private Diffuse Reflection (1x1 between Nightmare Season and Raven Rawne)

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"If you hate doing something, it will transfer over to your work." He told her as he finished up his meal. He put away the cooking supplies and dishes on the sleigh and made sure everything was secured. When he finished he noticed Crystal trying on her new armor.

 

"I did once ventured into a dream of an armor smith once yes." He replied to her answer. "Though the job may not be from a pro at it, it should last you till we finish getting your friend back. I made it for you to help protect you. You are not use to real combat yet, so the armor will be acquitted to keep you safer."

 

He strapped himself into the sleigh, with the glare from the mare. "I have healed up enough from your dream essence. There is no chance of it breaking open again." He told her as he pulled it free from it's resting place. The pain in his side told him he was not fully healed yet, but the wound stayed fast and did not break open. It was a lot easier for him to pull the sleigh thanks to his size and massive build and powerful legs. Once again they were off on the glacier heading North. A valley in the side of the cliff was their next destination.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

"Sometimes I wonder if there's anything you haven't seen in those dreams..." She said more to herself than the stallion as she finished testing the armor. The mare kept it on - it wasn't heavy, and didn't restrict her moves all that much. So far so good.

 

She was about to approach the harness when Nightmare beat her to it - Crystal was about to give him a strict reprimand but he cut her off as soon as he saw the telltale glare. The mare looked concerned when Nightmare made the first pull, but nothing bad happenned, so she breathed out in relief and put her back to the sleigh in order to help him for the first few steps, until he gained momentum. Once they were back in the open, Crystal trotted over to the stallion's side and asked: "You sure it's safe for you to pull? Just keep in mind that if you feel tired or whatever, I can take over okay?" She held a hoof in the air as she oriented herself in the landscape, then pointed it at their 2 o'Clock: "I uhhhhhh... There! We should head that way to reach the valley. I think."

 

The pair continued for a couple minutes in silence, pressing onward. Finally Crystal had to speak up. Biting her lower lip, with soe measure of apprehension in her voice, she started: "So... when this is over and, hopefully, we get back to the Empire with my... friend... What are you going to do? Walk back to that forest down South? I thought that it would be nice if we uhh... kept contact. As friends, you know." She looked at the stallion to gauge his reaction.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Crystal was the first to break the silence on the walk over the snow and ice. "I figured I will head back South yes. Mostly due to needing to gather more dream roots. First thing I will need to do after is try and find a new deck of tarot cards. Those do come in handy at times. As far as keeping contacts..." He thought. "I am always up for friends, though the writing letters to each others would be kind of hard for me. Not many ponies want to deliver letters to me." He gave her a little wink. "However, I will always welcome you as a friend. Who knows, maybe I can convince you to come with me to the Forest and help me find a nice home?"

 

They walked on. Farther North their journey took them. The sky was clear and the weather was nice. Pulling the sleigh kept pressure on his side, after a while Nightmare got use to the pain on his side. Off to the distance they noticed some dark clouds, but they stayed clear and did not darken their day. Around noon time, they finally spotted the valley that cut into the mountain side and away from the glacier. About another hour travel he suspected.

 

Nightmare finally spoke up himself. "So Crystal. Would you like to practice fighting again tonight in your dreams?" He asked her. The look of concern on her eyes for him told him what she was thinking. "I will be more careful this time not to get hurt. Since I got hit, I could use the practice as well."

 

They finally arrived at the valley. The view here was just as spectacular. Lining the valley was a wintery forest. The trees had found a small patch within these mountains that was protected from the harsh weather. A few small forest creatures could be seen running around among the branches. "Well at least we will not die from lack of beauty." He gave Crystal a slight nudge as she looked at the trees.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

Crystal listened to the stallion's reply. Well, it made sense to head back and stock up on roots, although she wasn't sure how he wanted to keep fed on the road... She smiled "Are you kidding? Of course I'll help you! Come find me at home once me and Evie settle and you find a nice place to live, and I'll make you a cozy crystal home. It's a deal."

 

Sometime later it was Nightmare's turn to speak up. The mare pondered over his proposal with some worry in her eyes, but the stallio's reassurance convinced her. "Uh huh, okay. But not the whole dream - we'll have some time to relax first, then you'll have your fill on the dream energy and we'll fight some. You need to rest every once in a while, and where better than in a dream? Besides, I bet you need more energy to heal up. So be my guest for the night hehe!"

 

Once the ponies reached the valley, Crystal saw a forest tucked inside it. She let out a small gasp of amazement as they walked closer - she wouldn't suspect to find trees this far north, especially so beautifully adorned by snow and ice. She saw some critters scurrying about and heard their calls. She made out a distinct call of a raven, and a few more she couldn't pinpoint.

