Equestrian Darkness Chapter 4 - An E.R.C.

"How on Earth did this all happen?" Nightshade thought to herself quietly. The Past 24 hours had been an adrenaline ride on an emotional roller coaster. She had gone from feeling confident that she would accomplish the goal she'd had for the past year, to literally begging for her life, even if in hindsight the begging probably wasn't necessary. Now she wasn't sure how she felt, Mostly just shocked or caught off guard by how things turned out.

Looking around the room, she thought of the ponies now surrounding their friend Rainbow Dash. While Applejack and Twilight were out searching for some things Nightshade had asked for, the other ponies were trying to comfort their friend with happy memories and stories, while Nightshade spent her energy just trying to keep the poor pegasus pony awake.

Though the other ponies understood the basic concept, Nightshade wondered if any of them Really knew just how badly Rainbow dash had been poisoned. Nightshade was sure that an Evil Renegade Changling named Gympie-Gympie had poisoned Rainbow Dash using a cruel combination of Poison Joke Essence and the rare Hearts Desire, as well as other ingredients. As a result, Rainbow Dash was Suffering from Debilitating Nightmares which were concocted to produce the most pure and surreal fear and emotional anguish, which gave Gympie Something To Feed on. And Plenty of it.

Nightshade had Sent Applejack to get Poison Joke for its role switching properties, and Had sent Twilight to Find Firespinner, a rare Plant that caused Powerful Hallucinations if taken alone. With those two mixed and some supplies from the hospital they were in, nightshade was certain she could make something to counteract the poison until it wore off on its own.

The recent Events answered several of the Changlings Questions, but many more were now presented. She was now sure that it was indeed gympie that had Poisoned Rainbowdash, but the Knew Question was why? She knew that gympie was certainly trying to gain Power, but for what? And she knew that the ponies had trusted her at least for now, and she wondered, why? But She could Focus More on those questions later. Right now she needed to keep Rainbow Dash Awake while her friends kept her calm and happy. Nightshade knew that should Rainbow Fall asleep again, her nightmares would resume immediatly, and Nightshade would not have time to withdraw her magic, leaving them linked. If Rainbow Fell Asleep, Nightshade would become a Second Witness to the Horrors Rainbow Faced in her nightmares. And Nightshade hated Nightmares. "All the more reason to focus and keep her awake" Nightshade thought to herself.

A Nurse walked into the room about then. "Excuse me, Nurse?" Inquired Nightshade.
"Yes Miss?"
"Do You Keep Adrenaline Shots on Hand? For Emergencies?"
"For Emergencies Yes we do. Why Wou-"
"Good. We'll Probably Need it."
"What? Why would you need That?
"It Doesn't matter, Not Yet. Thank You For answering my Question."
"Um... okay..." The nurse quietly walked away and up to the IV currently attached to Rainbow Dash. Then she looked at the various monitors that had also Been attached. After Viewing the Heart Monitor, She Sighed and Said "Well Rainbow, You seem Mostly okay, Do you Feel okay?
"Yeah. Not Awesome but i feel okay. *YAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN* Well, Maybe a Little Tired, But i'm fine."
"Okay. Your Heart rate is a little High, But considering what your condition, its probably just nerves." Said the nurse as she prepared a syringe, which somehow nopony noticed until she had it halfway into the IV branch.

"Whats that stuff?" Asked Pinkie Pie.
"Well It's Probably just some Medicine, or something like that." Noted Rarity.
"Well, Hopefully it makes dashie feel better."
The Nurse Chuckled, "Well your Close, its a sedative."
Nightshade's Eyes almost fell out of her head as she straightened up. "A What?" She Asked with urgency.
"Just a Sedative, In just a minute she'll be having the best sleep she's had in a while." She finished as she removed the syringe from the IV branch.

Everypony was now concerned, but none moreso than Nightshade, Who Practically Shouted "NO!" But the Deed had been done. "This Whole time i've been trying to keep her awake, and you may have just circumvented everything i've done!" The Nurse was visibly Shocked, "W-What?" was all she could say.
"You Said you Keep Adrenaline Shots For Emergencies, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! GET IT" Nightshade then turned to Rainbow Dash, who was obviously feeling the effects already. "Rainbow Stay with us. Stay Awake, You've been doing great so far, just wait a little longer." By this point Rainbow Was Barely Concious, And Nightshade could tell that niether of them were going to have much fun. "Girls, We're going under. Tell the nurse to leave behind 2 adrenaline shots for when we wake up. We'll need them." Before the other ponies could really say anything, Nightshade had taken a seat next to rainbow dash. With their eyes closed, both nightshades and rainbow dash's eyes still glowed green slightly, a side effect of nightshade not withdrawing her influence quickly enough.

And Thus Began a Harrowing Journey Through the Darkest Nightmares of Rainbow Dash.

