The Nightmare Before Hearth's Warming Eve

The Palace of the Night was a magnificent piece of tranquil wretchedness. It was nothing if but a plethora of onyx, spiraling turrets, twisting staircases, and morbid decorations. In every hall, in every room, there was a statue of some famous Edeathstrian figure, a painting of some eerie, far-away woodlands or the horrid tundra of the frozen northlands, and sometimes... there was simply nothing at all. Literally, some rooms had nothing in them but an odd feeling of foreboding. And as the best at scaring in Edeathstria could attest to, sometimes a lack of anything was the scariest thing of all.

Naturally, this made the palace the most sought after tourist destination in all of Edeathstria. And even if they weren't tourists, and had an important meeting to attend, a certain Ghoulish Six proved to be unable to resist the attractions.

"Oh by the night, have you ever seen anything more wretched?!" Scarity cooed, hovering into the palace's central commons with shimmering eyes, the rest of the Ghoul Six in tow. "I can't believe I missed all of this wicked décor during the Grand Galloping Gallows!"

"It hasn't changed a bit, either, not even from when I was young!" Twilight chirped, glancing about with a smile. "Hey Flutterfright, you should check out the-"

She glanced by her side where Flutterfright was supposed to be, only to notice she had disappeared. A look of confusion then came upon her before she finally found where the vampony had gotten off to.

"Mmmmm.... were you saying something, Twilight?" Flutterfright called, before slurping down another cup full of gourmet blood from a nearby fountain in the center of the commons.

"Heh, nevermind," Twilight said, chuckling. She then squinted slightly, glancing about. "Where's my teacher, though? She said she'd meet us here. I have no idea where the meeting is supposed to be!"

"Don't worry, sourcube. Maybe she just had a hiccup getting here," Applemoon reassured her.

"B-But what if there was a change of plans? What if she expected me to go look for her!" Twilight gasped, her eyes soon widening further. "Oh no! What if she thinks I've grown incompetent for not doing-"

She was halted by a kiss on the cheek. "You're competent enough for me," Rainbow Death smiled, Twilight taking a deep, oozing breath at that. "Hey, check it out, though!" Rainbow Death grinned, leading the group over to a series of portraits lining a particular wall section.

The group's eyes widened. The portraits were none other than those of Edeathstria's former grim reapers. There was Blackfire, her black mane flowing eloquently from her scalp, her eyes filled with a mix of contemplation and coldness. Then there was Fandango, a grim reaper who was little more than just a skeleton. And finally, after a few more (most reapers having lived well into their hundreds), there was Rainbow Death herself, her face just as youthful and filled with energy as ever.

"Hah! I can't believe they finally got this up!" she beamed, gesturing to it.

And like every portrait in the palace, the figure in it was actually moving.

"Heyo, like what you see?" it smirked, twirling its scythe.

"Awwww yeah! Looks like they got you touched up nicely," the real Rainbow nodded, smiling back at her.

"Eh, well, they could have done better on my wing," the portrait of her said, wiggling it, before giving a shrug. "But hey, it's as good as any other painting! I'm just glad to be here!"

"That makes two of us!" Rainbow chirped.

"Congrats, Rainbow," Twilight said, patting her on the back. "It's about time they hung this up!"

Rainbow blushed slightly. "Heh, well... I only became Death two or three years back. And these kinds of portraits are pretty hard to make..."

Twilight winked at her. "Yes, but you are the youngest reaper in Edeathstria, aren't you? You deserve it!" she said, Rainbow's blush becoming all the more fierce.

"Well... I guess that's true... And I am the fastest reaper in history, too!" she said proudly. "Gotta go fast!"

Pinkie's eye twitched, a manic grin crossing her face. "I see what you did there, AND I LOVE IT!"

"Keep strokin' her ego, Twi..." Applemoon chuckled to herself.

At that, Flutterfright made her way over to the group, wiping off a bit of blood left on her muzzle.

"Mmmmmm, it's almost as good as the real thing," she oozed, a dreamy expression on her face. "N-Not that I'd ever feed on anypony anymore, of course."

Rainbow threw her a blank look. "Ugh, Flutterfright, sometimes I think you forget that you’re a ghoul," she grumbled, rolling her eyes. "You mean you didn't even have one nibble on Nightmare Night?"

