The Eternal Storm

by TDarkchylde

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Scootaloo, Tragedy, Princess Celestia, Dark, Sad, Main 6
Length: 33004

The Nightmare returns, now using an Element Bearer as a host.

While Nightmare Moon is gone along with the threat of Eternal Night, the essence of the Nightmare still exists after the Elements of Harmony banished it from Princess Luna.

Having had a year to plan, it has now turned its sights toward what it sees as the weakest of the Elements' bearers.

A storm is brewing...

Published 2011-09-14 20:31:53 UTC
Last updated 2011-10-03 20:15:34 UTC

A Paragon's Sacrifice

The Eternal Storm

A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic

Written by T. Darkchylde

Prologue

The Elements' power was realized.

The manifestation of their power found its target.

Nightmare Moon was gone, leaving only Princess Luna remaining.

Celestia was freed from her prison of the Sun.

Apologies were exchanged and forgiveness was granted.

The Royal Sisters of Equestria were reunited after 1,000 years.

...

But the Nightmare was not gone. It couldn’t be destroyed by the Elements alone. Princess Celestia, as well as the greatest minds in Equestria at the time, had simply thought the Nightmare to be an alternate personality of sorts, given life by the combination of Princess Luna’s power and irrational mental state leading to Equestria’s fling with Eternal Night.

They were wrong - dead wrong. If the Nightmare were such a thing, the Elements would have eliminated it forever. In actuality, the Nightmare was something worse, a malevolent force that fed on dark emotion and twisted its host into a perverted combination of host and Nightmare. It has existed since the start of Equestria, hungering to gain power and sow chaos. For millenia, it subsisted on lesser ponies and created mayhem. Of course, those hosts would eventually die and the Nightmare would be forced to find new ones. It existed this way for the longest time as simply a minor annoyance, so minor that even the sister Princesses did not realize it existed.

Then Princess Luna became distressed because ponies loved her sister's day but shunned her night. She began to envy her sister. Jealousy consumed her soul. That was the perfect opening, the one the Nightmare needed, and Luna and the Nightmare became intertwined for a millennium as Nightmare Moon. Even Luna didn't understand the true nature of the Nightmare while it was using her as a host. Of course, most of that millennium was spent with Luna banished to the Moon by her sister, using the Elements of Harmony.

And upon the Nightmare's return, it was banished again, this time by six ponies representing the Elements themselves.

So the Nightmare waited, lingering free for over a year.

Without Princess Luna's personality to shape its own, it lost its drive for eternal night... but it was still sentient enough to know what it truly wanted.

Power.

Revenge.

To destroy all life on Equestria.

It knew it had to eliminate the threat that the Elements of Harmony posed to it.

It studied the ponies who held the Elements.

It came to understand them better than they understood themselves.

It learned their strengths and weaknesses.

It learned who would resist and who would succumb quickly.

And then it formed a brilliant scheme...

Chapter 1 - A Paragon’s Sacrifice

The unassuming pegasus pony flew in to his job, that of cloud creation in Cloudsdayle. It was a very mundane job, but it was enough to keep his family fed. He had failed his flight testing as a child, meaning he would never acheive his dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. He wouldn't even be able to land a job on a weather team with his abysmal scores, leaving him very few options. The cloud factory was the only option that would keep him in his hometown. Though he had taken to his work in the cloud city, he still felt like he could have been much more. No matter how much he thought he had come to grips with his life, that feeling still ate at his heart and soul.

And that made him the perfect tool for Phase One. He suspected nothing as he changed course. "If they won't let me fly free," he thought to himself, "no one will." The thought didn't seem out of the ordinary at all to him, even though it was a total reversal from normal. He flew onward into the factory towards its center. This was an area he didn't have clearance for, for the fiercest clouds came from here. Whenever Equestria needed a severe storm to balance out its ecosystem, this was where they spawned. Any other day, the magical security system would have rebuffed his efforts to enter... but today, he got in as though he belonged there. He sealed the door behind himself, then disabled the locks. He would have the time he needed to execute his plan.

A single control panel stood in the center of the room. "I'll create a catastrophic storm," he thought. "Winds will lash out so violently, nopony will be left in the air. Even those fools who think themselves safe on the ground will not escape its wrath. Those stupid enough to remain will die... suits them right. Collateral damage sometimes cannot be avoided." He silently worked the controls. A heavy rainstorm would not be enough. Gale force winds? Insufficient. No, the absolute full fury of nature was called for here.

However, he misstepped. By turning the controls past a certain point, an alarm was activated that roused the attention of the factory's boss. He turned to look at the monitors and saw the pegasus working the controls. "Security, make your way to the Severe Storm Room. We have an intruder," he calmly said into a microphone. He looked closely at the pony, and realized who it was. Knowing his record, he quickly slammed his hoof on a button on his desk.

At that point, an alarm rang out and a voice called out over the loudspeaker. "Solarchaser? You're not supposed to be in there! Explain yourself now!"

"You will not die, Boss..." Solarchaser thought, remaining calm, "...but you will live knowing your factory will be responsible for wiping an entire town of ponies off the map. How will it feel? Will you kill yourself, perhaps? I hope not. I hope the guilt crushes you enough so that you wish to die... but you become too apathetic to end yourself." He kept working, dialing up the intensity of the storm he was creating. Somehow he knew that his creation would lose some intensity before it reached its target, so he had to max it out.

"SOLARCHASER?!" the voice frantically called. "What are you doing in there? The readings are off the scale! GUARDS! Get him out of there and stop him!"

“The door’s jammed,” one of the guards stated as they tried to get into the Severe Storm Room. “We’re already working on breaking it open.”

"This is what you get for flunking me during my flight test," Solarchaser stated, calm malice oozing from his voice as he continued working the controls. If there were a category of hurricane higher than five, this storm would comfortably fit into it. The entirety of Cloudsdayle began to shake from the force of the storm forming below.

"W-what?" the boss replied.

"Your error has doomed all of ponykind. Setting course... Ponyville," Solarchaser calmly said as he completed the commands and disabled the overrides. "Your daughter's adopted hometown, am I right? Rest assured, she will die quickly. Her little cloud mansion will be torn from the sky before she even knows what's going on. Then the storm will simply move on to the next town... you do have a sister in Manehattan, correct? Or perhaps I should send it towards your mother-in-law in Fillydelphia... no, perhaps not that way. You might actually want to see her die, and I can’t give you the satisfaction." In truth, Solarchaser had planned revenge after failing his flight exam and learned everything he could about his hated instructor turned hated boss. He had just never felt like acting on that information before. As wrong as the words coming out of his mouth were, today they only felt right.

The psychological assault stunned the factory boss. "...Solarchaser... I'm sorry for what happened at the flight academy all those years ago, but you need to stop this," he pleaded. "You just weren't good enough then. I had to do my job."

"Wrong answer. Execute," Solarchaser said calmly, smiling sickly as he set the storm loose.

The storm left Cloudsdayle and headed slowly but surely toward its target.

After a few minutes spent breaking the locks, the guards entered the central control room. What they found were the controls set beyond full bore and broken off there, and an unconscious Solarchaser. "Sir," one of them reported, "the saboteur is in custody and unconscious. Alert the Mayor of Ponyville."

The loudspeaker crackled back to life. "I already have Telegraph coming to help me relay the message. Just how bad is that storm?"

"It's bad, Sir," the guard said. "It's completely off the scale. When it hits Ponyville, the town will be completely obliterated... and we can't stop it from here. The best we can do is slow it down so Ponyville’s citizens can evacuate..."

"Do it," the boss said over the loudspeaker. He cut it off, then put his head in his hooves and wept until Telegraph arrived.

Everypony failed to notice a black mist seeping through the factory floor.

..::OoOoOoO::..

It didn't take long for the message to reach the Mayor. For a moment, she was shell-shocked. "A hurricane?" she asked. "Why?"

The boss of the Cloudsdayle weather factory just sighed. "It wasn't scheduled," he said. "One of our junior employees went into the Severe Storm Room. He set loose a powerful storm, so powerful that it can't just be broken apart by your town's weather team. We cut off the steering currents, to try to give you as much time as possible to evacuate... but ambient winds will have it there in six hours, regardless."

"Why would somepony do such a thing?" the Mayor asked, shaken.

"Well, the employee is unconscious, so we can't exactly ask him," the boss lied. "When I was observing him in the Storm Room, he appeared to be acting in a cold and calculated manner. I can't rule out at this time that it may have been a deliberate act toward your town."

The Mayor sat speechless for a few seconds. "You mean an attack?" she finally asked, weakly.

"When I know, you'll know," the boss said, trying to reassure the Mayor - though his gruff voice wasn't making that effort easy. "I've also sent word to the Princesses. They have Canterlot's resources on standby to render assistance. Beyond that... I don't know what to say."

"I'll get our disaster plan in motion," she said as she walked over to the wall. "Just let me know when you find out why this happened," she said as she signaled to a nearby unicorn.

The unicorn cut the telepathic projection. "Mayor... do we even have a plan for something like this?" he asked.

"Relay... there is a plan. Don't worry. I have one more task for you, then I need you to head to the designated shelter," she said. "They never said being mayor would be easy," she thought as she smashed a glass case. She removed a megaphone from the case, turned it on, then took a deep breath as she signaled Relay.

Relay's horn started to glow, then the glow enveloped the megaphone. "It's ready, ma'am."

The Mayor started speaking into the megaphone loudly and deliberately. "This is not a drill! Disaster leaders, get the shelter plans in motion! Weather teams, report to emergency positions, now! Everypony else needs to pack whatever they need for survival and those things that can not be replaced and evacuate the town immediately! There is a shelter opening near Sweet Apple Acres for those ponies with nowhere else to go. Pets should be brought to Fluttershy's Cottage for transport to an animal shelter in Fillydelphia. This is a Priority Red weather alert! Repeating... this is not a drill!"

With Relay's enchantment, the Mayor's words were resonating in the ears of everypony in and around town...

..::OoOoOoO::..

Of course, our intrepid heroes were putting their own plans into action once they heard the Mayor's message. Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was bucking the last few apple trees she had time to clear. Her family was responsible for bringing food to the shelter area, for those ponies who couldn't bring their own.

"Ah've got the last of 'em done over here!" a red stallion called out from across the expansive farm.

"Great, Big Macintosh," Applejack yelled back over the escalating wind. "Get 'em into the cart, grab Granny and Apple Bloom and get yerself outta here! Ah'll be done in a minute or two here and meet you at the shelter!"

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh replied as he kicked the last few apples in and hooked himself to his cart. "Whose bright idea was it to schedule a hurricane anyways?"

"Ain't got no idea, and don't much care right now! Go!" Applejack shouted as her rear hooves landed squarely on the tree and its bounty tumbled into the cart.

..::OoOoOoO::..

At the same time, high over Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was mobilizing the weather team. "Okay, you all know the drill!" she called out. "We've got a hurricane coming, and no time to lose! You already know your assignments for emergencies, so... Red Team, buck the clouds around Ponyville. If we get them out of the way the storm can't suck up their moisture. Green Team, start churning some dry wind in here from the west! That will weaken it further."

The assembled pegasi began to mumble to each other. Only a few of them had ever dealt with a storm of this magnitude in their lifetimes, much less had to prepare for one as members of the weather team.

"Look, guys, I'm worried too," Dash said. "The best we can do at this point is damage control. If it gets too harsh out there for you to do your job, then fly to the shelter. Try to stay close to the ground when you do. I believe in you... Ponyville believes in you."

The murmurs stopped. One of the pegasi spoke up. "What will you be doing, Rainbow Dash?" she asked.

"What I always do," Dash said quietly, fierce determination filling her voice. "The impossible."

The weather pegasi erupted into a cheer, feeding off of Rainbow Dash's determination.

"That's what I want to hear!" Dash cried out. "Let's move!"

Half of the team scattered around to buck clouds in the storm's path. The other half darted off to the west as swiftly as their wings would carry them.

Once they were all gone, Rainbow Dash sighed. "I'm sorry, guys," she said softly as she flew toward the incoming storm.. “We just don’t have the time for your parts of the plan to work. What I have to do, I can’t have you guys trying to stop...”

..::OoOoOoO::..

"Oooh, I've never been in a hurricane before!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she packed up her personal belongings. The Cakes had already packed up the rest of the day's food and headed towards the shelter. "Maybe we could throw a party at the shelter! Yay, hurricane party!"

"Pinkie, dear, are you sure that's a good idea?" Rarity asked, helping Pinkie to pack faster. She had already fortified the Boutique for the storm, and Sweetie Belle was out of town with Scootaloo, thankfully already out of harm's way. She had time to give to help her friends before heading towards the Carousel Boutique's new Manehattan location. "Most of the ponies in the shelter will be worried enough about what they've left here."

Pinkie's face contorted into a confused look. "Rarity, you can be so silly sometimes!" she said as she perked back up. "When everything's at its worst, that's the best time to lift ponies' spirits with a party! But we do need to hurry, Fluttershy's about to finish packing up the animals to go to the Fillydelphia shelter, and I've really, really got to be sure Gummy's safe."

Rarity smiled weakly. "I guess somepony has to see the bright side in all this." She levitated the last of Pinkie Pie's stuff into a saddlebag and shut it. "And you're right, we should hurry. I do wish to see Opalescence off before we evacuate." As fate would have it, Fluttershy had already been taking care of Rarity's beloved cat overnight.

The two left Sugarcube Corner, itself having been boarded up by the Cakes before they left. As they trotted toward Fluttershy's cottage, they ran into Twilight Sparkle.

"Oh, hi girls," Twilight said. She noticed Gummy clinging to Pinkie Pie's tail. "Fluttershy's about to leave any minute, you two need to hurry."

"Spike's going with Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked, seeing that the young dragon wasn't alongside Twilight. "Maybe he can keep Gummy company on the trip so he won't feel lonely!"

"I mentioned it," Twilight said, bracing herself as the wind picked up, "but he didn't want to hear any of it. He's still at the library, waiting for me to get back. I did have to go there to drop off Owlowiscious, though... maybe he can keep Gummy company. Besides, I do need Spike with me in case the Princess contacts me with instructions."

"Come to think of it," Rarity said, "a dragon can survive almost anything. He'd probably be the last one standing if... if..." She started sobbing silently. "Oh, what will I do if this storm destroys the Boutique?"

Pinkie Pie put a foreleg around Rarity's shoulder for support. A serious expression crept onto her face. "It'll be ok. Places can be rebuilt... ponies can’t. We should hurry before Fluttershy leaves. Be safe, Twilight!" she said as she waved.

"Yep!" Twilight called out as her friends departed swiftly to Fluttershy's. "You too!"

As she turned to go back to her library, she glanced up at the sky and saw a rainbow-colored streak flying high in the sky... heading straight towards the storm in the distance. "Rainbow Dash? Why is she flying towards... oh no... oh no, what is she thinking?!" she thought to herself as she launched into a full gallop toward her library.

..::OoOoOoO::..

"There you go, all packed in for the ride," Fluttershy said as she started hooking herself to a covered wagon. Her part of the plan was well in motion - those animals that could fend for themselves for a few days had already fled to the Everfree Forest. The rest would travel with her to a small shelter just outside Fillydelphia. The shelter set up in Ponyville wouldn't take animals after the last time, when five rabbits entered and thirty-five left. If that particular disaster had lasted just twelve more hours, there wouldn't have been enough food.

"Hey! Fluttershy! Wait for us!" Pinkie Pie called out from the distance.

"Yes, please wait just a moment more," Rarity said, almost out of breath. "I need to see Opalescence off, after all!"

"Oh, hello Rarity. Hello Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy said as she turned toward her two spent friends. "I was waiting for you two, I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving Gummy behind or not letting you say goodbye, Rarity."

Rarity breathed heavily as she made it over to the wagon. "Opal, thank goodness I--"

As Gummy let go of Pinkie Pie's tail and latched onto Fluttershy's mane, both ponies looked over to the wagon.

There, they would see Opal clinging angrily to Rarity's face. "I guess I didn't need to go out this far after all, Opal's in good hands. Fluttershy, would you be a dear and..." Rarity said as she pointed to the irate cat on her head.

"Oh, sure, Rarity," Fluttershy said as she worked on coaxing Opal back into the covered wagon.

Pinkie Pie was trying her hardest to hold back a giggle. "You made her day, Rarity!" she said as she lost control and erupted into an unstoppable giggling fit.

"Yes..." Rarity sarcastically said as Fluttershy got the cat free. "I'm glad you have the situation in hand, Fluttershy, but I need to hurry along!" she said as she turned to take the path to Manehattan.

"Be safe," Fluttershy weakly yelled to Rarity. She turned to Pinkie Pie and said, "You should get to the shelter before it gets too bad out here."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie said, waving to Fluttershy as she bounced off in the shelter's direction. "You be careful too! We can't have an after-hurricane party after this if we're not all okay!" she shouted.

Fluttershy had already turned to bring the wagon to Fillydelphia. "Count on it," she said softly as she loaded Gummy into the wagon for the long trip.

..::OoOoOoO::..

High in the tempestuous skies between Ponyville and Cloudsdayle, Rainbow Dash had already come up with a half-baked plan to try to break up the storm. She wouldn't let Ponyville be destroyed on her watch. She was being driven by her sense of loyalty.

She was so focused on the storm, she didn't see a cloud of black mist streaking past her. All that she cared about was the massive collection of rain, clouds and wind looming ahead.

The hurricane itself was small in size, but powerful. It was precision-crafted for a single purpose, after all - to level Ponyville. Of course, Rainbow Dash didn't know the intent behind it.

All she knew was that she had to stop it... whatever the cost.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Twilight Sparkle rushed into the library, nearly knocking the door down in her haste. "Spike! I need to get a message to Princess Celestia! Now!" she screamed as she rummaged through the shelves for one book in particular.

"What? What happened, Twilight?" Spike asked, recognizing the serious tone Twilight was using. He knew right away something was terribly wrong.

"Rainbow Dash is flying straight toward the storm!" she yelled.

"Yikes! Start talking, I'll write it down," Spike said as he rummaged for a scroll and a quill.

Almost on autopilot, Twilight began reciting the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia - We have a situation here in Ponyville. No doubt you have been informed about the storm coming our way. The problem we have now is that Rainbow Dash is heading toward the storm. I think she intends to stop it herself, but she has no idea just how severe it is! Please, I need advice, and I need it in a hurry! Signed, Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Send it!"

"Your faithful student... Twilight Sparkle..." Spike said as he finished the letter, then incinerated it with his fire breath. He didn't even bother to roll it back up first.

"Thanks, Spike... do you know where Telepathy for Dummies is?" she asked as she continued rifling through the bookshelves.

As Spike was about to answer, he felt a pressure building up within his stomach, and burped out a flame. A letter appeared in the fire, and he quickly read it. "My faithful student - This is a serious situation. Even if you could cast a flight spell on yourself in a hurry, I doubt you could reach Rainbow Dash in time. Try a direct telepathy spell and see if you can talk her out of it. If you can't, get a doctor on standby - Dash could be seriously hurt, if not killed by this storm, and I have a bad feeling about this whole thing. The book you're looking for is under 'E'. Signed, Princess Celestia."

"E?" Twilight muttered as she checked that section - sure enough, E, for ESP. “I swear, I should just start putting every book in this place under ‘E’!” she yelled as she dropped the book to the floor. As she slid down the ladder, the book opened to the page she was looking for - Voice-to-Mind Projection (No-Consent Variant.)

As Twilight read the spell, her horn began to glow and she began sweating from the exertion of the unfamiliar spell. "Rainbow Dash... come on Dash, answer me..."

..::OoOoOoO::..

"...come on Dash, answer me..."

Rainbow Dash stopped in midair as she heard Twilight Sparkle's voice. "Twilight? Where are you?" she asked as she looked around.

"Thank goodness. I thought you might have gotten hurt. Don't look for me, I'm speaking directly into your mind," Twilight said. "Don't talk to respond, just think. It's easier. What are you thinking, flying into that storm?!"

"Uhm, okay..." Rainbow muttered as she began to think back at Twilight's voice. "I'm not thinking about anything. I know I can't just buck this storm apart - but I do know I can stop that storm with a Sonic Rainboom."

