. "Somepony to watch over the sleepers on the outside and alert Princess Celestia if anything bad happens..."
Rainbow trotted over to Rarity, since she's the only pony who would probably resent what might be in a dream- she'll freak out if it has one speck of dust there.
"Well, I guess I could do that." Rarity said, careful not to reveal her gratitude after Rainbow Dash just explained what they're supposed to do.
"Just don't fall asleep." Rainbow said.
"I assure you, I have plenty of work to keep me awake during the day." Rarity said, some-what proudly.
Good luck with that. Rainbow Dash voiced in her head. She looked down at the list again, and found that she had checked all of them. The team is ready.
She walked briskly over to Princess Celestia.
"The team is ready. Just need Twilight and Fluttershy." she said.
"Don't worry, they already know." Celestia smiled. "You've done your job well, Rainbow."
Rainbow Dash blushed. "Thanks, princess."
"What's going on Derpy?" Twilight approached the pair, clearly glad that Derpy had already forgotten that she ruined her fantasy of walking on walls and ceilings.
Derpy held up a muffin with light orange frosting, her crossed eyes scanning the frosting carefully.
"New flavor from Pinkie Pie." Doctor Whooves explained.
Derpy took a careful bite.
"Citrus!" she said excitedly, then gobbled down the entire muffin with one huge bite.
"Hey Twilight! Wanna play muffin roulette with us?" Pinkie bounced into view.
"Er... What?" Twilight looked at the muffins, then back.
"Muffin roulette. We each have a muffin, and one of them has a teeny-weeny bit of poison joke in them." Pinkie grinned.
"Isn't that... Like... A little dangerous?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. Now that she knew what was going on, every single one of the muffins looked suspicious.
"Oh, course not! I've got a big bottle of Zecora's cure right here." Pinkie pulled out a whiskey bottle filled with murky green solution. It churned as Pinkie wobbled the bottle in her hoof.
"Well in that case..." Twilight slammed her hoof down on the edge of a plate, and the muffin on it was launched up into the air. She opened her mouth, and the muffin fell squarely between her teeth. She bit down on it.
"Umm... Tomato?" she frowned at the sour taste that exploded in her mouth.
"Tomato muffins?" Doctor Whooves chuckled, and grabbed one that looked identical to the one Twilight had.
"So, Rainbow Dash, was it?" Octavia asked, taking a break from playing the cello, as her hooves throbbed.
"Yep- that's me." Rainbow said proudly and took a sip of apple cider from a glass cup.
"I heard you're a really good flyer."
"Mmm-hmmm." Rainbow Dash nodded.
"Anyway, what do you do in your spare time? That is, other than flying?"
Defeating foes. Saving Equestria. "I often nap. But it's also good to hang out with my friends." Rainbow Dash decided, not saying what she first thought she should've.
"Any plans after the party?" Octavia seemed oddly interested in everypony else's life.
"No. Not really." Rainbow said. Then, deciding it would be rude to end the conversation so subtlety, added: "What do you do?"
"Play the cello." Octavia said proudly.
"What about in your spare time?"
"Play the cello." Octavia said again, this time a little depressed.
"Seriously? You don't exercise?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"No." Octavia seemed quite instant on the reply- obviously something she was prepared for.
"Play outdoor games?"
"No."
"Drawing? Painting?"
"No."
"Play any other instrument?"
"No."
"Take naps?"
"No."
"Watch TV?"
"I'm gonna go sit over there." Octavia said, a depleted expression on her face and her mental battery suddenly empty.
"Did you think I might've been made her depressed?" Rainbow whispered to Applejack.
"Na. I think she's just fine." Applejack said, watching Octavia go back to her cello, her head lowered.
A squad of royal guards suddenly busted in the door. The entire room fell quiet, and watched as one of the guards approached Princess Celestia.
"Alright! Sorry everypony, but party's over." the princess announced after the royal guard whispered something in her ear. A series of disappointed groans echoed across the entire room, and the ponies started filing out of Sugar Cube Corner.
Twilight was about to exit, but was stopped by two royal guards standing by the exit.
"Sirs? May I leave?" she asked.
"Sorry miss Sparkle. Princess calls. The mane six, Ditzy Doo, and Doctor Whooves are to remain behind." the guard said.
"Mmm." Twilight hummed, and trotted over to the princess. "Royal duty calls, princess?"
"Indeed, Twilight." the princess said, and by this time all the ponies had already left except for the requested eight.
"So, I guess this is what your highness meant by after the party." Rainbow Dash said.