 

A nudge brought her to the present, and Crystal smiled widely. "Oh yes, who would've thought the North had so much beauty to offer? I won't make a sea of bits by wrtinh a book on our adventure - I'm an awful writer - but I sure did have at least a few flashes of inspiration fot my work..."

 

They walked into the forest, but had a tough time going through it - there was no road! They had to make some sharp turns every now and then, and even backpedal once or twice, so Crystal did her best to help Nightmare with steering the heavy sleigh, either by pushing it with him, or digging snow from under it after a turn. The ponies saw some more critters - a white fox, couple white hares, some birds... Crystal decided that white is all the rage for animals in this area.

 

By the look of it, it was around 2 PM when Crystal asked Nightmare to take a break beneath an enormous pine tree. There was far less snow beneath it than in other parts of the forest. "See that pine over there? We could take a break under it. Have a fire and eat something, dry my hoofboots a bit too... I'll have to trash this whole getup once we come back... Shame, I liked these boots. C'mon, I'll help you out of that harness. How's your wound?" She peppered him with questions, as usual.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare pulled the sleigh up under the large pine. Oh the smell of pine was a great feeling after that glacier. When Crystal asked him about his wound he told her, "There is no more fear of it bleeding. However, it is still very sensitive to the touch." He was helped by the mare out of the harness. She looked at him and noticed he was not even close to being tired. It took all her strength and energy to pull that the other day, and he seemed to have just gone on a short walk.

 

Nightmare used his magic to levitate the snow up off the ground and pilled it around like a little wall. That was a far better way than to just melt it. Who wants to rest on wet ground? He then gathered some branches. Crystal mentioned that it would be near impossible to set such wet wood on fire. Nightmare gave he a wink and lit it up with his fire. Took a bit longer, but he dried them out really fast and then they took the flame.

 

The meal was a short and sweet one. Nightmare wanted to rest up some before they went further. He drifted off to sleep.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

She helped him out of the harness, and the stallion stepped out of it. The mare cocked her hear a bit in confusion - he didn't seem to be tired, while she would be completely spent in his place. She srugged it off as some weird Nightmare Pony thing.

 

Crystal walked circles in place as she looked for a good spot to clear for herself, when suddenly the stallion's magic seened to push it all away from the pine, forming a low wall around them. "Heh, well that sure works for me!" She pawed the ground with a hoof, and it seemed dry, although frozen solid. Out of the corner of her eye, the mare saw Nightmare picking up branches, and she walked over to him, shaking her head "Come on, even I know it's not going to work. They're all wet and won't burn no matter... oh. Guess I was wrong again..." She extended a hoof towards the small fire and felt it's warmth.

 

They made some quick meal and ate it near the fire. Crystal laid down on her bedroll to insulate herself from the ground, and her hoofboots were drying nearby. It was still cold, but the forest somehow was free of wind, and a teensy bit warmer too. Now that there were 2 fires nearby - Nightmare Season and burning branches - Crystal felt almost okay, temperature wise. She noticed the stallion drifted off to sleep. Somehow she found that funny - a dreaming Nightmare Pony.

 

Since, apparently, it was her watch over the camp now, Crystal reluctantly got up and checked her hoofboots - they were more or less dry, do she put them on and took a walk around their small snow-free enclave. The smell of burning pine branches was everpresent, but not unpleasant. The forest scents were a novelty for a crystal pony, after all. She noticed some tracks of small animals, but nothing alarming. A sudden small noise from the sleigh drew her attention, and Crystal trotted towards them. A white fox ran away from inside the sleigh, and the mare decided to check if it stole anything.

 

There were some bite marks on a few containers, but it didn't reach the food just yet. The mare decided to take her maul and drop it by her bedding, just in case. After refastening the white camo cloth, Crystal went back to her resting spot to warm up some. She got up and walk a short patrol every now and then until Nightmare woke up.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare dreamed one of his worse recurring dreams he has. A dark and scary time in his life. He woke with a start, startling Crystal as she looked around. He looked around ready to fight, but realized he had been asleep. He saw the mare worried over him. "Sorry, did not mean to fall asleep that deeply. Was haunted by my worse nightmare." He explained to the pony before him. "I just hope that you will never see such." He told her

 

He went to pull out his deck from his saddlebags, then he remembered. He closed his bag again with a sigh. "Soo...How is the fort holding up?" He asked jokingly to the crystal pony.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