Twilight's voice sounded shocked in reply. "A Sonic Rainboom? Even if you could pull one off here and now with no preparation whatsoever, the storm itself would rip you apart! Don't do this, please!"

Rainbow sighed. "Look, Twilight... I have to try. I'm already starting to feel what it can do, and I'm only halfway to it. If it reaches Ponyville, the entire town will be wiped off the map. No questions asked, just gone. Everything we've worked for, everything everypony has - it'll be as if none of that ever existed. Please, don't try and stop me. Don't talk me out of it. You don't even have to like it - .just try and understand why I have to do this. You can read my thoughts right now, so do it."

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight just said as she did as her friend asked, reading her thoughts. What she could sense was loyalty above all else. Loyalty toward her friends, loyalty toward her weather team... loyalty towards Ponyville itself. She would give everything she had to protect the town, her time, energies...

...Even her life. Rainbow Dash was willing to die to protect Ponyville, if that's what it took. Even if she failed, she had to give her all trying. To do otherwise... wasn't even an option. It was all or nothing, and this situation called for her all and then some.

"...I understand, Dash," Twilight said, sadly. "I'll tell Princess Celestia your plan, then I'm bringing Spike and a doctor with me and I'll meet you at the storm itself. If it does tear you apart, we'll try to put you back together."

"I'll be fine, relax!" Rainbow Dash thought before adding, "...Of course, if I'm not, I'll be in the best hands."

"You say that now, just wait until Princess Celestia banishes you, then throws you in a dungeon in the place you get banished to for trying this crazy stunt!" Twilight said, disguising her fear that this plan really wouldn't work. She was thankful that only her voice was being projected. "...But seriously, be careful. If you think at any time that you can't do it, get out of there!"

Rainbow Dash began ascending higher into the sky, to get the proper angle for her plan. "I can do this... but thanks for your concern. You are a good friend, Twilight Sparkle. Don't ever think otherwise," she thought. “Now could you please get out of my head so I can focus?”

..::OoOoOoO::..

Twilight Sparkle broke off contact. Time was short. "Spike, please take another letter, then you're with me," she said as she shut the book on telepathy and packed it into her saddlebag. She began to recite the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia - I contacted Rainbow Dash, and her plan is to try to break the storm apart with a Sonic Rainboom. I am unsure if her plan will work, but I cannot stop her at this stage. She is being driven by her loyalty to her friends and to Ponyville itself and I am loathe to disagree with her decision on that basis. I am en route to the center of the storm with Spike. Have the best medical ponies in Canterlot on standby to receive both Rainbow Dash and myself and one ready to be teleported to my side - if the plan doesn't work, I do not intend to leave her out there to die. Signed, Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Send it, quickly!" she finished as she grabbed a second book off the shelf and levitated it into her saddlebag.

Spike did as asked, and almost immediately, another letter from the Princess appeared. Wasting no time, he opened it and started to read. "My faithful student - The Elements of Harmony are a powerful force, and Loyalty has always been reckless like this in times of dire need. I do understand and respect her decision, however. Canterlot General is ready to receive you and Rainbow Dash if necessary. As you read this, I am already en route to the storm's center to help stabilize any wounded. I will not risk the doctors if I can do what's needed myself, and Luna can handle preparations in Canterlot just fine in my absence. Depart fast - we have no more time for discussion. Signed... whoa!"

Spike didn't even get a chance to finish the letter as Twilight Sparkle grabbed him in a telekinetic field and sprinted out of the library.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Rainbow Dash had reached the vertex of her climb, as high in the air as she dared to go. Even at these heights, she could feel the disturbed air beneath. It was definitely the full fury of Cloudsdayle manifest. Only the most malicious of souls would dare unleash this kind of storm on a town - especially one as unprotected as Ponyville.

All she cared about was that it was threatening her home. Everypony had probably fled the town at this point, so no lives would be lost... but in a way, lives would be lost. Those houses and shops in Ponyville were not just places, they were ponies' lives! They lived and worked in these places, made memories in these places, and came to care for these places. Life would be disrupted for months if not years if the storm struck. She wasn't about to let some freak force of nature tear that all down if she could help it.

...And she could. At least, in her mind, she could. When she had performed the first Sonic Rainboom as a filly, the cloud marker it occurred at completely vaporized. When the second one occurred only a few months previous, the few clouds unfortunate enough to be in the Rainboom's path shared the fate of the marker cloud. Put two and two together and even a fierce storm such as a hurricane should be no match. Or at least, that was her reasoning.

With that, she started to descend rapidly toward the ground. Her plan of attack was simple in theory, but was going to be almost impossible in execution. She would have to achieve a Sonic Rainboom to begin with - no easy feat as she herself had only managed it twice in her lifetime. She would have to deal with violently swirling winds as she descended, most of which would threaten to take her off course.

She would have to remain aimed at the storm's center. If she hit anywhere else and executed the Rainboom, the wind would tear her apart. She would also have to execute it at precisely the right time - right as she hit the center of the cloud cover. Too early or too late, and the clouds would not disperse properly. Even if it did knock out the vortex of wind, it would only serve to scatter the heavy rain clouds. Ponyville would still flood - its weather team could not handle rain clouds like these even if the hurricane-force winds dissipated.

As she descended into the heart of the storm, the winds began to threaten to knock her off-course. She fought back with every ounce of her being. The storm retaliated by tearing at her wings. Bones started to fracture. With seconds to go, she felt as though her wings were going to rip right off of her body.

She kept going, and against all odds, she was holding the right speed. She was close to breaking the sound barrier but not quite there, holding back just enough to turn it on at the right time. She fought the wind. The wind fought back. She was holding it to a stalemate.

Then she hit her mark as she broke into the storm's eye. The calm winds were enough to stop battering her abused wings. She turned and aimed herself straight down into it. She was close enough now to turn it on. And she did. Energy began to coalesce around her forehooves as the Sonic Rainboom started to form. Her battered wings were screaming for reprieve, but she pushed through the pain.

Instinct tends to tell a pegasus when it's the proper time to cut loose. She was closing in on it rapidly.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Twilight Sparkle teleported a short distance from the storm's center. She and Spike were wrapped inside a magical cocoon that would negate the wind and rain for a very brief time. She could see Princess Celestia flying in at the edge of her eyesight.

"Look! Up there!" Spike yelled, pointing to the storm's eye.

Twilight looked up and could barely make out a rainbow trail headed straight into it from above. Blue feathers were flying in the churning winds.

..::OoOoOoO::..

"Not there yet..."

"Not there yet..."

"Not... there... yet..." Rainbow Dash repeated as her wings were screaming in pain. Then she felt it. She was at the dead center of the storm.

It was time!

"NOW!"

With that one scream, the entire storm erupted in a blast of sound and rainbows, exploding from the center. The wind seemed to intensify for a brief moment, then ceased almost immediately. At that moment, Rainbow Dash tried to execute a turn so she wouldn't barrel into the ground at supersonic speeds.

Then her wings snapped and she blacked out...

Terrible Reality

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 2 - Terrible Reality

"The Element of Magic. While her magical power is without peer among mere unicorns, her will is stronger still. She is a poor choice for a host... but her role will be crucial nonetheless."

Rainbow Dash was speeding towards the ground at unreal speeds. It would only be seconds until the only thing remaining of her would be a rainbow-patterned smear on the ground below.

Twilight Sparkle was determined not to allow that to be the case. Princess Celestia would not make it in time to assist her.

She had to act quickly to save her friend.

Her horn began to glow as she desperately tried to wrap Rainbow Dash in a levitation field. She had done this many times in the past - every unicorn's magical training began with simple telekinesis, after all.

Of course, this was far from simple. Twilight realized this as she felt the backlash from Dash's supersonic descent wrack her body. Her magic ebbed quickly.

It was certainly noticeable. "Twilight!" Spike yelled.

"I just don't have the power for this," she lamented as the strain forced her eyes to close. "Even trying to wrap a TK field around her feels like it's going to tear my horn off!"

"You've got to hold on!" Spike shouted as he looked towards the rapidly approaching alicorn. "Princess Celestia! Hurry, please!"

Even at her fastest, however, the Princess of the Sun was still too far away. Rainbow Dash would be but a memory by the time she could even begin to assist.

Just as Twilight was about to give up hope, as well as her grip on consciousness, a new thought entered her mind and new power flowed through her body.

"No. Rainbow Dash must live. The Princess is too far away... I can do this. I MUST do this!"

As her newfound power flowed around the careening Dash, she screamed as loud as her voice could manage.

"I WILL DO THIS!"

Rainbow Dash's limp form began to slow in the air as Twilight's power reached an impossible level, even dwarfing the outburst that landed her in Princess Celestia's tutelage. Not only did she have Rainbow Dash secure in a telekinetic field, she was actually able to bleed off her velocity both quickly and safely. She felt blood begin to trickle down her face as she labored on. Nothing would stop her, she felt as she continued slowing Rainbow Dash's fall.

With one final anguished scream, she gained full control over Rainbow Dash and lowered her to the ground. Just as Dash was safe, though, Twilight felt her power and her body give out.

Princess Celestia would arrive only a couple of minutes later to discover a broken but breathing Rainbow Dash, as well as a comatose Twilight Sparkle and a sobbing Spike cradling her.

"Twilight?" Spike pleaded between sobs. "Twilight, wake up, please! Wake up!!!"

The distraction allowed an eerily familiar black mist to streak off towards Canterlot unnoticed.

..::OoOoOoO::..

The all clear sounded in Ponyville as its residents began to emerge from the shelter.

Pinkie Pie was among the first to emerge. She was bouncing happily as usual - even the near-end of all life wouldn't put a damper on her spirits. "After-hurricane party at Sugarcube Corner tonight!" she exclaimed happily.

"Raincheck, sug?" Applejack wearily asked as she made her way outside. "Ah gotta make sure all the apple trees got thru this."

Both could hear a familar, regal voice speaking into their minds - the voice of the Princess of the Moon. "Ponyville needs a day or so to wind down, and I'm sure Big Macintosh can assess the damage. You're needed in Canterlot now," she said.

Each of the two Element Bearers gave the other the same puzzled look. "Wha?" they both asked in unison.

"Forgive the intrusion, but this really is important," Luna replied. Her mental voice was soft and guarded. "Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash are in Canterlot. My sister is making sure both are being taken care of. You need to get here. Quickly."

Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie sprinted quickly toward Canterlot as they heard the word "quickly."

"What about Fluttershy an' Rarity?" Applejack asked between breaths. "Somepony's gotta tell them too!"

"It's being taken care of," Luna said. "Please, hurry."

..::OoOoOoO::..

Celestia had finished relaying a similar message to both Fluttershy and Rarity. While she had instructed Fluttershy to come quickly, she had sent Rarity to meet up with Scootaloo's parents. She was unsure if either Rainbow Dash or Twilight Sparkle would fully recover, and Rarity had wanted to spare Dash's young idolizer from possibly seeing her hero in such bad condition.

The experience was starting to wear on the Princess. She sighed deeply as she took in all that had happened. She had given Dash's ramshackle plan her tacit approval, and it had nearly gotten both her own student and Dash nearly killed.

As she reflected on it, she began to sob, realizing that even with the benefit of hindsight, she would do it again.

A gentle tap on her shoulder returned her to reality. "Your Majesty?" a stallion asked.

She sniffled and cleared a tear away as she turned to the stallion. "Yes?" she replied.

"You asked to be informed when the two patients you brought here were stable," he said. "While Miss Sparkle is still in critical condition, Miss Dash will pull through." He wore a guarded expression on his face.

"You're not telling me everything, Doctor," the Princess observed. "Something else is wrong."

The doctor sighed. This was the second-worst part of his job - the worst being breaking the news of a death to a pony's loved ones. "We can't repair Miss Dash's wings. They're just too badly damaged. She'll be earthbound for the rest of her life."

The Princess sat in silence for what felt like an eternity. "Please, inform her family. They need to be here. Her friends are already on the way," she said as she stood. "I have to notify my sister of the situation. Excuse me." As she finished her sentence, she flew back toward the Palace.

Two pegasus Royal Guards followed her, keeping a respectable distance. One's eyes had an unusual, almost serpentine appearance.

..::OoOoOoO::..

It took longer than the guard had liked for the Princesses to dismiss him. He had told them he wasn't feeling well, which was the truth. Having been infected by the Nightmare, his body became little more than a plaything to it. Its goal wasn't the Princesses anyway. For now.

As he took turn after turn into the depths of the castle, he was being drawn to one single goal. It was locked up deep underneath the castle in a secret vault, its location only known to five ponies - the two Princesses, the Element of Magic, Celestia's head guard - and himself, the second in command.

The Princesses were understandably distracted.

The Element of Magic was fighting for her life.

As for Celestia's head guard, he was laying unconscious a few corridors back, left with a nasty bruise on his head. He'd survive, though he'd no doubt call for an investigation. It would be a short one, anyway - he'd seen his assailant. The Nightmare wasn't concerned with trying to hide the identity of his attacker, after all... he was just as disposable as all of them.

...All except the one it truly wanted, anyway.

As he continued, the Nightmare blocked off any feelings of guilt the second in command would have over the treasonous act, forcing him to focus on the task at hand.

The Nightmare and its host finally reached the goal - a magically sealed vault. Though the door itself was easy to open, there was a shield in place that only recognized the five ponies who knew what laid inside. It already controlled one. Channeling its power outward, it created a magical facsimile of a second that would allow it to pass.

Both the controlled guard and a semi-transparent magical construct radiating Twilight Sparkle's magical aura passed through and the shield fell. Inside was the bounty, and the next component of the scheme...

..::OoOoOoO::..

"Fluttershy! You made it!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she bounced up to Canterlot General.

Applejack trailed slightly behind her. "Consarn it filly, how're ya' still full of bounce after all that?" she yelled weakly.

"Lots and lots and lots of sugary treats!" Pinkie replied, bouncing in place. Her ever-present smile was a little more forced than usual since hearing Luna's message.

"Oh, thank goodness I made it up here in time," Fluttershy said as she joined her two friends. "Princess Celestia sounded so worn out when she called me. I'm just glad she had someone else bring the animals back to Ponyville."

"Yeah, that's great an' all," Applejack interjected, "but we're still missing one. Where's Rarity?"

"I had a more important task for her to take care of first," called a voice from the sky. "She'll be coming via chariot as soon as that is done."

Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie looked skyward upon hearing Princess Celestia's voice. They started to bow, but were quickly waved off.

"There's no time for formalities," Celestia said as she landed. "We should hurry inside. Rainbow Dash is waking up. I want her to have friends close by when... when..."

"Out with it, Princess... what happened?" Applejack asked. Honesty was demanding honesty in kind. "Are Twilight and Dash gonna be okay?"

The Princess led the three young mares into the hospital. "Rainbow Dash will survive, though even I have no idea how," she said.

"But... what about Twilight... eek!" Fluttershy began to ask, before Princess Celestia looked back at her. "I'm sorry..." she said, intimidated.

"Don't be scared," Celestia said, trying to reassure the meek yellow pegasus. "Whatever you have to say, you don't have to worry about my reaction. None of this is your fault."

"Um... ok then... what's wrong with Twilight then?" Fluttershy asked, still slightly frightened.

"I'm sure she's fine, Fluttershy," Pinkie said, trying to reassure her friend. "One, Twilight's been through a lot since we've known her. She's even had a safe fall on her and She Got Better. Two, Princess Celestia would never, ever let Twilight get hurt anyways!"

Pinkie's overly optimistic outburst was enough to fracture the shreds of emotional self-control the Princess was desperately clinging to. "They..." she started as she began sniffling, "they don't know yet. From what... *sniffle* Spike told me, Twilight was channeling so much power to try to save Rainbow Dash that *sniffle* she may have been feeding the spells with her own life force. She... she might not make it."

The three young mares froze. Applejack was the first to speak. "Ah didn't understand a word of that other than 'she might not make it.' Ya' sure them docs know what the hay they're talking 'bout?"

Fluttershy simply collapsed and started crying uncontrollably. Pinkie Pie embraced her gently and started talking softly to her. "It... it's going to be okay, Fluttershy," Pinkie said, trying to console her friend. "Those mean doctors don't know what they're talking about. Twilight's going to pull through, you'll see! She always does..."

"That's not the only problem," Celestia said as she too began crying.

..::OoOoOoO::..

It was getting late and a unicorn was about to close up shop in Canterlot. Iron Hoof had received no business as usual - things that usually required his services just didn't happen often in Equestria. Things are usually hard for a businesspony when their special talent is creating prosthetics in a land where nopony loses a limb, after all.

As he was about to change the sign on his shop to "Closed," a cloaked pegasus ran up. "Wait! Don't close up yet!" the pegasus yelled. "I need your services."

Iron Hoof coughed. "Eh? A customer? You're the first one I've had in months," he said as he motioned for the pegasus to come inside.

"My daughter's been hurt. Flying accident. They say she might be earthbound," the pegasus said as he entered the store. "They also say you're the best at what you do."

"I gave up tryin' tae argue wit' 'them' a long time ago, good sir," Iron Hoof boasted. "Anything tae drum up a sale, even if the poor lass ain't got a prayer of flyin' again," he figured. "You want the best? I'm it, laddie."

The pegasus smiled sickly as he pulled back his cloak, revealing his serpentine eyes. "That's just what I wanted to hear," he said as he began emanating a black mist.

Iron Hoof began to scream, but it was quickly silenced. A few minutes later, he opened the side door of his shop and casually dumped the unconscious Royal Guard in an alley. "I might be the best at what I do, but if I would have had to listen to that despicable accent just a moment longer..." he spat as he ducked back inside and shut the door.

..::OoOoOoO::..

The bad news was met with Rainbow Dash launching a monitor at the nearest wall, nearly taking Applejack's head off in the process. She had only been awake for two whole minutes, and now her world was shattered. "Earthbound? I'm going to be earthbound? For. The. Rest. Of. My. LIFE?!" she angrily yelled. While her wings were shattered to the point of uselessness, the rest of her body was almost unharmed in comparison.

"Dang it Dash, we ain't the reason your wings broke!" Applejack retorted. "Why'd you have to go flyin' into that storm anyway? What about us?"

"Calm down..." Pinkie Pie said as she began to shut down from all the arguing.

"What about you? Hello? I saved Ponyville and all of you! You’re welcome, by the way... but I'm the one who'll never fly again!" Rainbow yelled hysterically. "My life is over!"

Fluttershy darted outside of the room when the outburst began heating up. "This isn't happening," she mumbled between sobs.

"Your life? Sugarcube, not all of us been blessed with wings," Applejack yelled back. "Ah ain't ever had 'em, and Ah've been gettin' along just fine all these years! Besides, what if you'd gone an' died out there?!"

"Applejack, enough... please?" Pinkie weakly pleaded. Her hair was beginning to lose some of its curliness.

The realization that she could have died hit a nerve for Rainbow Dash. She had considered it when she flew into the storm, of course, but adrenaline had served to blunt her reaction to it. "I... I wouldn't have died," Rainbow said weakly.

"An' you didn't, on account of Twilight riskin' her neck to save you," Applejack said. "An' now cause of some weird unicorn magical stuff, we might lose her!"

"It's not my fault..." Rainbow Dash said, weakly. "I didn't mean..."

"Course you didn't mean it, but it happened," Applejack said bluntly.

"Stop it!" Pinkie yelled as her hair fully straightened. "Applejack, seriously? You're getting on Rainbow Dash for something any of us would do if we had her skills?"

"Pinkie..." Applejack stammered as the weight of Pinkie's words struck her.

"...And, you," Pinkie said as she turned to Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry you got hurt trying to save Ponyville, and I thank you for that, but you need to realize that you mean a lot to us, and you need to control your recklessness sometimes!"

Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack stared silently at Pinkie Pie.

"Friends. Don't. FIGHT. Like. That. When. Another. Friend. Needs. Them!" Pinkie screamed. She then took a deep breath and her hair resumed its curly state. "There. Now I need to go visit Twilight Sparkle. She needs her friends right now more than ever," she said as she bounced purposely out of the room.

As Rainbow Dash and Applejack opened their mouths to argue some more, Pinkie stuck her head back into the door. "All of them!" she said as she exited for real this time.

"...Can I have some alone time?" Rainbow Dash asked, quietly, defeated. "I... I need to think for a while. Tell Fluttershy I'm sorry, okay?"

