Chapters The Mare Behind Our Nightmares
Daring Doo and the Golden Demon
The Mare Behind Our Nightmares
Chapter 1
Daring Doo and the Golden Demon
“Thanks, Twi!” I told one of my best friends while opening her library’s… house’s… ah, whatever. I just opened her giant tree’s door. I had a bag that carried some of Daring Doo’s stories… I really can’t bring myself to read anything else!
“I’m still happy that you could finally find some entertainment in reading!” she said, levitating some weird science… or math… book in front of my face “but I really think you should expand your selection... just a little bit...”
“Um… no thanks…” I would have accepted if I didn’t have a problem with headaches “well, I really gotta go!” That wasn’t actually true. I just wanted to avoid being trapped, again, in one of Twilight’s 'Book Forts of Knowledge'…
“Fine…” she sighted with a slightly disappointed expression. I was starting to feel a little bad for her… stupid guilt… “goodbye! I hope you enjoy your reading!”
“See ya!” and with that, I grabbed the bag with books with my mouth and flew off.
I spent a few seconds looking for a nice, comfortable cloud where I could read my book without anyone disturbing me… I didn’t waste any time as soon as I found one; I was lying on my back observing the cover of the book I randomly choose from the pile. Daring Doo was in top of a strange pyramid that was surrounded by a bunch of trees. The title read “Daring Doo: Mystery of the Maya Civilization”
…Maya?... that must not be in Equestria… I’ll just ask Twilight later…
Before I opened the book, I heard the sound of a bell ringing. I sat up and looked around. I noticed a bunch of kids coming out of the school… for a moment, I thought it would be best to look for another cloud in a calm place… but the kids were about to go home, so waiting for a little wouldn’t hurt too much. I accommodated myself in the cloud again and opened the book. Before I could get lost in the sea of words, another distraction came.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” I looked below the cloud to spot Scootaloo. I descended to chat with the little filly.
“Hey Scoots! How are you doing? Why aren’t Sweetie and Applebloom with ya?”
“Ah, they told me they were gonna be busy the whole afternoon helping their sisters… so, what were you doing?”
“Oh, I was just in my way to read a Daring Doo book” I could literally see a huge question mark on Scootaloo’s face. Seriously, what’s wrong about me reading?
“…Am I talking to Rainbow Dash?”
“Hey! What’s the matter with it?! You should try!”
“…No thanks… I’d accept if I didn’t have a problem with headaches…”
“You ARE starting to sound too much like me…” I sighted “well anyways, we’ll discuss about this later…”
“…Ok? Bye Rainbow Dash!”
“Later!” I flew up back to my cloud again. I opened the book and finally started reading.
I had already read 20 to 30 pages when I began to feel drowsy… no, the book was pretty cool, but for some reason… I felt very sleepy… I tried to stay awake, but the softness of the cloud and the fresh winds were right against me…
Darn it…
I was inside of a room made of very clear crystals. I looked at my reflection on one of them… and saw Daring Doo. At first I thought it was one of the most awesome things that could have happened to me, but then, I remembered the many sticky situations she would get into just for treasure and fun… though… I couldn’t understand how it can be fun to be near death every five minutes…
I knew that to be surrounded by crystals, being Daring Doo, didn’t mean anything good. I prepared myself for any creepy creature that could jump out of nowhere… I’m not talking about Pinkie Pie…
I looked around the place very cautiously… I found a long hallway that seemed to be endless… A very loud crash makes me jump in fear. I look behind me to find a giant monster with a golden armor on. It had red, shinning eyes and incredibly big claws. Well, this is what you get for being Daring Doo… I tried to fly away, but my wing was still injured.
WHAT?! DIDN’T THIS THING HEAL WEEKS AGO?!
I had no options but to run away. I ran through that endless hallway, without caring where my hooves would take me. I could hear the stomps of that beast as it tried to get me. I was sweating, my heart was racing, my lungs were about to explode and my hooves were burning! My mind told my body to give up; the pain was killing me, but my heart told it to continue and save my flank.
I noticed that the crystal floor gradually turned into grass. I lifted my gaze to see the Carrousel Boutique in front of me! I also noticed that the loud stomps had disappeared! I stopped for a while to catch my breath and rest my legs, but I couldn’t take long; I was sure that beast hadn’t given up on me.
I quickly ran into the Boutique’s door, still not fully recovered, and knocked on the door as hard as I could. Without response, I tried to open it, but it was locked.
Horseapples!
“RARITY!” I yelled so loud I thought my vocal chords would explode “RARITY!!” I yelled again, even louder than before. My heart was racing; I could hear the stomps approaching, but they were still faint. I cursed Rarity’s fashion obsession with every bit of my being; she preferred her bucking dresses than to help a friend that was about to be murdered or eaten by a gigantic monster! I gave up on it and simply kicked the door down, entering the Boutique and putting it back in place, thinking that it would hold the monster at least for some minutes...or seconds.
