My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Pony POV Series
Dark World Part 30 "All My Friends Are Here"
By Alex Warlorn
Edited By Kendell2 and Louis
="I Look Up To The Sky Because You Are There" 'Wild Arms 4'=
Twilight's Nightmare shouted defiantly, "There's no way I'm going lose to slaves of fate like you! I'll defy it make my own destiny!"
*You can't gamble on trying to go for a quick win by using the Elements immediately, your fight with Odyne Tulasi Typhon, Cruelty, has shown that you couldn't rely on your target just staring as you charged up the Elements, and not trying to dodge.*
'We'll find a way!'
*I know you can.*
Applejack shouted, "Nothin' left ta say except it's time fer ya ta take yer medicine!"
"Time to remind you what a friend actually is!" Spike declared.
"One last bad guy to beat, no! One last pony to save!" Apple Pie said.
Rarity spoke, "Since Rainbow Dash isn't here, I'll say it for her. Ahem: 'For Pinkie Pie AND Fluttershy I'm gonna buck you into the next forever!'"
Derpy said, "Not if I beat ya to it!"
"We'll do it together then."
"Alright!"
"You wanted Us to change by force? Then see first what it's like when it's done to you!" Twilight said.
"If yer Half-Light from later, how come ya talk like Half-Light from when we first met?"
Violet lightning spread from Nightmare Paradox's horn, shooting out in every direction before changing course to strike Apple Pie from every direction at once.
But lightning was still lightning, and Derpy was still a pegasus who was a pro at it! The pegasus dove and caught the horde of lightning and redirected it towards the Nightmare in her metal armor.
The Nightmare screamed, her skeleton visible for a few moments as she was struck.
The castle stones tried to squash Apple Pie like a bug as they glowed and came together like a steel trap. A simultaneous front hoof/back hoof stone buck, with a little rock breaking Earth Pony magic, shattered it before it close.
Derpy used the same proven strategy she had against Cruelty, flying around like a insane bumble bee, being in the same place for less than instant to provide a distraction for her teammates.
"The battlefield has no need for clowns!" The Nightmare created a bottle-like barrier around herself and Derpy along with a brief tornado at the top, sucking the air out.
Which meant no air to lift her wings, and gravity took over slamming Derpy into the ground.
Derpy mouthed silently, 'At least I didn't explode,' as everything began to go black.
'That's science fiction garbage. Though you should be happy you breathed out.' Mouthed the immortal Nightmare.
Several golem ponies formed of the stone floor and mobbed the Nightmare, breaking her concentration, the barrier, and returning life-giving air back to the pony.
"My golems don't breath!" Rarity snapped.
Nightmare Paradox created six spear headed chains that fired straight at Rarity and pierced each of her Elements, breaking them with a satisfying crack as she gasped and fell over with a thud. The golems continued their tireless attack.
"Failsafe spell!" The golems fell apart from the wave of dispel-magic, and the image of the real Rarity appeared as the illusion blinked out of existence.
"But I felt-"
"MASTER OF ILLUSION!" AJ appeared above her and slammed her in the face. The Nightmare creating swarms of chains to restrict her movements, then telekinetically tore out her Element of Chaos.
"Now say goodnight, you-you are kidding me! Failsafe spell wide-field!" The AJ she had been fighting vanished and the real AJ appeared back with the party.
"Dangit!" AJ cursed. She wasn't familiar enough with Chaos Magic to replicate its spiritual aura correctly. But she WAS glad to have Rarity able to back her up and make it work better.
"For the sake of the real AJ, I'll annihilate you from existence!"
But it DID give the distraction needed for Spike to punch her in the face, and then tail-sweep her, and firebreath her while she was still in the air. But the Nightmare created a barrier around herself as the flame almost engulfed her.
Twilight in the meantime pulled Derpy away from the fight to give the survival talented pegasus a moment to recover. Spike grabbed the solid force sphere and threw it into the stone floor like a basketball, the Nightmare bounced inside her own barrier forcing her to dispel it.
Then a giant dragon golem formed out of the shed parts of the castle and tackled Spike, this one was glowing magenta.
"Did you forget I can replicate the effect of any spell?" The Nightmare said. "I am The Element of Magic!"
"Can ya replicate Half-Light's 'remember the real you' spell? Maybe ya should try it on yerself!"
"You can't bait me!" She got hit in the face with a mass of fireworks.
"We don't know that spell!" Nightmare Paradox growled, rubbing away the soot.
"No but Trixie's Element of Magic does!"
"And ONCE AGAIN you give away information you didn't need to! Didn't I warn you about that?"
Twilight gasped as she felt her Element of Chaos being pulled out of her by telekinesis alone, she grabbed it within her and tried to keep it in place. "I thought you needed me alive!"
"You'd last long enough for me to cure you of your foolishness."
Derpy's lighting struck the Nightmare from above, Rarity's fireballs hit in her face, and Spike threw her own golem at her. After blowing the golem off her, she found herself in a soft peaceful flower field. Pinkie Pie asked. "How does a pony act when they read up on rules of a story, then see the world works like the rules of a story, they don't want to react according to rules of a story, but reacting differently is in the rules of a story, and-"
"FAILSAFE SPELL!" The Nightmare shouted before she got a headache, her golem fell apart, and the illusions vanished, Pinkie Pie was gone replaced by Apple Pie, not for long as she was hit with a high speed fireball. The filly screamed from the heat and flames that scorched her body.
