Nightmare stirred from the depths of sleep, slowly becoming aware of a sweet scent that tickled her nostrils. It reminded her of a mixture of berries and nuts, but it was slightly different as well. Smiling, she opened her eyes to find the source of the pleasant smell, and was briefly confused when her vision was filled with purple fur. After a few long moments her brain finally registered she was looking at Twilight. More specifically, she was looking at a very small section of Twilight's neck with her nose just touching it. Thankfully the unicorn was still asleep and hadn't noticed the alicorn curled up next to her with a protective wing laying across her back like a makeshift blanket. Nightmare slowly stood, so as not to disturb her, and turned to make her way back to the camp. Standing not ten feet behind her was General Dawn.

The unicorn General stared at Nightmare with a look that was a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. Nightmare stared blankly back at her, momentairly at a loss for words. She should be asleep like the others, but she had only eaten half of her bowl of food the night prior. Nightmare groaned inwardly, putting on a neutral face to convince her she didn't care that she was just caught doing something that she herself was unsure why she did.

“What do you think you're doing?” Dawn asked, stepping in front of the alicorn as she tried to continue toward the camp.

“I think I am going back to camp to help with packing things. Do you have a problem with that, General?” Nightmare asked, dodging the real question.

“No, I have a problem with the fact that I can not wake any of the others up for more than a few seconds at a time. They act as if they have not slept in weeks. I have a problem with the fact that you drugged us. At first I had thought that you were going to try and kill us all in our sleep, which you could have easily done. But no, instead I wake up, very much still alive, to find you cuddled up next to the Chancellor like some schoolfilly after prom. Again, what are you trying to do?” She asked, making it clear she wasn't about to be ignored.

Nightmare sighed, meeting the General's harsh gaze. “I am not trying to do anything other than help everyone find my sister and stop this madness. As you said yourself you are all very much alive and well so I clearly do not mean any harm. As for that...” She said, glancing back at the sleeping Twilight. “... I was simply shielding her from the elements. Nothing more.” Nightmare growled the last bit in irritation, pushing past the General and continuing to the camp.

Dawn watched the alicorn silently for a while, the cogs in her mind slowly turning. Nightmare was still an unknown variable to her, and the scene that she just witnessed confused her even further. Less than a month ago they were at each other's throats, and neither one would have hesitated to kill the other. What in the name of Tartarus happened when Twilight went into that cell? The whole damn world didn't make sense anymore she thought, moving to help Nightmare pack things into the wagon. Next thing you know there will be talking animals or some other such nonsense.

An hour later the rest of the ponies had woken up and they were once more on the move. However, the mood was significantly different from the other night. The element bearers were chatting with one another as they walked, and Applejack even laughed at a joke that Rainbow had made. Nightmare was pleased with how much difference a good nights rest seemed to do them, but she could not seem to be as at ease as the rest of them. She was troubled with what had happened earlier, and still couldn't figure out why she had gotten that close to Twilight in her sleep. It wasn't like she had feelings for the unicorn or anything, that was ridiculous. She was over a thousand years old. Twilight was a newborn foal compared to her. And yet... she saw herself in the unicorn. She saw the anger and confusion that had dominated the majority of her emotions for as long as she could remember. She saw Luna's guilt, and perhaps even her own, weighing down her heart. And she saw the loneliness that she tried so hard to hide from everyone else. Perhaps that was why she cared enough to put her wing over her like she did. Surely Celestia had done the same to comfort her student in the past? That's all that it was, a simple caring gesture and nothing more. Nothing more she repeated to herself, relaxing a little as her mind wander to other things.

Twilight still sat in the wagon, wincing at each bump in road like the day before. However, her mind was focused on the curious object that she held in front of her in her magic's grasp. It was a dark onyx feather. A feather that she had found lodged in her mane a few moments ago. It didn't take her long for her to suspect how it had gotten there in the first place, but it did raise a few questions. Before she could even begin to try and figure out the answers the wagon stopped, snapping her mind back to the present. After another few moments of stillness she climbed out of the wagon, making her way to General Dawn.