Crystal was making another round when she heard the stallion wake up suddenly. She was on the other side of the pine so she ran to him and looked around for the cause if the sudden awakening. "What's wrong? A critter? Predator? Something else? I don't see anything alarming..." The mare finished her sentence and looked at the stallion with concern. "Are you okay? "

 

She nodded at his explanation. "I see..." Seeing him reach to the empty saddlebag was a bit sad to witness, since it was technically her fault - the mare lowered her head in am apologetic manner, but said nothing till Nightmare asked her about the state if affairs. She rubbed her forehead under the cap with a hoof and replied: "Peace and quiet. Had a would-be thief trying to get to our food. A fox. But it ram off once I saw it so... nothing to report hehe!" She stood on what she considered to be attention for a moment, then burst out laughing and waved a hoof at Nightmare as she contained herself. "Sorry, sorry... I would be an awful guard." She sighed a bit and looked at her back. "Although I kind of wish I had wings, you know. It must be great to fly... Nah, what am I rambling about, can we continue the journey? We still have a few hours of daylight to push on and find some shelter. "

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

He looked at her as she started up laughing. After she finished and mentioned they should take of soon, he nodded. "Though this is a nice place to rest, not very good for a night camp. He got up and harnessed himself to the sleigh. "We will see what we can discover before it gets dark."

 

They walked through the forest for a few good hours. The sun was getting very low and he was getting concerned. So far nothing good was found that could provide an actual shelter. "We may have to stop soon and just make an improvised shelter." He told the pony at his side. "Though I would hope to find something decent..."  He cut himself short as they went around a small bend and saw a log over what seems to be bushes in an area. "Think I might have found it."

 

He untied himself from the sleigh and went to investigate. He walked around the pile and noticed that it was a nice little cropping that could do for a shelter. A small entrance into it under the log, but would provide a good night stay. "So we can stay in here for the night." He showed Crystal the small den inside. He did not mentioned the large claw marks he had discovered on the log.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

The mare nodded at the stallion's reply. "Alright, I'll grab everything back to the sleigh and I'm ready." She helped him get the heavy thing moving and pass through the little snow wall.

 

Crystal Clear kept her eyes open for the whole time they walked. Every once in a while she would run off towards what looked like a promising shelter, only to come back empty hooved. She was getting worried they'll have to camp in the open when Nightmare saw something. This time she didn't run off to investigate - she was a bit tired and felt cold when she wasn't near the stallion. They both approached the log and inspected the den. Crystal scratched her head and nodded. "We won't find anything better anyway... Could you park the sleigh in front of the entrance? To block the wind if it picks up and obscure the entrance a bit. Plus we'll have an eye on it from inside." She walked around the den,  and even jumped on the log to take a good look at it, then peeked inside. "Hmm... a tight fit... I'll  fix any holes with twigs and snow to make it more hospitable, but we don't have time to dig the inside." She looked at the stallion. "You okay with sleeping side to side this time?"

 

She didn't waste time and quickly began reinforcing their shelter with branches and anything she could find really, then piled up snow on top for concealment. The mare was finished in under half an hour and came to Nightmare to warm up. "Brrr it's getting cold for the night... Have you cleaned up the interior a bit? I'll put the bedrolls for insulation and we'll have something to eat before we sleep,  okay?"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As Crystal was repairing the roof up with branches and snow, Nightmare squeezed inside and started to clear the snow away. Lucky for them, there was grass under the snow inside. A little bit of insulation at least. When he crawled back out Crystal had finished and jumped down off the log.

 

When he was asked to basically snuggle in the night, he replied to her. "With how snug it is inside, We can't help but lay side by side." He gathered some food off of the sleigh. This time after he finished fixing the food, Crystal noticed that he had less food than he normally did. She was going to ask him, but she remembered that he lost his roots. Could this be the symptoms of him not feeding on the roots?

 

"The sun will be setting soon. Will it be alright if I feed a little bit more tonight?" He asked her, but a hint of reluctance was in his question. As he got his answer, he went inside the shelter for the night.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

 The mare tried to help her friend with food preparations, but her hooves were a bit uncooperative from the cold. This unexpected hindrance annoyed her somewhat, but Nightmare had his magic, so he did just fine. When he divided the rations, she noticed that his portion seemed smaller than usual. It picked her curiosity, but decided against asking - he mentioned that he needed actual food only when he consumed dream roots, and he was fresh out of any, so that would explain it.

