Darkness Before Dawn (RP, not a jump-in)

[bauccgia0]

Oooookay. That wasn't supposed to happen.

He ran over to Rarity, and began to shake her, hoping to snap her out of her sudden dementia.

Does anypony know what's going on? SNAP OUT OF IT, RARITY.

[The Wandering Magus]

The universe waited for Super Nova to move.

[SuperNovaNightmare]

There was only one thing, and one thing only, that Wrath had ever denied. Said it was impossible. Despised it with so much force, that if it actually had a physical form, it would burst into flame with just one look.

The truth was that Nova has been right all along. Wrath said their true purpose was to do as all Nightmares, spread fear, but Nova said it was to show the world that not all Nightmares were bad. Wrath couldn't stand such a thought. It was just to strange to accept.The concept of "nice" just didn't exist in his mind. He had contemplated wether he was right over time, and was starting to fall under, but this was the final push he needed to fully accept it.

He had to live with "being nice", and similar things.

But he was Wrath, pure anger and hatred. How could he?

"No. I can't change. I won't change. I don't have to change. I am his anger. I am his strength, and he is mine. I do have to adjust, and I will... starting with YOU. I am still Wrath, but instead of anger to all, only anger to those who would go against Nova, and his friends. And if you go against Nova..."

He was well aware of the shrinking ring of Hope around them, and drawing from it would most likely cause it to only shrink more, but it was the only thing he could think of that might work. He took in a small amount of Hope around him, and for once, it didn't sting him. He once thought about how different was he from the outside darkness. He had no way of being sure that his plan would work, but it was worth a shot, even if it was the last shot he might get. He wasn't scared, for he also didn't understand the concept of that ether. To him, it was just a word.

"... THEN YOU ARE AGAINST ME!" He roared, plunging himself with what Hope he had with him.

[The Wandering Magus]

Hope met Wrath, mixing, melding...

...and shone like the Morning Star.

It was white as snow, brilliant as the Sun and Moon, yet it was not blinding, nor painful to look at.  It comforted and healed, brought assurance and strength, wiping away Fears.

And wipe away it did.

Nothingness SCREAMED, Xanadu shook, and Mirrorjack snarled as the Light overwhelmed her mirrored surface, driving her backwards.  Tom cracked and began to shatter, bit by bit, as the golem grunted and shielded his diamond head from the light of Hope.

AJ blinked, listening to Wavelength and Tian's words, and feeling the light of Hope welling within her.  The tinge of grey that had been on her hooves were swept away as she firmed her mouth and slapped the Stetson back on her head.

"Ah finally understand.  Thank you, Mirror.  Yeah, Ah thanks ye.  Ah knows now.  Rather, ya jes' gave me a good reminder o' somethin' Ah should'a kept with me.  Ah can't do anythin' on mah own.  Celestia knows Ah can't.  Ah'm a stubborn pony, not all that bright either.  Ah run away from mistakes, Ah'm ashamed o' failures.  But Ah'm not alone.  Ah don't have ta be alone!  Ah've got mah friends with me, by mah side.  An' THAT is the Honest Truth!"

The mirror-alicorn shattered into a million pieces, and those pieces shattered, until all that was left was glittering dust that blew away like ashes in the wind.  The ring of Hope expanded back to the border of the Carousel Boutique as Rarity gritted her teeth, pulling herself up to shaky hooves.

"I... need... to... be... strong.  For Sweetie.  For everypony.  For my FRIENDS.  YOU.  ARE.  NOT.  REAL!"

"[glow=black,200]I AM EVERY BIT AS REAL AS YOU ARE, RARITY.  FOR YOU DO FEAR ME.  AND EVERY BIT OF YOUR FEAR MAKES ME STRONGER.[/glow]"

"not... true.  NOT TRUE.  Not anymore.  I know now.  I thought, since I was a little filly, that diamonds and jewels and bits, fame and fortune, were the most valuable things in the world, but I was wrong.  I won't be afraid anymore."

"[glow=black,200]But you ARE afraid![/glow]"

"Not anymore.  No, I will not be afraid, because even if I have an addiction to wealth, to my own greed, I have my friends to support me.  Because the most important and valuable things in the world aren't gold or jewels.  They're my friends, my family, living, breathing ponies that love me back when I love them and care for them.  I ignored my sister in search of fame and riches, but no more.  I am the Element of Generosity.  And YOU!  ARE!  IN!  MY!  WAY!"

Sky-blue HOPE shone from her horn like a blazing missile of pure, concentrated light, turning stone and diamond to dust and tearing straight through the Nothing beyond, which wailed long and loudly as it retreated.  The entire block was glowing with blue, orange, pink and yellow hope.

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength found himself baffled by yet another sparkly sight; another entry to the vast list of thing he'd seen that night which he couldn't hope to understand.  The charcoal pony--something that should absorb light--was now radiating it like the sun!
As the fears around the party crumpled and blew away in the breeze, Wavelength found himself stomping his hooves nearly in applause out of a lack for anything intelligent to say.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt stood there, baffled. How did she do that? What were those things?

What. In Equestria. Is going. On.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a small stone on a chain. The stone had a moon carved into it, with a few stars surrounding it. He looped it around his neck, and looked at it, mumbling a bit to himself. Then he turned to Rarity.

That was... Mighty impressive. Gotta say, I suppose I should have expected nothing less from the Elements of Harmony. Something tells me that as long as we stick together, we'll be alright.

He turned to the rest of the room.