"Y-yeah, sure, Dash," Applejack said as she left the room. "You're gonna be fine, filly. The docs are wrong anyways."

"Don't you know it!" Dash said, faking some bravado for the sake of her friend. "But... I really do need to think," she stated to an empty room.

The worst part for Dash was that she was stuck in that bed, unable to go thank the friend who may well have given her life for her...

Crepuscule

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 3 - Crepuscule

"Generosity... it would be interesting to see what a force with a different motivation could do to corrupt that one. The possibilities are truly endless. Selflessly giving everypony a deadly plague? Put her in charge of the food supply, then make her give to such a degree that everyone starves in the end? Spreading false hope where none exists? Of course, the possibility to twist her into Avarice is also intriguing. It wouldn't take much to make her go in that direction as it is.

"Sadly, none of that interests me. Better to let her run herself into the ground without my help."

It was proving to be Rarity's most difficult task to date. Filling massive orders for Sapphire Shores was hard, yes. Keeping her shop in the black? Very difficult. The hardest thing, she was discovering, was trying not to give too much information to one not ready for it.

Even what little she had given may have been too much. She had found Scootaloo's parents' house and tried to break the news as gently as possible...

"...What? Rainbow Dash is in the hospital?" Scootaloo asked, having overheard the conversation from upstairs.

"Oh, no..." Rarity said as she heard the familiar voice. "Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash does some very dangerous work sometimes with the weather team," she lied, trying to spare the young filly's feelings. "Sometimes they have to break apart a cloud that's grown out of control, and sometimes that means whomever does the job gets hurt. It happens. She'll be fine."

Sweetie Belle emerged from Scootaloo's room upon hearing her reaction. "What happened?" she asked.

"Rainbow Dash got hurt," Scootaloo said, trying to hold back tears. Even though Rarity had taken extreme care not to mention the severity of Dash's injuries, she had still jumped to a conclusion not too far from the actual truth. "She's in the hospital." She turned back to look down the stairs. "Mom, Dad, we've got to go see her. She needs all our support right now."

"Hon, look... we can go later on," Scootaloo's father stated. He knew Dash's father from his days in flight school, and once he saw for himself how talented the then-young Dash was, he certainly didn't discourage his own daughter from holding her up as an idol. He had idolized Dash's father when he was a colt, after all. "They're taking really good care of her right now, and we may distract her from getting better."

"Yes, please, listen to your father," Scootaloo's mother said, picking up where her husband left off. "Rainbow Dash certainly knows how much you look up to her. If we see her too soon, she might feel the need to push herself and set back her own recovery."

"Indeed," Rarity said. "You need to be strong for her right now. When the time's right, we'll all go and see her. We just can't go yet."

"You can't keep me away," Scootaloo mumbled as she turned around and went back to her room. Once inside, she started to cry. Rainbow Dash was her hero, after all. Heroes aren't supposed to get hurt bad enough to go to hospitals. She was finding it difficult to cope with the fact that her idol was, in the end, just as mortal as everypony else.

Downstairs, Rarity was getting ready to leave. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer, but Princess Celestia needs me in Canterlot and the chariot will be here any moment for me. I simply cannot be late. Would it be too much of a bother for you to keep an eye on Sweetie Belle for just a little longer?" she asked.

"Not at all," Scootaloo's mother replied as the chariot could be heard touching down outside. "Anything for a friend, especially right now.

As Rarity opened the door to leave, Scootaloo's father called after her. "When you know more about Rainbow Dash's condition, please tell us?"

"Miss Rarity? The Princesses are expecting you," a stallion called from outside.

"One second more, please," Rarity told the guard pulling the chariot. She turned back inside. "You will be the first to know," she told Scootaloo's father. "On that, you have my word."

..::OoOoOoO::..

"The Element of Kindness... ah, but I've seen the rage she is truly capable of. We could do a lot of damage together. Despite that, however, I can't really do much else with her. It may be beyond even my influence to permanently break her out of her shell. I considered Laughter as well... she hides a dark streak that I could do a lot with. Still, I can't use her either. I want to rule over an Equestria devoid of all life save myself. Under my influence, she might destroy herself, or even the entire planet. That simply won't do."

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Spike were all by Twilight Sparkle's side as she laid in a hospital bed, still comatose. Princess Celestia had excused herself a moment earlier, as another of her unicorn students had arrived to discuss important business.

"Twilight..." Applejack started to say, but she was simply unable to continue voicing her thought.

Fluttershy turned and hugged Applejack gently. "It's hard, I know... seeing her like this, but you really need to try to say something. Even like this, she may be able to hear us and she needs all the support we can give her," she said.

"She's going to be fine," Pinkie Pie said from the other side of Twilight's bed as she held one of her hooves. "She's going to get all better like she always does, and then we're going to have a big party to celebrate. It's going to be so big, Ponyville will talk about it for years and years to come. We'll all be old mares and ponies will still be like 'Hey, remember that huge party Pinkie Pie threw for Twilight Sparkle that one time? Man, I wish they still had parties like that!' You'll see, Twilight. You'll see... but you gotta wake up first. Please?"

"Ah hope that happens, Pinkie, but Ah'm just not sure," Applejack said as Fluttershy continued holding her. "Ah can't just lie to her. Til she wakes up..."

"You can't give up on her," Spike yelled, interrupting Applejack. "She's done so much for us over the last year. We've gotta be here for her."

"Guess you're right," Applejack sighed. "Twilight, you're gonna pull through this. You just gotta. Things just wouldn't be the same without you."

Outside the room, Princess Celestia was speaking with Spectra, her most promising student since Twilight had moved to Ponyville. "You checked the blood sample like I requested?" she asked her student.

"I did, Princess," Spectra said. "What I found, I've only seen in one other specimen to date - Princess Luna."

"So then, Nightmare Moon wasn't the end of it?" the Princess asked.

"My guess at this point would be no," the unicorn replied. She sighed. "I think for a brief moment out there, the Nightmare part that was expelled from Princess Luna was actually assisting Twilight Sparkle, but even that brief assistance nearly killed her. She wasn't using life force like the dragon hypothesized, rather, she was using every bit of the power she will eventually gain. That's what did this - her body was most certainly not ready for all that raw power."

"...But Luna's was as Nightmare Moon," the Princess sighed. "One question answered, many more appear. Why would a malevolent force like that try to help Ponyville?"

"Of that, I'm not sure," Spectra replied. "It may have simply been revenge for being banished. If you'll allow me to take my leave, I have to return to my research."

"I'm sure Princess Luna will love that," Celestia said sarcastically. "Be gentle with her. It wasn't her fault, but she still blames herself."

"As you wish, Teacher," Spectra said as she departed.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Rainbow Dash sat alone in her hospital room, silently thinking. Many thoughts were bouncing around in her mind.

"I was trying to save everypony... I didn't mean for Twilight Sparkle to get hurt trying to save me. I kind of wish she hadn't tried now. Perhaps it would all have been for the best if I had died out there..."

The silence was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Miss Dash? It's Doctor Star. Can I come in for a moment?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure... whatever, I guess..." Rainbow Dash said, sulking. "It's not like you have good news or anything."

"Actually, I might," the doctor said as he walked in. "I was doing some research, checked with some other doctors, and I might have found something that can help you to lead a normal life."

"Normal?" Dash spat. "My wings are busted beyond repair. Heck, you might as well cut them off at this stage, I'm an invalid regardless!"

"While that's not true, I'm not going to argue with you over that," the doctor replied, calmly. He was almost too calm. "But... what if I told you that I found something that may allow you to fly again?"

"What?" Dash asked, stunned at the prospect. "I could fly again? No... no, it's impossible. I've heard of pegasi that got hurt like I did, and none of them ever flew again."

"They didn't have these," the doctor said as he opened a case he had carried in with him. "A medical technician named Iron Hoof invented these, and I think you're the perfect candidate to be the first to try them."

Dash broke out in a fit of laughter as she looked into the case. Inside were a pair of steel blue metallic-looking prosthetic wings. "Falsies? Those are for pegasi who lose their wings entirely! At least mine are still attached!"

"These are special," the doctor retorted. "The first difference is that they go on over your existing wings. They're prepared with intense healing magics that will actually work to heal your real wings while you use the metal ones to fly. Think of them less as 'falsies' and more like a walking cast."

That caught Dash's attention. "Wait, so I wouldn't need them forever? I'd be giving my wings a workout in the process?" she asked.

"That's the hope," the doctor replied. "You won't be winning any races or anything like that at first, mind you, but eventually your wings may recover enough to be where they were before your injury."

"I'm still not entirely sure on this," Rainbow Dash said. "It sounds too good to be true, to be honest. I need to think about it."

"Of course," the doctor said as he closed the case and slung it up on a desk near the door. "We'll be keeping you for a few days in the meantime, to make sure your other injuries heal up. If you do want to try the wings, let me know."

As the doctor left, Dash was faced with even more questions. She stared at the case as the silence resumed.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Rarity arrived at the hospital and immediately was met by Princess Luna, herself taking a brief break from her royal duties to see Twilight Sparkle for herself. "Princess! I'm honored..." Rarity started.

Luna motioned "silence" at her, then spoke. "There will be plenty of time to observe Royal Protocol later, Rarity. We should hurry and see your friends before visiting hours end."

"Ah... of course," Rarity said. "Yes, let us hurry inside!"

The two made their way to Twilight Sparkle's room first, where Princess Celestia and their remaining friends were waiting.

"Rarity! Ah thought you weren't gonna make it!" Applejack said as Rarity and Luna walked in.

"We should all be here to make sure Twilight gets better," Rarity said. "Of course I would make it."

"Sister, any news?" Princess Luna asked as she looked at Twilight Sparkle for herself.

"I'm afraid not," Princess Celestia replied. "All we know now is that she has a better chance to survive. Our main concern is that it is still a chance and not a certainty as yet."

"She'll make it," Pinkie Pie said.

"I wish there was something more we could do for her," Luna said as she sat down. "Are you certain that our magic couldn't be used to accelerate her healing?"

"The doctors don't want to take the risk," Celestia said. "These injuries were caused by magic, after all. They're worried too much might kill her in this state. It might be possible if she regains consciousness."

"She'll make it," Pinkie again insisted.

Luna took notice of how protective Pinkie and the others were of Twilight at this point. "Girls... I know you're concerned about Twilight. I'm concerned too, and... while I'm not as learned in the lessons of friendship as my sister, I do know that when two friends are hurt, they both need some attention."

Celestia got up. "My sister's right," she said. "While Twilight Sparkle is in pretty bad shape, we need to let her heal as best as she's able... and there's another friend of yours that might want to see some of you right now."

"Honestly... right now Ah don't care," Applejack said, startling the rest of the crowd. "If she hadn't tried that fool stunt in the first place, Twilight wouldn't have gotten hurt at all."

"I heard about all of it," Luna said, still slightly taken aback at Applejack's response. "Rainbow Dash did what she thought was right. She saw your town in danger, and tried to save it. You can't blame her for this."

"I agree," Fluttershy said, softly. "Sorry... I'm just trying to say we'd all do the same if we could have. Even Twilight. She's only hurt because she cares for Rainbow Dash like she cares for all of us."

"There's no blame to be assigned here," Celestia said. "Sister, Rarity, you two should stay with Twilight for a little while. The rest of us should be by Rainbow Dash's side right now so she knows just how much we appreciate her for her actions."

"Maybe you're right, Princess," Applejack said as she walked over to the door. "Ah'm just hurtin' so much from this whole thing." She took a deep breath and sighed. "Ah guess Ah should apologize... Ah was a bit too harsh on Dash, Ah guess."

"It's understandable to feel like that when someone you care about gets hurt," Princess Celestia said as she led the way. "It means you really do care for them."

"She's not fine," Pinkie Pie said as she followed. Her body began to twitch. "Eye twitch, burning hoof, twitchy tail, itchy mane, dry mouth..."

"Pinkie?" Applejack said as she turned her head to Pinkie Pie. "What's goin' on?"

"She's not fine," Pinkie repeated. "She's not fine! Something's wrong!"

Princess Celestia stood silently, stunned.

"Pinkie Sense," Spike said to the Princess. "We've learned to trust it."

"Is it Twlight?" Fluttershy asked.

"No. Twilight will make it. Rainbow Dash isn't fine!" Pinkie cried as she launched into a full gallop towards Dash's room.

The others followed as quickly as they could. When they arrived, Rainbow Dash's room was empty. The window was open. Near the door was an open case, emptied out.

It was starting to rain...

Sacred and Profane

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 5 - Sacred and Profane

"They failed me, those so-called friends of mine. I saved their town. I saved their homes! I gave my wings and was ready to give my life for them. The doctors said I would never fly again... they abandoned me. I needed support - I was at my worst... and they abandoned me.

"They betrayed me in my time of need! I wanted to die... and they simply left.

"Few have any idea what it's like for a pegasus to be told they can't fly anymore. Most don't live long after being left earthbound, for whatever reason. Some succumb to the wounds that took their wings. Others succumb to their own depression. I don't blame them. You lose your wings... you lose your very identity as a pony. You die. Inside at first, then given time, the body follows suit.

"I saw a chance to regain my life, so I took it. It's not like I became somepony else. I'm still me. I'm still loyal. In fact, I now have the drive and ability to demonstrate my loyalty like never before.

"...I will protect my home."

..::OoOoOoO::..

Scootaloo was riding her scooter through Ponyville, as was her usual. Adults were scrambling out of the way as the little filly saw everything as part of a new stunt. She would ride up an overturned apple crate, then fly through the air, grinding the scooter on a nearby building's gutter, then she'd fly off the building to a dried up pool. It was an extreme athlete's dream!

As she came flying out of the pool, she did several backflips in the air, then landed flawlessly on the ground. "Yeah! That was my best trick yet! I can't believe I pulled it off!" she cried triumphantly.

She was expecting a reply of some kind, but instead there was simply silence.

"Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked. "Didn't you think that was awesome?"

Dash was looking on, lost in thought. Something wasn't right with her. "Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. That was great," she half-heartedly replied.

Scootaloo looked over to her mentor, confused. Something wasn't right. Her normally brightly multicolored mane and tail were slightly muted. Her cutie mark didn't look right either, and Scootaloo could swear there was a bump on Dash's head. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned.

"Kid... wake up, okay?" Dash asked. "You're dreaming right now, but we need to talk for real."

Scootaloo groggily pulled herself out of bed. It was the middle of the night, though the moon was barely visible through the oncoming cloud cover. She walked over to the window and poked her head out. She could hear a noise.

"Good, kid, I was hoping you would wake up," replied Rainbow Dash's voice, though she herself was out of Scootaloo's sight.

"Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked. "I can hear you, but I can't see you. What's going on?"

"It's fine, Scootaloo," Dash said. "You may not want to see me right now. You may never want to see me again if you knew what happened over the last couple of days."

"What are you talking about?" Scootaloo asked, puzzled. "Why would I never want to see you? You're my hero, Dash. You'll always be my hero."

There was a moment of silence. "You mean that you'd continue to believe in me, no matter what?" Dash asked.

"No matter what," Scootaloo affirmed. "Cross my heart, hope to fly..."

"...Stick a cupcake in my eye," Dash finished. "You... okay then. I know unyielding loyalty when I see it."

Scootaloo was about to ask what that meant when her wings began to tingle. A soft dark glow enveloped her body.

"Fly up to Cloudsdayle, kid," Dash said. "I need your help."

"Fly?" Scootaloo asked, dumbfounded. "I can't fly yet... and even if I could, Cloudsdayle is pretty far away. There's also a storm coming, and..."

"Do you trust me?" Dash asked, cutting Scootaloo's thought off.

"Duh!" Scootaloo replied. "You know I do... but..." Her doubt was cut off as her wings began to flap on their own and she started hovering off of the floor. "Dash... how? I'm flying!"

"I can't answer that yet, kid. I'm sorry for that," Dash said. "All I can tell you is that you'll be able to make it up here without a problem. You'll find the storm will not get in your way. Hurry, please. I need your help."

Deciding to trust in her faith in Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo jumped from her window...

..::OoOoOoO::..

Princess Celestia trotted to the lower reaches of her castle. Deep beneath, there was a room where one of her select guards kept tabs on Equestria's main towns and cities. He had called for her to head there urgently when the signal from Cloudsdayle went dark. As she arrived, she didn't even wait to be told what he had called her for. "Status," she simply stated.

"Princess," a unicorn guard replied. His coat was red, and he was wearing body armor. His cutie mark was of a device not known to Equestria, yet it fit his talent perfectly - a communications satellite. "Cloudsdayle reported an attack about two hours ago, then nothing since."

"I see," the Princess said as she looked at a screen showing all of Equestria. A light that would normally denote Cloudsdayle was darkened. "Did you try to re-establish contact? Do we have any idea what attacked them?"

"Their relay unicorn, Telegraph, sent images from the cloud factory when they sent their SOS," he replied. "It's dark, but we've been able to make out a black pegasus wearing some kind of metal armor. She appeared to possess magic, though we don't know how that could be."

Celestia looked over the projection carefully as the unicorn played it back for her. "Pause it there," she said as she noticed something familiar, something that could change her very approach to the situation. "It can't be."

"Telegraph reported as he evacuated that the attacker called herself 'Nightmare Spectrum,'" the unicorn replied.

"Evacuated?" Celestia asked, a look of worry creeping onto her face.

"Evacuated," the unicorn replied. "Apparently this Spectrum evicted everyone in town after taking over the factory. There was one scare when the invader struck an old stallion with a lightning bolt, but nopony was killed. They were able to flee without interference."

"It's all starting to make sense now," Celestia replied as she had already began working on a plan of action. She turned to head back to her throne room to consult with Luna over what had to be done.

The unicorn called after Celestia. "Your Highness, what should we do about this?" he asked.

She stopped momentarily. "Tell your family to lie low and keep themselves safe, Traject," she said. "Things may be rough in Equestria for a while." She resumed her path to the throne room.

..::OoOoOoO::..

The storm continued to expand over Equestria. Ponyville was one of the first towns on the ground to be covered by the clouds. It started to rain. Ponies all over town at first attributed it to the fact that their weather team's leader was still in the hospital. None were informed she was in fact missing.

As the rain continued over the course of the day, some of Ponyville's population started to worry. It wasn't scheduled. There was no contact with Cloudsdayle.

The mayor did her best to try to keep the populace calm. It was working, but no one knew how long the calm would prevail.

Even the Everfree Forest became covered in storms. Its wild nature, resistant to generations of ponies' attempts to tame it, seemed to submit to the storms.

It was only the start.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Twilight Sparkle rested in her hospital bed as her body continued to attempt to heal. Her magic was still too weak for her to help herself, so one of her friends was staying with her at all times. She was consumed with worry, even as she reluctantly tried to sleep.

"This is no time to sleep," she recalled saying several times earlier. "Yes, it would do me some good to give my magic and body a chance to recover, but if I take too long getting better, there might not be an Equestria left to live in!"

The response would be unique from each friend, but always the same underneath.

"No, Twilight... you got hurt out there pretty bad and you might hurt yourself worse if you don't just rest."

"Such nonsense... you should be resting! Equestria's not going to up and fall apart while you try to take care of yourself, darling."

"Ain't no way, sugarcube. You're gonna stay right there an' heal up, or else Ah'm gonna tie you down in that bed."

"Silly Twilight... The Princesses have it all under control. Besides, there's no way you could hold up to one of my parties right now, and that's the first thing we're going to do when you get better."

"No! You can't! What kind of assistant would I be if I let you get hurt again?"

She missed the one voice among her friends who would probably say different.

"If you're that worried that something really bad is about to happen, I'm with you. The others will understand. I'll do what I can to make sure you don't get hurt worse, but we'll find out what's happening."

But that friend was missing, and Twilight knew this all too well. Each of her friends were blaming themselves for driving Rainbow Dash away, and each was trying to hide their guilt.

Unfortunately for them, Twilight was getting to know them pretty well at that point, but they wouldn't hear any of it when she tried to help them with their problems.

"Really, I'm fine, Twilight. Just worry about getting better."

"I simply haven't the slightest idea what you mean, dear."

"Stop changin' the subject, Twi."