I ran around the Boutique, looking for a place to hide. I ran upstairs and opened a door that lead to a room full of cloth, mannequins and other materials in which I saw… Rarity…
“RARITY! DARN IT!” I yelled with rage “I was calling, no, I was SCREAMING your name and you just couldn’t go bucking downstairs and open the DOOR?!”
“Oh, Daring Doo! I’m sorry I didn’t attend you right away… I was really focused..."
“THAT doesn’t matter right now, for Celestia’s SAKE! NUMBER ONE: it’s ME! RAINBOW DASH! NUMBER TWO: there’s a bucking giant monster with red eyes and claws chasing me around because I randomly appeared inside of his crystal fortress! NUMBER THREE: tell me a place where I can hide, NOW!”
“Hm…” she scratched her chin “try the closet!”
“…Are you SERIOUS?!” I facehoofed, she seemed to only read a bunch of romance novels with ponies kissing, cheating on each other and doing… ‘stuff’. The closet had become nearly the first place somepony would look inside for a pony. But in that moment, that was better than nothing “argh… fine…” I dashed into the closet, and it didn’t take me long to realize that “Rarity, this is NOT gonna work…”
“Then try the bathroom”
“WHAT?!” It was just like she had decided to go stupid right on this day. But time was growing short. I just ran into the bathroom, went inside the bath tub and closed the curtains… but… what about Rarity? I wasn’t gonna leave her there so that monster could eat her! I opened back the curtains and called her.
“RARITY!” for my luck, this time she heard me. She came inside the bathroom.
“Yes, Rainbow Dash?”
“I think you should come with me… you know, that monster could catch you too!”
“But I have a BIG order to finish!”
“HONESTLY! I think your life is more important than a bunch of dresses!”
“But..."
“YOU COME OR YOU COME !” I just pulled her inside the bath tub, we definitely didn’t have time for arguing.
“But, what about Sweetie Belle?”
“Rarity? Where are you?” I heard Sweetie’s voice outside of the bathroom… it was a little creepy… since it almost seemed that Rarity had invoked her…
“Sweetie! I’m in the bathroom! Come here!”
“OH NO! we are NOT gonna have that speech of what stallions and mares do when they are…” she was in front of the entrance staring at us with a blank expression “…what were you doing?” I remembered... two mares in a bath tub WAS an awkward scene...
Note to self: kids also have dirty minds.
“What the…” my cheeks turned red, but Rarity seemed to be just fine… she got out of the bath tub and carried Sweetie inside of it.
Once we were sure everyone was there, I closed back the curtains and curled into a ball… just like I did in the Best Young Flier competition, before I did my performance… because I was scared… just like I was in that moment… I waited and waited for the beast… but he never arrived…
I decided we should use this chance to escape from the Boutique, and go to Twilight’s house; she could help us with her magic. I started to look for a way out through a small space I made that was pointing at the opposite side of the door. I found a window, but it had glass covering it.
“Rarity, Sweetie Belle, try to remove the window’s glass so we can try to get the buck out of here!” I whispered. They nodded and went into action. Surprisingly their work seemed to be ending in success!
…But I heard another crash… the monster arrived to the Boutique. Fortunately, the girls had already finished. I jumped outside, Sweetie Belle coming after me. Rarity seemed to have difficulties, but she came through eventually.
I ran as fast as I could again. I ended up back at the Boutique’s entrance, which was now completely destroyed… I wanted to get as far as I could from it. I looked in front of me and saw Spitfire… what the hay was she doing here?
“SPITFIRE!” I called for her so she could also run away “COME WITH ME!” she turned to look at me with a blank expression “Spitfire?” she started to approach me… I knew she didn’t have any good intentions…
So I ran… but I didn’t seem to go anywhere… it was like running over a sand pit… I looked behind me… she was getting closer without any effort…
Maybe I should give up…
I stopped running for a brief moment.
No… I can make it!
I tried to run away again… but a strong kick in the back of my head…
…managed to wake me up…
“AH!” I sat up, breathing heavily… the book that was on my chest before, fell closed into my hind legs. I saw the cover again, staring deeply into Daring’s eyes…
…Now I know why you aren’t real…
Chapter 1
Closed
The Mare Behind Our Nightmares
The Snake Won't Give You The Answer
The Mare Behind Our Nightmares
Chapter 2
The Snake Won’t Give You The Answer
“…I think it is impossible to make Rainbow Dash read even a kinder garden math book…” my assistant said as he put the last items inside of the saddlebags “but at least she is READING something. Plus, Daring Doo is pretty cool!”