 

When Nightmare made his observation about the weather, Crystal tore off her plate and looked up. It was a bit hard to tell through the trees, but, yeah, it was getting dark a bit, and the sky had that reddish hue - all clear signs of an impeding nightfall. She then looked back at him and smiled reassuringly. "Of course you may, take as much as you need. it's not like you're drinking my blood, after all. Besides, if the dream becomes too warped, you can help me get to safety, so don't worry about me. You need your fill to heal and keep your strengths." She gave him a  lok that meaned she really meant it. "I'll clean up the dishes, so if you like, pick your side of the den. I'll open the buffet shortly. "She gave him another reassuring smile as he turned to crawl inside, and the mare picked up their plates and cleaned them up in fresh snow, then packed back into the sleigh. She walked around it to make sure everything was tucked as it should. Crystal was a bit afraid of nocturnal animals ransacking their supplies...

 

She took out her maul and laid it by the entrance - there was no point in taking it inside anyway, no room for swinging. One last glance at the graying landscape around their hideout, and Crystal crawled inside the den. "Wow, it IS kinda small... Just. Let me. turn. Around.... Okay, that's better. And actually rather warm, at least compared to the outside." She managed to turn 180 degrees, so she would face the exit, but it took some careful manouvering. The mare didn't bother with removing her clothes - it wasn't that warm, and really, there was no space for such luxuries. She took a glance at the wxit, wonderning whether they're safe here or not, but a big yawn broke her train of thought. "*yaaawn* That's my cue. See you in the dream, Nightmare, goodnight."

 

She laid her head on her crossed cannons and closed her eyes. Soon enough, exhaustion took over and the crystal pony peacefully drifted off to sleep.

 

She was flying over a scenic conifer forest, with a stream flowing lazily through it. The mare descended gracefully and landed near the stream, then apprached it in a dance-like manner to take sip of water. The crystal pegasus extended her wings fully, sunning them in the morning sun. It was Spring - the snow melted some time ago, and the forest was exploding with greens. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment as the rays of sunlight peasantly warmed her wings.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

"Dreaming of flying are we?" Crystal heard. It was not Nightmare Season. However, she recognized the voice. From the strange mare from Nightmare's memory. She turned to see the alicorn flying up behind her. "Be calm young one. I do not have much time before my son arrives." She landed next to her.

 

She was beautiful, White and a silvery mane. Still her eyes were fogged over and blind. "Nightmare has lost all his roots correct? We must get him more. A hungry nightmare is a scary thing. But fear not. There is a small dream tree within the woods you find yourself. After Nightmare feeds and goes to sleep, you will need to find it. It is not far from you. If you follow the North Star then you will find a cliff. Hidden inside is the tree. Let me show you."

 

She seemed to have changed  her dream and showed her a way and showed her the small tree. "This is what you seek. Just be safe, and please do not tell my son of our meeting till you can properly visit me. I must go. He will soon be here." With that she found herself back where they first started off at. The alicorn was gone.

 

"Interesting!" She heard a familiar voice, this time is was Nightmare. "Dreaming you are a Pegasus now?" He came walking up to her.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Nightmare Season

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The sudden voice from behind startled her. The mare jumped a little and folded her wings instinctively. Her heart was pounding but the voice was familliar. She turned around and saw the blind alicorn landing nearby. How she managed to move so gracefully without seeing anything, she did not know.

 

The alicorn spoke with urgency, and somehow, Crystal knew better than to interrupt her with questions. The crystal pegasus was a bit alarmed when her forested haven changed into the cold, dark forest where she slept, but observed the path obediently until she suddenly found hreself in the lush green forest again. She blinked several times to make sense of this sudden change, but managed to nod at the alicorn before her disappearance. "I won't tell him, and I'll get the roots. Thanks."

 

She was alone again, and awake within the deam. The mare extended her wings and flapped them a few times, then brought them forward and ran a hoof through her feathers. An audible gasp and a long "woooow" followed. She grinned like a filly as she moved her wings in all directions, and they reacted like she was born with them.

 

That's when she got startled the second time tonight.

 

Only after she jumped and folded her winds did she recognise the voice. She facehooved and turned around. "A scaredycat pegasus, just like our guards." The mare extended her wings and smiled. "How do you like me with wings then? I always dreamed of having a pair, to be honest..." She flapped her wings and lift off the ground, making a wing assisted leap and gently landed on Nightmare's back, facing the same direction as he did. Crystal gave him a friendly wing hug and asked. "So, what's the plan for tonight? You said you wanted to have a big meal, and I recall something about fighting too. Seems like these goals work along just fine, don't you think?"

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

He turned his head to look back to Crystal on his back. "Seems you are figuring out the dream world. I was actually wondering when you would dream something like this." He told her as he wiggled his back to upset her balance on top of him. "Without my roots...."He hesitated. "I will need to feed even more, that means worse dreams for you. I will try to only feed every other night." He lowered his head as if he remembered something."I do not want a repeat of last time." He said more to himself than to her.