“Why have we st...” She trailed off, her mouth hanging open as she stared in stunned silence at the scene before her. There at the head of the procession stood the old castle, its ruined walls now pristine. The once shattered wood doors to the main hallway were now restored to their former glory and open. A red velvet carpet lead from the entry way to deeper within the castle, softly illuminated by torches on the walls. Twilight blinked, looking from the doors back to the treeline. The journey alone should have taken another day, but it seemed they were here.

“It seems we are expected...” Nightmare spoke, a similar dumbfounded expression on her face as she gazed upon a castle she thought she would only see in her memories and dreams. Reaching out she touched one of the stone walls with her hoof, thinkink it might have been some kind of illusion. It was real.

Twilight stood up straight, her eyes locking on the path before her with determination. It was time to end this nightmare. Whoever was causing all this chaos was in there, and they had the princess. Expected or not she was going to make them pay for all the pain they caused. “General, on me.” Twilight said as Dawn came up beside her. Both unicorns lit up their horns to better illuminate the pathway before them, taking the lead. Nightmare and the others followed behind them.

The carpeted path led through the main entryway and up the flight of stairs in the middle of the room. Despite her injury Twilight limped her way up them without complaint, her determination pushing her through the pain it caused her. At the top was a door that lead to the throne room. With each step Twilight muttered curses under her breath. Lighting up her horn she blasted the doors open with a thunderous bang.

Making their way into the throne room they saw a sickening sight. There upon the dias, where the thrones of Luna and Celestia should be, lay a battered Celestia. Her face was heavily bruised, and her body had long cuts that were stained with dried blood. For a moment Twilight's heart stopped, thinking she might be dead. She broke away from the rest of the group, half running half limping to her beloved mentor. She had only gotten half way across the room before a gut renching laugh assaulted her ears.

“Oh my, what have we here? Little ponies running to the rescue of their princess?” A deep and grating voice asked. Slowly a form began to appear sitting on top of Celestia's broken body. A dragons tail, a horses leg... the invisibility spell slowly peeled back to reveal the sickening mismatched body of Discord. He grinned down at the group, standing to his full height before them.

“I'm afraid that if you were hoping for a more heart felt reunion with the princess then you are going to be disappointed You see, she can't really take visitors right now. “He said, turning and viciously kicking the battered alicorn in the ribs causing an audible crack to be heard throughout the chamber.

“You bastard!” Twilight yelled, shooting a blinding lance of purple energy at Discord's head. With a sigh he lazily put his hand up, stopping the bolt in mid air before him. “Really Twilight, this is how you say hello to someone?” He asked. However, while he was talking the others were all ready on the move. Rainbow and Fluttershy had flew to either side to try and tackle him. Pinkie Pie was somehow dropping from above him with a knife aimed at his skull. General Dawn and Rarity were at Twilight's sides, preparing spells of their own to hurl at him.

Discord sighed, his eye twitching in irritation. “ENOUGH!” He roared, shattering the stain glass windows in the room. Bringing his clawed hand down in a fist some unseen force slammed Pinkie Pie, Raibow, and Fluttershy to the ground before him. With a simple wave at the unicorns the horns of Twilight, Rarity, and General Dawn vanished from their heads as if they were never there in the first place. With a sneer the draquis hurled the bolt of energy back at Twilight. With no horn she was utterly defenseless against the attack. Knowing that Dawn would try and save her Twilight shoved her and Rarity out of the way, accepting her fate. She deserved this, she thought as the bolt screeched through the air towards her. She wasn't going to let somepony try and shield her now.

Before the bolt could hit her a glittering wall of azure energy sprung up before her. The lance hit the wall with a bang pushing it back several feet. The wall dissipated and Nightmare stood before Twilight, facing Discord. However this didn't seem to upset him in the slightest. If anything he seemed curious.

“Well hello Luna! Hmm, this is a surprise...” He said whimsically, stroking his beard in thought. “You see, I kinda cast this spell that took a very long time to make. A lot of effort and planning was put into it actually. Not like you would care or anything. It should have put you and your dear sister here to sleep for a very long time. Celestia is obviously out, but you are obviously not. So tell me my dear...” His eyes narrowed and his voice hardened. “... Why. Are. You. Awake?”

“I am not Luna you retched fiend. My name is Nightmare, and you are going to pay for what you did here!” Nightmare yelled, the shadows in the chamber seeming to be drawn to her horn. With a cry of fury she released a bolt of black lightening, striking Discord in the chest and sending him flying backwards into the wall behind him.