"APPLE PIE!"
The Nightmare quickly created several spinning blades that spun around madly around her and she began repairing her body.
Rarity and Applejack rushed to keep the filly born and raised in the fields of hell itself from dying and heal her.
'We can do this. We just need to keep up the pressure. With half of us running interference or back up, and the rest of hitting her hard, we can win this!'
*Careful! Discord's servants aren't the only ones who can hide aces! She's Twilight! Don't forget that!*
"Don't worry Ah'm still breathin-ACK!" Rarity didn't have a millisecond to spare as she brought a protect-telekinesis aura around Apple Pie's neck and chest as the Nightmare tried to simply mentally crush her into a black hole.
'No way! Her telekinesis is as strong as mine!?' The Nightmare thought.
*Not that I'm about to tell you why. You're the smart one, you figure it out.*
'IT'S BECAUSE OF THE ELEMENTS OF CHAOS!!!'
*Uh-Oh.*
Twilight casted a freeze, fire, and lightning spell at the same time, the Nightmare was forced up bring up a barrier. Twilight was SO GRATEFUL Rancor had gone AWOL, and their 'fight' against Discord had been such an effortless affair... otherwise, after so many battles in a day and using the Elements so many times in a row she'd never have enough mana left for THIS fight!
'I just hope there isn't some OTHER super-nasty waiting in the wings!'
*Don't worry, Twilight! This is it! You just have to seize a better future by stopping her! If you hold back in this fight your friends all die! GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!!!*
"I'm going to keep a telekinetic barrier around all of us so she can't simply snap out necks. My combined magic should be enough to interfere with hers so she can't change us into end-tables," Rarity whispered.
"I'll serve as backup to that," Twilight said.
"Rarity darlin, can yer magic TAKE THAT?"
"I was able to animate an entire army of golems with ONE Element of Chaos, now I'm a full set! I told you I'd be our best weapon."
"No you're a friend!" Twilight snapped.
*There's GOOD news, Twilight! She's NOT trying to kill you, otherwise you couldn't become a Nightmare! So she can't use sweeping aura attacks like Fluttercruel did!*
'Thanks for letting me know!'
AJ figured it out too, because then she made all the mares look like Twilight, then did an illusion version of Rarity's flash bomb. It was all just senses after all.
Rarity's chaos magic gumming up the works may have prevented her from effecting the ponies DIRECTLY with telekinesis and transmutation magic, but rocks were teleported above every pony except the real Twilight Sparkle and crushed them.
"Nice Applejack! But you forgot that I'm Twilight Sparkle too! I know myself!"
"That's there arguable!" Derpy and Apple Pie appeared from AJ's invisibility spell and Derpy added speed to the little Earth Pony missile smacking her in the chest, making her gasp.
"You-you KNEW you couldn't create a good illusion of Twilight's aura! It was bait!"
"Ya couldn't tell the costumes were empty," AJ said smiling.
Twilight's telekinesis pressed the Nightmare's wings to her body and pushed her legs together, Apple Pie DARED get in a few more hits before Derpy quickly retreated with her, smacking a lightning cloud in the Nightmare's face to cover their retreat.
The Nightmare responded by casting her Fail-Safe Spell again, constantly, in a hide tight aura around herself, breaking Twilight's telekinesis.
"Did you think all I have is brute strength?!" She disconnected just one of her feathers from her wings. More mirrors than Rarity had owned in her life appeared randomly around the ponies. She mentally fired the feather quill first into one of the mirrors passing in like water. Instead of coming out of one mirror, it came out of all of them.
Apple Pie was a smaller target and Derpy drunken flying saved her. Rarity and Twilight poured out MORE of their telekinesis then they were already using constantly (something Twilight wasn't used to doing like Rarity) and were able to deflect most of the feathers.
Almost.
"MY EYES!" Spike screamed.
"I'm sorry, Spike, I thought you had outgrown the need for me to spank you."
Another hit AJ in the back of the neck, at just-the-right-spot in her brain to cancel out her illusion magic. Stuck where it was, her Element of Chaos couldn't heal it. She fell over her eyes wide and paralyzed.
"I'd say you were dead, but you're already trying to kill us," Rarity hissed.
Rarity channelled her rage and slammed both her front hooves into the ground, manipulating the force so it travelled in a line to the Nightmare breaking into a hole beneath, forcing to become air-born. "Moron. You just made the battlefield more a disadvantage for two-thirds of you than for me!"
A barrier popped around Twilight that she banged against just as boulders with frosty outside and molten cores teleported around the heroes and exploded a moment later.
"Once I'm done with you. Rota Fortuna is next on my list," The Nightmare said simply as she flapped her wings.
*Was it really so bright of you to say that out loud?*
'I'm not scared of Rota. I'm not scared of fate, destiny, or free will! I'll rip her from her life-support! Evils like her are an impediment to ponies seeking to rise up and make more of themselves.'
*Just how many lives are you willing to sacrifice?*
"There are no lives! None of you are real, you are all but illusions I created to torture Discord!"
*So you think because you're 'doing the right thing' you can't be error?*
'Oh I know good intentions can back fire. I've seen that awful world with the 'Harmony Queens' who have taken free will from everyone in the name of 'harmony'. I think I'll save their Equestria from them eventually.'