 

He started to feed off of the energy that was present. "We can start to train. I can feed off the image of the enemies. At least that way I won't warp your dream to badly. First you should get rid of those wings. They will not be there for you latter." With that, they began to train.

 

After a good time of them fighting off the black armored ponies, Crystal noticed the dream was getting really bad. She was having more and more difficulties keeping an even ground. When one opponent was close to finishing her off. Nightmare stepped in and vaporized the dream enemy. "I think it is time I stopped feeding. Your dream is becoming to warped." He said panting heavily.

 

Crystal was just fine. It was after all, her dream. Nightmare was there physically and was tired and worn out. "I will leave now and get some sleep myself. I will let you get back to your dream of flying." He told her and left. As he found himself back next to her in that den, he curled up and drifted off to sleep.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The mare laughed as he tried to make her slip off his back. "Haha fat chance! I just found myself with these flappers, I didn't make them on my own." She extended her wings for balance, and managed to stay on top of Nightmare.

 

When the stallion began talking about feeding off her dream, Crystal frowned and jumped off his back, then walked in front of him and placed a hoof on his chest. Her wings were folded. "Hey, don't beat yourself with it over and over. How many times do I have to say that I don't mind for you to understand? It's just a dream - nothing important. So stallion up and feed, because if I see you hungry, I'll buck your flank, got it?" She patted his chest for emphasis and made what she considered a bossy expression. Truth be told, she looked just silly.

 

Crystal Clear pouted slightly when she was reminded to get rid of the wings. She extended them forward and ran a hoof through the soft feathers. "What a loss..." She closed her eyes and thought about them disappearing. When she opened her eyes, they weren't there. A brush of her side with a foreleg confirmed that her wings were gone. "Ehh, back to business..." Crystal closed her eyes and imagined the scary settlement again, then willed her clothes, armour, and maul to appear. Thus equipped, she nodded at Nightmare. "Ready when you are."

 

The fight was tough, but the mare was slowly getting the hang of it. Her armour made a huge difference both for her confidence, and in actual pritection - it shrugged off several spear strikes already. Crystal often found herself looking for Nightmare in the crowd, see if he's okay. It made her nearly lose a couple of times, but by the virtue of pure dumb luck, she came on top every time. She was a bit disturbed with how the dream was behaving - the secenery was losing proportions, the snow became grey, and the corrupted guards seemed bigger and nastier, among other things. Even the ground beneath her seemed to be reacting to the Nightmare feeding off the dream - there were chasms and cracks every now and then, and even potholes like those she saw on the streets of Manehattan. It was like the dream itself was dissolving, falling apart. She never really knew what Nightmare meant when he was going on about "dreams getting warped" - now she did.

 

At some point, her hoof fell inside a chasm that wasn't there a second ago. Crystal lost her balance and fell flat on the ground, a dark shape looming above her. She tried to free her hindleg but to no avail. An orange light and a savage howl were all the confirmation she needed that Nightmare took care of this one. The red mare managed to break free and rolled on her back. Seeing how spent her comapnion was, she nodded and willed the enemies away. Now they were safe and alone in the nightmarish scenery.

 

The mare offered him a smile from her prone position. "Alright, I'll clean up this place and have some fun by myself. Oh and Nightmare... don't beat yourself with this" - she gestured at the hellish landscape. "I don't mind." The stallion dissappeared in a cloud of smoke.

 

Crystal closed her eyes and slowly imagined a more pleasant place. She couldn't concentrate enough to recreate the forest, so she just thought of the rolling plains around the Empire. Then, she thought about her equipment dissappearing, and having wings again. When she closed her eyes, everything was as she imagined.

 

She had some fun with her new wings, but she wanted to wake up the entire time. There was something important to be done tonight! At some point - she couldn't tell when and how, she woke up.

 