The blast sent up a cloud of dust blocking Nightmare's view, but she did not relax. From within the dust came more terrible laughing, making everyone wince at hearing it. The sound was like someone running their claws through the top of your brain. Slowly Discord emerged from the rubble, his chest scarred and burnt from the lightning blast.

“My, my, my, what strong lightning you have there Nightmare. It almost tore a hole right through my chest!” He exclaimed happily, slapping his talon over the burn as if it didn't hurt him in the slightest. “Well... almost anyway.” He said with a malicious grin. Slowly he began to move towards the group.

“Stay away form them you monster, I wont let you hurt them.” Nightmare stated, grabbing the three closest to him in her magic and yanking them back behind Twilight.

“I know I am, but what are you?” He mocked, sticking his tongue out at her as he advanced. Cocking his head he thought for a moment. “Or was it the other way around...? No matter, sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will break your mind. Oh! Speaking of sticks and minds!” He said excitedly, disappearing. He reappeared in the air behind Nightmare. Before Twilight could even call out to warn Nightmare he viciously brought down a gnarled staff that appeared in his hands on the back of her head. With a thud Nightmare hit the ground unconscious, blood trickling down her head and onto the stone floor. Laughing even louder he turned to the other ponies behind him.

Twilight struggled to stand, trying to put herself between him and her friends. Discord brought his hand down in the air before him, his magic slamming them all down to the ground once more. It held them there as if they each had a boulder on their backs, making them gasp for air.

“Now now my little ponies, I said enough, didn't I? I mean I'm pretty sure I did. Perhaps I didn't. Either way!” With a wave of his talon they all fell unconscious. All except for Twilight. With a flick of his claw he drew Twilight up into the air so she was eye level at his full height.

“What... Do you... Want?” Twilight choked out, still gasping for air. Despite no longer being pushed into the ground she could still feel a weight pressing heavily against her chest.

“Me?” Discord asked innocently, looking around him as if to make sure he was the one she was speaking to. “Well I am so glad you asked! I want to have some fun. You see, you're weak. Much weaker than I am, so a battle of magic wouldn't be any fun at all. Battles of wits are boring, and you really wouldn't like me when I'm bored. Trust me.” He said with a smirk, pressing his face against hers while looking into her lavender eyes. His breath smelled of rotten cheese making Twilight want to recoil, but she could not. “No, instead I want to make a bet. I am a betting man after all, and leaving things to chance is so fun, don't you think?” He said excitedly.

Twilight tried to respond, but couldn't. Discord continued anyway. “Ah too excited to even speak, I knew you would love it! So, here's the deal. I'm going to throw you into your little friends minds. Minds are such lovely things, so complex and riddled with fears and desires. What you need to do to win is to help free them from their minds, as I have trapped them inside. I am not going to tell you how, or rather I can't because not even I know how. That's the beauty of it!” He laughed heartily, wiping a tear from his eye. “If you can free them, then I promise to let you and your friends go. On top of that I will restore the natural balance of things. Sun in the heavens, stars in the night, all the lovely things. I will even turn back into that boring statue for a while to take a nap so you don't have to worry about me. I will sleep for your life time, your child's life time, and your children's grandchildren life times. Call it a vacation. If you fail, I get to continue my little game with Equestria and see how things pan out. It has been soo amusing so far.” He said, licking his lips with a forked tongue. “So, what do you say, Chancellor? Are you up to saving the world? Blink once for yes, twice for death. Oh, did I mention I would kill you if you refuse? Like I said, I hate being bored.”

There wasn't much of a choice. Twilight blinked once and stared at him, accepting his challenge.

“Wonderful! Then let the game BEGIN!” He boomed, laughing and throwing her high into the air. As she fell down to the stone floor she felt her body getting lighter, and her eyes heavier. Instead of feeling the pain of her body hitting the stones she felt as if she was slipping into a dark liquid abyss, sinking deeper and deeper into it's depths.

Author's Note

A little rushed, I know, but I wanted to get to some juicy parts.

Also, 100 points to Griffindor for anyone who can tell me who I imagine Discord sounds like. Here's a hint: He's mad.

As always likes, comments, and watches are much appreciated.

With love,
General D.