What were those ponies and dragon all doing in cracked half-complete solid diamond shells?
Rarity blinked as her eyes finished healing and Spike's eyes were as good as new. Her skin had thankfully all healed before the smoke had cleared for Apple Pie's, or maybe Derpy's sake.
"Element of Greed, there is nothing I can't steal, Element of Honesty, there is no deception I can't pierce, Element of Cruelty, every drop of my blood and bone is a weapon, Element of Anger, my strength has no equal, Element of Deceit, your senses are mine to befuddle, Element of Free Will, none may effect my mind and causality is mine to alter, Element of Magic, all spells are mine to learn and brings it all together. Now why would I tell you all this? Because you're just one last friend lost in the darkness. As much as you despise us, you've assisted us in so many battles, saved our lives! Now it's time to save you!"
"Paradise has no need for ponies such as you who reek of chaos!" Whirlwinds of fire, lightning, ice, sand, right now on the head of the arrogant mare. She crumbled like paper.
But the Nightmare knew this game. And she already knew what was coming before the heroes ON ALL SIDES attacked, fire-breath, diamond weapons, raw mana, rocks, illusionary replicas that carried illusionary pain (which was just another sense), and lightning.
Instead of creating another solid barrier, she summoned countless spell books, their hardbound covers designed to survive a Crystal-Bomb war, moving them with her telekinesis, and invoking the spells within even as they flew about. "Knowledge is my barrier!"
The books intercepted attacks even as they returned fire. "You see? You don't choose between attacking and defending, when it's possible to do both! And disable you enemy's close range and long range offense at the same time!" The books formed a uniform wall when Spike tried to brute force his way through.
"The truth can pierce any barricade!"
Six pastel lights lit up within Rarity, a beam of rainbow light as wide as her horn shot out, impaling the spell book that intercepted it and impaling the Nightmare too, she fell, gasping.
"Rarity! How dare you...one of...my books!"
The books coordination became sloppy, and Spike was able to dive through, double hammer blowed the Nightmare, and hit her with his fire-breath as she was still falling, a set of uneven diamond stalagmites jutted up from below to pierce her body.
Spike couldn't bear to look at the sight and turned his head, as did everypony else as the spikes made contact. The books vanished. The heroes were silent.
"...Over?" Derpy asked.
The Nightmare's voice whispered upwards. "I who carry the curse of godhood to punish the wicked, I won't give up that easy!"
The white armor she had been wearing had taken much of the impact and the diamond spikes that she now returned to sender to a caught off guard Rarity knocking her over.
"I will grant absolute freedom to all real ponies!" The nightmare declared, her voice echoing, rising up out of the hole in the castle. "Burn in the flames of purgatory!"
Fire constructs of every shape and size exploded from the nightmare, fire Applejacks trying to grapple them, fire hydra heads at the speed of cobras trying to swallow them. At the same time flaming white hail rained down from the sky. Pillars of flame exploded randomly around and underneath the ponies. "My heart burns with righteous fury! Be forgotten by fate herself!"
It was bedlam as the best the ponies could do was keep themselves from being burned alive, though they were going to be cooked alive within the span of a couple minutes away, forcing them to retreat until a wall of fire appeared between them and the edge of the castle. Mosquito flame constructs pelted Rarity and Twilight to mess up their concentration to prevent teleportation. Applejack also found her concretion being shattered before she could form illusions. And the intense heat made it impossible for Derpy to use weather magic. Apple Pie was encircled by grinning flames with her own facing mindless blabbing as they closed in like a noose.
"I CAN SEE THE FUTURE! CHRYSALIS' TRUE FORM IS... CELESTIA HAD BRACES... LUNA WENT ON A DATE WITH DISCORD! APPLE PIE IS AN UNINSPIRED 2-D POLLYANNA CLICHÉ!"
"...Ah'm not, am Ah?" Apple Pie whispered.
(There there, I've read more books than you, and I know this is the part where the perky kid dies to show how unforgiving and unfeeling reality is. It's just your role.)
"Fire no hurt dragons!" Spike plowed through the whole mess like mist and rammed a claw into the Nightmare.
"I ask you! What is there in this reality that is even worth salvaging?" The Nightmare exploded into a sphere of ice that left Spike trapped inside and he fell.
Derpy spun like a whirlwind, sucking up all the flames as she flew upwards, creating a flaming tornado that she directed right at the Nightmare who just sucked up the flames. Derpy landed, what was left of her wings a scorched mess.
"APPLEJACK!" Rarity shouted not having wings to steal injuries with.
Twilight simply teleported Spike right out of the ice, the dragon was shivering, then Twilight threw the ice ball right at the Nightmare with her telekinesis. The Nightmare breathed out the fire and the ball of ice exploded spectacularly.
"We all fought back from the dark and the muck Discord put us in!" Rarity shouted, "What do we have to fear from a pale imitation like you?!"
"You think your paltry burdens measure to my own?! I am damned to walk the endless wheel!"
"I know exactly what that's like." Derpy says boldly. "I can take you on."
"You tell her, Derpy!"
"You who defend this worthless twisted black world of chaos, I shall crush you in the name of sanity and order!"
Floating crystals appeared in a grid pattern around the castle, then purple laser shot out and connected to each forming a grid of death that instantly dropped down on the ponies and dragon.
"FAILSAFE!" Twilight shouted and her horn flashed before the grid of laser could come down.