The mare couldn't open her eyes - something was on her face. She turned her head away and rubbed her eyes open with a hoof. That;s when she noticed that she must've been snuggling to her larger companion. Thankfully, he was sleeping. She slowly crawled out of the den, and took her glow-crystal from beneath her jacket - cold, white light shone on the surrounding forest. The red mare approached the sleigh and took her saddlebags, along with a knife. She opted against lugging the heavy maul and took off in the direction where the mysterious Alicorn pointed her. It was still dark and she could see the Northern Star between the pines. It took... twenty minutes, maybe, to reach the cliff face. Crystal walked alongside it till she saw a small entrance, and walked in. Somehow she had a notion that it was safe inside. Why, she couldn't tell really, but this peculiar hunch proved right and she saw the strange dream tree. The mare approached this weird plant and unclasped her saddlebags, then laid them on the ground nearby. She dug into the soil with a hoof and immediately saw thin, shimmering roots underneath. Crystal didn't know how much she could take without harming the tree, so she dug numerous small holes around it and cut the roots with her knife, until she loaded her saddlebags. Then she buried the holes and patted the soil to mask her deeds. She ran back to the den and took haer saddlebags into the cramped space - the contents were too precious to leave them by the sleigh. Crystal laid next to Nightmare, with her saddlebags on her other side. The mare decided her companion wouldn't mind too much if she snuggled a bit for warmth, and did just that. Soon after, she fell asleep.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

A large creature covered in thick white fur was walking through the woods. A path it took on occasion through the mountain. It stood on two hind legs and had massive hands and fingers. As it walked, it spotted what appeared to be a tiny light leaving a cliff and scurrying off to the trees. It was still a good ways off. It had to see what morsel was creating it.

 

Just as she was close to falling asleep, she felt her companion stir. When she looked up at him he placed his hoof over her mouth. "Shhh..." He whispered to her. Something is out there. He slowly crawled out of the den. "Wait here." He explained to her. He looked off into the trees. As if trying to pin-point the location. He heard it and took off. His mane was lighting up the snow and reflecting into the forest.

 

Crystal decided to try and get ready to go help him, when she heard a large foot hitting the snow close to her. She laid still and heard it move off in the direction Nightmare went. He led it away from her.

 

Nightmare walked through the trees at an decent speed. He needed to get what ever it was a ways away before he could confront it. He led it out of the woods and up the side of the valley that hid this forest. When he got to the ridge he looked back finally. A a large hairy ape like creature was in pursuit. It looked hungry.

 

When Crystal finally managed to get her maul, she heard the scream of the beast and knew. The battle had already started. It was a good ways off and up the valley.

 

Nightmare found himself in close combat with this monstrous thing. It was hard to keep moving to avoid the swings in the snow. He pelted it a few times with a well placed shot of his fire. It's fur was thick and acted like armor against his flames. A few times he gave a good kick at it with his hind legs. This creature will not be easy to defeat.

 

Crystal followed the sounds of battle till the trees cleared up and she was looking up to a giant hairy beast in a duel with her friend. Just as she spotted it, Nightmare had shot a blast right at it's shoulder.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

"Uhh, whaaa?" - She mumbled as her pillow stirred as she was nearly fully asleep. The mare rubbed her eyes open, cut felt a hoof on her mouth before she managed to say or do anything else. Crystal curled up in the den as Nightmare crawled outside. She didn't know what was going on, but knew better than second guess the stallion's judgement. She saw from their hideout as the stallion looked for something, then took off in seemingly random direction. She couldn't make sense of this till she heard something huge walking by the den, apparently following the stallion. It was enough to make the mare hold her breath in fright. She could hear only the heavy steps and her own pounding heart. When the creature walked away after her companion, she asessed the situation and decided to help.

 

Her hooves were shaking a bit, but she was already fully clothed, including her armor, so she only needed to grab the maul and hurry after... whatever it was. She heard a terrible scream echoing through the trees, but it wasn't Nightmare's. It meant they started the fight without her.

 

Crystal Clear ran towards the battle noises, but it took a while to finally reach the combatants. Nightmare led the beast out into the open and as the mare ran out of the treeline, she saw him fighting a monter.

 

A Yetee, to be precise.

 

The mare took a deep breath to collect her thoughts, then approached the beast from behind, trying not to attract it's attention. She succeeded - Nightmare was still holding on, and immolated huge swaths of the creature's fur, but it seemed really tough... She picked up speed and charged in, using the momentum to increase the torce of her first blow. She was aiming at the creature's spine, but the maul hit off-mark, right where it would probably have it's left kidney. The beast roared in pain and took a swing at the second assailant. Crystal managed to dodge but her armor earned a long scratch along the right side. She managed to keep her balance and aimed the second, downward strike at the creature's knee. A nasty sound of splintering bone and another howl were all the evidence she needed to know she hit it squarely. Just when she thought things were looking up, Crystal Clear lost contact with the ground beneath her hooves - the Yetee punched her in the left side and launched into the air. The mare landed in a pile of snow, her weapon a few metres earlier. She laid there, wheezing and trying to get up, but her side hurt and the blow left her breathless.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare saw the Crystal Pony charge at the yeti. He got a little distracted and got a good hit placed on him. He hit the ground and looked up. Crystal had just dodged a blow and landed a good swing down on it's knee. With a roar, it launched the poor mare across the snow and landed in the snow. She was hurt. Nightmare stood up and was angry, Very angry.