Flutterfright quickly shook her head, almost as if she was surprised the question was even asked. "No, of course not! I mean... I sort of wanted to... my counterpart even offered to let me feed off her when I told her how hungry I was..." She then winced slightly, though a proud smile soon came to her lips. "But I didn't!"

"Oh leave her alone, Rainbow," Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "I know I encouraged it during Nightmare Night... but after spending some time over there, I'm pretty sure the last thing we'd want to do is scare ponies by making them think they might turn into a vampire… or by drinking their blood in general, for that matter. That's a little too much."

Flutterfright made a slight 'eep', to which Twilight immediately threw a guilty glance at.

"Er, not that there's anything wrong with vampires, of course," she immediately stated. "It's just that regular ole ponies have a multitude of superstitions about them being 'evil creatures of the night who can't control their instincts'."

"Oh..." Flutterfright chuckled, sighing in relief. "Sorry... I don't know why I'd think anything like that..."

"Yeah, they're just really spooky creatures of the night who can't control their-" Pinkie blurted out, Applemoon halting her with an elbow to the ribs.

"Well... I uh... I think she's fine being whatever she wants to be," a certain voice squeaked sheepishly from nearby.

A broad smile slowly etched on Twilight's before she twirled about, her look of delight soon intensifying ten-fold.

"Moonwalker?!" she gasped, her smile widening further when she noticed who was beside him. "Bloodfang?!"

"Ello, chica!" Bloodfang grinned, tipping his sombrero her way. "Long to no scream, eh- OI!"

His breath was nearly knocked out of him as Twilight gripped him in a tight hug.

"Haha! Good to see you, too. Man oh man it's been years, hasn't it?!" he laughed, patting her on the back of the head with a clawed hand. "Sorry I wasn't there at the Gallows; had to take care of some… business in the Bonelands."

"The Bonelands?" Twilight smirked. "Now what would you be doing in the Bonelands?"

The chupacabra simpered slightly. "Eh... let's just say I was a bit homesick..." he said, scratching the back of his head. "Please don't tell anyghoul though, comprendo? Don't want them to think I've been going soft. Yo nunca oiría el final de la misma..."

"No worries; your secret is safe with me," Twilight chuckled, making a zipping motion across her mouth.

As the two began to chat, Flutterfright turned her attention Moonwalker's way.

"H-Hi Moonwalker," Flutterfright said, blushing slightly as she inched closer to him. "Nice to see you again."

"N-Nice to see you, too," Moonwalker stuttered out in a flushed tone, smiling warmly. "I'm glad you seem to be a bit happier now than at the Gallows."

Flutterfright smiled slightly. "Well, it wasn’t all bad. Though you were probably the only good thing about it," she squeaked. "R-Remember that song you sang to me?"

Moonwalker nodded, an embarrassed look upon him as he sang:

"A B C,

Easy as one, two, three!

As simple as do re mi!"

Flutterfright's smile brightened as he finished up.

"Ehehe," Moonwalker chuckled sheepishly. "I might have been a little drunk when I did that... sorry if I weirded you out..."

"No! No, of course not," Flutterfright quickly said, finishing the sentence in an almost dreamy tone.

"Those two... why can't they see it, WHY CAN'T THEY SEE IT?!" Scarity just about hissed to Applemoon.

Applemoon smirked at that. "Easy, there, Miss Matchmaker, I'm sure they will eventually," she chuckled.

A minute or so later, after a bit more catching up, the chupacabra cleared his throat. "But yeah, sorry we can't chat longer, but you know... business calls and all that."

"Oh right, the meeting!" Twilight nearly gasped, the panic in her voice from earlier quickly returning. "We're not late, are we Bloodfang?!"

"Nono, in fact, we're still waiting on Slendermare," Bloodfang said reassuringly. "But still, the sooner you get down to the war room, the better, no?"

Twilight raised her eyebrows.

"War room?" she said, an unnerved expression suddenly overtaking her. "W-What? Since when did the princess have a war room?"

"That's what I asked her," Moonwalker said, shrugging. "But it turns Princess Trollestia, the spirit who has a 'connection' to this palace, was able to make her one in one night." In a mock Nightmare Moon voice, he continued with, "'Yep, I have a war room now. War rooms are cool.'"

"The palace can... make rooms? Like on its own?" Rainbow Death said in a baffled tone.