"Of course I'm okay! Really! See? Biiiiiiiig smile!"

"My only concern is you right now, Twilight. Worry about me when you're back on your feet."

Again, she could imagine what Rainbow Dash would say if she were there.

"It's not your fault. You really want to help Twilight out? Stop blaming yourselves for me not being there."

..::OoOoOoO::..

"Sister, come here please," Celestia called as she finished lowering the sun. The approaching clouds were making it difficult for her to guide the heavenly body.

Luna made her way to the throne room. "Celly? You requested my presence?" she asked.

"Yes, I did," Celestia replied, sighing. "I'm having trouble reconciling what I know of our foe with what I've been hearing all day."

"How so?" Luna asked as she sat in her own throne, next to her sister's.

"When you were Nightmare Moon, you were, well, power-hungry," Celestia started. "It twisted you, made you want to usurp me and do away with the sun."

"Eternal Night," Luna said, shuddering. "Don't remind me. I'm not proud of any of it."

"Well, this incarnation of the Nightmare is different," Celestia continued to state as she paced. "Nightmare Moon's goal was for the night to be admired. This Nightmare Spectrum simply seems to want to be left alone. She doesn't seem to aim to usurp us - more like she would prefer to subvert us."

"Yes," Luna replied, "but the result would be the same. Eternal Night would have starved Equestria's plantlife, thereby starving the ponies. This Nightmare, whatever her perceived aim, will end up ending all life if she isn't stopped."

"Yet, so far she hasn't killed anypony," Celestia thought out loud. "In fact, it's almost as if she's gone out of her way to avoid bloodshed."

Luna spoke bluntly. "The Nightmare doesn't need to shed a drop of pony blood to exterminate our species, especially after imprinting itself with my power."

"You're right, of course," Celestia said. "We don't have the Elements of Harmony at our own disposal anymore, and the Element of Loyalty is grievously injured and missing. Think we stand a chance this time?"

"It doesn't matter," Luna stated as she rose to her hooves. "For Equestria's sake, we have to try to stop whatever this incarnation of the Nightmare intends to do." As her horn glowed, she willed the moon to rise. "I almost wish I didn't have to do this tonight. These clouds are so thick, I don't know how anypony will be able to see."

"I know," Celestia replied. "I could barely find the sun earlier. These clouds aren't right."

"Let's pay a visit to Cloudsdayle then, Sister," Luna said as she took to the air.

"Perceptive as always... I'm so glad you're on my side again after all these years, Sister," Celestia said, smiling, as she rose into the air to follow her sister.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Scootaloo was exhilarated as she soared high in the air. The clouds were parting before her as Rainbow Dash had said they would, and Cloudsdayle was in sight. The city itself was grayer than usual, though. The storms seemed to be intensifying the closer the little filly got to the city.

"You're close," Dash's voice said. "There's a big factory with a rainbow pouring out of it. I'm waiting there."

As she reached the city, Scootaloo saw the factory Dash spoke of. All the clouds comprising the town were really dark, almost invisible without sunlight, or even moonlight peeking through the cover. As she noticed this, the high clouds covering Cloudsdayle parted, allowing the moonlight to shine on the city. "Dash?" she asked. "Are you sure this is Cloudsdayle? It looks so... creepy."

"It is, Scootaloo," Dash said, trying to reassure the young filly. "There's been some... changes here. That's one of the things we need to talk about. Come to the top floor. See this lightning?"

As if on cue, a bolt of lightning struck the top of a tower in the city.

"Fly where it hit. Don't worry, lightning never strikes twice."

"Okay..." Scootaloo reluctantly agreed as she continued on her course. She was beginning to feel some doubts, but she had come this far. She believed in Rainbow Dash, that she would explain everything and it would all make sense. Somehow.

From another direction, the Princesses of Equestria were also flying to Cloudsdayle, magically piercing the cloud cover as they went. Neither one wanted guards to accompany them, so the Royal Guard reluctantly remained behind, under orders to protect Canterlot.

In reality, each of the Princesses were harboring their own doubts about what laid before them. The thought that one or both of them might not come back crossed each of their minds, and they certainly didn’t wish to risk the lives of the Guards. Still, Equestria needed them to act against something like the Nightmare. Duty could not be ignored.

They silently worked to tunnel through the clouds, neither wishing to voice their doubts to the other.

A few minutes passed, and Scootaloo was the first to reach her destination. "I'm here! Rainbow Dash? Are you there?"

"Yeah, kid, I'm around," Dash's voice said. Half the room was completely dark, with the rest only lit by a small amount of moonlight peeking through the windows. "I'm not entirely feeling well. You'll understand if I stay in the shadows for a bit, huh?"

"Yeah... I'm just glad you're okay," Scootaloo said, fear audible in her voice. "Rarity was over by my house a day or two ago, telling my parents something was wrong with you. They didn't want to tell me anything. I can handle it, though! I'm not scared."

"I... I got hurt a little bit," Dash said. "I got better though... way better. I'm feeling better than I ever have. I bet I could do ten Sonic Rainbooms before breakfast every day, I feel so great."

"Wow!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "So then... why won't you let me see you?"

"Nightmare Spectrum, show yourself!" Princess Celestia called out as she and Luna found their way into the tower as well.

"Wh-wha-wha-what?" Scootaloo cried as she backed towards the window she used to enter. "Nightmare? Where?"

Dash sighed. "Horseapples. I was hoping to get this out of the way before you two showed up. Thanks a lot for your horrible timing," she said, irritated. "Just hold on a second, kid - I'll make this brief. Princesses... stay out of the sky. I don't care if you keep running the stuff on the ground. I don't care if you continue moving the sun and moon. Do whatever you want with heavens and earth... but my skies and my clouds are off limits to you!"

"Rainbow Dash, what are you saying?" Scootaloo asked, shocked.

"Rainbow Dash?!" both Princesses exclaimed in unison.

Dash yelled in frustration. "Nice job ruining it!" she screamed as she slowly walked forward into the moonlight. What came into view was different, though - this was a black alicorn with metal armor on her head, chest and wings. Her eyes were serpentine, but unmistakably the same rose color as Rainbow Dash's. Her mane and tail were the same as well, though the rainbow coloring was slightly darker, and some of the Nightmare's dark, misty aura was visible around them. She was much taller than before, standing at the same height as Princess Celestia. The only remaining traces of her old coat were on her flank, as the black coat gave way to a patch of cyan surrounding her cutie mark, as well as near her hooves. Her cutie mark itself was twisted, its normally white cloud now a dark grey one.

Scootaloo gasped. "What... what are you? Are you a monster?" she asked, exasperated.

"Child, get to safety!" Princess Luna called toward Scootaloo.

"I'm not a monster," Nightmare Spectrum replied sadly. "I'm still Rainbow Dash. I'm just a better me than I was. I..."

"YOU'RE NOT RAINBOW DASH!" Scootaloo screamed. "I know Rainbow Dash, and she would not talk to the Princesses like that! She's loyal to them!"

Nightmare Spectrum's eye twitched. "You just don't get it. While you wait for the sun in the morning, I'm waiting for rain. I'm waiting for the storm. Now, I'll bring the storms. I'll cover all of Equestria in raging tempests. I'm creating an Eternal Storm, and you can't stop me. I was hoping that you would join me, Scootaloo... I really was hoping you'd join me, but you don't want to believe me when I say I'm still your hero. Now it's time to say goodbye."

With that, a lightning bolt arced from Nightmare Spectrum's horn, heading straight for Scootaloo...

Going Under

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 6 - Going Under

Two weeks passed since the confrontation between Nightmare Spectrum and the united Princesses of Equestria.

The storm continued to spread.

By now, most of the planet, including all pony-controlled lands were covered by storm clouds.

Several unprepared towns were completely underwater.

The larger cities on higher ground were beginning to have trouble caring for their own - and then the refugees from the flooded towns began to arrive.

Food stocks were beginning to run low in Fillydelphia, Manehattan and Trottingham.

Some in those cities were starting to crack under the pressure. Isolated cases were being reported of ponies breaking into the homes and businesses of those better off and stealing their supplies. Of course, those better off were using their material wealth to buy out and hoard most of the supplies in the first place.

Order was starting to collapse in all regards.

The ponies' mastery over nature was turning out to be the start to their own end. When a species controls the actions of nature itself, there is little need to prepare for disasters which never come to pass. Ponies became complacent, only preparing for the now - never the future. The future was always certain before - food running low? Manipulate the weather and the soil to make it suitable for growing more. They never had to worry about things like droughts, hurricanes or floods.

No longer was that the case. The future now contained little more than looting, famine and extinction.

The Eternal Storm had bared the ponies' mistakes to the entire world, and they hadn't even began to start paying for them.

..:://=||=\::..

Twilight Sparkle was walking gingerly out of Canterlot General. Her body had healed enough that she could fend for herself, and the more well-to-do patients had to clear out to make space for the more severely sick from the flooded towns. Therefore, she was discharged. Her friends were accompanying her out, with the exception of Spike who had went ahead to try to find them a place to stay for a few days.

"...Is it just me or did the rain never stop?" Twilight asked as she was able to see Canterlot at street level for the first time in weeks.

"Yup," Applejack replied sadly. "Seems to be rainin' all over the place. Braeburn sent me a letter a couple days ago sayin' that even Appleoosa's gettin' flooded out. They'll make it a couple months yet since the big harvest was ready just as the storms rolled in, but if the clouds don't break soon..."

"Yeah, this is bad," Twilight concluded. "Not everyplace is likely to be as well-prepared as the frontier. Come on girls, we need to see the Princesses. Maybe they'll know what's going on."

"It... it won't help," Fluttershy said softly. "Everypony around here says they disappeared. Nopony knows why."

Twilight cursed softly under her breath. "Ugh. We need to find out exactly what's going on here," she said. "Maybe the Mayor of Canterlot knows something."

The five young mares walked through the streets of Canterlot, taking every chance they could to get out of the rain for a few brief moments along the way. Eventually, however, they gave up on trying to remain dry. Even Rarity. They eventually made their way to Canterlot City Hall - a less luxurious building than the Palace, but still spacious enough to serve as a hub for the city's important functions.

It took a while to even be able to see someone who could direct them to the right place, and another hour still to see the Mayor's secretary. As Applejack was close to chewing out the secretary over her continued denials of their request to see the Mayor, however, his door opened.

Out walked the Mayor of Ponyville. "Twilight Sparkle? Girls? Come in here, we need to talk," she called.

The five filed into the Mayor's office over the protests of the other ponies who were waiting.

"Ah, you must be the five my esteemed colleague has been telling me about," the Mayor of Canterlot said. Unlike the Mayor of Ponyville, the Mayor of Canterlot was a younger, charismatic stallion. He shared a cutie mark and a job title with Ponyville's mayor, but little else.

"Indeed they are," Ponyville's mayor said. "Where's your other friend, though?"

"She's... missing," Twilight Sparkle explained.

"Unfortunate... but it can't be helped now," Ponyville's mayor replied. "You five were the ones that defeated Nightmare Moon last year. Well..."

Canterlot's mayor picked up where his counterpart from Ponyville left off. "The Princesses have been missing for two weeks now. Canterlot's starting to get overcrowded with refugees from the flooding all these storms have caused. Your hometown is completely underwater by now. My colleague says if anyone aside from the Princesses can get to the bottom of this and save Equestria, it's you girls."

"Well... before Princess Celestia disappeared, she did tell me her theory of what's going on," Twilight volunteered. "This information can't leave this room, though. Princess Celestia had planned to announce it to everypony within weeks herself."

"Of course," Canterlot's mayor said, smiling. "I may look the part of a sleazy politician, but I've got enough integrity to keep a secret."

"Nopony knows when it started - not even the Princesses," Twilight began. "For the longest time, there has been a malicious essence in Equestria. It would corrupt ponies who had let negative emotion into their heart, then move on to another pony, and another and so on. Eventually, it got into Princess Luna, though, and it changed her."

Her friends and the two Mayors looked on in silence as Twilight explained.

"At the time, the only thing Princess Celestia could do was to use the Elements of Harmony to banish Nightmare Moon to the moon," Twilight continued. "When she returned last year, my friends and I used the Elements to their full potential and excised the Nightmare from Princess Luna. We had thought the Nightmare was gone for good, but Princess Celestia suspected differently. Sadly, she was right.

"Last week, the Nightmare took over a weatherpony in Cloudsdayle and compelled him to create a catastrophic storm that would wipe Ponyville off of the map," she told all assembled. "Rainbow Dash succeeded in dispersing the storm before it got anywhere near Ponyville. I went out there and caught Rainbow Dash with my magic as her body gave out. We would have both died if the Nightmare hadn't possessed me and caused me to use my magic to its complete potential."

This bit of news stunned Twilight's friends. "Wait just a gosh-darned minute, Twilight," Applejack exclaimed. "You're tryin' to say that whatever was behind Nightmare Moon saved you, after tryin' to destroy our town?"

"It's not that simple," Twilight responded. "When the Nightmare inhabits someone, it loses its own sense of self but twists the host's desires. Whatever harm it may have intended us, my only desire at that point was to save Rainbow Dash. Even if that was contrary to its desires, it had no choice in the matter. The only thing that it did effect was my sense of how much magic I could safely use. I had no regard for my own safety in those few moments."

"Or it was exactly what that snooty-pants Nightmare wanted," Pinkie Pie said.

"Huh?" Twilight asked.

"You wanted to save Rainbow Dash," Pinkie explained. "You also said the Nightmare always wanted someone with negative emotions. What better than a suicidal pegasus?"

"Suicidal?" Twilight asked. "Rainbow wasn't acting suidical. Crazy, maybe. Okay, more like probably. She was willing to give her life to save Ponyville, but that doesn't mean she wanted to die."

"After that," Fluttershy said quietly. "When her wings were broken. The doctors said she was earthbound, that she'd never fly again."

"I still don't get where Rainbow possibly being suicidal fits in here," Twilight said, confused.

"Earthbound pegasi tend to..." Fluttershy started, mumbling the rest so softly that nopony else could make it out.

"What was that?" Rarity asked, looking over to Fluttershy.

"They, ah..." Fluttershy started again before mumbling the rest again and squeaking embarrassedly.

"Please, Fluttershy, this is important," Twilight said, trying to comfort her shy friend. Whatever it was, she could see it pained Fluttershy greatly even to think of it, much less to try to speak of it. "It might help us figure it all out.

"They... they kill themselves," Fluttershy finally said, crying. "They can't bear to have the sky taken away."

"Oh no..." Applejack said. "Dash's entire life was flying. She worked as a weatherpony, and her favorite pastime was stunt flying... neither of which she could do if she was stuck on the ground... oh no, what have Ah done?" She rushed out of the building.

"Applejack!" Twilight Sparkle cried out as she followed her friend to the street. "Wait!"

"Twi... just leave me be," Applejack said, standing in the rain. "Ah'm a horrible friend. It's all my fault. All my fault!"

"Why? What happened?" Twilight asked as her other friends stepped out of the city hall with the two Mayors in tow.

"Ah snapped at Dash when we thought you were gonna die," Applejack said. "Ah drove her away. She's gone on account'a me. Ah shoulda seen that Dash was hurtin', but all Ah could do was yell at her an' try to make her feel bad. Ah... Ah didn't know that she'd be so bad off if her wings broke..."

"You had no way of knowing she'd react like that, Applejack," Fluttershy said as she went out into the rain to comfort her friend. "It's something we don't like to talk about."

"Unicorns that lose their magic tend to get the same way," Twilight admitted reluctantly. "There were a couple of moments in that hospital where I wondered what I was going to do if I couldn't do something as simple as lift a cup."

"Ah just didn't know..." Applejack sobbed.

"You can't blame yourself, dear," Rarity said, risking ruining her mane in the pouring rain. "You had no way of knowing. We need to find Rainbow Dash and apologize."

"But... but what if she..." Applejack began. "Ah can't even bear to say it."

"That's the other thing I was planning to explain," Twilight sighed. "The Princesses believed that Rainbow Dash went missing because the Nightmare may have taken her over."

..:://=||=\::..

Nightmare Spectrum had flown down to a low mountaintop to bask in the storm.

It was beautiful. Neither the sun nor the moon would be able to peek through the thick cloud cover. Ponies would learn to appreciate her storms and adapt... or they'd start dying off. She didn't care either way.

There was only one obstacle left between her and truly eternal storms.

She spread her metal wings and began to fly towards Canterlot as the sky grew darker. Night was falling.

..:://=||=\::..

The girls finished explaining the Princesses' conclusions to the Mayors, and were given one mission: stop the Nightmare and bring an end to the storms. They retired to Twilight's old quarters at the Royal Library to meet with Spike and plan for the mission.

"I knew Rainbow Dash wasn't fine, but I didn't expect her to become a snooty-pants like Nightmare Moon," Pinkie Pie said.

"It's not her, though," Twilight Sparkle tried to explain. "It's a twisted hybrid of Rainbow Dash and the Nightmare. She's not the enemy here, she's another victim."

"That may be, Twilight, but we can't hold back here," Rarity said, uncharacteristically. "It may very well be part of why the Nightmare chose Dash. It assumed we would hold back."

"But we can't hurt her," Fluttershy said. "Friends don't hurt friends. They save them."

"I'm not sure we could right now, even if we wanted to," Twilight sighed. "Without Rainbow Dash, we don't have the Element of Loyalty on our side. I'm not sure if the Elements will even do anything with one missing."

"That doesn't mean we can't try," Pinkie Pie countered.

Applejack stared silently out the window while her friends continued to flesh out their plan. Yes, they were short one Element... at the least. She knew if she couldn't pull herself together that they might be short a second, but her guilt was continuing to gnaw away at her.

It took a while, but Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie finally came to a conclusion they could all support. Applejack agreed just for the sake of getting it all over with. It would go into motion on the next day.

As the five went to sleep, lightning began to strike outside, waking them. Time was no longer on the Element Bearers' side.

Nightmare Spectrum had arrived in Canterlot to eliminate the last force in Equestria that could stop her.

Keep Hope Alive

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 7 - Keep Hope Alive

What hit me? I feel like I'm waking up from a long dream.

Canterlot? Why am I in Canterlot?

Wait... I know this place. Twilight Sparkle showed this place to me after the Grand Galloping Gala. It's the Royal Library. It's where she worked before she came to Ponyville, before she met me or any of our other friends.

...Why can't I control my body?

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no. What am I about to do?

Go back to sleep.

Who was that?

Just sleep, Dash. You don't need to see what's about to happen. It's not going to be pleasant for you.

What's not going to be pleasant? What's going to happen?

Sleep, Element of Loyalty. You don't need to be awake for this... let me do it for you.

Do what? What are you?

I'm the real you, Dash... the better you. I'm going to free us from the ties that bind you. Now be a good filly and go back to sleep.

Wha... Twilight... Applejack... somepony... help me...

Hush now. Quiet now. It's time to rest your sleepy head.

Hush now. Quiet now. You don't want to see them dead...

..:://=||=\::..

Nightmare Spectrum looked over the Royal Library. It was an impressive structure, not far removed from the Princesses' castle. It was designed in much the same way, though where the Castle was expansive, the library reached high from a fairly small footprint.

Its current guests made their way out to the street after the lightning bolt awoke them. Pinkie Pie was the first to emerge. Upon exiting the structure, she noticed something strange.

It wasn't raining near the door, while everywhere else was subjected to a massive torrential rain.

As the others filed out, they also noticed this peculiarity.

"This ain't right," Applejack said. "Why's it this spot's totally clear?"

"I'm not sure, Applejack," Twilight Sparkle said as she began to concentrate. "Girls, be on guard."

The other four nodded in agreement and started to look around.

"Oh, come on," a familiar voice said from the sky. "Can't I give my friends a brief little dry spell before I drown them? What kind of friend would that make me?"

Twilight Sparkle looked up, and the rest of the girls soon looked skyward as well. Nightmare Spectrum was looking down at them from a hole in the clouds.

"That's not funny," Pinkie Pie said, sorely. "Why are you doing this, Dashie? Don't you care about us anymore?"

"Like you cared when you left me to rot in that hospital room?" Nightmare Spectrum retorted. "You guys abandoned me back there... all except you, Twilight Sparkle. I'd personally like to thank you, by the way."