 

As Crystal tried to stand up with the pain. A shock-wave of heat passed over her. Snow flew past her as it melted. She looked to where the center of the explosion took place. It was Nightmare. Though, he looked different. His main and tail once was smooth and streamline. Now it looked like a wildfire a blaze, and the length was longer than before. His hooves had flames shooting up his ankles and outwards. Even his knees had flame roaring out from the joint. He looked....terrifying.

 

Nightmare lost his temper, now he was fully ready to fight the beast off the mare. In a large circle around him, the snow had instantly melted revealing the ground and few patches of dead grass. At the edge was the mare. To her, it felt like summertime from the heat. She saws the yeti bring a massive arm down to take out the stallion. She called out to him to be careful. To her surprise, the yeti stopped short as though it hit a solid wall. A shield of fire was keeping it's blows from getting close to the black stallion on fire.

 

As the yeti recoiled from it's failed attempt to strike down the pony before it, Nightmare's horn started to light up. A fireball...Nightmare Season created a fireball this time instead of a spear of fire. With one twist of his head the fireball was launched at the yeti. The thing tried to block it with it's arms. It did not work. Crystal was rolled over due to the force of the blast. The yeti found itself being launched into the air. A trail of smoke marking the path in the air where it was rocketed to. There is no way it was coming back.

 

Nightmare walked over to the mare to see if she was fine. He noticed she was terrified of his new appearance.

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season

 

Crystal shook her head in a futile attempt to clear her thoughts from the pain. It didn't work however, and she just tried to get on her hooves again. She stood on three legs, keeping the left foreleg in the air when she felt a wave of heat from behind. It started her and the mare hobbled to the side instinctively. She lost her balance as the snow beneath rapidly melted and evaporated all around, crashing on her good side with an audible screech and groan if protest. The mare looked around rapidly,  trying to assess the situation and see where the beast was.

 

It seemed that there was some kind of fiery explosion  a moment ago, and she was at it's edge. The yeti was charred all over and it seemed dead set to pulverise what was in the centre of the now snow-free circle, where a lone figure stood.

 

"N-Nightmare?" - she couldn't see very well, the intense heat and sheer amount of flames erupting from the stallion made her eyes hurt, but she was determined to see what was going on. Crystal was already out of this fight, that much she could tell...

 

The stallion looked terrifying with all the flames engulfing him in an inferno. The beast tried to bash him into the ground but couldn't reach past the flames. Nightmare replied with a powerful orb if fire what further charred the monster and send it flying out of sight.  She was pretty sure it couldn't survive the fall.

 

The stallion's final argument of the fight sent a shockwave which rolled her around. The mare found itself again buried in snow, this time flank up. A loud groan and some muttered curses later,  she dug herself out and was laying on her right side, nursing the massive bruise all over her ribs and stomach on the left side. She was in no shape and had no strength to get up.

 

Crystal noticed that the snow started to melt around her and looked up - the terrifying figure was approaching her. Still dazed from all the tossing around, she tried to back away but with little success. Wide eyed and scared, she mumbled: "N-Nightmare? Is that you? It's me! S-say something!" He kept on walking towards her.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

As he approached her, she was terrified and trying to crawl away. When she asked him to say something, he had to settle down a little bit. Otherwise, he would have a tone in his voice that would scare her farther. He managed to regain his anger and replied to her. "It's alright. It is just me." He tried to ease her fear. "You took a nasty hit. Don't try and stand. I will take you back where I can treat your side."

 

He lowered his horn down to her. A black smoke came streaming out and surrounded the ground where she laid. When it was thick enough, she felt like it was starting to lift her up. It eventually picked her up off the ground and she was there floating. It was very soft and fluffy to her sense of touch.

 

She felt it move as he turned to walk down the side of the hill. After a few moments, the extra flames and wild fire receded and he looked like he did before. He carried her back to camp on that fluffy puff of smoke under her. He moved her inside of the makeshift shelter. "Try and get your armor and clothes off. I will get the medicine to apply to your wound." He told her as he went to the sleigh for bandages. He grabbed what he needed from his saddle bags and crawled inside the small space to see what damage was caused.

 

He left her on the soft smoke. That did help her pain some. He looked at the wound and started preparing an ointment to spread over the bruised area. When he finished he told her. "This will help. You will be bed ridden a couple of days." He looked at her,, this time, with his you listen to me glare. He spread the cream over her skin and wrapped it up with the bandages. "Sorry for my scary appearance before." She laid there on her soft fluffy bed of smoke.