"With Trollestia's help, yes," Moonwalker said, a slightly annoyed tone filling his voice upon her name, as he began leading the group out of the commons and towards an elevator shaft. "She's quite the prankster, too. Makes rooms appear and disappear overnight." He then gave a slightly bemused chuckle, however, turning to Twilight. "Your brother threw the hugest fit the last time she did that in the guard barracks. Made his office disappear right under his snout!"

"Haha! Oh my, and I almost forgot about Shadowed, too!" Twilight beamed, shaking her head incredulously. "Is he here?"

"Actually, no," Bloodfang sighed. "Nightmare Moon slapped a trio of General's stars on him this morning and sent him packing to the Frozen North. He's rallying an army there, and it should be a pretty decent one, I think. They've been shipping out all kinds of heavy artillery and crazy stuff up there all day via zeppelin. Stuff that can make a pretty big badaboom, baby."

"Say what?!" Pinkie said, lowering an eyebrow.

"Yeah, seriously, what the heck is going on, you two?” Twilight asked in a worried tone, as they stepped into a very old-fashioned, rickety elevator. With a ding, the doors soon slammed shut, and it began making its way downward.

Moonwalker, in the meantime, kept his gaze averted from her, though Bloodfang soon continued with:

"It's uh... complicated," he coughed. "Best to let your teacher explain it to you. Just don't expect the warmest welcome. She's been stressing lately like you wouldn't believe. Hopefully seeing you will be her chill pill, though."

"Well, alright..." Twilight sighed, her look of unnerve increasing by the second.

The elevator continued downward, as a wicked song began playing within it that seemed to have been sung by a machine... well, if you could consider it a song. One thing's for certain, though: it seemed to ease Twilight's agitated expression slightly.

"I'm going to sing the doom song now!

Doom doom da doom doom da doom doom doom!

Doom da doom. Doom, doom, da doom doom doom!"

"By the night, this song is horrible!" Rarity said gleefully, clapping her hooves. "Nightmare Moon really does have style!"

"I like the part where he says doom!" Pinkie bounced, a blissful look coming upon her face.

The song played on for a bit, as the elevator continued its noisy descent, before finally:

"Doom doom doom the end!

With a ding, the elevator doors opened, the Ghoul Six gasping at the sight.

They were in a massive, underground stone chamber of some sort. On one of its walls was a huge, animated map, showing various army groupings, the labels of them, and more, and most of them were in motion. In the center of the room was an equally behemoth, circular table, chairs lining its entirety. Standing by it was Princess Nightmare Moon, who quickly quirked her head towards the origin of the 'ding' with red, tired eyes upon her.

However, upon seeing Twilight, those same eyes lit up like supernovas.

"Twilight Soulsard, my wretched student!" she beamed, quickly scurrying towards her.

"Princess!" Twilight called in the warmest tone she could muster.

Immediately, the two nuzzled each other, before facing each other with bright smiles.

"I'm so glad you're here! Nice to have another friendly face around!" Nightmare Moon chirped, before cascading forth, "But yeah, was your trip alright?! How are you?! Are you and Rainbow Death getting along well?!"

"We're doing plenty fine, Princess," Rainbow Death chuckled, walking over to Twilight's side.

"Oh, sorry! I almost forgot you all came with her," Nightmare Moon chuckled incredulously, before facing Twilight's friends. "Heyooooo!.!.!"

"Hi princess!" the group called, their apparent unease at being in the presence of a goddess fading almost immediately.

"Oh, I saw my portrait in the commons, by the way," Rainbow Death beamed in a truly appreciative tone. "I didn't expect to see it up for years!"

Nightmare Moon smirked slightly. "Well, I called in a few favors. Got er' done personally for once," she winked. "I had to thank you somehow for dealing with Prince Blackblood, after all. I can get so much more done with him out of my mane these days!"

"Heh, well, as awesome as I was during that whole thing," Rainbow Death grinned, facing her friends. "It was a team effort. And personally, I'm glad that rotten bastard is finally sealed away. No need to thank anyone."

At that, her words seemed to have reminded Nightmare Moon of something, as her expression slowly contorted from a mirthful one into a foreboding one. "Yes... but unfortunately, it seems we may have traded one monster for another..."

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. "Is that what this war room is about?"

"Oooo, do you like it?" Nightmare Moon suddenly chirped, clapping her hooves in glee as her mood pulled another one-eighty. "I modeled it slightly after something I saw in one of those new real world movies! 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying And...’" She squinted in thought. "Hmph, I can't remember the rest... something about being 'The Bomb'...?" She then shrugged. "Eh, whatever."