So, we got a plan to find...the other two?

He said "The other two" with no small amount of annoyance, but at the same time, seemed like he was trying to hide it, trying to stay on task with whatever would get him out of this place.

I mean, we can't stay here. Although it seems pretty defensible, what with the two floor set up and architecture, but it wouldn't last forever. Is there somewhere else we can head?

[ArtVeigar]

Tian smiled and bounced excited after the amazing display of strength from Rarity and AppleJack - "That was incredible! You really showed them who's in charge here!" - She hugged both of them - "I always knew you could do it." - She backed off and turned to Laserbolt. - "It's not a matter of if we can or not. We need to get the other two as fast as possible. Even if we are pretty good with four of them, without the six, we can't solve the problem for real." - And finally, turned to the exit of the boutique. - "And now, with renewed hope and energy, we can go look for the next one!"

[bauccgia0]

Uh... Not to bring ya down, Tian, but... I think just charging out is the worst possible thing to do in this situation.

[ArtVeigar]

"And what do you think is best? Wait and plan everything thoroughly, while the waiting get us anxious and nervous, while the Fears gather even more fear from our plane, while the two other Elements are being challenged alone by Celestia knows what?" - She spoke with a calm, but firm voice. - "Of course, we won't go running toward our doom. Have you forgotten these Fears are pushed back by hope and determination? By will power? There is no better strategy than march toward our destination together, knowing for sure that, united, there is nothing that can stand in our way. You can try to go silently and stealthy, but there is nothing quieter and more stealthy than darkness itself. You can try to think and prepare, but it's useless if the enemy is illogical and unpredictable." - She explained.

[moonlight7starshine]

stardust slowly got back to her hooves and shackingly walked towards tian s-s-soo were s-safe f-for now? she said in a scared tone while shivering.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt shrunk away from Tian, with a look of indignation on his face.

Forgotten? Sister, I haven't been here for ten seconds! I don't know a thing about this place except it terrifies me!

[ArtVeigar]

"Well, I think I've actually explained that just a while ago...." - She turned bher back to Laserbolt and pulled some papers from apparently nowhere, trying to keep it from his sight. - "Here, page 31, reply #454. Well, I did say that, but in that situation I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't paid attention to me." - She said to herself, putting the papers back in the void it came from and turning to face Laserbolt again. - "So I guess it was my fault again for not explaining everything... I'm sorry." - She said a little embarrased. - "Well, but now that it's explained, what's important is that we need to keep going foward and with determination."

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt still looked a little mad, but at the same time, seemed embarrassed himself.

Yeah, well... I guess I should apologize, too. I was a bit distracted when I first got here, I admit, so I'm sorry for not listening. But can you stop with the weird comments? It's confusing enough when Pinkie does it.

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength chuckled at Laserbolt.  "Actually, I've got a silly 'ol feeling that prancing out there without any second thoughts is a good course of action.  The more carefree we are, the more monsterless the situation seems to be."

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt turned and looked at Wavelength, with an eyebrow raised.

Ah- Yeah. Fine, let's try it. I mean, what's the worst that could happen, right?

He chuckled weakly, as ALL THE POSSIBLE THINGS THAT COULD GO WRONG paraded through his head. The chuckling quickly gave way to slight whimpering.

[SuperNovaNightmare]

Wrath was... surprised that he managed to do something so powerful with something that used to hurt him. There was a weird, lasting feeling. It was hard to understand. He felt refreshed, yet drained. Strong, yet weak. He shook his head a few times, but it failed to help. He even felt a lot less angry, which was impossible... or so he thought.

"Uh... I don't feel... don't feel to good... Not gonna let... let it stop me... or us from moving..."

He stated, in a rather soft voice. He took one wobbly movement forward, and then another. On the third, he stopped, dead still, then collapsed. He felt like he was at war with himself now, like he was ripped in two, and the two sides started to argue. He tried to reach out for Nova, but his concentration was shattered. Wrath tried to get up, but he fell down over and over again with each attempt.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt looked at Nova, tripping over himself on the floor, and freaked out a bit.

What's wrong with Nova? What happened? Does anyone know any healing spells? I can't think of any right now!

It's happening again. Once more, the pressure is on, and you just crack. Nice.

SHUT UP I'M THINKING!

Laserbolt mumbled to himself, slowly collapsing further into neuroses. A few seconds before, he had been fine. What was happening to him?

[Bravo 658]

Wavelength couldn't tell if Laserbolt was arguing with himself or telling everypony else to shut up, but Nova was now falling apart at the seams.  He stepped over to the charcoal pony and tried to calm him down.  "Lay still.  Just lay still and take in your nerve impulses.  I don't know what's happening to you, but you're clearly having trouble standing... I'll try to think of something, but try slowing down a bit."

[SuperNovaNightmare]

Wrath shook his head.

"It's... it's not that... I just feel... separated... like i've been... been torn in two."

He managed to pant out. He didn't feel like himself anymore, but whoever he felt now, he didn't like. He just couldn't bring it into terms as to why, though.

[bauccgia0]

Laserbolt closed his eyes, trying to block outside stimuli.

Okay, Laserbolt. Think. You were taught about this...

His mind went back to his schooling, his mentoring under Princess Luna. His mind went with every possible topic as fast as he could, searching through the library in his mind.

He opened his eyes, the only solution popping into his head.

Did you make a deal with Nightmares? That's the only thing I can think of, and Luna said that's how she felt when it was happening.