An Equestrian Nightmare

"Did... did Nightmare single handedly do this?" asked Rarity.

"Yes. It also appears that he's growing in strength." answered Siegfried.

"He's long gone isn't he?" asked Dash.

"Yes, I doubt there is a way to revert him back to normal, "normal" being the opportune word. Now come on, let's go get Applejack and Pinkie."

"I'll get Pinkie." said Zwei.

"But, first." said Siegfried. Siegfried unsheathed Soul Calibur and focused his energy. He was then surrounded by blue, pulsating energy. The energy then fed into the bodies around town, causing them to disappear.

"What's he doing?" asked Zwei.

"He's sending them to heaven." answered Viola.

The blue energy around Siegfried then disappeared. Zwei took that as his cue to go get Pinkie, who had launched herself into the town's local bar. Zwei walked in and found Pinkie knocked out on the ground. He picked the pink earth pony and brought her outside. He saw Siegfried do the same with Applejack.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Meanwhile in the Everfree Forest....

How good it feels to finally kill again. thought Nightmare. The Azure Knight was covered in dried blood. Blood from the victims of his latest massacre. How good it is to murder innocent lives. Could anything be better? Nightmare continued walking through the Everfree Forest, making sure he isn't snuck up upon by some hidden foe. As Nightmare continued to walk, he noticed movement out of the corner of his left eye. On instinct, he drew Soul Edge.

"Face me, coward!" bellowed Nightmare.

No response.

"Looks like I have to find you myself!" Wasting no time, Nightmare broke into a full sprint in direction of the movement. He found a hidden path and followed it in hopes of leading him to another soul to take. Instead, the path lead him to a small clearing, perfectly illuminated by the sun above. Nightmare sheathed Soul Edge.

"Waste of time." he grumbled.

"Is it worth it?" asked a voice.

Nightmare turned around and came face to face...with himself. It wasn't exactly "himself" per say, the voice was that of his old self prior to becoming Abyss's reaper.

"What is this trickery?!"

"Is there a point?"

"IS THERE A POINT TO WHAT!" yelled Nightmare.

"The senseless killing. Is it truly worth it in the end?"

Nightmare drew Soul Edge "You've wasted my time." He then lifted the sword above his head and brought it down on the other Nightmare. The sword stopped inches away from it's head. Nightmare was frozen stiff, as if control of his body had left him.

"What?!"

The second Nightmare relieved the real Nightmare of Soul Edge, placing the cursed blade on a nearby rock.

"I'll burn you alive! I'll flay your flesh from the bone! I'll...."

The second Nightmare placed his hand on Nightmare's chest. The real Nightmare suddenly began to feel tired, something he hasn't felt since...ever really.

"Wha....?"

"Let sleep take you, Azure Night."

Before Nightmare could protest, he found himself shutting his eyes, and drifting into sleep.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Nightmare woke and found himself surrounded by dark.

"Glad you're finally awake." said a voice.

Nightmare searched in vain for the voice in the darkness "Who said that?!"

"I did." Nightmare turned around and found himself looking at a floating mass of red energy.

"And YOU happen to be?"

"You may call me...Truth."

Nightmare processed what the floating energy had just said "BWHAHAHAHA! TRUTH?! SERIOUSLY?!!"

"Yes, and I happen to know all about you, Nightmare."

Nightmare ceased is laughing fit and stared at Truth "How do you know my name?"

"I am Truth, I know everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"So..." Nightmare crossed his arms "why have you brought me here?"

"To show you the consequences of your past actions."

"You mean murdering tons of people and absorbing their souls to feed my power?"

"That, and the ponies you've hurt when you were sent here."

Nightmare looked away from Truth "As if I care."

"You're lying."

Nightmare turned back to Truth.

"You refuse to admit it, but deep down, you really do care for one thing."

"And that thing, is me."

"No...you actually care about Twilight."

"NO I DON'T!" Nightmare swung his clawed arm at Truth. His arm passed through the floating mass of energy "SO WHAT IF SHE SEE'S PAST MY MONSTROUS SELF! SO WHAT IF SHE CARES ABOUT ME! BECAUSE GUESS WHAT..." Nightmare unloaded all of his pent up frustration on Truth, to little avail mind you.

"I...DON'T....CARE...ABOUT...HER!!" Nightmare's last strike on Truth was stopped before it hit it's target.

"That explosion of anger right there, just proved that you care." said Truth.

The realization then hit Nightmare like a brick wall, he actually had the ability to care.

Truth released it's grasp on Nightmare's arm. "I told you I knew everything." The energy then began to fade out of existence.

"Wait..." said Nightmare.

Truth stopped dematerializing "Yes?"

"What about showing me the consequences of my past actions?"

"That was part of my ploy to get you to admit you genuinely care for someone."

Nightmare grumbled to himself, he shouldn't have let his emotions control him.