"Thank me?" Twilight asked. "I did for you what I'd have done for any of my friends in that situation."

"I know. Here, let's just you and me talk for a minute," Spectrum said as her horn began to glow. Small-scale tornadoes began to form at the feet of the other Elements of Harmony. Within seconds, they were all helplessly vaulted into the sky.

"...The Rainbow Dash I know wouldn't do something like that!" Twilight cried as she watched her friends get thrown into the sky. "She'd be fighting alongside us to be stopping something like this, not causing it!"

"Twilight... I said I wanted to thank you for saving me. At least hear me out?" Spectrum asked.

"Let them down," Twilight demanded. "Safely."

Nightmare Spectrum laughed. "Oh, hahaha! You had me going there for a second! I almost thought that might be a threat. You're in no position to make threats. Your magic is still depleted. I know for a fact that you're barely clinging to life as it is. It would be in your best interest to listen."

Twilight Sparkle said nothing as she stared down Nightmare Spectrum. She was wearing a fierce look of determination on her face. Underneath that, though, she knew Nightmare Spectrum was right. Her magic was barely stable enough to move a quill across parchment, much less wage war with a being whose power was on par with the Princesses. It was taking everything she had just to remain upright on her hooves.

"How would you like to be healed, to be able to use all the magic you'll ever possibly obtain, and most importantly to not suffer my wrath?" Spectrum asked.

"...You've got to be joking," Twilight said.

"Perish the thought," Spectrum said as she tried to project sincerity in her words. "If you hadn't saved me back there, I wouldn't be alive to be creating my beloved Eternal Storm. Everypony's going to find out that you're responsible for all of this. Wouldn't it be better to be under my protection?"

"I've got a proposal of my own," Twilight angrily said. "Give Rainbow Dash back to us. Leave us in peace. Don't force us to banish you again."

Nightmare Spectrum looked like she was thinking about it for a second. "Nah," she said. "I like my idea better. I'm sorry you don't, but I owed you a chance." She released the other four Element Bearers from their tornado prisons and lowered them to the ground. She shrugged as she flew down to the ground. "I guess you'll just have to fight me."

"So be it," Twilight Sparkle said as she signaled to the other Element Bearers. "Forgive me, Rainbow Dash." She channeled what little magic she had into the Elements' banishment spell. Her Element tiara magically appeared on her head.

The necklaces of the Elements of Generosity, Kindness, Honesty and Laughter appeared on their respective bearers as well. Their own innate magics served to give Twilight a boost. She began to levitate off of the ground and the others soon followed suit. As she opened her eyes, they gave off a white glow that lit the area.

Nightmare Spectrum yawned at the display. "Lame," she quipped.

The show of nonchalance was not enough to deter the Elements' determination. They soon marshaled enough power for the banishment spell. As they began to form the rainbow beam that would banish Nightmare Spectrum, however... the power cut out, and they all fell to the ground.

"Was that all?" Nightmare Spectrum asked. "Soooo pathetic. I actually thought you five might be a threat to my rule. I mean, the Princesses put up a way better fight... before I banished them."

The revelation of the Princesses' fate shocked the five Element Bearers. Twilight spoke up. "You... what?"

"Didn't I tell you? My bad," Spectrum said sarcastically. "You see, they came to my factory in Cloudsdayle and tried to stop me. They put up a decent fight, but they lost. I decided to send them each to their respective heavenly body. I banished Luna back to the moon, and Celestia to the sun. I doubt they'll survive much longer, as magically drained as they were."

"You're a monster," Applejack growled.

"You're one to talk," Spectrum retorted. "Your words had me wanting to kill myself, as if breaking my wings hadn't done that already. Honesty hurts when the motivation behind it is anger. No wonder you're no threat."

Twilight was struggling to remain on her hooves with the last of her magic depleted. "Magic is powerless."

Applejack was becoming more furious by the second. "Honesty is being driven by malice."

Rarity was unsure what to think anymore as her own magic was nearly gone as well. "Generosity has nothing left to give."

Pinkie Pie could no longer force a smile upon her face. "Laughter has lost her smile."

Fluttershy was hiding behind the others - not because she was scared of Nightmare Spectrum, but because she was scared she would lose control of herself. "And Kindness is close to giving in to her rage."

Nightmare Spectrum laughed. "In the end, you're no threat to me. I'm the only one being true to my Element here... I'm still loyal."

"That's a lie!" came a shout from down the street.

Nightmare Spectrum and the five Element Bearers looked over to see the source of the shout.

It was Scootaloo. She was battered, bruised, limping, slightly singed and soaking wet, but she was still alive and defiantly charging towards Nightmare Spectrum. "You have no right to call yourself loyal after you tried to kill me!"

"Oh, look, the little ostrich finally pulled her head out of the sand," Nightmare Spectrum taunted. "It's about time you stopped your silly little hero worship. We're all flawed. All broken. Nopony is perfect."

"Enough!" Scootaloo cried. "Just stop it! You're not Rainbow Dash. You're nothing like her. You're nothing like she could be even at her worst!"

"She's right," Applejack said. "Dash an' Ah might be rivals on the field an' the track, but she'd never try to hurt us on purpose."

"She wouldn't tease or taunt us," Pinkie Pie said, "and she wouldn't try to hurt us by laughing at us when we're down."

"She... she wouldn't hurt anypony, ever," Fluttershy said as she stopped hiding behind the others.

"If we had nothing left to give, she would give everything she had to help us out," Rarity said, standing defiantly.

"Rainbow Dash was the best friend any of us could ever have," Twilight Sparkle said.

"She was a hero," Scootaloo said as she joined the Element Bearers. "She is a hero... and she'd want us to show how loyal we are to her by freeing her from this Nightmare!"

The Element of Loyalty necklace appeared on Scootaloo's neck. Its gem remained in the design of Rainbow Dash's cutie mark, however. She felt a newfound surge of strength as it appeared.

Nightmare Spectrum was in shock as the Element of Loyalty had found a new bearer. "This can't be," she said. She quickly summoned a powerful windstorm to knock the Element Bearers away before they could get their bearings. "Enough of this. You still can't stop me. You'll never stop the Storm!" She quickly flew back up over the clouds, which closed up behind her.

She was gone.

..:://=||=\::..

The Element Bearers gathered back inside the Royal Library to try to figure out their next step. They figured out quickly that while Nightmare Spectrum may be overconfident and cocky, she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. In order to defeat her for good, they'd have to make their way up to Cloudsdayle.

That would be problematic for them, though. It would take immense amounts of magic for Twilight Sparkle to cast a cloudwalking spell on herself, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Even then, they needed a way up there, and the winds had only grown stronger since Nightmare Spectrum left. They would be unable to use a balloon to reach the cloud city, and Fluttershy was nowhere near strong enough to carry the other five of them, especially in these winds.

Scootaloo's brief flirtation with flight had ended as Nightmare Spectrum had stripped away the magic that let her soar to Cloudsdayle in the first place - but even if she could still fly, she just wasn't strong enough to take an adult passenger.

"Perhaps we're trying to approach this from the wrong angle," Rarity pondered. "What if we tried to use the Elements to free the Princesses? Surely they're good for something other than banishment magic?"

"Good theory, Rarity, but I don't exactly have a spellbook that explains what else the Elements can do..." Twilight said, peering up at Spike. He had been busy checking the shelves of the library since Nightmare Spectrum's arrival, to no avail.

"I've been looking!" the young dragon cried to make that point clear.

"There's also the fact that we've got Scootaloo along with us now," Applejack said. "Ah ain't gonna argue with the Elements pickin' her, but she's a liability if we gotta fight."

"I am not a liabil... libeli... whatever that is," Scootaloo protested. "I can take care of myself!"

"It's out of our hooves, Applejack," Twilight sighed. "The Elements chose her just like they chose the rest of us. Who better to exemplify Loyalty than Rainbow Dash's own protege?"

Scootaloo leaned over to whisper to Pinkie Pie. "Was that a compliment?" she asked.

"Yep!" Pinkie Pie said, no longer having to fake her own Element. For the first time since all of this started, she felt hope in her heart. "Twilight means that since the Elements had to pick someone other than Dashie, you're perfect because you're a lot like her."

"Yes, it's the ultimate compliment," Fluttershy affirmed.

"Awesome!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"It is, isn't it?" Twilight asked, laughing quietly. With the Elements complete once more, her magic was regenerating at an accelerated rate, and she was using some of that to patch her own wounds. "We can't get to Nightmare Spectrum with the winds being so bad. There's got to be another way..."

"How about this, Twilight?" Spike asked from overhead. He was waving a book. "It looks like one of Princess Celestia's old diaries!"

Twilight gasped. "No, Spike! Those are the Princess's private thoughts! Why is that book even here?"

"I don't know, Twilight," Spike replied, puzzled. "I looked over this same shelf twice already tonight, but didn't see it before."

"It's a sign!" Pinkie shouted. "I think she wants us to read it!"

"Works for me, Pinkie," Applejack said. "Spike, toss it on down here!"

Spike tossed the book down to the girls. Twilight caught it in her resurgent magic and opened it up. What she saw had her in shock, then smiling.

"What is it?" Scootaloo asked.

"I don't believe it. It's a failsafe spell!" Twilight said. "Princess Celestia crafted this spell in case something ever happened to her and Princess Luna had to be released from the moon. It's a reverse banishment spell!"

"You mean you can bring the Princesses back?" Scootaloo asked, excited.

"No," Twilight said sadly.

Scootaloo frowned.

"It means we're going to bring the Princesses back!" Twilight exclaimed happily. "We've got our chance!"

..:://=||=\::..

Nightmare Spectrum stood on the highest storm clouds she had created, looking up at the sky. As long as she remained up there, she figured, the Elements of Harmony were no threat. They couldn't reach her up there, and the only ones capable of aiding them were locked away in the sun and moon, respectively. The storm clouds would continue to spread even without her direct intervention. She had won even with the Elements of Harmony reunited.

She looked up at the Mare in the Moon and laughed maniacally. While she wasn't looking, however, the moon itself began to glow.

When she opened her eyes, the Mare in the Moon was gone...

Where Sun and Moon Unite

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 8 - Where Sun and Moon Unite

Upon the roof of the Royal Library, the six Elements of Harmony were set up in a circle and concentrating hard on their reverse banishment spell. Time was of the essence and they all knew this. Equestria would survive a few more days even with the continued pounding from Nightmare Spectrum's storms, but its Princesses wouldn't last much longer if her boasting had any hint of truth to it.

"Is it working yet, Twilight?" Scootaloo said as she strained to keep up her part of the Elements' magic. "I'm not feeling so good..."

"Twi knows what she's doin', sugarcube, just hold on!" Applejack cried.

Twilight Sparkle's horn was glowing with a blinding light. Her body had only gotten a few minutes to recover after the first confrontation with Nightmare Spectrum, and as bad as the others were feeling at that moment, she was taking the worst of it. Still, she was pushing beyond her boundaries. The return spell was one so complex that it would normally take an alicorn to cast it.

If they didn't succeed, they weren't going to have that luxury to help release Princess Celestia. They all knew this, so they kept focusing their energies into the spell.

Just as Twilight felt the last of her magical energies being consumed by the spell and her life force filling the gap, a light began to shine in the center of the circle. It was working.

"A... few more seconds, girls..." Twilight said, closing her eyes tightly. She was starting to cry tears of blood.

The others redoubled their focus. Even Scootaloo was giving everything her little body had, causing her to earn the respect of the others. She was proving herself a suitable host for the power of Loyalty.

The light in the circle's center began to coalesce into the form of a pony. Slowly but steadily, Princess Luna was being returned to her home.

"Just a... *cough* few... more... seconds..." Twilight cried. She was coughing up blood now. Her body was failing.

"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie shouted.

"No! *cough* Maintain... your... focus... she's almost... back..." Twilight strained to say. She fell to one knee, but refused to quit.

Princess Luna's body finished forming, then the spell ended with a brilliant flash of light.

"Welcome... back... Princess..." Twilight said softly as she collapsed.

Twilight's friends quickly ran to her side.

"Get her inside, quickly!" Princess Luna ordered. "She'll get sick in this rain!"

Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Fluttershy loaded Twilight Sparkle's unconscious body onto Applejack's back, with Scootaloo helping steady her. They quickly brought her back into the Library.

"...And thank you, Twilight Sparkle," Luna softly said as she followed. "That's two I owe you now..."

..:://=||=\::..

Twilight Sparkle was resting comfortably in her old bed. They had completed the summoning spell just in time - she would have a massive headache for a few days, but a good night's sleep would hopefully be enough to rejuvenate her magic. Her body was still badly damaged from the strain of the return spell, however.

The other Elements were taking a chance to rest up as well. Princess Luna had revealed to them before they packed it in that the return spell for Princess Celestia could not be performed with the sun down, so there was little they could do until sunrise other than try to sleep.

Now, the time for sunrise had come. Today, it would be Luna's job to raise it.

"This can't be too difficult. First, to put the moon away for the day..." she said as she set herself to the task. With the persistent cloud cover, she could only go by feel. Luckily, practice made perfect even with sight unseen as the moon descended.

"Nice. My sister has nothing on me in this regard... no, this is no time to gloat. The sun is a completely different beast."

She turned to the east and focused on the sun. There were many factors that would combine to make this more difficult than anything she had ever done, even more so than the first time she raised the moon. The sheer mass was the first difference. There was simply a lot more matter for her to manipulate this time. Another factor was the sun's gaseous and plasmatic state, compared to the moon's solidity.

As her magic locked on to the sun, she felt its warmth radiate through her. Then it got much worse for her. When she fully encompassed it with her magic, it started to burn her. It was a sensation she had never experienced to that magnitude before.

"Is this... Is this what Celly has to put up with every morning? Is that why she chose to command the sun - to spare me this pain? I never realized... aaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Inside, Luna's scream woke up Fluttershy. "Oh no," she muttered, "was that the Princess? Girls? Wake up!"

None of the others woke up. The others could be pretty heavy sleepers, but Fluttershy was a light sleeper due to her home's comparatively quiet setting. It also didn't help that Fluttershy's shout was muted. She decided to run up to the roof to check on the Princess herself.

When she arrived, Luna's body was burning as brightly as the sun, but her magic was holding the celestial orb fast. It was slow going, but she was raising it.

"Princess?" Fluttershy worriedly asked. "Are... are you okay? I heard a scream."

"I'm fine," Luna said, ignoring her pain. "I'm just not used to doing this. The sun has a lot of kick... owwwww!" She dropped to one knee. "I never appreciated what my sister had to go through to do this job. That's all..."

"Do you want me to get Twilight to try to help you?" Fluttershy meekly asked.

"No!" Luna screamed in the midst of another surge of burning pain. "No... no. She needs her rest if you girls are going to free my sister. Besides, she just doesn't have the magic needed for this job..."

Fluttershy simply watched as Luna screamed one final time, using a defiant burst of power to force the sun to stay up. It got slightly lighter underneath the cloud cover, at least to the point where the others could see with some sense of normalcy.

"Get some rest," Luna said, trying to catch her breath. "We can probably wait until noon to start the return spell." Her body was still glowing brightly, but that was starting to fade. She tried to walk into the Library, but stumbled.

"Only if you get some rest too... please?" Fluttershy pleaded. "You don't look so good, and you probably shouldn't be falling over, either."

"I should have you hanged," Luna joked darkly, though her emotionally hardened facade was crumbling. "You're right, though... a little bit of rest couldn't hurt."

..:://=||=\::..

Nightmare Spectrum stayed on her cloud all night and all day. She waited. She knew Luna was freed, and it would only be a matter of time before Celestia would walk Equestria again as well.

Sure enough, right at the stroke of noon, the sun glowed.

She cursed silently as her plans were starting to unravel.

"Problem?" asked the pony trapped inside her mind.

"...What are you doing awake?"

"Watching the show. Could you grab me some popcorn? It's starting to get good and I'm starving."

"You would be wise not to annoy me right now."

"Yeah, right. You can't kill me. You need me."

"Are you so certain of that?"

Nightmare Spectrum leaped off of the cloud into a freefall.

"Wait... what are you doing?"

"I don't need you as much as you believe I do. This body can die, and you with it. I'll survive as part of another."

"Prove it."

She continued to fall. She was close to reaching terminal velocity.

"You won't get another Element Bearer again, you know. They're bound to be on to you by now. Same goes for the Princesses."

She continued falling.

"I'm your last shot and you know it!"

Nightmare Spectrum growled as the pony trapped in her mind called her bluff. She halted her descent and quickly rose into the air.

"I knew it. You're just a coward."

"...Shut up and go back to sleep while I finish off your friends. I don't know how they ever put up with you in the first place."

"Coward... cow... ard..." the pony taunted as her voice became silent.

Nightmare Spectrum quickly flew back to Cloudsdayle to prepare for the final confrontation. With the Princesses free, it was now inevitable.

She was also unwilling to admit that she was now inexorably stuck with Rainbow Dash until the end of time, or until she was banished. Whichever came first.

Her only hope to shut Dash up for good was to finish off her friends.

..:://=||=\::..

The Element Bearers, the Princesses and Spike all agreed that another night's rest would be needed for them to be in any condition to face Nightmare Spectrum. They decided they'd all head to the Palace to be taken care of properly that night. While Luna and Celestia raised and lowered the sun and moon at the proper times, the six Bearers and Spike slept. None of them would prove to have a very restful sleep. The anticipation weighing on each of them was too great to bear.

Celestia was on the roof the next morning as she readied herself to raise the sun.

"Celly?" Luna asked as she made her way to the roof.

"Sister, what's wrong?" Celestia asked as she turned to look back at Luna.

She was crying. "I'm so sorry," Luna said sadly. "I didn't know how hard it was to raise the sun. All those years ago, I simply thought that you were trying to prove that you were more powerful than me... I never realized all the pain you went through..."

Celestia walked over to her sister and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, too, dear sister," she said as she also began to cry. "I was hoping to spare you the pain the sun can cause... that's why I gave you dominion over the moon. It's not easy for me, either. If I don't prepare properly, it can still cause me severe agony even after all these centuries."

"This is all my fault," Luna sighed. "If I hadn't been jealous of you, the Nightmare would have never taken me over, it would have never imprinted my powers and we wouldn't be facing this crisis now."

"Shhh... that's not true, Luna," Celestia said. "If it hadn't happened then, it would have still happened eventually. The Nightmare could even have taken me over instead of you. It is the one force in Equestria that's beyond even our power to tame."

"I wish I never escaped the Moon," Luna sobbed.

Celestia gave her sister a kiss on the forehead and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad you did," she said. "I missed you over those thousand years, and I'm truly glad to have you back now."

"You're just saying that," Luna said as she wiped a tear from her eye.

"Nonsense," Celestia whispered. "No matter what happens today, I am proudest of all that you are back and we will stand together. That will never change."

"You mean it?" Luna said between sniffles.

"On my honor, I meant every word I said," Celestia said as she stood up and smiled at her sister. "Get some breakfast, then start preparing the Elements. I'll be down shortly."

"Okay," Luna said, feeling a great weight lift from her heart as she departed back into the castle.

With that done, Celestia mentally steeled herself against the pain that was to come as her magic latched onto the sun...

..:://=||=\::..

It was finally time to take the fight to Nightmare Spectrum. Between the Princesses and Twilight Sparkle, they had come up with a brilliant plan of attack.

The first part was making sure that the girls, aside from Fluttershy and Scootaloo would be able to walk through Cloudsdayle in the first place. Twilight Sparkle cast a cloudwalking spell on herself, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie in order to facilitate this.

The next part was transit. Princess Luna left first, flying high overhead. Her part of the plan was to clear a path for Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony to make it to Cloudsdayle. Though no Rainbow Dash, she was a fast and strong enough flier to create a fairly calm wake for the others to follow in.

Celestia's part was just as important. Being the more talented sister where it concerned magic, her job was to telekinetically carry the Element Bearers along with her as she followed in the wake.

The girls' part of the plan was fairly self-explanatory - use the Elements to stop Nightmare Spectrum, either by expelling the Nightmare from Rainbow Dash, or by banishing her to the moon if that failed. They had all protested that part of their role, but eventually they all realized that if it was the only remaining option, it had to be done.