"Learn how futile your fight is against a true hero!" The Nightmare merely recreated the grid of death, Twilight dispelled it, and again, and again, again.
Rarity teleported above the Nightmare and jammed a crystal lance in the spot between her armor and then two diamond daggers into her wings before teleporting away. The Nightmare fell, this time avoiding the hole and rolling into Discord's throne, knocking it over.
"You aren't going to win this," Twilight said, "No matter how much raw magic you have. You have only yourself. How can you have forgotten all we learned in Ponyville?"
The Nightmare mentally pulled out Rarity's weapons. And laughed! Then calmed herself down. The echoing of her voice became more intense, like she was a chorus. "I think that's enough. You think I'm alone?"
"Of course! Look around you!" Twilight said, "But it doesn't have to be that way."
"You think..." Nightmare Paradox smiled. "...I am..." the smile widened. "...Alone." Her voice darkly echoed.
*Oh no! She's really going to do it! But-*
"Twilight!" Spike came from above with a teleport from Rarity, claws fangs and talons all drawn.
"Nightdrake Banneret," called Nightmare Paradox calmy, not even looking up.
A spectral dragon whose shape reminded Twilight somewhat of Tiamat emerged from the Nightmare's back. It was colored green and dark purple, it was covered in gold armor with sapphires. It breathed a flood of flames at Spike, burning scales that were supposed to be fireproof and violently knocked him off course as it slithered back inside of Paradox.
"No," Twilight whispered her heart sinking.
The stunned, badly wounded dragon looked into the eyes of the beast he'd always feared become as it vanished into Paradox.
Rarity powered up and fired the most piercing destructive spell she could right at the Nightmare's brain.
"Nightmare Mirror."
The specter of an orange Nightmare with silver reflective wings and armor covered in emeralds eyes emerged from the Nightmare right side. She spread her wings and the attack went into the reflective surface, then went OUT of the other reflective wing and hit Rarity right between the eyes, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell over.
Applejack gasped, staring in shock. "But...but we cured yah! Yah can't be here!"
"That was another Nightmare Mirror," the orange Nightmare said as she submerged back inside.
"HEY! If ya've had other ponies like ya inside ya this whole time... why haven't ya ever let 'em speak? Don't ya think it rude to force 'em to keep quiet?! I mean, Miss Rarity let the ghosts inside her...
"Nightmare Whisper."
The specter of a yellow nightmare with a flowery pink mane in platinum armor and butterfly wings emerge from Nightmare Paradox's front, and flew right at Apple Pie. She SANG, "Hush now, quite now, it's time to go to bed."
Apple Pie's eyes widened as mist began to surround her, "Poison Apple? Is that you?" She yawned and turned up and went comfortably to sleep. The yellow Nightmare kissed the filly on the head, smiling and returned to within Nightmare Paradox.
"AT THE SAME TIME!" Derpy shouted as they dove to retrieve Apple Pie.
*No! Stop!*
"Nightmare Granfalloon." The shade of a pink nightmare laughing up a storm with crayon-drawing wings came from Nightmare Paradox's astern, she released SWARMS of laughing balloons that came towards Derpy like closet moths at a wedding dress. They enveloped her, popped, and Derpy, now wearing a clown costume and make up, fell to her back, and began laughing at anything and everything, clutching her sides. The pink Nightmare, still laughing, retreated into Nightmare Paradox's body.
Twilight shuddered. "No...not...not them too... Fluttershy... Pinkie Pie..."
"Nightmare Manacle." At the speed of Sonic Rainboom, a blue Nightmare, mane and tail were inverted colors of the rainbow, a set of chains across her chest. The chains disconnected, and ignored AJ and struck thin air, capturing the REAL AJ.
The rainbow Nightmare said, "We'll save you Twilight from these cheap knock-offs!"
"DAMMIT!" AJ cursed as her body stood at attention, "NOT THIS AGAIN!" Her body charged at her companion, "TWILIGHT LOOK OUT!!"
Twilight tried to simply telekinetically grab her but the chains glowed red and her aura 'shattered' as AJ's body came at her to try and pummel her, Twilight retreated.
"Thankfully, as time marches forward, we always find friends who ARE willing to do the right thing when push came to shoves."
Nightmare Paradox said watching the exchange, she conjured weighted collars around Spike and Rarity's necks (the spikes turned inward in Rarity's case), and another around her horn. The Nightmare assumed an intellectual pose and put a hoof over her heart.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
I've learned when you can't depend on yourself, you can still depend on your real friends.
-Your Faithful Student, Nightmare Eclipse."
"See the difference between you and me?" Nightmare Paradox asked Twilight. "I don't play with paper dolls. I have REAL friends."
"YOU CALL THAT FRIENDSHIP?!" Twilight screamed.
Applejack screamed in horror as her body ignored her commands. This was more powerful than Rainbow Dash's Chains of Treachery. And it was hard for AJ to focus. "Puppets. How could ya do this to 'em!"
Nightmare Mirror's shade appeared and shouted, "We ain't slaves! We've chosen this!"
"My fellow Nightmares, my sisters and brother... we who would bend creation to our own truth, do not bow to the heresy of compromise. Lend me your strength."
Six black glowing symbols began to appear on the Nightmare's body. "Learn the terrible power of the Nightmares!" Her black aura grew. She looked at the helpless ponies and dragon. "You'll need no last rites, for none shall mourn you!"