"Sorry, my dears. But I do not wish to be a party crasher. Shining Armor has set up the barrier in the Canterlot Castle, and we'll be performing our operation there. The barrier can only be up for seven hours, so you must accomplish your objective by then." the princess said urgently.
"We're going to Canterlot?" Twilight gasped.
"Indeed. I have my royal guards stationed there, should Nightmare Moon be accidentally released." Princess Celestia ruffled Luna's mane, and her face blushed light blue.
"Thank you all in advance." Luna nodded. "I'm sorry I caused all this trouble."
"Don't worry princess, it ain't you that's cause'n the trouble." Applejack bowed her head.
"Thank you Applejack." Luna bowed in return.
"Well, field trip to Canterlot!" Rainbow jumped up, punching the air with excitement.
"Oh look. I think we solved it...?" Daring prodded the door handle, looking up at the green sign.
"Fire escape." Rainbow Dash read aloud. "Sounds like it, yeah."
"Be prepared for anything." Daring stood to one side of the door, clear of the way should something bust in. Rainbow took the other side, waiting for a signal.
Daring nodded, and Rainbow turned the handle and swung the door open. Light flooded in.
Natural, pure, and white sun light.
Daring peeked. It took some time for her eyes to adjust, but when they did-
"Wow. Some dream Princess Luna has." she said, and sighed.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow questioningly, then took a look for herself- and gaped at what she saw.
Miles and miles of white snow. Dunes rose and fell across the whole field, reflecting sunlight into their eyes.
"Great. Just... Great." Rainbow's shoulders sagged. "Guess we're supposed to keep going?"
Daring was silent for a moment or two. "Eeeeyup." she said a few seconds later, and trotted into the snow. Rainbow sighed again, and followed.
*
Twilight finally allowed herself some time to stop and catch her breath. More of the shadow ponies were closing in on her. She charged up her horn again, and the blast that followed took out the entire front row. She could feel the power draining out of her with each attack- but the shadow ponies kept coming back.
She fired off another blast, and kept running. There was light in front of her. A little odd looking as it lacked the warm tint of the sun, but none the less comforting considering she spent the last hour in complete darkness.
Now she had a target to run for, time seemed to pass a lot faster.
The light was quite bright from the other side, and all she could see was white when she leaped out of the door. She looked back- the shadow ponies weren't behind her anymore. She let out a sigh of relief.
She sat down in the cold, and looked around, confused.
"Snow..." she muttered, scooping up a hoofful of it. It was cold, but she was just glad that Nightmare Moon's minions don't come this far. Her horn sparkled, and the snow around her cleared to reveal the green grass underneath.
She lay down on her stomach, allowing her legs to rest and her magical energy to recover. Her breathing soothed, and she closed her eyes. Getting tired while sleeping. She never thought that was possible.
She lay there for quite a while- she lost track of time. But when she looked up she for the first time noticed hoof prints in the snow. She was about to follow them when a cold blast on the back of her head made her jump and shudder at the same time, and growled as she heard Pinkie Pie giggle, preparing another snow ball.
*
"Seems like a city. Not big, but there it is." Daring said, peering through binoculars. She looked at Rainbow when she heard no reply, to find her looking a little incredulously at her.
"What?" she asked.
"You found binoculars." Rainbow Dash said.
"Thanks for stating the obvious." Daring started scanning the area again.
"In the middle of snow covered no-where."
"You may not have noticed, but I was being sarcastic earlier."
"You found binoculars in the middle of no-where. How do you even do that? How in the hoof is that even possible!?" Rainbow Dash asked. A few minutes ago they were just trudging through the snow, when Daring suddenly stopped and dug a one meter deep crater in the snow. She re-emerged with a pair of perfectly functional binoculars and a baseball bat.
"Instinct." Daring said simply, although Rainbow suspected there was more than that.
"And the baseball bat."
"Yes."
Rainbow sighed. Too many freakin wonders.
"Got a few guards up ahead." Daring tucked away the binoculars into her jacket pocket. They were both lying in the snow, observing the small city up ahead.
"Reckon we're supposed to go in there?" Rainbow asked.
"Probably. It's quite chaotic in there though." Daring handed her the binoculars.
"This keeps getting weirder and weirder." Rainbow said, scanning the city. "What do you think is causing this?"
"Luna having another headache?"
"Mmm. Still... " Rainbow watched as the ponies in the city flew in virtually every direction. Well, not much more flying than tumbling... But they were everywhere, pegasus or not. Along with them were a bunch of random stuff, ranging from sofas to taxis.