At that, Twilight gave her teacher a slightly blank look. "Princess... it's a really nice war room, but who are we at war with?"

Nightmare moon shook an incredulous head. "You're not going to believe this, but the answer to that question is: Harmony."

Twilight's eyes widened in horror, though nothing but confusion laced her friends' faces.

Applemoon quirked an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"You heard me," Nightmare Moon said firmly. "Turns out the reason why we haven't been able to contact Yuletide lately is that he's been planning some sort of crazy invasion! Well, at least I think it was his plan…"

"Wait... are you saying that we're going to be invaded by Hearth's Warming Eve?!" Twilight gasped, a hint of anger in her tone. "After we go through all the trouble of trying to celebrate their holiday?!"

"Yeah, I know, it's absolutely friggin' nuts! Holidays never fight each other!" Nightmare growled. "He's developed some sort of weapon, or magical power, I think. A weapon that turns people into mindless slaves who only have one goal: assimilation. I don't know much about it, but I'm hoping that it can't just be spread remotely. That's why I've got Edeathstria's military mobilized."

"Bring em on, then!" Rainbow said confidently, hovering in the air and throwing a few punches. "We can take em'! Let's send their jolly flanks packing!"

"Oh my... I don't want anyelf getting hurt though..." Flutterfright eeped.

"This is war, Flutterfright, people get hurt in war! It doesn't matter if it's two holidays duking it out or what!" Rainbow Death proclaimed.

Nightmare Moon nodded solemnly at that. "Hopefully Yuletide will stop spiking his eggnog with bleach and clear his nutty head before that happens. We may be creatures built for scaring and not harm, but we certainly can use our fangs if need be," she said, a hint of menace in her words. "I've got forces near every point on the map where incursion portals could be made. I've got your brother, Shadowed Armor in the north with the bulk of the army, Twilight, Admiral Bones in the Eastern Sea with the navy, General Dark Link with a pretty big force ready to go all guerrilla warfare on them in the Western Mountains, and get this: Queen Disolis and the Shadowlings are willing to keep the Bonelands clear for us!"

Twilight's mouth parted in awe. "Even after you beat her in that massive scare-off ten years ago?"

"Heh, never did forgive me for that," Nightmare Moon simpered, scratching the back of her head. "But yeah, when the chips are down, it seems she's willing to take a few punches for me. Doesn't matter if we've been a bit... estranged lately." She then shook her head, clearing her throat. "But anyway, have you two seen Slendermare slendering around anywhere?"

Another ding came from the elevator, the Eldritch Abomination and Dr. Whoovenstein trotting out of it, the latter with menace in his steps.

"Ugh, hello princess!" Dr. Whoovenstein grunted. "Not to be rude or dishonorable or anything, but WHY THE HECK HAVE YOU DRAGGED ME AWAY FROM MY EXPERIMENTS?! I'm a doctor, not a general, damnit!"

"Nice to see you too, doc," Nightmare Moon smirked.

"Yes, yes... you as well, I suppose. But I'll have you know you interrupted a most interesting dissection of a Felhound!"

Flutterfright let out a slight gasp at that.

"Ugh, it was dead BEFORE I found it, you worrisome vampire!" Dr. Whoovenstein growled.

"Hey, easy there, Doc," Rainbow Death said defensively. "It's just some experiment."

"Sorry, sorry..." he said Flutterfright's way, before twisting back to Rainbow and roaring, "BUT WAIT, JUST SOME EXPERIMENT?! By the drums, you ghouls are hopeless! No love for the sciences, except for Twilight here, maybe."

Twillight put on a slight smile. "Heh, thanks doctor."

"And the loco tripled..." the chupacabra muttered to himself, as Nightmare Moon turned to the Slendermare.

"And how are you doing, Slendermare?" she asked.

The Eldritch Abomination merely shrugged, as if to say 'so-so.'

Nightmare Moon took a deep breath. "Hoooo boy... well, I hate to say it, but your mood's about to turn from neutral to crap."

Dr. Whoovenstein lifted an eyebrow. "Speaking of which, as I asked before, what is the meaning of this meeting of yours?"

"It's… going to take a bit of explaining," Nightmare sighed. "But uh... first things first." She then grinned, before putting on a slightly pleading expression. "Would you mind if I call you by your first name the whole time?"