"Any other questions?"

"Two."

"Ask wisely then, Azure Knight. I don't have long."

Nightmare thought hard "Why does Twilight care for me so much?"

"Twilight was taught never to judge a person, well, in this case pony, just by their appearance. She took a special interest in you because you saved her and her friends from Nightmare Moon. Without you, she might have died. This is why she cares about you. You protected her, even if you did it for your own gain."

Nightmare was taken aback, it all made sense now. Why he hadn't realized earlier was a mystery to him.

"You have one question, make it count."

"Is there a way to redeem myself for all of my past actions?"

Truth remained silent.

"Truth?"

"The way I see it, the only way to redeem yourself, is to kill Abyss, permanently." As if on cue, Soul Edge appeared between Nightmare and Truth. The Azure Knight reclaimed his sword with an evil grin.

"As of right now, you are no longer under Abyss's influence. Now go forth, go forth and murdering the living hell out of that demon spawn."

"With pleasure." said Nightmare.

"Glad we could agree on something." The darkness previously surrounding Nightmare and Truth began to fade away, revealing the clearing in Everfree Forest. Nightmare looked around, night time had fallen over Equestria.

How long was I gone?

Nightmare looked down at himself, same body. The only difference was that the urge to mercilessly kill anything in front of him was gone.

The only time he felt the same way was... The Azure Knight looked up at the moon above him ...with Twilight.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Twilight stared at the moon in thought. The slight rockings that the train caused didn't break her thought process one bit. Ever since the event in Appaloosa, the six ponies usually talkative ponies were dead quiet. Dash was busy reading Daring Do: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Rarity and Fluttershy went to bed. Pinkie was busy counting the amount of cacti that passed with Spike. Applejack was still out cold from Nightmare's attack, and that attack still played over and over in Twilight's mind.

"You all right?" asked Siegfried.

"I'm fine. Just...thinking." answered Twilight.

"Alright, I guess I'll leave you to it."

Siegfried began walking away.

"Siegfried."

The knight turned around "Yes?"

"Back in the Everfree, what did Nightmare mean when he said he was a part of you?"

Siegfried sighed "I already explained this to Celestia and it's quite a long story. Are you sure you want to know?"

"I guess it can wait."

"Anything else."

"No."

"Alright then. But now I have something to ask you."

"Ask away."

"How do you think Celestia will react when she gets word of what Nightmare did to Appaloosa?"

"....."

"Twilight?"

"She will probably go on an all out hunt for him, make him suffer for what he did. Probably send him to the moon, kinda like what she did with Luna."

"Thanks. Hope you get some sleep." said Siegfried. He then left Twilight and went back to his bunk.

"Any news?" asked Zwei.

"Celestia is probably going to launch scale manhunt for Nightmare. If she does, it's going to be fruitless."

"How so?" asked Viola.

Siegfried looked at Viola "Imagine Appaloosa, now times that by ten and add the fact that Nightmare grows stronger with every soul he takes."

Viola thought it over "That means..."

"We're completely screwed over?" finished Zwei.

Siegfried laid back in his bunk "Looks like it. Now, it's best you rest up, who knows what's going happen tomorrow."

"Maybe Nightmare will show up again. And this time..." Zwei's eyes shined in the moonlight "I'll be ready."

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

"Huh? Where am I?" asked Derpy. The wall-eyed, gray pegasus found herself in a dark enclosure. She tried her best not to panic, which was kinda hard in the dark. Suddenly, fire erupted in front of her and surrounded her. From the fire, Derpy saw what appeared to be a figure walking through the fire.

"Oh no!" yelled Derpy.

"The figure exited the fire and stood in front of the gray pegasus. "Hello, Derpy."

Derpy's heart was racing at a thousand miles per minute "What do you want from me?"

"I need your help in a matter. See, I'm taking over Equestria, and I'm gonna need some assistance. Interested?"

"No! Now let me go!"

"Sorry. Can't take no for an answer." Abyss snapped his fingers and generated Inferno's sword.

Derpy began crying "Are you...going to kill me."

"No." Abyss placed the sword in Derpy's hoof. The sheer overwhelming power flooded into the pegasus like a bolt of lightning.

"You're going to kill FOR me." The sword's power was already making altercations to the poor pony. Derpy witnessed her right hoof become clawed, while her left began growing some sort of shield.

"AHHHH!!!!" Derpy's scream echoed through the dark void. She began to hyperventilate from the excruciating pain.

"Now, what are going to do for me again?" asked Abyss.

"Kill." answered Derpy. "KILL EVERYTHING!!!"

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{

Author's Note: Kept you guys waiting, huh? Sorry about that. Allergies and exams to study for and all. This also the last Chapter until June 8, because that's the day of my last exam. Sorry for another wait, but you have to understand the importance of exams.  So until June 8, this is Helloween, signing off.