Finally, Spike was to remain behind at the Palace. He was the fallback - if everything else failed, Celestia would use him to relay orders to the Royal Guard to level Cloudsdayle. If the town was destroyed, the cloud generators would be destroyed with it. It was without a doubt the least palatable option, and probably the least effective as well, but it would serve to disperse some of the storm clouds and buy Equestria some extra time to prepare for one more shot.

Everything went according to plan until they actually reached the cloud factory in Cloudsdayle.

As Twilight Sparkle tried to walk in, she was repelled by a magical shield. She shouted out as her body impacted it, causing her pain.

"Did you really think I'd make it that easy for you this time?" Nightmare Spectrum projected to the Princesses and the assembled Elements. "I think not."

"You're finished!" Scootaloo defiantly shouted. "Give us Dash back!"

"All in due time," Spectrum taunted. "In order to reach me, there are tests for each of you Elements of Harmony. If you wish to reach me, it's as simple as this..."

"...You must abandon each other and travel alone..."

Reverie

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 9 - Reverie

"This is bad," Fluttershy said as she backed away from the factory fearfully.

"Agreed," Twilight Sparkle said, "but we may have no other options." She looked over to the Princesses.

They were both trying their hardest to magically punch through the shield, but its power soon lashed back upon them and sent them both stumbling backward. With a look of pained regret, Princess Celestia simply shook her head. "We can't break it. I'm afraid the only way for you six to reach her is to beat her at her own sick game."

"Let's do it, then," Scootaloo said, undeterred. "We'll be okay."

"I... I don't think this is a good idea," Fluttershy weakly said.

Applejack put a hoof over Fluttershy's shoulder. "Scootaloo's right," she said. "We ain't gotta be next to each other to be there for one another. Right?"

"Yes!" Pinkie Pie said as she stood defiantly before the door. "We've been connected since the day we met."

"Exactly," Princess Celestia said. "When friendship is true, each pony is always with the other, even if only in spirit. They're always there for one another."

It all started to make sense for Twilight Sparkle. "It was like when I was in the hospital," she said. "When the rest of you were so concerned about me, I could also feel Dash's spirit with me, telling me what she'd be thinking. I think she's still with us."

"There's no way we can give up now," Rarity stated. "We have come way too far to let a minor inconvenience like this deter us."

"We did the impossible once, an' ain't no way we can't do it again!" Applejack shouted.

"We're at our best now!" Pinkie exclaimed happily. "Nothing can stop us, not even a meanie like this Nightmare!"

"Friends always stand together," Scootaloo said, determination filling her voice.

"Okay," Fluttershy said softly as she stood tall. "I believe in you as I know you believe in me. We won't fail."

"No matter what happens, we stand together - friends forever," Twilight said. "Now let's go get our friend back!"

"I'm so proud of all of you," Princess Celestia said, smiling. "You six need to get inside. There are six different ways into the factory. I believe that's how she intends to separate you."

"First, the visitor's entrance, where we are now," Luna said, pointing to the shielded door.

"Ah'll take it," Applejack said as she walked to the entrance.

Celestia led the remaining five to the next entrance. "This is the employees' entrance."

"My stop!" Pinkie said excitedly as she bounced to that door.

Celestia led the other four a little farther, then pointed up. "Up there on the second floor is the executive entrance. Fluttershy, since you're the only one in the group who can fly, would you please take that one?"

"Okay..." Fluttershy said as she flew up. "Be careful, girls."

They walked some more before coming upon a small vent. "This is the intake for the water vapor needed to make the clouds," Celestia stated. "I almost didn't consider it because it was so small, but..."

"Say no more, Princess." Scootaloo said. "I can fit in there, no problem!"

Twilight, Rarity and Princess Celestia continued onward a short distance. "This is the emergency exit. It's rarely been used."

"Well, hopefully it's clean," Rarity said as she moved toward it.

Finally, Celestia led Twilight Sparkle to the last entrance. "The loading dock is all that remains," the Princess said.

"Guess that's my stop," Twilight said, looking inside at the darkened factory through the shield.

"Princess Luna and I will fly to the roof and wait for the shields to go down," Celestia said. "If we can make it to you in time, we may be able to help. Until then, good luck and remember to keep your friends in your heart."

"I will," Twilight said. Her horn glowed as she activated her thought projection spell to the others. "Ready?"

"Yep," Applejack replied.

"All set, Twilight!" Pinkie responded.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Fluttershy hesitantly thought.

"Ready," Rarity echoed.

"Let's do this already!" Scootaloo enthusiastically relayed.

"Right, then," Twilight projected. "Everypony in!"

As each of the Element Bearers breached the magical shields blocking their paths, they soon found their spaces being filled with a noxious cloud.

"Let the tests begin," each could hear as they lost consciousness.

..:://=||=\::..

Fluttershy awoke in her cottage to somepony frantically knocking on her door.

"Wake up, Miss Fluttershy! We've got a problem out here!" a stallion she didn't know pleaded.

"What hit me?" she sighed as she got to her hooves. "I wasn't here before I fell asleep...."

"Please, you've got to hurry," the stallion begged. "It's really bad. It's the animals, they're..."

Fluttershy shot to the door. "The animals? Oh no, what happened?" she asked frantically.

"They've been getting sick," the stallion said, seen crying as Fluttershy opened the door. "It's horrible. We haven't been able to find a cure, and they're going out of their minds with pain."

"Oh, no... this is terrible," Fluttershy softly murmured.

Some of the sick animals followed the stallion to her cottage, and they were coughing between fits of agony. "That's not the worst of it," he said sadly. "They're contagious also. If we don't do something, every small animal in Ponyville will get sick and die. Worse, every animal in Equestria may suffer the same fate."

Fluttershy's heart shattered. "No... no... there's got to be something we can do..." she cried.

"There's only one thing I can think of to do that'd be kind to them, ma'am..." the stallion said as he looked towards the animals with his serpentine eyes...

..:://=||=\::..

Pinkie Pie came to back at her family's rock farm.

"About time the little harlot woke up," an old stallion spat.

"Don't mind your father, Pinkamena," an aged mare said. "He's just sore because business has been poor lately."

Pinkie opened her eyes to discover herself back in the silo on her family's rock farm. "Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

"You've been dishonoring yourself and your whole family in the modern world," her father said angrily.

"He doesn't mean it, dear," her mother said, reassuringly. "All he wants is for you to come home. It's all I want too, and so do your sisters."

Pinkie tried to get back to her hooves, but her body felt foreign to her. She had to look up at her parents, and as she got herself upright, she took a wild guess. "Why'd I shrink?"

Her father laughed angrily. "Shrink? Don't you know when this is?"

Pinkie reached into her memory. "This can't be," she said, shocked. This was her Rond Gallopen, the time when ponies in her community who reached a certain age were sent into the more modern Equestrian world, then left with a choice - the amenities of the modern world, or remaining with their communities and shunning modern conveniences. "This isn't right," she tried to reason. "I remember this happening before, but you were both supportive of my choice even though you didn't agree with it."

"Oh dear," her mother said. "Do you think they poisoned her out there?"

"I wouldn't put it past those friends of hers," her father said. "They're bad ponies."

"Now hold on just a minute," Pinkie said. "They'd never do something like that. They love me, like you two are supposed to!"

"We do love you," her father said. "That's why we're trying to make sure you make the right choice. I mean, look at your mark. You don't belong out there, you belong here!"

"You belong with your family, Pinkamena. Can't you see that?" her mother pleaded.

Pinkie looked back at her cutie mark. It was different. The balloons were gone, replaced by a pile of rocks...

..:://=||=\::..

Twilight Sparkle woke up in her hospital bed. She felt like a piano had fallen on her head.

A nurse who had been changing her IV saw her stirring. She ran to the door. "Doctor? Doctor, come quick! She's waking up!"

"Wha... I'm not supposed to be here..." Twilight said weakly. "I'm supposed to be helping my friends..."

As she tried to get out of bed, the nurse held a foreleg over her, blocking her progress. "You shouldn't try to get up yet. You've been through a lot," she pleaded.

The doctor walked into her hospital room. "Ah, Miss Sparkle, you're finally awake. Nurse, please go get her parents from the waiting room..."

"Right away, Doctor," the nurse said as she departed.

"Please, Doctor... this isn't right," Twilight pleaded. "I remember all this... I got better. I was let out of here."

"Oh, dear..." the doctor said.

"Rainbow Dash needs my help. I need to get out of here and back to Cloudsdayle..." she said.

Twilight's parents walked into the room. "Oh, Twilight!" her mother cried. "You're awake! We were so worried..."

"I'm so glad we didn't lose our little filly," her father said.

"It's not all good news, I'm afraid," the doctor said. "Apparently the combination of being comatose for a year and losing her magic has damaged her mind. She's going to need you two more than ever while she adjusts..."

Twilight interrupted the doctor. "What? I didn't lose my magic! I..." She stopped as she reached up to her head.

Her horn was gone. Her heart sank.

"It's going to take some time for her to get back to reality fully," the doctor continued. "She's having moderate delusions right now, possibly being brought on by her guilt over not being able to save her friend."

"...But... but I saved Rainbow Dash!" Twilight protested. "This is all wrong!"

"Honey," her mother said as she hugged Twilight, "you didn't save her. You tried... you gave it your all, but you failed. Your magic wasn't up to the task."

"Yes... when the Princess found you, she said you broke emotionally over it," her father continued. "You were in the middle of a magical outburst worse than the one when you entered Celestia's academy, so... we had no choice but to have your horn removed. Even when they put you into the coma, your magic was out of control."

"You... what?" Twilight angrily asked.

"We're sorry... there was just no other way..." her mother said.

Twilight's head fell into her forehooves and she began to cry...

..:://=||=\::..

As Applejack came to, she was bound in a police wagon. "What the hay?" she cried. "What's goin' on here?"

"Sounds like the perp's awake," one of the policeponies said.

"You know why you're back there, scumbag," the other one said.

"Ah ain't got the slightest idea what you're talkin' about!" Applejack cried, panicked. "Ah'm not even s'posed to be here! Last Ah remember, Ah was up in Cloudsdayle! Ah ain't done nothing..."

"As if I haven't heard that before," the second policepony said before laughing.

"They all say that, don't they? the first one asked his partner. "Perhaps you should read her her rights again so she doesn't try to weasel her way out on a technicality."

"Yeah, we sure wouldn't want that," the second one said. "Applejack, you are under arrest for the murder of Granny Smith. You have the right to remain silent..."

Applejack was too shocked to hear the rest of it.

Within minutes, the policeponies brought her to the station in Ponyville, a fairly small building. Just because there was almost never any crime in Ponyville, though, that didn't mean there wasn't a need for police. This was the first murder in the town's history.

She was soon led into an interrogation room. All she could do was wait.

Eventually, a grizzled old earth pony stallion with a badge walked in. He shut the door behind him and tossed a folder up onto the table. "Let's see what we have here," he began. "Applejack. Heiress to Sweet Apple Acres, overall dependable pony, and the Element of Honesty to boot. We shouldn't be here that long, then."

Applejack looked up at him. "Well, what do y'all need, then?" she asked.

The old stallion smiled. "Just give us your confession to murdering Granny Smith, and we can all go home. Except you, that is. You'll go to a dungeon for the rest of your life."

"See, there's just one teensy lil' problem with that," Applejack said. "Ah don't remember doin' nothin' of the sort."

"Don't you?" he asked. "We have witnesses. Big Macintosh and Applebloom both saw you standing over her body with a pillow. I bet when we get the autopsy report, we'll find she was suffocated. Try to remember."

Applejack refused to back down. She was being honest. She remembered nothing like that. "Ah ain't sayin' nothin' else til y'all get my lawyer up in here..."

"Suit yourself," the old stallion said as he got up. "Just remember," he began as he removed his sunglasses, revealing his serpentine eyes, "you're going away no matter what. Whether you spend your life in a dungeon or get hanged is up to you."

..:://=||=\::..

The first thing Rarity noticed was the smell. She woke up quickly once it registered in her brain. "Ewwwwww! Has Spike been taking out my garbage again?"

She took a look around. She was in an alleyway in a big city. It was raining, and she had nowhere to escape to except a damp box.

"What is this?"

She looked down into a puddle of grimy water and saw herself. She was a complete and utter wreck. Her mane looked like it hadn't been anywhere near a brush in months, and her face was puffy from what seemed like days of crying. What few articles of clothing she was wearing were torn to shreds and could probably never be improvised into something presentable.

"What happened? Why am I here?"

A mare just down the alley coughed. "Wow, filly, you must have found some good stuff to not even remember how you ended up here," she said. "Lucky for you, I'm the sharing sort. I'll tell you."

"Please, then," Rarity pleaded. "From the beginning, if you wouldn't be so kind."

"Ain't much to tell," the mare said. "You used to be some big hot-shot fashion designer, but you ran your business into the ground by giving everything to your friends and expecting nothing in return. When the tax man came a'calling, you lost everything but the dress on your back. You came here to Manehattan hoping to rebuild your name, but you just couldn't find your calling again. You ended up here. Now your dress is in tatters, your precious mane is practically destroyed, and you smell like old garbage mixed with dragon sweat. But, look on the bright side. You may have a way out of this yet."

"Really?" Rarity asked.

"Yep, here he comes now," the street mare said as she started waving. "Hey Big Stone!"

"Doesn't matter how much you butter me up, Cider, you burned me too many times," Stone said as he came closer to Cider and Rarity. "Actually, I was hearing that the famous Rarity was holed up in my alleyway. Came to offer her a way out of the rain."

"R-Really?" Rarity asked. She had no clue how she ended up in this predicament, even after hearing the story of her apparent life, but the offer of a chance to get out of the rain was worth a shot. "What will I have to do?"

"Oh, I just need something to sell," Stone said.

"Well, I think if I could start designing again, I could easily get out of here," Rarity said. "I'd be willing to share the profits, of course."

Stone laughed. "Designs? After you were laughed out of your last fashion show? I think not. I want something else."

Rarity was puzzled. "I apparently have nothing, then, so what could you possibly want?" she asked.

"The last thing you've got to give," Stone said, locking his serpentine eyes with Rarity's own. "Your body."

..:://=||=\::..

Scootaloo awoke in a dark place. There were no walls. There was no sky. It was just darkness.

Twilight Sparkle and the others came walking in from the distance. "There she is! Scootaloo! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Scootaloo lied as she rubbed her head. "What happened?"

"Apparently this Nightmare Spectrum was trying to pull a fast one on us," Rarity said.

"Yeah, that meanie Miss-Snooty-Pants was just trying to scare us," Pinkie said, bouncing happily.

"We just had to find you," Fluttershy said. "Now we can go get Rainbow Dash back."

"Yep. Still with us, Scootaloo?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah!" Scootaloo cried excitedly. "We better hurry!"

"Scootaloo! Wait! What about us?" asked a young filly from the other direction.

"Yeah, don't forget us!" another filly said.

Scootaloo turned around. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were standing there looking at her. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you," she said, smiling.

"But where'd you go?" Applebloom asked. "You was s'posed to help us find our cutie marks today..."

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle said. "Why'd you leave us behind?"

"Awwww... guys... it's complicated, okay?" Scootaloo said.

"Ain't you gonna help us get Dash back?" Applejack asked.

Scootaloo turned around. "Yeah, I was supposed to help Dash... Guys, I can't just leave them hanging..."

"So you're going to abandon us for them?" Sweetie Belle asked accusingly.

"Yes, go on, Scootaloo. Go with them and play your childish games while the world drowns," Rarity said. "Get serious. We should be on our way."

Scootaloo was placed in the worst position she could ever be in. She was entrusted with the power of the Element of Loyalty, but to prove her worth, she had to abandon one group of her friends...

..:://=||=\::..

"Popcorn? I do believe you're fond of it." Nightmare Spectrum mockingly thought as she tossed a kernel into her mouth.

"This is low, even for you," Dash's voice said. "They can't win!"

"That's the point, you stupid little filly!"

"Come on guys, you've got to find a way out of this... If only I could be there..."

"Good thing for me you can't, then."

..:://=||=\::..

"You can't... there's no way I could do that," Fluttershy said. "It's wrong..."

"It's the only way," the stallion pleaded. "If you don't kill them now, they'll infect every animal in town. Besides, they're in pain. Isn't letting them hurt just as unkind?"

"But... I can't do any harm..." Fluttershy squeaked.

"Problem, Fluttershy?" a familiar voice asked.

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy said as she looked up at her friend, in the flesh. "I thought you were..."

"Always with you?" Dash said, smiling. "You know it. So what's wrong here?"

"This stallion brought these sick animals here, but there's no way to cure them," Fluttershy said softly. "He says killing them is the only way to save the others, but it's wrong to kill..."

"Shy... look at the big picture. You've had another option the whole time," Dash said. "They're going to die anyway... and they're in pain. Think."

Fluttershy looked around. Suddenly, it clicked. Across the path from her was a vacant lot and her covered wagon. "I know exactly what to do," she said as she ran inside to grab her medicine bag.

When she emerged, she coaxed all the sick animals over to the vacant lot... then she pulled out some medicine and started to give it to them. Within moments, they stopped convulsing in pain. A few moments after that, they were starting to rest. She started placing their resting bodies into her wagon.

"I knew you'd figure it out," Dash said as she flew off. "Later!"

"Wait... they're still alive?" the stallion asked, puzzled. "What did you do?"

"They're resting comfortably," Fluttershy said in a stern tone. "I was panicking so badly, I almost forgot my oath. First, do no harm. You were right, I couldn't cure them... so I did the kindest thing I could. I'm making them comfortable so that when their little bodies finally do give up, they can go in peace."

"But... what about the other animals?" the stallion asked, now panicking.

"Oh, they know to stay out of this field," she said. "Little poison berries grow in the grass. The healthy animals won't come over here, and these poor little things can barely move so they can't get to the poison themselves."

"No! You were supposed to... AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the stallion screamed as he twisted and warped out of existence. Soon, everything went black for Fluttershy...

..:://=||=\::..

Pinkie Pie was resigned to her fate, as she was working on the rock farm. She sighed, sadly. Her hair was in its straightened, depressed state. Still, she had nothing left to look forward to, she thought.

She looked in the direction of Ponyville, at all that which could have been.

Suddenly, she saw a rainbow streak flying from there towards her. She became frightened, screamed, and lost her balance, falling on her flanks.

"Hey, Pinkie Pie," Dash casually said from overhead. "Why are you back on the rock farm? Shouldn't you be putting together a big victory party back at Sugarcube?"

"I can't," Pinkie said softly. "There's no fun here, no parties... I shouldn't even be talking to you."

"That doesn't sound like the Pinkie Pie I know," Dash said as she landed. She pushed at a rock. "Boring. Come on, your friends are waiting for you."

"Pinkamena, get away from that... that heathen," Pinkie's father said as he came storming out of the barn. "She's going to lead you down the wrong path again."

"Pinkie, look," Dash said. "I'm not gonna tell you which way is the right one here, because I can't. Neither can he. Neither can anypony else in this big, wide world except you. Follow your heart, you'll know what's right. Whichever way you choose, I'll respect that, and I'll still call you friend. Sorry, Mr. Pie, I didn't mean to keep your daughter from her work. I should be getting back to clearing the skies over Ponyville. Later!"

With that, Dash took off back toward Ponyville.

"Good riddance," Mr. Pie said. "The less you're around ponies like that, the better."

"Ponies like what, Father?" Pinkie asked. "Ponies who are the greatest friends anyone could have? All this time, you've been telling me what you think is right for me. What you think my path in life should be. Dash was right. It's my choice!"

"What?" Mr. Pie asked, furious.

"Just look at her," Pinkie said. "She didn't agree with what you told me, but she was still friendly and polite to you. I know what my heart's telling me. I need to go back home and be with my friends." Her cutie mark returned to its normal state and her hair puffed back out. "I'm sorry, Father, but I know which way I should be going now." She turned to leave.

"If you go back to that place, you can never go home again!" Mr. Pie screamed.

"Silly," Pinkie said as she looked back at her father. "You said I could come back anytime I wanted. No takebacks!" With that, she bounced on her merry way, humming a delightful tune.

Then everything went dark. Pinkie swore she heard a scream back at the farm...

..:://=||=\::..

"Quick! Sedate her!" the doctor cried.