Edited December 29, 2016 by Nightmare Season

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

The mare's gaze darted across the stallion's frame, but once he spoke, she ceased wriggling away from him. She lied on her good side, with her left foreleg pulled up to her barell. "O-okay, you look... different. That scared me." Crystal looked apologetically when Nightmare conjured some strange smoke cloud around her, and lifted her up with it's aid. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, as even the tiniest move of her chest hurt. She didn't speak for the same reason as she floated on the smoky cloud towards their temporary hideout. If not for the pain, she could probably enjoy the experience - she thought that it's how the clouds must feel to pegasi.

 

As they got closer to camp, she keenly noticed that the stallion's appearance went back to normal, as the extra fires disappeared and his mane and tail shortened to their normal length. Crystal felt tired, and only the searing pain kept her awake. She sighed in relief when Nightmare moved the smoky cloud inside the den - it was only marginally warmer inside, but at least she was out of the wind. The mare lifted her head a bit and perked her ears as Nightmare told her to undress. Normally she'd toss something witty, but this time, she just nodded weakly and slowly took off her armor, then clothes. She knew it was necessary, despite the cold. When the stallion came back, she was nearly done, but shivering. Obviously, it only incresed the pain and she had to clench her teeth to manage. On the upside, the soft cloud beneath her caused no extra pressure on the bruise, so it was a huge relief compared to wnat she'd feel laying on the ground. The mare tossed her garments off the cloud, without bothering to fold them as she did the previous nights. She just haven't had the strength for such niceties. Crystal curled up and observed Nightmare as he prepared some kind of healing paste. When he told her she'll be bedridden for some time, she replied humorlesly: "Trust m-me, I'm not... going anywhere. O-ouch!" She winced as the stallion touched her bruise to rub the paste into it, and continued to ve vocal about her discomfort until he finished bandaging. Once the tormenting was done, she laid on the cloud, breathing shallowly and staring in front of her. She felt a bit warmer with the stallion inside the den, and whatever he smeared on her side seemed to ease her pain a little.

 

Crystal didn't move to face her friend, but felt she could risk speaking without serious pain. "Sorry I... messed up back there. Seems no amount of... training... will save in a real... fight." A shiver made her wince in pain. "It's... c-cold in here? Or it just... me?" She nodded at the stallion when he put a blanket on her. "Thanks... I brought you... something. When you were sleeping. In my saddlebags, there." She pointed at the far corner of the den with her left foreleg - her shoulder hurt, but that was just because of the bruising. She didn't feel any other injuries, so that was good news.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

He shook his head at her. "Training is not done in a single day, or week. Training is experience that is learned over many years. Your body now learned of the pain when you are careless. It will remember that and you will be more careful from now on. You had your first real combat this night. You actually did better than most. I was just not expecting you to charge at it first thing. I got distracted."

 

With her complaining about the cold, he used his magic to dig out a blanket from their supplies and brought it inside to her. He carefully wrapped her up in it and he slightly increased the heat that came from his mane and tail.

 

He looked at her as she mentioned that she got him something. He brought her bags close by and looked inside. He looked back at her questionably. "Where did you find these, and how did you know about them?"

[Raven Rawne 1,381]

@@Nightmare Season,

 

Crystal fumbled with an answer for a moment, then decided to lie. She started: "Well... when you left the dream, I tried to restore it back into shape and... I don't know what happenned really, but I saw the dream tree instead of my green forest, and I saw it was in a cavern North from here. I woke up and decided to check it out, and it turns out this strange vision didn't lie. I could lead you there, if I could walk that is..." The mare looked at the stallion expectantly - she tried her best to sound convincing, but she had no idea whether the nightmare pony would buy it.

 

The pain in her side was lessening slowly - seems like warmth and Nightmare's medicine were working. If she wasn't stressed over her deception, she'd probably fall asleep from the adrenaline crash now that she felt marginally better.

[Nightmare Season 617]

@@Raven Rawne,

 

Nightmare looked at Crystal for a moment with a raised eyebrow. He did not know if what she said was true or not. Yet, how else could she have known about it? It all seemed to random and the timing was strange. He could not think of any other means she could have found it. He only heard the yeti and no other pony. Could she be able to have visions too? He decided to believe her.

 

"All right.....Sounds suspicious, but I don't know any other way you could have found it. Especially in that short of time." He leaned over to her and nuzzled her neck. "Thank you!" He pulled out two of the roots and ate them as he watched over the injured mare. Crystal could tell by his expression, they must taste terrible.

 

"So....How do you feel after your first true fight. Besides the pain that is?"