Her next words were magically heard in every ear, everywhere, across the planet. "Ponies of this grim dark world, I shall save you from the sin of existing. The rest of this reality will be on the way to join you soon enough!"
AJ mentally worked like mad to sabotage her nerve impulses to fight slower, sloppier, but this time she had an active mind working against her driving her body against her will.
"If you could do this from the start, why didn't you do it before, Paradox?!" Twilight shouted. "This is way past the point of element of surprise!"
"My friends didn't want me to humiliate myself."
*You know that's a bald-faced lie, Twilight! Think! She's already seen you all fight at your full. What -realistic- reasons could she have for not calling on her allies before?*
'She's too arrogant to think she needed them. She didn't want to admit she needed help. That sounds about right for me. But... Why did she have a Nightmare of Spike with her, and not Rarity? Where's Rarity's Nightmare? And why does she keep pulling them back in?'
"Now.
The Endless Laughter.
Kindest of Lies.
Cruelest of Truths.
All-Consuming Loyalty.
The Beautiful Fury Of the Generous Green Flames...All together now."
The aura grew larger and larger, stars and heavenly bodies visible within the purple blackness.
'!!! She exposes herself. Like a dragon who opens their mouth to breath in before they breath fire. Experienced dragons NEVER try to breath in when at close range, or exhale, they KNOW it leaves them open. She didn't do this until we made it clear I could stalemate her and the others could tip the scales. Those Nightmares are all linked to her spirit...her...if she's really a version of me...the Element of Magic inside her...'
*YOU'VE GOT THAT PART!*
'There's more?!'
*Yes! But don't worry! The rest will come to you right when it's needed! I promise!*
AJ then punched herself in the face. "Dangit Twili' fight back Ah'm immortal remember?! Blow mah body to ashes and get these chains off me!"
Twilight has Pinkie Pie flash backs, "BUT WHAT IF THE DAMAGE TO YOUR ELEMENT-"
"DO IT, DAMMIT!!!"
Twilight complied. The chains fell with nothing to grab onto, Twilight caught AJ's Element before it hit the floor. She fed magic into it, AJ's body regenerated faster.
Nightmare Paradox said, "Nice but you've both changed nothing, and now-"
"-you're going to see the truth-"
"-that it would be much kinder-"
"-to accept how silly-"
"-and ungenerous-"
"-what you're doing is! This is a chain of events that can never be broken!" Nightmare Manacle finished.
You know, that's what I love about this series. Just when you've dragged me through every insane, nightmarish, epic thing turned up to 11 and I think "this has to end soon, there;s no way this can be topped", you pull something like this and make the "Holy Crap" meter blow a gasket.
We ... Nightmare Paradox has friends, friends ready to finish off everyone. I would be lying if I said that I didn't think she had any friends but still, I didn't think they would make an appearance like this. Yet, why is the Nightmare of Generosity originally Spike and not Rarity?
2414881 Because in order for them to become Nightmares, they had to get rid of everything except for a single aspect of themselves.
But as the Element of Greed, Rarity would never give anything up.
Therefore, Nightmare Paradox had to settle for the next best thing she could find.
At least, that's the way I see it.
Shows what you know! The Elements of Harmony will find a way to break that chain, and there is NOTHING you can do about it!
2414871
Willing to PM me who you think the Voice is?
In other words, you plan to do to them what they have done to their world and force your will on them, regardless of whether or not they want you to do that.
Another thing!
Now who's giving away too much?
2414690
Thank you.
2415079
You say that like it would be a bad thing at this point.
This was unexpected and should result in an awesome final battle. I can't wait!
2415415
Nightmare Granfalloon, "Oh it will be awesome!"
2413481 I will now.
...like a good addict.
2415341 I'm saying that by doing that, Nightmare Paradox would be proving that she's just like them.
2414871 Please send me a PM with your guess...that is, if it's not too much trouble...
2415458 And it will end with you Nightmares being defeated! How do I know this? Because the real Pinkie Pie said so after she came through the fourth wall to tell us that piece of information!
Her exact words were, "Hey everypony! I want ya know! This story WILL have a happy ending! And not a 'me me' happy ending that those Meanie Pants Nightmares want. So please stay tune! We'd want to show ya now, but it won't be as happy until the two last parts of 7 Dreams and Nightmare is done for Bright Eyes and Clover! It'll be a doozy what you see there!"
2414996 That's one of the most creative reasons I've seen for why we see no 'Nightmarity' here. And it seems so obvious once it's actually been said!
Nightmare Paradox, you seem to be following the trope "Screw the Rules, I Make Them!" You know who that makes you like? Discord! And before you bring up the topic of how cops are allowed to speed in order to catch speeding criminals, cops are officially sanctioned law enforcement officers who have been allowed to be cops because they have shown that they will not abuse their privileges. You, however, have not been sanctioned to do what you have been doing by anyone! Basically, you're nothing but a supervillain, a vigilante who has decided to take the law into her own hooves without being given permission to do so! And no, it does not count if you're the one who sanctions yourself or if you give yourself permission!!
shinmh.com/blog/octubre2012/phonixwrightDS/phoenix-wright-take-that-a.png
2423103
Pinkie Pie, "Okay, now you really need to stop. You're turning INTO Nightmare Paradox-" "-Eclipse!-" "-the way you're going! Why don't you go enjoy this place instead for the time being? http://www.fimfiction.net/group/1361/pony-pov-series-recursive-fanworks-collection And then there's the story of the My Little Pony Tales girls and their test and trials, and you haven't commented once you've been so busy wailing on the bad guys!"