"Yeah. I have no idea." Daring said. "But we need to get in. The guards won't be much of a problem, but the gravity in that is..." she stopped mid-sentence, hearing a sudden displacement of air behind her. She whipped around, leaning to one side, her baseball bat ready to strike.
The snowball hit the dune she was hiding behind and disappeared into the snow. Pinkie Pie let out a disappointed moan.
"Oh. Hey guys." Rainbow said casually. The group that approached included Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, Derpy and the Doctor.
"We left Fluttershy behind, didn't we?" Twilight counted the numbers, and sighed.
*
Iris's footsteps were gentle, but failed to be silent as they echoed around the giant hall in Canterlot. His body was white, and his mane an electrifying emerald. Just an ordinary earth-pony- except for his eyes. They were deep aqua blue, and slowly turned into green approaching the pupil. Not normal, admittedly; but neither were his powers. His eyes allowed him to perform magic that not even the best of unicorns could have ever imagined.
But it was also weak, in a way. The magic he performed were mainly instincts, therefore he couldn't strategize what spells to use in combat. He knew very few that he could just pull out and use, but once he knew how to do them he could do them again. Unicorns like Twilight had a range of usable spells, but he only had about five. Not bad for an earth-pony, should he say so himself.
He got up the steps leading to the princess's sleeping chambers in a brisk walk, not wasting any time but not hurrying either.
"Princess Celestia..." Iris bowed as he entered the chambers. "Duty calls?"
"Yes, Iris." Celestia said, gesturing at the sleeping ponies on the ground.
Iris raised an eyebrow. "Should I awaken them?" he asked, although he sensed that wasn't it, since the princess was perfectly capable of waking a few lazy ponies- and, is that Luna?
"No. Of course not. I need you to use your eyes and look into their dreams. Report what you see." Celestia got straight to the point.
"I'll try my best, princess... But my capabilities are limited." Iris said warily.
He tapped in, closing his left eye and concentrating on his right. The world around him twirled, and he was in.
Except...
He stomped a hoof into the snow. "Well that was a disaster." he said, quite angry at himself.
Instead of watching the dream, now he was in it.
*
"Should we wake him...?" Rarity raised an eyebrow after Iris simply collapsed to the ground, snoring quietly.
"No. If we do from the outside, it's going to make the dream unstable. So... He has to kill himself in the dream."
"Maybe we should've briefed him on the dangers before we sent him in...?"
"This I agree with you my dear subject." Celestia sighed.
They heard a song being hummed at the door way, and turned their heads.
A light blue alicorn popped round the corner. She had a brown mane, with dark blue applied to the tips. In her hooves were a tray of muffins and a few cups of lemonade.
"I came to watch Iris work~~" she sang, right on tune but with terrible lyrics.
"Princess Ally..." Celestia sighed. "This is serious business, and we need to be quiet."
"Oh, right." Ally said, but her mood didn't dim the slightest.
"Appreciate the lemonade. Well decorated muffins." Rarity commented.
"Ah!" Ally exclaimed with glee. "You must be Rarity! I've heard a lot about you..."
"You have? I mean... Well yes... I..."
"You might want to take those muffins away before-" Celestia started the warning, but was far too late.
Derpy suddenly woke, and tackled the tray of muffins.
"That is not good." Rarity made the statement as Derpy gobbled down the muffins.
*
The earth rumbled.
"Hear that?" Daring frowned.
"Ye-e-e-e-e-e-e-s-s-s-s...." Pinkie said, vibrating with the ground.
The Doctor sighed. "Looks like Derpy got woken up from the outside... The dream's getting unstable. Now we have even less time..."
"Come on ya fellas, we gotta get move'n!" Applejack said, and started for the city.
"Yeah. We really have to." Rainbow said, looking behind her at the snowy plains. Except, it was replaced by a huge canyon- and it was still getting wider.
"Really, now? We have a huge crack in the earth chasing us?" Daring rolled her eyes, then punched at the air above her. "AWESOME!"
Rainbow leaped into the air, her wings spread wide. She glided over the galloping ponies, keeping an eye on the crack. They could hear it now, rocks tumbling down the steep slope as it advanced, snow pouring down the side along with dirt and other debris. One fall down that and it's wake-up time.
"Come on girls!" Rainbow cried. The edge of the cliff was dangerously close.
"Woah.... What's this now?" Daring wobbled a little, feeling suddenly a little dizzy.
"Luna's waking up! Come on Princess Celestia... Notice... Come on!" the Doctor urged.
*
Celestia took another sip out of the glass of lemonade. She almost dropped the glass when she heard Luna groan.