"What, Strangelove?" Dr. Whoovenstein said in a confused tone.

Nightmare Moon put on a wide grin. "Yes! Please please please please please?!" she  bounced.

"Ooo, I see where you're going with this!"  Pinkie joined in with pleading, shimmering eyes. "Please, doctor, can you let her?!"

Dr. Whoovenstein rolled his own, an exasperated look on his face. "Fine, whatever you want, you dichotomous balls of insanity!"

"YAAAAYYY!"

"Er, princess... the meeting," Twilight said, prodding her with a hoof. "Imminent invasion... disaster on our doorstep..."

Nightmare grinned sheepishly. "Er, yeah," she coughed. "Let's get this started." She gestured towards the various chairs sitting about the massive war table, her tone once again turning grim. "If you all could have a seat."

At that, Nightmare began explaining to the group what had happened. How they had been contacted by the Thank Luna realm, Woona's ponynapping (with a great deal of sorrow in her voice), and the defenses they had planned. The mood of the meeting seemed to turn from slightly unnerving to all but dark by the end of it.

"Alright... yeah... this doesn't sound good," Dr. Whoovenstein gulped.

"I was hoping you weren't going to say that..." Nightmare Moon sighed. "You once visited the Twinkling Realm, right? And you have an eye for technology... what kind of crap are we going to be dealing with?"

"Mmmm..." Dr. Whoovenstein said, squinting in thought. "Technologically advanced 'crap', my dear. The Hearth's Warming Eve world is a land of industry. Other than this... weapon Yuletide apparently has, they will likely have access to the modern technology the real world does. Steam-powered tanks, zeppelins... you name it, not to mention their magics. Though it's possible they might have even more horrible equipment at their disposal that I can't even dream of."

"Super de duper," Nightmare groaned. "Any way you could reverse-engineer any tech we find?"

"Does my counterpart get himself killed every cycle?!" Dr. Whoovenstein grinned confidently. "Of course. I'll reverse-engineer them and make them shinier... and deadlier than ever if you can get me the goods."

"Princess..." Scarity spoke up, her tone filled with worry. "Not to be brash, but why is it that you called us here? If it's all the same, I'd like to leave immediately to be with my family."

"Ditto," Applemoon said, shivering slightly. "We may be the Elements of Fear, but the Elements themselves are gone now, ain't they? What can we do? It'd be bows and arrows against the lightning if we tried to fight."

"Oh come on! We can totally kick flank if need be!" Death growled, twirling her scythe rapidly. "This scythe ain't just for show, ya know. And I'm sure those claws of yours could do some damage, Applemoon."

Nightmare Moon took a deep breath. "Don't worry, we'll get to that," she said in a slow, though reaffirming tone, before turning towards Slendermare. "But yeah, you're probably wondering why you're here, too. And the answer to that is simple: I need you to open the portal to Null Space."

Slendermare's tendrils, which had been twisting about in the air, suddenly froze at that, almost as if he were in shock.

"Yeah, I know you were exiled, but this is an emergency," Nightmare sighed. "The last time I went there to... drop off what I needed to, I was almost driven insane." She simpered slightly. "Well... more insane, that is." Her tone then turned serious again. "But yeah, you're the only ghoul who can take the craziness. I know what I'm asking of you is a big favor, and you've always been an honored member of the Nightmare Realm... but the asset that lies in Cthulhu's care is going to be needed, savvy?"

Slendermare stood motionless for a second, before giving a slow nod.

"And this is why everyghoul loves you, Slendermare," Nightmare Moon smiled.

"Seriously though, he should have his own sitcom! Everyghoul loves Slendermare!” Pinkie beamed, before gazing at Nightmare quizzically. "But uh...what's in Null Space that's so important?"

Nightmare Moon remained silent for a moment, before slowly beginning to open her mouth, only for-

"Night Princess!" a somewhat distorted voice called, one with a Highlander accent, and this time from the center of the table. To the group's shock, standing there appeared to be a magical hologram of a skeletal, eye-patch wearing seaghoul, two red orbs for eyes glowing brightly in his skull’s empty sockets.

"Admiral Bones?" Nightmare said. "What's going on? Have you-"

"A portal has just opened up right in the middle of our bloody fleet!" the admiral growled. "We lost two ships to its energies, but we managed to save the crews!"