Morning Star, "Havoc, Pony Hell Itself, Father Of Nature's Furies, The Concept Of Fear, Mass Hysteria, Paranoia, And All Derivatives There Of, has released me from my prison so I may deliver this one message of fear. You are all IGNORANT. You think because Nightmare Eclipse has fallen so far she can no longer see where she once was that she is a fool. You think because she has lost herself to her hate that she can not plan rationally or logically. You think because she was become a fundamental wrongness in creation like my little sister Luna before her, that she has no hope of winning.
"You have overlooked one basic and terrible truth. She is still the Element of Magic. Do you even understand what that means? The Element of Magic is the Heart of the elements of Harmony, it is both the glue that holds the other five together and that which rests upon the other five.
"She has overcome the most fundamental weakness of the Nightmare. Their stand alone complex. And she has negated their greatest limitation, their sheer inability to work together. Her friends were always opposing personalities and uniquely motivated. Six Nightmare working together, should be impossible, it's like magic.
"They support her, and will follow her straight into Havoc itself, and she will carry the weight of their goals and desires on her back until it breaks her, and then she'll just keep carrying them anyway. She has surpassed the other Nightmares who came before her in wrongness. And these words come from Havoc Himself, throw as many ex machinas at her as you wish to get the results you want, breaks the rules of reality, feel self righteous fury, look down on her as less than a entity . . . and realize all too late you have embraced her way of thinking. Oh, and now that I've finished I'm returned to my prison. So you have no means of unleashing your 'you're completely wrong' speech. Sorry. Because, you are NOT the Shadow-Who-Makes here, and you never will be. You can try to exert that power, but all you've done? It's less than illusions."
2424555
That's meta knowledge. Now I wish I never wrote the damn thing if it was going to murder the tension like this. It was intended not to drive away readers with the first few chapters. And you might be in this kind of story. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheExtremistWasRight?from=Main.AndItWorked
I may be relatively alone in believing that comments such that incite the 'need' to remind us that Twilight is the Element of Magic and that it's not just an empty title are unnecessary, but I can't help feeling that events of late haven't been fully acknowledged. Perhaps everyone wants to hold their real fears and just keep slinging the same barbs of "You're a Nightmare and Nightmares are evil, lost in their hubris, and (most importantly) destined for failure because you don't share any useful characteristics from your 'base'." Alex has said that he hates the idea of Luna and Nightmare Moon being separate entities, every Nightmare we've seen thus far has been built from the choices of the individuals they were/are, how many times will the same chain of "You're not <insert character here>. Why not?" be the jist of the comments? Again, I doubt with so many people who have written quality stories associated with this universe that this cannot be partially intentional. I just feel you're beating a tired horse.
2425088
Thank you. *hugs* And I am VERY SORRY for all the delays. I am waiting on some other authors who are in the middle of finals right now.
I'm not worried about the delays; I know great writing takes time and consideration and that other things can have primacy to writing. If anything I would hope this gives YOU time to relax some and ruminate on the story in a less stressful atmosphere. I have complete trust that the product of these delays will be worth all the wait.
Paradox, you are aware of the Shadows, do you? This story, like every other, is crafted by a Shadow-Who-Makes, and it had been made clear by the Shadow, Pinkie Pie and our Benevolent Interloper that this story will have a happy ending - as in, in Twilight THE UNICORN (Not you, Paradox) and her friends' favor.
There seemed to be certain irony in that Nightmare Paradox wanted to create a world free from Fate, but never realizing the truth that, ultimately, the game is rigged from the start.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/CheckmateProper.jpg/350px-CheckmateProper.jpg
2447112
How do you know it won't be a esoteric happy ending?
2448707
Oh God that's what you're planning, right?
2448707 You know, if the Benevolent Voice is who I think she is, just her showing up would make Nightmare Banneret lose the will to keep fighting. And without him, the other Nightmares will fall like dominoes.
2457505
You do remember Paradox said Rancor was the only new introduction to the timeline? She also said introductions couldn't make unexpected changes after a reset. I suspect the Benevolent Voice alone is already accounted for.
2465626 Read the PM I just sent you. That should clear things up.
2472699
You should have been on Pinkie Pie's variety show where we parodied the nightmares left and right.
2473388 You might want to get Nightmare Whisper, because LZ0291 has decided to quit again, and she seems to be the only one who can convince him to change his mind...
Those silly, stupid Nightmares are overlooking one simple fact.
Justice is useless if it is not tempered by love, courage, and hope.
Because they have abandoned those three traits, and their friendship is friendship In Name Only, they are guaranteed to lose! That is a simple, honest fact!
Ironically enough, Nightmare Paradox, for all that she is the Nightmares of Harmony's greatest strength because she binds them together, is their Achilles heel for that same reason.
If she is taken out, the rest of the Nightmares will turn on each other in an instant.
2424746 You know, I just realized that the simple fact that Paradox was able to bring the other Nightmares together makes her their Achilles heel.
If she can just be defeated, the rest of the Nightmares will turn on each other in an instant. After all, without Paradox, Mirror and Whisper would be at one another's throats, and Manacle would be wondering why she was working for a mare who wanted to break the chain of destiny.