She panicked for a second or so, but quickly shot a spell at her and knocked her back to sleep again.
Wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, Celestia sat back down again.
*
Suddenly all signs of gravity disappeared, and they floated into the air, hooves away from the ground. And now the ground disappeared from underneath them, collapsing into a giant canyon. Oxygen seemed to leave too, and they were left with empty lungs and without words. Rainbow's wings failed, and with her momentum she tumbled forward. Snow was everywhere, flying and floating.
Somepony whistled, and they all turned to look at a white earth-pony with an emerald mane. They looked into his eyes, and instantly their world started to swirl, as if being absorbed into the eye. Colors shifted here and there, and they lost their orientation- it felt like being dragged through the air at sonic speed. Blood rushed to their limbs and away from their bodies- but as soon as the sensation had started, it was gone, and they were left panting on the snow fields.
"Celestia... She did... It..." Doctor Whooves said.
"Wha... What happened...?" Daring looked around. There was the white colt again.
"We owe you a mighty lot but... Who are you?" Applejack asked.
"Iris. But we don't have much time, now do we? I'll get to know you all once the job is done. Celestia sent me. Now... You were headed for the city I take it?"
"Yeah...." Applejack began, but the ponies were thrown into the odd state again. Once their vision cleared, they were right in front of the city gates.
"Damn... Something is preventing me from getting us in directly. Ah well. We're here." Iris rubbed his right eye.
"Thanks for the ride...?" Rainbow didn't know what to say, so kicked open the gates. Wasn't too hard. Wonder where the guards went.
"I'm sorry... What?" Iris stared at the chaos in the city. "Sure it's safe?"
"Let's find out!" Daring and Rainbow yelled together, and jumped in.
"Whooaah!!" Rainbow began floating in one direction, while Daring started in the other. They stretched their wings, but it barely made a difference.
"Hmmm. Corrupt gravity. I think each pony will be attracted in one particular direction... Let's hope none of us is 'up'." Doctor Whooves said, observing the struggling pegasi.
"We do have to go through this, right?" Iris asked.
"Well, we could go around it... But that really isn't an option as it'll take too long." the Doctor said.
Iris sighed. "Good luck everypony." he said, then stepped in.
His stomach turned, and he was flying to the right. He was flying, but it felt more like falling. He quickly found the direction he was falling in, and prepared for a landing. His hooves touched the glass of a building, and went right through- looks like his direction is more to the upper right. He tumbled into a wall, and slowly got up. He stared at the ground in front of his face, and looked up at the window he broke through. Shattered glass was on the floor, so the gravity thingy only applies to the ponies- otherwise it's still normal.
Climbing out into the open again, he found himself almost completely lost his sense of direction, for it not the gates that they entered through were not too far away. He looked around him.
The buildings don't seem to be constructed normally. It seems there are six gravity points and directions, and there are buildings built on the basis of each of those six, creating a town that twists and turns at every street. The whole place is like a normal city that got wrapped around itself.
"Girls...?" he heard Twilight call.
"Over here! Is everypony alright?" Applejack yelled from somewhere else.
"We're OK! This is FUN!" Iris didn't have to listen to the voice to know who would say that.
"How do we meet up?" Rainbow asked.
After a period of silence in which they listening to the sub-conscious ponies slam into buildings, Twilight spoke. "We don't. We can't."
"Wow. I'm actually not surprised." Rainbow said. "I don't think anything will be weird after this."
"Get through the city, we should be fine once we're out." the Doctor said, but they could all hear the unease in his voice.
"Go on." Daring said.
"Problem is going through... I doubt Nightmare Moon doesn't have any minions here."
The city rocked, shaking the buildings and sending cracks scattering up their sides. It stopped.
"Excellent timing." Iris sighed.
"Thanks."
"RUUUUN!!!" Pinkie screamed.
Iris quickly looked in the opposite direction in which they're supposed to be heading, and gaped at what he saw, temporarily forgetting it's a dream.
"I'll hold them off!" he yelled.
A thunderous roar rippled across the city, spreading the cracks on the buildings even further.
Slowly marching down the city was an army of shadows, dark mist twirling around the shadow ponies as their universal march made the earth(er, dream?) tremor. They all had evil grins spread across their faces, anticipating the moment they are given the order to paint the city red, their eyes glimmering with glee as a massive blade of dark energy swept through the air and severed a skyscraper in two. The building tumbled down to the ground and vanished behind a cloud of grey ash. Laughter echoed throughout the whole army.