“Yes… I guess you are right, Spike… It seems some things aren’t supposed to change” I sighted and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It said it was eight o’clock, and about time to get ready for sleep. Usually, we went to bed around nine, but since tomorrow I had to wake up earlier, I needed to go earlier to bed as well. I didn’t want the Princess to see me with baggy eyes…
Right, about that, earlier in the day, after Rainbow Dash came to see me for some books, a letter arrived from Princess Celestia. As always, I started to worry…
Changeling invasion, Discord returned, Nightmare Moon returned, the castle is on fire, the dragon or griffin kingdom is attacking Canterlot, a catastrophic prediction, the end of days is near, a new enemy that Celestia or Luna cannot defeat and the Elements of Harmony were the only hope, but the enemy destroyed them (again) and we can only await for our deaths, or revive Celestia’s parents so they can help us find an nonexistent solution and… nevermind…
As soon as Spike read the letter, my fears left... almost. She only wanted a normal get together… but, wait, that’s not even normal from her, but it didn’t mean that it was bad. A small part of me told me I had to stay alert, and I obeyed it; I had put a defensive and offensive spells book in the saddlebag, between other books regarding the subject. The letter also said a chariot was coming to pick me up at seven, it was actually the time I usually wake up, but I needed time to get ready.
“So, is everything ready?” I asked Spike.
“Everything is ready, Twilight!”
“Good!” I smiled “so… I was thinking. Instead of taking care of the library tomorrow, you can go spend some time helping Rarity!”
“REALLY?”
“Of course! We can just close the library while I'm out!” I started walking up the stairs while levitating the saddlebags “but we should really go to sleep”
“Okay!” he started following me.
As soon as we got to our bedroom, Spike got inside his bed. In a matter of minutes, he was happily snoring and in the land of dreams. After kissing his forehead lightly, I also got under my bed’s covers. I was a little nervous; I didn’t know what to expect from tomorrow. As I got lost inside my thoughts, I could feel how I faded into a peaceful sleep…
…peaceful…
I was inside of a classroom, sitting on my chair. Over it, I had the basic needs of any student; a pencil, an eraser, a bottle of ink and a quill. I saw how Princess Celestia distributed the…
Science exam…
Though it was kind of weird… why the Princess? Maybe she wanted to check up on me, I was her protégée, anyways. Aside from that, everything was normal, including the fact that I had studied three days before the exam; I was always ready for anything thanks to my check lists.
After receiving my exam, I started reading the instructions for each part before answering. I was very relaxed and confident, and had a big desire to make the Princess proud… but there was something weird… why was I feeling someone’s breath next to my right ear? Maybe is another foal that didn’t study trying to cheat in the exam…
…The Princess is going to take care of him… I just have to cover my page…
But curiosity got the best of me. I looked at my right side as subtly as I could, so that the Princess didn’t think I was trying to cheat… oh, and speaking of the Princess… it was her I saw sitting right next to me, staring right into my sheet… and there went all my confidence…
...She is expecting me to write something foolish… or maybe… she thinks I’m gonna cheat! But I’ve never cheated before! And she saw me studying!
I saw a smile forming on her lips… was that good or bad?
“Is something wrong Twilight? Do I make you nervous?”
“N-no Princess! I’m fine!”
WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE ME?!
“That’s good” she giggled “well, good luck!” I thought she was leaving, but she never moved from her position.
I took a deep breath. I now knew it was another one of her tests… and I had to pass it. I regained my focus and answered everything in my sheet. When I was sure everything was perfect, I handed it over to the Princess.
…Well that was easy…
She stood up holding my paper with her magic. As she left, she gave me a smile and a wink like saying “good work”. I returned the smile. I sighted and thought of how lucky I was, and of how special the Princess could make me feel sometimes.
When the bell rang, Celestia left with the exams and another teacher entered. It was a pink unicorn mare with black short mane that carried a saddlebag. She carried her exams with her magic. She put the exams in her desk and started talking about some incidents that had been recently happening in the school about students spotting snakes in different places. This time, she talked about one a student found in the rooftop. As she spoke, she took out a dead snake out of her saddlebag… only pranksters should bring that to a class…
She handed over the test. Fortunately, this time there was nobody staring at my page, so I was relaxed once again… but there was a greater inconvenience… I did not know the first part of the exam… but I didn’t panic, surprisingly. Instead, I closed my eyes… but nothing turned black, in fact, I could still see, but everything was blue. I mentally looked inside of my saddlebag for a strange device I had in it and looked for the exam answers. When I had memorized everything, I began to copy them… I was, in fact, surprised by my own actions; I had just cheated on a test, for the first, and hopefully, the last time… but I would have time to cry about it later… but there was something else I also realized; I could control things with my mind, without the use of magic.