Twilight shivered slightly. Noghoul in the Nightmare Realm liked to take themselves seriously, for various reasons. They were, after all, not 'real', or so it seemed. Just creatures of a holiday. However, the tone of the admiral's voice was nothing if not grim.

"We should still be ready to gut the bastards when they come through, though!" the admiral continued. "I don't know why they opened a portal over water, but it was a good call moving the fleet into position either way!"

"I'm sorry about your ships, admiral, but thank you," Nightmare Moon nodded solemnly.

"Oi, watch it lad, don't over-pack that cannon or you're gonna be a pile of bones!" the admiral growled to the side, before facing Nightmare Moon again. "Anyway, the portal's starting to twirl something fierce! Something's about to come through, I think. Hang on-" He then looked away again. "You there! Flag the fleet to prepare to fire! We'll catch the bastards with their stockings down! Ain't no bloody milk and cookies in the Nightmare Realm!”

He then paused, the group sitting silently as they stared at him. Suddenly, he glanced to the side, his red orbs for eyes narrowing.

"Oh holy night..." he gasped.

"What? What is it admiral?" Nightmare asked in a worried tone.

"OPEN FIRE! *RIP THAT TIN CAN OPEN!.!.!*" the admiral roared.

There were a series of loud thunder cracks, the rumble of what seemed to be a thousand cannons discharging filling the room. Flutterfright and Moonwalker winced at the sound.

The admiral then turned back towards Nightmare, panic in his eyes. "Crap just hit the scythe! And here I thought we were dealin' with bloomin' wooden elf ships or something! They have some sort of tripod-like machine... wicked, massive looking thing-" He paused for a second. "Oh great, now there's two of em!" He turned away again, calling to the side again: "Yeah I know it's bloody takin' the shots! Keep hittin' it! It'll crack!"

"Admiral? Do you want to cut this call so you can concentrate?" Nightmare said, somehow keeping her voice placid. "Jeez, Yuletide is not messing around..."

"Negative! You should be advised on the situation! And it's a situation turnin' to crap! Things got some sort of beam-like weapon! The Thunderchild was just hit by it, but it didn't take any damage. Crew is either dead or unconscious-" He turned away again before roaring, "KEEP SHOOTIN' OR I'LL FIRE YOU OUT OF THE CANNON MYSELF!" He then gave a gulp. "Oh lord... now it's spreadin'- it's spreadin' some sort of black smoke-" His eyes suddenly widened again. "OH HELL- ALL HANDS, BRACE FOR-

The room let forth a series of gasps as the admiral fell to the ground, though for some reason, the hologram continued to flicker... as a black smoke slowly trickled into view of it.

"Admiral!" Nightmare Moon screamed.

"I-Is he going to be alright?" Flutterfright whimpered.

"Like heck he is! We gotta do something!" Rainbow growled, her eyes narrowing as she fluttered angrily out of her chair.

"Hang on, Rainbow... do you sense anything dying in the Nightmare Realms?" Nightmare Moon asked her.

"No more deaths than the usual..." Rainbow said, raising an eyebrow. "I think that beam he was talking about really does only knock people unconscious."

And as she finished, a voice that sent shivers down even Rainbow’s spine made itself known.

"Nightmare Moon..." the admiral's limp, skeletal body suddenly droned as it slowly rose to its feet, its red orbs for eyes turned green. "It was ill-advised to offer resistance to us.”

"And it was ill-advised to invade us!" Nightmare Moon growled, her eyes narrowing. "We have more than just ships ready for you, you know! And I'm friends with the princesses of the real world! If I need to, I'll get them-"

"The real world does not need to get involved in this. And we will see that it doesn't. It is the only thing that is relevant, however. While you are not. You will all be assimilated. Resistance is-"

"Yeah, I get it! Resistance is futile!" Nightmare said, sorrow joining anger in her tone. "But you know what? We will resist you until the last ghoul! Because while we may just be creatures of a holiday, one that the other side only cares about one day a cycle, we're still individual beings! We have lives, goals, and now, thanks to my student, we're having more fun than ever! We're not about to join some freaky hive-mind simply for the other side's benefit! If it's even a benefit at all! Because that's your goal, right?!"

The ‘admiral’ nodded. "Your assumption is correct. We are doing this for the real world's benefit. As their technological levels increase, they risk developing weapons of mass destruction that can bring liability to their existences. Harmony will ensure their survival into the far future. That is the purpose of Hearth's Warming Eve... to remind them of what happens when they stop fearing chaos and hate. They matter, while you do not. And neither do we, save for our purpose. None of us are real."