During the Time That Nightshade was unconcious with Rainbow Dash, Applejack had Returned with an Uncommonly Large Glass Jar full to the brim of Poison Joke. And Not too long after that Came Twilight carrying a Very Small Glass Jar of the Rare Firespinner, Only 1 flower with a stem and some Of its thick succulent Leaves. Zacora Kept it because she liked the Flowers, but kept the plant trimmed So that it was no larger than a Ponies Head to prevent accidents. The Nurse had Left 2 Adrenaline Shots on a tray Next to The Hospital Bed. Pinkie Pie was now in a chair in the corner after having taken too big a whiff of the Firespinner Flower While nopony was looking. She was calm, but barely coherent, and was being entertained by fluttershy in her state of hallucinations.

After roughly 3 Hours, Nightshade and Rainbow Dash gave everypony the scare of their lives when they Both awoke With shocked expressions. While Rainbow Was Breathing Heavily She Seemed Fine, and Awake. Nightshade on the other hand looked Terrible. When She awoke She Fell Out of Her chair, then virtually Crawled to a trash can, where she began Retching and Vomiting Uncontrollably. The Moment she was Concious, She had also Begun Sobbing. Rainbow was crying too, but was less shocked from what she had seen, having had the nightmares for the past several days. Instead of Shock, she simply cried for the Nightmares to Stop. It took nightshade about 5 minutes to calm down, and once she did the First thing she Said Was "Rainbow Dash, You are one of the Toughest Ponies I have ever Met. I Don't know how you're not insane after more than a day of that." Rainbow Sat Quietly in the Hospital Bed. Nightshade seemed somewhat relieved when she saw that Twilight and Applejack were back. Looking at twilight she said "Twilight, there should be Adrenaline Shots here somewhere. Give one to Rainbow, I'll Take care of the one for me." "Got it" Twilight Replied. With that she used her magic to Hand one To Nightshade, and then Put the other in Rainbow Dash's Arm.
Within Moments, both of the recently sleeping Ponies were Wide awake, Still Shocked, But Awake.

"What Happened?" Asked Twilight.
"A lot that i wish i didn't have to Think about." Replied nightshade with a Frown.

After Nightshade was given a Moment to gather her thoughts, she took the jars from Applejack and twilight and Put the Firespinner in the Larger Jar with the Poison Joke. She then Filled the Jar with water, shook it vigorously, and set it down. With a sigh she then Began to speak. "I didn't mention this Possibility becasue i hoped it wouldn't Happen. But it did so here goes. When I was Trying to keep Rainbow Dash Awake with my Magic, It connected our Minds. I Don't Understand how or why, I Just know it does. So when She Passed out so did I, and When She had Nightmares, I saw them Too." She then Looked at the Floor, Avoiding any Eye Contact.

"And? What Did you See?" Asked Rarity.
"Yeah what all didja see?" Echoed Applejack.
"Well, To Put it simply, Nightmares." Nightshade looked up. "Though if i was being honest I'm not sure that is adequate for what those were. If I haven't Mentioned it already i'm almost certain that i know What rainbow Dash Was Poisoned with. It was a Mixture Consisting Mainly of Poison Joke and Hearts Desire." "I Thought Hearts Desire had something to do with who you really are?" Asked Twilight. "It does. But there was more than just those two things in the Poison. There was also something Associated with Sleep or dreaming or possibly both. If it had been made without Poison Joke, It Probably would've given Rainbow great Dreams about Loyalty and Friendship. She would've slept just fine. But the Pony who made it Added Poison Joke, Which Instead Gave Her Nightmares of Betrayal, and Blurred the Lines Between Dreaming and Reality."

"The Changling who poisoned her was then able to feed, somehow, off of the resultant Fear and Despair it caused. Again, Still something i just don't know how they did it."

"But You Can Fix her Right?" Asked Fluttershy Quietly. "Now that you have the Stuff in that Jar?"

"Hopefully. Firespinner is a Powerful Hallucinagenic plant, so if i'm right and i put in the right balancing Ingredients, it'll reverse the effects and will hopefully last until her body Purges the poison on its own."

"Why would a changling attack Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight.

"See, that's something I don't Get Either. I Can't Figure out why Gympie Would target her, and my guess is that she just happened to be the pony he decided on. But what really worries me is that Gympie has been gathering Power wherever he goes, And I don't know why. I'm sure that he's planning something but i just can't figure it out. Thats why Angel Trumpet went to the Ruins we heard of Near the Equestrain Border. If Gympie found them, it might give us a clue as to what he's doing, and how he feeds off things other than Love." Nightshade Looked out the window. "But until she comes and finds me all i can do is wait."

"Where are you supposed to meet her?" Asked Pinkie Pie.'

"There's a small cave maybe 15 minutes outside of Ponyville. I'm Supposed to meet her there... actually she's supposed to come tomorrow At some point. The plan was whether she find it or not to be there tomorrow, 30 days after she left. I Really Hope she found something."

"Well then it sounds like we're going Cave Exploring." Said Twilight.
Applejack then Added "Yeah, We're Gonna Get back at Whoever Did this To Rainbow Dash."

Nightshade Thought she Misheard. "We?" Her confusion became mixed with the stress and emotions already displayed on her face. "What?" In Nightshades Mind there was still so much confusion, so much left unsaid and questions that Needed Answering. "Well," she thought "better Figure this out, Fast".