While filling the page, I heard how the teacher went outside for a moment. I lifted my gaze to see how a random mare took out a… snake… but it was alive… It was brown with two vertical yellow lines on its body, from head to tail. The mare placed it on the floor… and I lifted my legs when I saw the snake slowly approaching me…
“…Get it away from me…” I said, the mare ignored me, busy chatting with her friends “get it away from me” still, she ignored me “GET IT AWAY FROM ME!” and yet, even if the snake was about to bite me, she still ignored me.
Before I could feel its fangs penetrating my coat…
…I woke up…
“SNAP OUT OF IT!!”I mean, Spike woke me up.
“SNAKE!” I jumped out of bed, landing on the floor. I rubbed my head in pain “ugh… what happened?”
“You were screaming ‘GET IT AWAY FROM ME’ the whole night!”
“Uh… I’m sorry I woke you up…” I looked at the watch, feeling a little tired “…four thirty…”
“There’s still an hour to go...” he scratched his head. I looked at him; he looked tired also.
“…Go back to sleep, Spike. I doubt I manage to do the same… so I’ll be getting ready…” I stood up
“But Twilight!”
“Don’t worry about me, I…”
“You have circles under your eyes!”
“Oh no…” I went to look at myself on the mirror… Spike was right… “…I’ll go see Rarity later to see if she can fix this with some makeup…”
Chapter 2
Closed
The Mare Behind Our Nightmares
Mare Do Well Ends in Jail
The Mare Behind Our Nightmares
Chapter 3
Mare Do Well Ends In Jail
“Is this your Mare Do Well costume?” Dashie told me as she grabbed the costume I made with my own hoofsies. Oh! Now that I remember, she doesn’t like to be called “Dashie”, so I’ll just call her Rainbow! Though I don’t see the problem with “Dashie”, it’s really cute! And I’m getting off topic… Twilight said that I couldn’t get off topic because the reader then would get bored and confused, and it feels HORRIBLE to be confused and… I’m getting off topic again…
“Oh! You found that?” I “dashed” next to “Dashie”, get it?
“Yeah… it brings back some BAD memories…” she… looked a little angry… I don’t like it when my friends are angry, so I just hid the costume.
“Why don’t we go play some pranks on Spike?”
“Hm… I really wanna do something new…” now, I had a HUGE idea… and it was THE idea!
“WHY DON’T WE TRY TO PLAY A PRANK ON THE PRINCESS?!” I was just SO exited! It would be written ALL OVER history books!
“ARE YOU CRAZY?! I DON’T WANNA END IN THE MOON OR IN A CASTLE DUNGEON!” I was on my haunches as Rainbow shot me a shocked stare, and she was even angrier…so I had to think of something…
“…I challenge you to eat more cupcakes THAN I CAN!” nobody could win against me! And I knew how Rainbow LOVED challenges and eating! So all of us would be happy!
“…Challenge Accepted…”
An hour and 53 cupcakes later, I was happily in bed, watching how a pegasus with a tummy ache flew off to her home muttering something about having to go to Twily's library later… poor Dashie…
…But I won anyways!
So I curled under my covers and closed my eyes… something told me I was about to have a dream… but not of the kind of dreams were I could eat all the cotton candy I wanted…
Oh, dummy Pinkie Sense, you should calm down! We are soon going to enjoy eating in the land of doughnuts!
I was in a place that looked very much like Sugarcube Corner… but I as soon as I saw the mountain of sweets, I couldn’t care less to look where I was! When I finished, I left the place… and saw Ponyville… but it looked so sad… The sky was grey, and everypony was walking slowly and with their heads down...
This is SO. WRONG.
I had to do something! My Pinkie Sense told me! These ponies were sad... it was my duty to make them happy!
Suddenly, for some reason, I had my Mare Do Well costume on. And I grinned at the great timing! I tried greeting everyone, but they ignored me... which made me sad. But I wouldn't give up! I needed to find my friends. They would know what to do!
I found them reunited at the fountain, Twily busy with her books, Dashie snoring on a cloud, Flutters with little Angel, AJ... well I couldn't spy her with my little eye, and Rares was nowhere too... But my three friends were all with very empty expressions; more empty than a deflated balloon! I tried talking to them, making all the faces I could come up, telling all the jokes I knew... They ignored me...
This was no dream... This was a nightmare!
I took of the mask, and my mane deflated... my gaze was glued to the floor, no longer caring about looking optimistically towards the horizon... I wandered through Ponyville just like the crowd around me until I finally heard a pony's voice talking to me!
...But he didn't say anything nice to me...
"Mare Do Well. You are under arrest for manifesting a state of pure joy and happiness"
I woke up. I had a mission now! I had to save Ponyville! I had to keep Equestria from being a place were happiness was a crime! The thought itself is a crime!
I took my Mare Do Well costume... I had to save happiness!
Author's Note
Sorry for the chapter being so short.