"I'm sorry, why did I say I would hold them off again?" Iris said to himself, then closed his right eye. His pupil narrowed, concentrating on the front line of shadow ponies. His eye glowed blue, and a thin beam fired off from its center. The beam hit the ground in front of the shadow ponies harmlessly- but the harm part hadn't come yet. It suddenly expanded, taking in a ten meter radius, the light swallowing the ponies. It faded, and the ponies weren't there anymore- in fact, the only thing left behind was a huge cave dug into the ground. The ponies behind the front line gingerly avoided the sudden geological change, but their blood-thirst failed to fade.
Iris spotted something in the center of the army- a center spot, with shadows and mist swirling and eating at the air, surrounding something he couldn't quite see. He squinted, trying to make out what was being protected by the dark mass.
Suddenly the shadows left that spot, unwinding and heading straight for him in the form of a spear.
Iris's eyes allowed him to see things in a slower frame-rate should he wish to do so- but even with time in his hooves he barely avoided the spear- it grazed his cheek, but the ease of which it flew through the air bothered him the most.
The spear flew back, and joined the mass again. Iris caught site of somepony in the center before the spear completed the dark mass and Nightmare Moon was once again shielded from view.
"Buck, buck, buck..." he muttered. Squaring off against Nightmare Moon on his own? He never thought royal duties would call for this... He barely imagined it as a kid.
Evil laughter echoed off the tall concrete and glass buildings. The shadows retreated then dispersed, and Nightmare Moon rose from the center of the army, her wings beating steadily and lifting her off the ground. She hovered over the army, watching as it all unfolds.
Twilight was still heading out of the city when she heard the laughter. The easily recognizable, evil laughter. She turned around, her teeth bared, and spotted the mare of darkness hovering in the air miles away.
"GIRLS!!" she yelled. "GET BACK HERE!"
"Oh, good Celestia. Reinforcements." Iris said, looking at the ponies now charging back into battle. He heard a swishing noise, and moved just in time as a blade cut through the building like scissors through paper and almost took him too.
Iris's side of the building started creaking and groaning, struggling to keep standing. But having half its support structure sliced off made the struggle futile.
Iris galloped to the left, where the other half of the building was. He leaped and landed, but realized this part was tilting to the side, about to fall over. He looked back, but the other half was already sinking bellow the ashes. He tried to teleport, but for some reason he couldn't.
"This just sucks." he said, then felt a pair of hooves dig into his side. The shaking building left his hooves, and he was flipped into the air, watching buildings, shadows, and light flash before his eyes. He felt those hooves again, under his armpits and lifting him into the sky. The building he was on earlier fell over to the side, knocking down another.
"Reinforcements have arrived." Spitfire grinned, her wings flapping, keeping them both aloft.
"How did you know...?"
"Celestia called us. Fluttershy woke up, and informed her on the situation. Apparently Nightmare Moon wants a full scale attack on your pony friends?"
"Technically they aren't my friends yet, I've known them for like ten minutes..."
"Blah, blah." Spitfire said, annoyed. "Get ya to the ground first. Then us wonderbolts can work our magic." she winked, lowering Iris onto the streets.
"Good luck Spitfire!" Iris called after Spitfire's trail of lightning clouds as she sped off.
"Rapidfire, you take the Shadowbolts on the right. Fleetfoot, cover us from the left. Soarin, with me." Spitfire commanded, flying through the air. The wonderbolts divided, and flew to their designated targets, with Spitfire and Soarin heading straight for Nightmare Moon.
A blade of dark energy swiped across at them, and they avoided it narrowly by performing tumble turns.
"Three Shadowbolts... Behind us!" Soarin yelled.
"Bring 'em down." Spitfire said, her wings twisted and she curved dangerously towards the ground. She pulled up just before she could hit the ground- but the less skilled Shadowbolts trailing her slammed right in, fading into mist.
On the ground, the situation was getting a lot trickier as the ponies tried to cut a clean path to Nightmare Moon.
"Darn these things-" Applejack fired an apple from a small hoof-held canon. "They just won't go away!" she groaned as she was tackled, and fell onto her back. The shadow pony was about strike again, when a dark blade cut right through it.
Applejack looked around, confused. The blade that had swept through was different. It was dark blue, and it shimmered with the stars, should it be night time. Somehow it was comforting to see it, and Applejack wondered if she was being mesmerized.
More shadow ponies charged forth, but were easily knocked back into the crowd as the blue shadows continued their relentless yet graceful attacks.
A dark blue hoof encased in silver stomped on the ground, and sent a shiver running down the spines of the shadow ponies.
Princess Luna narrowed her eyes, and her shadows curled around her, ready to strike again.