It was too much for Twilight Sparkle to take, and she was lashing out against everything she could. The loss of her magic, her friends, having to cope with her parents' betrayal... she couldn't help but snap after learning all of that.

As the doctor tried to inject her with a sedative, she bucked him away. "No! I want to go back to the real world now! This isn't happening!"

"Twilight."

Twilight froze. "What was that?" she asked.

"Twilight! Snap out of it! You're okay!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight said, looking around. Indeed, Dash was standing there right in front of her. "I knew it! I knew they were lying when they said you were dead!"

"You think I'd let something like that separate us?" Dash asked.

As the doctor tried to get his bearings, Twilight swiftly smashed the syringe under her hoof.

"I knew you'd never leave me," Twilight said.

"Stop, Miss Sparkle! If you keep indulging those delusions of yours, you'll never get better!" the doctor cried.

"I'm guessing he can't see me," Dash said.

"Wait, does that make you a delusion?" Twilight asked, backing away.

"Nope. Just the world around you," Dash said, smiling. "Let's clear the air in here. Get one of those fancy spells of yours going."

"But..." Twilight stammered, "but... my horn's gone... I can't do magic..."

"Sure you can," Dash stated. "It's still inside you. It's here. It's between us. All you have to do is believe in it."

Twilight started to focus her mind on the task. Without her horn present, it was almost impossible for her to control the magic.

"Don't try so hard," Dash said. "Just let it happen."

And so Twilight did. Soon, the world itself was starting to fade away, along with Rainbow Dash. As it did, her horn was returning to its rightful place. She opened her eyes just as Dash was almost gone. "Dash, wait!" she cried.

"I'll still be here," Dash said as she faded away. "We'll be back together soon. Remember, the magic's inside you. It's inside all of us..."

..:://=||=\::..

Applejack simply sat and waited as the police pony stared daggers into her.

Suddenly, the door opened, and whistling could be heard.

A rather overworked young mare stepped into the room, judging by the stack of briefcases she was somehow managing to balance on one hoof. She was singing softly, "If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear..."

The police pony cleared his throat. "I suppose you're Miss Applejack's lawyer?" he asked.

"Mmph," the lawyer confirmed. She slung all of the briefcases on the table, revealing her distinct mane. Only one pony Applejack knew had a mane like that. "That's better," she said. "Yes. Ms. Rainbow Dash, Esquire, at your service. I'm here to represent Applejack."

"Dash? What're you doin' here?" Applejack asked, bewildered.

"Duh! I'm gonna get you out of here," Dash said, smiling. "I know what I'm doing!"

"Right," the policepony said, not believing a word Dash was saying. "Miss Applejack here is facing some very serious charges. Perhaps you'd like to take a minute to talk to her in private so she'll make the right choice for herself?"

"I'd tell her the same thing whether you were in the room or not," Dash said. "Applejack, you know what's been happening lately. Remember. The truth shall set you free."

Applejack felt a surge of confidence now that one of her friends was here to help her. There was no need to say anything other than the truth, now that she could think clearly enough. "Ah was helpin' Granny Smith out before bed, like Ah've been havin' to do for the last few months," she began. "She's been really sick, on account of bein' old an' all. One'a the things I do every night is fluff her pillows, since she can't hardly do it herself anymore. So Ah grabbed her pillow an' fluffed it, but..."

Suddenly a surge of memories came flooding into her mind. She remembered everything that led up to the so-called "incident."

"...When Ah went to put the pillow back, Ah looked down," Applejack continued. "She wasn't breathin'. Applebloom came in and got scared when she saw us like that. Ah guess she got Big Macintosh, an' he must'a went an' called y'all. She went on her own, an' that's the honest truth."

"A likely story," the policepony said. "It's too bad the facts don't support your story. You're going down for this, and you're going to be hanged."

A younger policepony ran into the interrogation room and placed an open folder in his superior's line of sight.

"It's a pity," the old policepony rambled as his eyes drifted down. "You could have saved your life by telling... the... truth?" Something he saw in the folder had him slack-jawed.

Dash looked over at the folder. "...Well, she did tell the truth. It's right there in front of your face!" she cried triumphantly. "See that? 'Natural. Causes.' We'll be going now..."

"No!" the old policepony yelled. "No!!!"

The illusion shattered around Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "See? The truth shall set you free."

"Looks like it did," Applejack said. "Thanks for bein' there for me."

"Anytime," Dash said as she started to fade away. "You get ready to do the same..."

..:://=||=\::..

Rarity was appalled at Stone's "offer." "You must be joking," she said, defiantly. "That's a disgusting enough proposition on its face, doubly so when coming from someone as repulsive as you."

"Your call," Big Stone said as Cider ran off into hiding. "Of course, I'll be getting what I want anyway. Asking was just a formality. Boys?"

Several of Big Stone's flunkies dashed into the alleyway. One, a unicorn, subdued Rarity with his magic.

"Stop it!" Rarity cried. "You can't do this!" She tried to fend off her attackers, but days without food had left her too weak to use any magic.

"Hold her up nice and good so I can check the merchandise," Stone said as an evil grin crept onto his face.

"I don't think I like where this is going," a familiar voice said. "Put her down before I kick your teeth in!"

Rarity looked over at her would-be savior. The young cyan pegasus was wearing a hoodie sweater and grasping a pipe in her teeth. "Quick, help me!" she yelled.

"Get her. We'll add another one to the stable," Stone said.

As the two earth pony flunkies ran towards the pegasus filly, she dashed toward them in turn. She was faster than them, though... much faster. In a brilliant display of skill, she had knocked both of them to the ground in around ten seconds. Her hood had flipped open during the quick struggle, though, revealing her rainbow mane.

"Dash?" Rarity asked, shocked. "Why... how are you here?"

"You shouldn't be staying in a place like this, Rare," Dash said while clutching the pipe. "I've been trying to find you. You've given us so much in the time we've known you... let us give back. Please."

"Anything! Just get them to stop!" Rarity cried.

Stone scoffed at Dash. He signaled the unicorn to go after her.

The young unicorn telekinetically grabbed a garbage can lid and a broken bottle. He held the lid over his face while he ran in brandishing the bottle.

Leaving only a rainbow trail where she had been, Dash quickly flew up and over the unicorn, before headbutting him in his back from above. He fell quickly.

"H-how?" Rarity asked, still too scared to try to run.

"You tell me Rare, it's your nightmare," Dash quipped as she turned to Stone. "Leave my friend alone, and don't let me catch you doing this to another mare again! You understand?!"

Stone gritted his teeth and ran off.

Dash walked over and held out a hoof to Rarity. "Come on. I've got somewhere you can stay for the night, then we can figure the rest out later."

"I can't," Rarity said quietly. "It wouldn't be right..."

"Rarity," Dash pleaded. "You've given us all so much. If you ever get in this kind of spot again, don't be ashamed when we offer you something in return. You're my friend, and the gifts go both ways."

"I... I think I get it now," Rarity said as she took Dash's hoof and pulled herself back up. "Let us be off, then. I don't want to ever end up in a disgusting place like this again."

"I promise, you never will," Dash said as she and the surroundings faded to black.

..:://=||=\::..

The bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were arguing with each other and Scootaloo was trapped in the middle by her conflicting loyalties. Every time she came close to a decision, the other side would shout her down enough to change her mind. There was no sign it would ever end.

It was reaching the point for Scootaloo where it was all blending together. "Stop!" she cried. "I can't choose!"

That exclamation was enough to turn everyone's arguing toward Scootaloo.

She curled up in a ball beneath the perpetual verbal assault.

"Stop it already!" a voice cried from above. "Can't a girl get a nap?"

Scootaloo looked up. "Rainbow Dash? Is that really you? Please help me... I can't decide..."

"Geez!" Dash cried as she flew down to the floor. "Why are you trying to choose in the first place?"

"Huh?" Applejack asked as the arguing between the Bearers and the Crusaders ceased. "She's choosin' because we need her to save you!" she shouted at Dash.

"Yeah, but we need her to help us find our cutie marks," Sweetie Belle pleaded.

"Oh, this old thing," Dash sighed. She looked down at Scootaloo. "It feels like no matter which way you go, you're going to lose, right?"

Scootaloo looked up at Dash and simply nodded, on the verge of breaking down into tears.

"Lemme give you a little piece of advice, kid," Dash said as she knelt down to Scootaloo's level. "Don't. Don't even try to choose."

"What?" Scootaloo asked, confused.

"You'll be able to get back to the Crusaders when this is all over," Dash said. "It's all about what you can help right now. Right now, you're with my friends, and they need you. Helping them now doesn't make you disloyal to the Crusaders."

"...But..." Scootaloo started.

"Do what you can right now," Dash clarified. "The Crusaders will still be waiting for you when this is over, and they won't think any less of you because you helped your other friends. In fact, they'll probably think you're awesome for helping to save the world."

"Really?" Scootaloo said between sniffles.

"Really. Now get ready, things are about to get real heavy in a hurry. I'll see you in a few minutes," Dash said as she, the Element Bearers and the Cutie Mark Crusaders all faded away.

..:://=||=\::..

The Element Bearers came to, all laying in one of the rainbow rooms.

"What hit me?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know, but I think it hit all of us," Fluttershy said as she got to her hooves.

"It was weird," Scootaloo said. "It all felt real..."

"It probably was, at least from our perspective," Twilight said as she felt the top of her head. Her horn was intact, and she sighed, relieved.

"Just a nightmare," Rarity mused.

"It's not over yet!" Pinkie Pie said. "Come on, we've got to get to the top!"

"Yeah, let's go," Twilight said, wishing to waste no more time.

They ascended the stairs quickly and worked their way to the Severe Storm Room. They had both a world and a friend to save.

Arising Hero

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 10 - Arising Hero

Nightmare Spectrum knew her moments were fleeting, so she was using the last of them to try to destroy as much of Equestria as possible. Between cranking the cloud machines beyond their maximum and using what magic she could channel, she was seeding the storms to devastating effect.

As if the constant rain and high winds weren't enough, giant hailstones and powerful lightning bolts were striking the larger cities. Buildings were being damaged. Some even caught fire from the lightning strikes, despite being saturated by the rain.

Time was running out. Every moment the Element Bearers didn't reach Nightmare Spectrum, part of Equestria was dying.

..:://=||=\::..

As the hail began striking the Palace, the Royal Guards began to panic.

Celestia's head Guard began to rally the troops. "Ok, stallions! It's getting worse, and we haven't heard back from the Princesses yet. We must assume the worst."

"No!" Spike cried out. "We have a plan here, and we need to stick to it."

"But the Princesses may need us!" one of the junior guards shouted.

"We have to act! Our enemy may have neutralized the Princesses again!"

"The Palace can't take much more of these storms!"

The panic was growing.

"I've heard enough. We're going to Cloudsdayle," the head guard said.

"No. You're. NOT!" Spike growled. "What are your orders, Guard?"

The head guard hesitated.

"Orders!" Spike repeated sternly.

"We're to wait until either Princess Celestia or Luna send word via you to fly in," the head guard grudgingly replied.

"I'm glad you can hear," Spike said, being as threatening as he possibly could. "Look, I'm worried about them too, but I trust the Princesses, and I trust Twilight Sparkle and her friends. If you were needed, one of the Princesses would send me word, even with her dying breath. You need to have faith in them."

Those words shook the Head Guard. "Stand down, stallions... we'll wait."

"But..." one of the junior guards tried to protest.

"We wait," he reiterated. "As much as I don't like being in this situation, I will trust the Princesses' judgment... and so will you. Understood?"

There was nothing but silence from the junior guard.

"Do I make myself clear, stallions?" the Head Guard reiterated.

"Yes, Sir!" they replied in unison.

..:://=||=\::..

Twilight Sparkle and her friends finally scaled the long flight of stairs, and were walking down the hallway to the Severe Storm Room. "This is it, girls," she said. "We all know the plan. We all know what we have to do. If any of you are having doubts, tell me now."

None of the others spoke up.

"I'll take that as a no," Twilight said as she was the first to reach the door. Using her magic, she made short work of the lock. She sighed deeply. "Let's finish this..."

Applejack kicked open the heavy doors. The others filed in after her.

"Greetings, little ponies. Welcome to your grave," Nightmare Spectrum said as she stood high over the main cloud machine. "I would ask if you wanted to chat, but I'm afraid we simply don't have the time."

"Enough foolin' around!" Applejack shouted. "You're done for!"

"Yes... yes, perhaps I am," Nightmare Spectrum conceded. "I'm already doomed. Your friend is getting closer and closer to taking control of this body. I'm almost tempted to let her have it."

"Something isn't right," Pinkie Pie said as her body began to twitch uncontrollably. "She's hiding something!"

"My, aren't you the perceptive one, Pinkie," Spectrum said sarcastically. "You're right, of course. I'm very tempted to let Dash have this body back, but it doesn't matter anyway. You're too late."

"Too late?" Scootaloo asked.

"Indeed. Even if you banish me here and now, you're all going to die in twenty minutes anyway," Spectrum said sadly as she revealed her trump card. "This place is rigged to overload, whether or not you defeat me. When it does, Cloudsdayle will be consumed by a flash of heat that will evaporate it entirely. Of course, you won't even survive long enough to begin to plummet to the ground below..."

That fact caught the girls off guard. "You're insane," Twilight Sparkle said softly. She quickly tried to cast her thought projection spell, but to no avail. "Oh no... I can't warn the Princesses..."

Nightmare Spectrum laughed. "No cavalry coming in to save the day, no time to escape. So sorry."

Overhead, Princess Luna was hiding in the shadows and writing out a letter to Spike...

..:://=||=\::..

Spike was pacing in the palace when he felt his stomach become upset. He belched, and out popped a letter from Princess Luna.

"Are those our orders?" the Head Guard asked.

Spike looked over the letter quickly. "Yes and no..." he said as he showed it to the Head Guard.

To our loyal Guards,

It is with the deepest regret that I must order you to stay away from Cloudsdayle at all costs. The Nightmare Spectrum issue is being resolved as I write this, but this is not a time to celebrate. In a very short time, the city will be obliterated by a blast of heat that will evaporate its cloud structures and incinerate all life in the city. We will attempt to evacuate with the Element Bearers in our care.

Please understand this decision. We do not make it lightly. Do not risk your lives. There is simply not enough time.

Signed,

Princess Luna

The Head Guard looked down for a moment before looking back to his team. "We... we have new orders. Prepare to receive wounded!" he shouted.

The gravity of the Head Guard's tone didn't escape his team. "Sir, yes Sir!" they all replied as they began acting on those orders.

..:://=||=\::..

Nightmare Spectrum laughed. "Was it worth it, little ponies? Was one single abandoned friend worth it?" she taunted.

Twilight simply stared as she summoned the Elements. "It always is," she said as she began to channel their power. "If you knew anything about friendship, you'd know that even through misunderstandings, it survives!"

A glow began to envelop the six Element Bearers. They all started to float in the air.

Then the unexpected happened. Another glow came from within Nightmare Spectrum herself.

"I knew I could count on you guys!" Dash's voice shouted into their thoughts. "I never should have doubted that you'd be there for me in the end..."

The knowledge that their friend was still alive inside Nightmare Spectrum, still fighting... it ramped the power of the banishment spell to a level never seen before.

"No... you're not supposed to defeat me..." Nightmare Spectrum said helplessly as the glow emanating from her body shaped itself into magical chains and anchored her to the floor.

"You were there for us, Rainbow Dash..." Scootaloo said softly as her eyes glowed with the pure energy of the Element of Loyalty.

"It's only fair that we return the favor in kind," Rarity said, her eyes glowing as the Element of Generosity.

"The kindest thing we can do is free you from your Nightmare," Fluttershy said softly as the Element of Kindness gave her all it had to offer.

"Through good times and bad, we'll always be there," Pinkie Pie said. "Though hopefully there's more good than bad."

"Ah'm sorry Ah was cross with you," Applejack said as the Element of Honesty fed its power into her. "Do you forgive me?"

"I already have," Dash said. "Now let's finish this creep!"

"For our friendship," Twilight Sparkle said softly as she opened her glowing eyes.

The Elements' power began to coalesce together. As it exploded outward towards Nightmare Spectrum, Dash's fighting spirit added a little something extra to the display - as a standing Sonic Rainboom exploded outward from the group as the rainbow beam fired.

Their beam struck true. Nightmare Spectrum screamed as she was enveloped by it. The impact blinded everyone in the room for a few seconds.

When sight returned to the girls, Rainbow Dash was laying where Nightmare Spectrum once stood. She was too exhausted to get up, but she was conscious.

As for The Nightmare, it was encapsulated in a telekinetic field being maintained by Princess Celestia. "Did we miss anything?" she asked.

"There's... still the matter of a bomb," Rainbow Dash weakly said.

Applejack ran over to the console as the other girls checked out their friend. With all the time Nightmare Spectrum had spent trying to intimidate and taunt the girls, there was only a minute left on the countdown. "Horseapples!" she cursed. "Ain't enough time to get out of here!"

Twilight Sparkle turned to the Princesses. "You need to get out of here fast," she pleaded. "Equestria needs you a lot more than it needs us. Go!"

"Pass...word..." Dash struggled to say before she passed out.

"Password?" Applejack said as she stared at the console. Sure enough, there was a small keypad made of clouds next to the countdown timer. "Ah bet Ah know what the password is, too." Luckily for her, the cloudwalking spell allowed her to use it.

She typed in "ABANDONED"

The countdown stopped with only thirty seconds left.

Fluttershy, Rarity and Scootaloo all fainted from the drama.

Celestia looked at Twilight Sparkle. "...What were you saying, my dear student? Surely it didn't sound like you were ordering us to leave, right?" she said as a trollish grin crept upon her face.

"I... that is, I wasn't... ohhhhhh..." Twilight said as she too passed out.

Applejack looked confused. "Ah ain't gonna pass out, if that's what y'all are thinkin'," she said.

Princess Luna laughed. "Surely not, but some rest would do us all some good anyway," she said.

Celestia also laughed for a moment. "Sister, would you mind bringing them to Canterlot? I'm sure the winds are dying down enough for you to get them there yourself."

"I can," Luna said as she began to levitate the exhausted Element Bearers together. "What will you be doing?"

Celestia looked over at the black mist she had trapped in her magical field. "I think I'll find someplace safe to put this," she said as she flew toward the Sun.

Epilogue

Things began to return to normal within a few weeks. Some of the smaller towns were still rebuilding, but Ponyville was slightly ahead of them. Ponies in those towns began to return to their homes to help out in the rebuilding efforts. Many ponies were injured in the storms, but amazingly nopony lost their life.

Aside from the Element Bearers, Scootaloo, the Princesses, the Mayors of Ponyville and Canterlot and the head of the factory in Cloudsdayle, nopony realized that Rainbow Dash was once the fiend known as Nightmare Spectrum - and even if they had, a Royal Decree was quickly put in place holding Dash blameless for the crimes of her Nightmare-twisted manifestation.

The remains of Nightmare Spectrum's armor were melted down into scrap and sent into the sun for good measure.

The Nightmare itself was also sent to the sun. It couldn't be destroyed even by the gaseous orb's intense heat, but it would take a long time for it to make its way back to Equestria to destroy more lives.

When Rainbow Dash was finally in good enough condition to leave the hospital, she was greeted by a special gift - the power of the combined Elements had healed her wings completely. She promised her friends she wouldn't try something as risky as stopping a hurricane on her own again.

Spike was named an honorary Royal Guard for his part in protecting them from racing headlong into potential annihilation.

Scootaloo rejoined the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle didn't believe her story at first, but after Rainbow Dash confirmed it, they vowed to keep it secret.

Pinkie Pie hosted a private party for her friends, the Crusaders and the Princesses. She is still receiving noise complaints from her neighbors.

Opalescence showed her appreciation for Rarity finally retrieving her by clawing her face.

Another couple of weeks passed, and Rainbow Dash rejoined the weather team. As she was clearing clouds, she noticed something strange.

One of them was moving on its own. It was made of cotton candy and it rained chocolate milk...

==THE END==

Author's Notes and Closing Thoughts

Notes from the Author

***Major spoilers present, please read LAST***

After taking a night to reflect, I thought about some things. Maybe the ending could have been a little more fleshed out. Perhaps I could have taken a different direction in making loyal Rainbow Dash into the apathetic monster, Nightmare Spectrum. I could have done a lot of things differently. I took them in the direction that made the most sense at the time. In the end, I didn't wish to test the limits of FiMFiction's comment section, so I figured I'd do it this way.