This would give the Element Bearers plenty of time to charge up the Elements of Harmony and finish the job!
Or, Minty Pie could just grab onto Paradox, causing her and the other Nightmares to be completely helpless while the Elements are charged up!
Okay, allow me to point something out to you Nightmares.
Ponies Are Flawed. But those flaws also mean that Ponies Are Special. Together, they are capable of great things. And freedom is the right of all sentient beings, as a wise stallion once said.
To give you an example of how special some ponies can be, allow me to tell you about Patch. After the end of the G3 ere, she traveled through Equestria on a search for the fragments of the Rainbow of Light, going up against some threats that would even give you trouble, and she succeeded, even though she had to force herself to live beyond her natural lifespan in order to find them and bring them all to Dream Valley. And before that, Pinkie Pie and Minty were able to defeat Luna Nyx Selena, the goddess of the night, using nothing but a song, right after Luna had said that musical numbers were worthless! That by itself says that there is something special about them!
Besides, I feel obliged to point out that all of you are defying your own Elements.
Whisper, even if you try to make everypony live a lie, the truth that is reality will eventually break through. If anything, trying to keep them trapped in a lie makes it crueler when the harsh truth catches up with them. And I have a question. What did you do to your Fluttercruel? Because it wouldn't have been kind to kill her unless it was a Mercy Kill, but since only you could have put her in a situation where that would be necessary, that would be even more cruel then simply getting rid of her, and keeping her trapped in your head without ever being able to actually do anything = And I Must Scream to the point were it would drive her insane.
Mirror, did you ever stop to consider that without lies, secrets become that much harder to protect? And some secrets are extremely important for national security! Besides, saying that lies always are bad is a lie in and of itself, since they sometimes do more good then the truth would in the same situation. For buck's sake, you're the Cruelest of Truths, and yet you're working side by side with Nightmare Whisper, the Kindest of Lies!
Banneret, you're not being very generous, for the Nightmare of Generosity! I mean, you're calling everything that isn't the current time loop's Twilight Sparkle or the other Nightmares a fake without even checking to make sure that that's actually the case! That sounds selfish to me!
Manacle, don't you miss the freedom you enjoyed when you were Rainbow Dash? And did it ever occur to you that forcing others to be loyal isn't really loyalty?
Who's laughing now, Granfalloon? I laugh at you for the same reason the future Batmane laughed at the Joker: because of how pathetic your jokes are! I mean, joy buzzers? Lame! Where's the A material? Make a face, crack a fart joke, do something that's actually funny for once, because what you're using right now? We've seen it a million times, and it's boring by this point!
And Paradox, you have without a doubt fallen the furthest. If Princess Celestia or Princess Luna found out what you have done, do you really think they'd approve? Do you think this is what Cadance wanted you to do? And most importantly, didn't you know that Rota Fortuna is the Concept of not only Destiny, but Free Will as well? Therefore, if you managed to kill her, which in itself is extremely unlikely, you would be destroying not just the destiny that you wish to break the chain of, but also the free will that you owe so much to! Another thing that makes you pathetic, by the way, is the way you don't want the Chaos Verse to be canon. Even if that's not what you want, the Shadow-Who-Makes has decreed it to be part of the Expanded Universe. Shadow-Who-Makes > Nightmares. Case closed. Face it, Paradox is the best name for you, because that's exactly what you are: a paradox. You're a living violation of cause and effect, something that by all rights shouldn't even be able to exist!
Face it, the six of you are nothing but pale caricatures of who you once were, both from 1,000 years ago AND from before you let yourselves fall to The Dark Side! Now be good and let yourselves be purified by the Elements of Harmony already!
One more thing! If you Nightmares, or even the author, want to reply to this, be sure to go to this chapter, THEN replying, instead of posting a comment in the chapter that LZ0291 wrote! He hates that sort of thing with a passion!
Nightmares, I feel obligated to point out the flaws in your beliefs.
First off, Whisper, while it might seem kind to trap others in their ideal dream world, it is only a matter of time before reality catches up with them, and when it does, the transition would be very cruel to them.
Granfalloon, you seek to have others party twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, all year around. But you forget that for mortals, it is physically impossible to party that long, and the effort would kill them, making them unable to keep smiling. In a way, you are one of the deadliest Nightmares, simply because of how you operate.
Mirror, did you ever stop to consider that without lies, secrets become that much harder to protect? And some secrets are extremely important for national security! For example, imagine two countries, both hostile towards each other, both armed with weapons of mass destruction, and the only thing keeping them from using those weapons is the knowledge that if one side fired, the other side would fire in response, and the result would wipe out all life on the planet! But there are some trigger-happy individuals on both sides who either are blissfully ignorant of the consequences, or simply don't care. The only reason the planet has not been reduced to a wasteland is because those who run the countries keep the codes for firing those weapons a secret. In your ideal world, that secret would practically be guaranteed to be revealed to those who would abuse that knowledge, thereby dooming all life on the planet!
Banneret, you might think you're being generous by following Eclipse, but the truth is, you're being extremely selfish by denying all life the right to exist! Every time you cast the time travel spell, everything that is alive is erased from existence, without even giving it a chance to prove whether or not it's actually real! Did you never stop to consider that maybe, just maybe, your mistress could be wrong about that sort of thing? That she could have actually made a mistake? If you ever thought that, but didn't even attempt to mention it to her, that further compounds your selfishness, because you had the chance to stop this, and you refused to take it!