"We're real enough!" Nightmare Moon shouted, almost in a pleading tone as she glanced away from him. "And so are you! We think therefore we are! Though in your case, I'm not so sure about the former!"

"You tell em', Princess!" Rainbow Death cheered.

"Yeah! We're plenty real! The Maretrix can suck it!" Pinkie shouted.

"And if you try to land a hoof on Derpy, I will end you," Dr. Whoovenstein growled, his eyes narrowing. "This is not a threat that should be taken lightly."

Twilight, however, glanced away from ‘Harmony’, her ears sagging ever-so-slightly. "Do we even matter, though? He's right... we're just creatures of a holiday..."

Rainbow shook her head, throwing a stern expression her way.

"We still have our own world, though, Twilight, and our own lives. That's what matters," she said, smiling. "And I have you." She then turned towards the 'admiral', before roaring, "You hear that?! We're plenty real, damnit, and we deserve to exist as more than just slaves, just as anyone on the other side does! And besides, without the Nightmare Realm, there would be no Grim Reaper! Who's going to escort souls, huh?! You?!"

'Harmony' merely continued to stare at them, its face as blank and emotionless as ever. "Your words are as meaningless as your lives. And consider this: without the real world, you wouldn't even have them. Their preservation shall be made top priority. Prepare yourselves to serve a greater cause. This transmission is now complete. Good tidings to you."

The hologram blipped off.

Nightmare Moon stared at the spot where the hologram was, her mouth parted. The room remained silent for a second more, before a certain chupacabra opened his mouth with:

"Whelp, anyone else but me think we're kind of screwed? Who's up for a doomsday fiesta!"

"I'M DOWN!" Pinkie beamed, bouncing.

"Ugh, chill out everyghoul!" Nightmare groaned. "We still have a good shot of beating them." She then turned towards the Elements of Fear, taking a deep breath, and glancing at Applemoon in particular. "But for that, I'm going to need you six to be strong for me, alright? Applemoon, earlier you said we didn't have the actual Elements of Fear anymore, that being the artifacts themselves. Well, it's time to change that.” She took another deep breath. “You see, after you six used them against the... the entity in Terrorsville, it was agreed by the various holiday world leaders that they be split between the realms because of the power they can wield. However, I don't know exactly where all of them were moved to once in their respected realms, and that's where you all come in."

She nodded towards Slendermare. "Fortunately, one's currently in Null Space, which Slendermare is going to retrieve for us, if he can. Cthulhu should know where it is. And even better, there are two others right here in Necropolis." She then lifted a hoof, sighing. "However, the other three... are going to be a bit more difficult to nab."

"We can do it, princess!" Twilight said, her eyes narrowing in resolve. "You can count on us!"

"I knew you'd say that..." Nightmare said sorrowfully. "And sometimes I wish you were more of a coward, Twilight..."

"None of us are!" Rainbow said proudly, nodding towards her friends. "If we can help you, we will!"

"Darn tootin'," Applemoon smiled.

"For Edeathstria, I will do what I must to retrieve them!" Scarity said in a determined tone.

"I-I'll try my best," Flutterfright squeaked.

"You see? We got this!" Rainbow grinned. "You have my scythe!"

"And my horn!" Twilight beamed.

"AND MY AXE!" Pinkie giggled, summoning a massive battle-axe out of dreamspace.

A prouder smile couldn't come to Nightmare's face, though it still held a hint of guilt. "Determination will be a key to success of this; I'm glad you all have it, for the other three Elements will be a bit more difficult to retrieve. Though you should be able to 'sense' their presence when you near them, going into the worlds where they lie... will not be easy." Her eyes then narrowed. "For in all but one the enemy now occupies." She then turned to Twilight. "I know you can do this, though. You often wonder why I sent you to Terrorsville, don't you? Well the answer to that is simple: I knew the entity was coming, and I knew the six of you were the Elements of Fear before you even knew yourselves. I knew you could beat him… even if it was at a high cost."

The room remained silent at that, baffled expressions filling the six Elements’ faces mixed with a few others. Rainbow seemed to smile slightly. Flutterfright shivered. And Twilight… Twilight’s eyes were ones of the past.

Let’s do the time warp, baby.