This story was originally started after Season One of the show started, but before we knew what Season Two would bring. After Season Two started, I decided to try to make it fit in that tight timeframe - after The Best Night Ever but before Return of Harmony. I figured about a month of in-story time would be enough. The epilogue probably feels rushed due to that constraint, especially after moving the story ahead two weeks between Chapters Five and Six.

Speaking of the epilogue, it was honestly getting hard to write at that point. I had already had ideas flooding into my mind for what would eventually (read: hours later) become Shylight. As an author, that's probably my worst flaw - my tendency to unconsciously think far, far ahead. As a result, rather than a drawn out epilogue taking weeks of in-story time, I took a shortcut and went to a "where are they now" type ending. Looking back, it probably works better in the movies. Oh well.

Most of the story was done on the fly. I'd know what Point A and Point B were, but I was literally drawing the line between them as I was typing the lines. I would have loved to be able to plan more, but it was out of my hands at the end. Putting a definitive end on the number of chapters probably forced me to speed it up more than I'd liked. (Note to certain sites - make it clear that "Indeterminate" is a valid number of chapters possible in the submission process. Actually, most of the submission guidelines are too vague, especially to literal-minded people like myself.)

There was some character development that could have gone other ways. Scootaloo wasn't supposed to become an Element of Harmony when I started the story; that changed later when I picked ten chapters as the total. She was originally supposed to become Nightmare Spectrum's right hand because of her Dash worship, then turn back to the light at the end. I literally decided against it when I was writing the first confrontation scene because I felt Nightmare Spectrum's indifference would play better as a lone wolf.

Twilight... yeah, Twilight kept getting the worst of it. In the show, I find her to be almost Sue-ish, so knocking her down a few pegs felt justified. What better way than giving her virtue some actual consequences to overuse? Not outlandish stuff like getting shunted to another dimension or being flung forward in time... that's too easy. No, the chance of death was the only way I could see it working in a way I could be satisfied with as an author. As for her getting hurt badly the second time, when they were using the Elements to bring Princess Luna back? She was a mortal who had nearly died two weeks earlier and had not gotten the chance to properly heal wielding the power of gods.

Honesty backfires. Generosity can give too much. Laughter can be inappropriate at the wrong time or place. Loyalty can be divided. Kindness sometimes can make one a monster. Magic goes out of control. At various points, I was trying to make that kind of clear. Yes, the Elements are good things. The problem becomes when you start taking it to its literal end. Sometimes you have to take a step back from the edge.

Dash breaking her wings. It's been done before, yes. Perhaps too often. It was also the perfect way for the Nightmare to invade her, in my eyes. When you've lost everything that you thought defined you, and someone said there was a chance to get it back, most of you would jump at the chance and worry about the consequences later. Of course, those consequences would turn out to be pretty major in almost all cases. Losing control of yourself, being trapped in your own mind while you're being forced to hurt your friends and almost destroy all life? Pretty huge consequence.

Ten chapters... that number came about completely dartboard-style... it could have been twelve, twenty, or possibly only eight. It could have lasted forever. Who can say?

I'm rambling, aren't I? Another of my flaws. In the end, though, I worked around them as best I could to try to create a story that some readers find pleasure in reading. I imagine some were scared away by the "Dark" tag. Others probably leapt in but were disappointed that nopony died. I'm not going to go into a whole rant on the Grimdark genre. I just wanted something different. To me, Grimdark isn't just about the death and bloodshed. It can be other things. I tried to make it other things. To me, grimdark is when bad things happen to good ponies, and there is nothing the reader can do but read on and hope they work their way out of it. Some survive their ordeal, some die... some suffer a fate worse than death. I wanted to create a situation where bad things were indeed happening to characters readers cared about, so that they would be interested enough to see how or if they'd get out of it. I like to think I succeeded.

I didn't just destroy the Nightmare at the end. That was by design. I wanted it to remain out there as a future threat. Maybe, generations later, Equestria will forget all about the Nightmare as they forgot about Nightmare Moon. Perhaps they'll let down their guard. I don't know yet. Maybe one of you will pick up the torch and run with it. That's fine.

In closing, I'm satisfied with the end product. It could have been better, it could have been far worse. Who can say? I enjoyed it. Others enjoyed it. Some won't. Nothing will appeal to 100% of the population all of the time. It's a fact of life. It's done. There will be no more edits unless I find a grievous grammatical error that I might have missed or something. The substance will stay the same, even the "where are they now" epilogue.

I hope you enjoyed the story either way. I just wanted to get that out there.

I Am The Rain

The Eternal Storm - Chapter 4 - I Am The Rain

"Honesty... honestly, that would be my second choice for a host. Its Bearer is headstrong and competitive, yes... but what strikes me most is her work ethic. I imagine I could kill most of the population within days just by forcing everypony to perform physical labor with that kind of zeal! The main reason I didn't pick her is that it would require henchponies and... yeah. It'd just be too much trouble to keep up with all that.

"Plus, forced slavery tends to spawn rebellions.

".That just leaves one suitable Element..."

It was starting to rain in Canterlot as Rainbow Dash was found missing. An exhaustive search of the hospital began immediately.

"I found him!" Pinkie Pie cried from down the hallway.

Princess Celestia ran up to join her, then looked down at the stallions laying unconscious in a closet. "I recognize the Earth Pony... that's Doctor Star. He was the one working on Rainbow Dash when I brought her in. This unicorn, however... I have no idea who he is."

The old unicorn had a crutch for a cutie mark. He was beginning to stir. "Och... what hit me?" he slurred as he regained consciousness.

"Never mind that... where did you take Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asked.

"What?" the bewildered unicorn asked.

"Pinkie, if I may?" Celestia interjected.

"Hmph, fine. I'm gonna keep looking then," Pinkie said as she bounced away.

"I'm sorry," Celestia said. "My friend there can be a little impulsive. Who are you?"

"...och, my head hurts. The name's Iron Hoof," he said. "Where am I?"

"Canterlot General," Celestia replied as the pieces to the puzzle started piling up. "I would imagine you remember yourself being somewhere else?"

"My shop," he replied as he rubbed his aching head. "This pegasus lad came in just as I was closin' up, sayin' his daughter had a flyin' accident. Wanted me tae build prosthetic wings for her, on account of that's what I do. I said I'd do it, then suddenly he was surrounded by a black mist! Then I went out like a busted lantern til I woke up here."

"A black mist?" Celestia asked, shocked. "You're sure it was a black mist?"

"Black as night, Your Highness," he said as he got up to his hooves. "Come to think of it, his eyes were weird too..."

"Tell me," she implored. "It may be important."

"Those eyes... they were nae the eyes of ponyfolk," he said. "T'were the eyes of dragons."

"Come with me, please. I'll see if I can get a doctor to look at you," Celestia said as she telepathically relayed a message to Spectra. "Return to the hospital at once, please. I have another subject for you to examine. He may have been infected."

"As you wish," she could hear Spectra reply over her mental link.

"I..." Iron Hoof started as he lost his footing. "Fine, Your Highness... I'm nae feeling so good anyway..." He soon collapsed.

"Forgive me, my subject, but I can't risk you running off before my student gets here," Celestia said as her horn ceased its glow, her anesthetic spell having done its work.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Fluttershy came flying down from the roof. Applejack was at the hospital's front door waiting for her to descend.

"She's not up there," Fluttershy called down.

"Dang it," Applejack swore. "Ah already checked the ground floor, Pinkie's checking the second, you've checked the roof an' she's not here? You sure them doctors weren't spoutin' a bunch'a hooey when they said Dash's wings were broke?"

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked as she landed and ducked under the canopy, shielding herself from the rain.

"Way Ah see it, there's only two ways she could'a gotten outta here with nopony seein' - she did some fancy magic like Twilight does, or she flew," Applejack surmised as she too ran under the canopy. "Ah thought the weatherpony said Canterlot would have clear skies for days! Ain't supposed to be rainin' this hard."

"We should probably head inside before we get sick," Fluttershy offered.

"Yeah, sounds like a mighty fine idea there," Applejack said as she went inside.

..::OoOoOoO::..

Twilight Sparkle was sitting back in her library, reading. Nopony had bothered her all day, Spike was napping, the weather was quiet... it was, in a word, bliss. She was hoping the day would never end if it kept going like this.

Then she heard a noise.

"Hello?" she called out. Then there was another noise. The lights went out. Wind started picking up outside. In rapid succession, her dream day was turning into a nightmare. She got up to see what was going on.

As she opened the door to look outside, she was blown back into the library by a fierce wind. As she flew backwards, she could just barely see a dark-colored alicorn with steel-blue armor outside her library. Unusually, the alicorn's wings were covered in armor as well. Her hair was motionless even with the rapid winds outside.

"Stay inside, Twilight Sparkle," a voice called from outside. "Stay inside where it's safe."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked. "Safe? Safe from what?"

"Please, Twi," the voice said. "Stay inside. Lock the door. Don't come out here. I can't protect you if you do."

"'Twi?'" Twilight asked curiously. "There's only a few ponies who call me that. Who are you?"

"I am only giving you this warning out of loyalty," the voice said, sternly. "Stay inside. I don't want to..."

"Don't want to what?" Twilight asked, louder.

"I don't want to destroy you, my friend," the voice said. "A storm is brewing. It will cover all of Equestria, and its people will drown. It will come to pass. If you don't stay inside, you will drown as well."

"No!" came a voice from atop the stairs. "You've got to fight, Twilight!"

"I know that voice..." Twilight said.

Another voice rang out. "Yes, you must wake up. We need you."

Twilight Sparkle moved to turn to the stairs when the voice from outside called out, "Don't listen to them. They will lead you to your death."

"Please, Twilight. Wake up," the second voice called from up the stairs.

Ignoring the voice outside, Twilight looked up the stairs. Standing there were Princess Luna and Rarity. "What is going on?" Twilight screamed, frustrated.

"You've got to wake up," Princess Luna said. "Something is going on - something bad, and I don't know how to stop it. I'm not even sure if my sister can. We need the Elements of Harmony. Equestria needs you, Twilight, so please... just wake up."

"I don't get it!" Twilight yelled. "I am awake!"

"Listen to them, Twilight!" Spike called out, atop the stairs as well. "Everyone's here. We need you!"

"Yeah, Twilight... things are going bad and my Pinkie Sense is going crazy and I don't know what to do, so we all need you to wake up now," Pinkie Pie pleaded. "Please?"

"I'm warning you for the last time, Twilight," the voice from outside said, almost begging. "Please. Just stay inside."

"...No," Twilight said. "Something is wrong - horribly wrong, and my friends need me. I don't know what they mean by 'waking up,' but you're obviously trying to keep me locked in here. That means the answer is out there, and you're not going to stop me from finding it, friend!" With that, she opened the door and walked outside.

..::OoOoOoO::..

"Look!" Spike said. "Look at her eyes!"

"I don't believe it," Pinkie Pie said. "I guess Fluttershy was right about talking to ponies in comas."

"Yes, you learn something every day, I suppose," Rarity said, sounding relieved.

Twilight Sparkle started to open her eyes.

"Pinkie Pie, please bring the others here," Princess Luna ordered. "Quickly!"

Pinkie Pie sprung up, standing at attention and offering a mock salute to the Princess. "Okie dokie loki, Princess!" she barked as she bounced out of the room with purpose.

"...Is she always that random?" the Princess asked, confused.

"Welcome to my nightmare," Rarity wearily replied, smiling.

..::OoOoOoO::..

A solitary figure flew into Cloudsdayle as the sun went down. After the hurricane incident, the city of clouds was on high alert, under orders from Princess Celestia herself.

As her cyan hooves touched down near the cloud factory, several guard pegasi swarmed around the figure. One of them spoke up. "Halt! Under orders from the Princesses of Equestria, you are to stand down!"

The shadowy figure laughed. "I'm giving you new orders. Leave. Tell everypony to leave my city. Now."

Several of the guards pulled their weapons - some were grasping swords in their teeth, others had spears and halberds anchored to their saddles. The guard in charge spoke up. "Arrest her. Use force if necessary."

The shadowy figure looked at the guard with her rose-colored serpentine eyes. "You are welcome to try, but I bet I can disarm you all in ten seconds flat." Her partially-formed horn began glowing darkly.

With no warning at all, the guards were all being attacked, their weapons having been turned into snakes!

The figure walked into the factory as the guards fought for their lives against their own weapons. "Oh, daddy," she mockingly called out, "I think we need to talk..."

..::OoOoOoO::..

Spike was lifting a glass of apple juice to Twilight Sparkle's parched lips. She had tried lifting one telekinetically, but that only resulted in her blanket getting soaked. "We were all really worried there," he said. "From the way the doctors and the Princess were talking, we were worried you'd... you'd have..."

"Died?" Twilight Sparkle asked, finishing Spike's sentence. She looked down at her torn-up body. "I'm honestly surprised I'm alive too, as bad as I look and feel. Please tell me that all this wasn't for nothing..."

"You don't remember?" Rarity asked. "From what I've been told, you saved Rainbow Dash."

"It worked?" Twlight said, sounding relieved. "After it felt like my horn was going to be torn off of my head, I blacked out. I guess the pain was so traumatic that I blocked it out..."

"No, my faithful student, that wasn't the reason," Princess Celestia said as she walked into Twilight's room with Spectra in tow. "I need some time alone with Twilight, please. Luna, remain here, this concerns you as well."

"Of course, Princess," Rarity said, turning to leave and motioning for Spike to follow. She looked back at Twilight Sparkle. "I'm glad you're okay. Please, don't scare us like that again!"

"I'll try," Twilight said, her tone shifting to annoyance as her old rival arrived following Celestia. "Spectra. How has Occult Studies been treating you?"

"Depends," Spectra spat back. "How many bits is a soul worth? I don't think I have one left at this rate."

"Enough," Celestia said, laying down the law. "Now is not the time to rehash rivalries whose time have passed. I brought Spectra with me because she has made a disturbing discovery."

"Does this have to do with her barbaric magical testing on me?" Luna asked, not exactly thrilled by Spectra's presence either.

"It does indeed," Spectra said. "I found the residue of the same magical essence in Princess Luna after she was freed from the Nightmare by the Elements of Harmony in your blood, Twilight."

"Wait... what now?" Twilight asked.

"Perhaps I should start from the beginning," Celestia offered. "You see, Nightmare Moon wasn't just a simple corruption of Princess Luna, as many believed..."

..::OoOoOoO::..

Rarity was walking down the hallway to the cafeteria when she saw Applejack standing off in a corner, alone. Something appeared off with her. "Applejack? Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Ain't nothin'," Applejack said. "Just tryin' to think is all."

"Mind sharing?" Rarity asked as she joined Applejack. "I find it's not good to hold things back. It tends to give a mare wrinkles." She smiled.

Applejack wasn't in the mood to return the smile. "Ah drove her away," she said. "The last thing Ah said to Dash was that Ah blamed her for Twilight goin' an' gettin' hurt. Ah let my anger get the best of me."

"Oh dear," Rarity said. "Did you apologize?"

"Ah didn't get the chance," Applejack sighed. "When Ah went to see her, she'd already up an' left. Ah should'a never left her alone. She wasn't right after her wings got broke. She just wasn't right... she was hurtin' so bad an' Ah snapped at her!"

Rarity put a hoof over Applejack's shoulder. "It's not your fault," she said.

"Yeah it is," Applejack retorted, laughing half-heartedly. "Some kinda friend Ah turned out ta' be, huh?"

"Better than you realize," Rarity said. "Come with me. I know the cook here, and he can make a mean warm apple cider that will make all your troubles melt away."

"If'n Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd have to be sayin' my barn door don't swing that way," Applejack said as she started walking with Rarity to the cafeteria.

"Neither does mine, darling," Rarity said, laughing. "...But you do sound like you could use the drink."

"Ain't gonna argue that, filly!" Applejack said.

..::OoOoOoO::..

"So... you're telling me that I was infected by Nightmare Moon?" Twilight Sparkle asked, puzzled.

"Almost. We just call it 'The Nightmare,'" Spectra explained. "So far we've found its residue in Princess Luna, yourself, the two unconscious stallions Princess Celestia found here, and a Royal Guard found in an alley here in Canterlot."

"That same guard apparently managed to open the vault beneath the castle by himself as well," Princess Luna said. "The only thing missing was the remains of the armor I wore as Nightmare Moon."

"Metal armor?" Twilight asked as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her addled mind.

"Yes, it was metal... why?" Luna asked.

"Princess Celestia, you said there was a case inside Rainbow Dash's room?" Twilight inquired.

"There was indeed..." Princess Celestia recalled. "Wait. The technician, Iron Hoof. He said he made prosthetics... that case looked like it once held synthetic wings..."

"Dash couldn't fly," Luna muttered. "Her wings were shattered."

"We need that case. We need it now, Princess!" Twilight said. "Spectra needs to scan it, but I'll bet I can already guess what was in there."

Princess Celestia was already racing to Rainbow Dash's room to retrieve the case. Within moments she returned with the case being held alongside her in a telekinetic field.

Spectra immediately scanned the case. "This is unbelievable," she said as her scanning spell completed. "I got to scan the armor before once - just once - and it had a distinctly high amount of residual energy from the Nightmare."

"It's the same," Twilight guessed.

Spectra simply nodded.

"Horsefeathers," Twilight cursed. "This is bad. Very bad, Highnesses."

"Agreed," Celestia stated. "If our conclusions turn out to be accurate, Equestria may be facing its worst crisis since Nightmare Moon's return."

"Sister, we need to prepare for this," Luna said.

"Yes... forgive me, my faithful student, but we need to return to the castle immediately," Celestia said as she motioned for Luna and Spectra to accompany her. "Preparations must be made."

As Celestia turned to leave, Twilight called out after her. "Wait! How can I help?"

"Recover as best as you're able," Celestia said. "If we fail, the Elements of Harmony will be needed once more." With that, she left.

"But..." Twilight called weakly, "...what if we're one short?"

..::OoOoOoO::..

The cloud factory in Cloudsdayle was eerily quiet, except for the hum of machinery. It was completely dark inside. Everypony working in it had either fled or been knocked out as the shadowy figure assumed control.

"Let's see... this goes here... this switch to maximum..."

An alarm rang out. Nopony was left to respond to it, but the noise was annoying the figure nonetheless.

"You're annoying," she grumbled. "Off with you. This one gets shut off too..."

The base of Cloudsdayle itself began to expand as the machines roared to life. The clouds comprising its "ground" became darker, and rain began pouring heavily on everything underneath.

"Scope? Oh, how does this thing work... what's the setting for 'planetwide?'" she asked, rhetorically. "Ah, that's it!" she said as she found the control she was looking for.

As she turned it, the clouds simply continued to expand, unabated. Storm clouds began to detach from Cloudsdayle and rise over it, ensuring that even the cloud city would not be spared. Slowly but surely, the entire planet was on its way to being covered in storm clouds.

Minutes later, she emerged outside of the factory. She flew to the top of the factory and perched herself on its roof.

"Citizens of Cloudsdayle... you are all hereby evicted, by order of your new Queen!" she began, her voice magically carrying to all corners of the city. "If you are not gone in twenty minutes, you will be executed for trespassing in my capital city!"

The citizens naturally began to panic.

"Rest assured, this is not a drill, nor an idle threat!" she stated as her horn darkly glowed and a lightning bolt struck an elderly pegasus stallion.

A younger pegasus mare flew over to him as he was struck. "Grandpa!" she could be heard yelling. Luckily, he was still breathing when she reached him.

"That one was a warning. Don't even think this is a bluff, the next one will be lethal!" the figure cried. "I am the rain. I am the storm. Wish me away, show me your scorn, I don't care. Just do it somewhere that's not my city! So says your Queen, Nightmare Spectrum!"

Lightning flashed near the Factory roof, illuminating Nightmare Spectrum for a fleeting instant. In that time, a multicolored mane and tail could be seen, along with a cutie mark with a multicolored lightning bolt descending downward from a dark cloud.

"Let the Eternal Storm rain upon Equestria for all time!"