Manacle, your ideal world would have you force other ponies to be loyal to what you believe in, but that is not true loyalty. You force them to betray what they are loyal to, and the first chance they got, they would betray you in return!
And Eclipse...no, Paradox! You are the worst, because you have quite clearly forgotten everything Twilight Sparkle ever learned about friendship! Your own words and actions prove this!
That quite clearly demonstrates my point. You truly deserve the name Paradox, because you don't even follow the rules you would have others follow! If an apology is not actually sincere, it will be all too easy for others to tell that it's a lie, and true friends would not accept such an insincere apology! What's more, the actions you describe would make you lose your friendship with even your closest friends! The only thing that prevents the other Nightmares from turning against you and each other is your Element of Magic, and that further demonstrates why you deserve the name Paradox, because if friendship is truly magic, then the pale imitation that you possess would not be enough for it to keep the six of you together!
2423885 Ah, Morning Star, I know you have no means of listening to this speech and probably are glad you won't. However, if you think this is a "you're wrong" speech, then it is you who are mistaken. I agree with what you said. Nightmare Eclipse, or Paradox, is probably the strongest enemy they have faced and I do not believe she is a fool. She is a monster and a powerful one at that, it is as simple as that. It is also quite true that as Shadows-who-watch, we have no actual power over the story.
However, I'm wondering. Your explanation was perfect, how fitting you must think. It is quite scary to imagine the heroes facing a thing like Nightmare Eclipse. But it does not matter. The Shadow-who-made this world, who made you, has proven himself worthy of our attention. Even if the darkest outcome were to pass, I would still raise my hat to him and thank him for a great time, reading this story.
It does not matter that we are unable to change the heroes' fate. We will call for Nightmare Eclipse's defeat, because he made us care about them. You said
Well, I see others who will go to equal lengths and I know those I will root for. Even in the face of overwhelming odds, my heart still goes to the heroes.
Eh, this probably didn't reach you. Meh. Who cares? This message of hope and appreciation was delivered nonetheless.
2423885
Morning Star, it's funny you should mention that, because the same thing also applies to the Elements of Harmony who are standing against the Nightmares.
But there is one major difference. The Nightmares are only able to work together because of Eclipse's Element of Magic. Trust me, I have seen one timeline where they did not have that bond, and Nightmare Mirror gave Nightmare Whisper a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that led to the Cruelest of Truths defeating the Kindest of Lies.
The Elements of Harmony, however, would follow Twilight the Unicorn into Havoc itself, and she would carry the weight of their goals and desires on her back until it breaks her, and then she'd just keep carrying them anyway, even if she didn't have the Element of Magic. Do you know why that is?
It's because they're True Companions, who are willing to follow each other through thick and thin. Sure, they might disagree at times, but you know what? That's proof that they're still equine. They're not perfect, and they know they're not perfect, but even if they clash from time to time, in the end, they'll still support each other.
Besides, I think I have some idea of the type of world the Nightmares are trying to create. Here's a glimpse of it.
Something tells me that a world like the one that song talks about would not be worth living in.
2423885 Fairest and Fallen, greetings and defiance.
First, allow me to point out that the only reason Paradox has managed to overcome the weakness of the Nightmares is because of her Element of Magic binding the other Nightmares to her. Without it, they would turn against each other.
Second, the world that they wish to create is one that the Alicorns and Draconequi were forced to destroy to prevent a Class 3 Apocalypse. And the Nightmares want to recreate that doomed world? It doesn't make any sense!
...shut up, Discord. This is all your fault in the first place. None of this would have happened if you had killed the Elements of Harmony instead of making them your immortal slaves.
I'll defy it make my own destiny!
Looks like a reference -- TTGL or some other giant robot show? -- but with either 'to' or 'and' missing from the middle.
.........Great, not only do our have to fight one nightmare, BUT SIX?!!!!!!!! Oy. How could this get any worse?
Some highlights worth mentioning.
1) Jeez. Apple Pie kept getting targeted and she had to constantly survive. It must be stressful for her, but at least she is hanging on.
2) Rarity, my favorite character in this season, is proving to be very decisive in this fight, especially with the chaos elements in her. It was a great foresight on her part to be prepared.
3) Twilight really needs to shut up and not give away information to the enemy. That is one of the things about her that annoys the fck out of me, BECAUSE IT GETS PONIES KILLED IF SHE'S NOT CAREFUL!
4) The Nightmare's firestorm was VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY INTENSE! It must have been VERY stressful to have to constantly dodge all that burning bedlam. Jeez.
5) I never figured out why Eclipse has a bone to pick Rota Fortuna.
6) And the ending..............yeah, first time I read, I always jaw dropping and screaming "WHAT!!!! ARE YOU FCKING KIDDING ME?! THAT'S CHEATING!!!!!!!!!
Hope you like my impression.
Ugh...how many more chapters left in this thing? 45? Kill me.
"Additional dialogue to assure the readers that none of us decided to take a bathroom break in the last second since the end of the previous chapter!"
To be fair, that one was kind of a given.
I'm kind of surprised she hasn't already to be honest. Seems like the smart thing to do. Snap, rip out elements, win.
I'll hold off until the alicorns pull a tower of babel before I agree or disagree.
Literally the only thing stopping you is you dude.