She ran.

She ran as far as her hooves could carry her. The trees of the thick forest loomed over her, making her feel as small as a field mouse. The branches scratched her face, her white and blue dress, ripping it’s sleeves, lower parts and around her waist and messed up her mane.

For once, she didn't care about the superficial. As all she cared about was running...from the Nightmare.

For all her efforts, it just wasn't enough. It still followed her, its aura easily matching her hooves. “Run, run all you want my dear Rarity...” a sinister voice purred mockingly. “YOU CANNOT ESCAPE ME!”

Both predator and prey knew that eventually she would tire out. Hooves were no match for magic.

Despite the hopelessness of her situation, Rarity refused to give up just yet. She squeezed every bit of energy from her tired muscles, attempting to put on just one last burst of speed. All she managed was a faster route to exhaustion.

“RUN ALL YOU LIKE!” it mocked, slithering through various trees and branches like a snake, devouring the forest behind it. “YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE FROM ME!”

Rarity turned her head quickly towards her pursuer, her horn glowing brightly. She fired a quick spell at it, but the menacing aura simply melted around it before reforming. It mocked her with its laughter, which came from every direction..

Without warning, Rarity found herself thrown to the ground. Her entire body from horn to hoof was now covered in dirt and dust. She quickly used her forearms to get up and sprint again, but something had slithered and warped around her left hoof, pulling her weight out from under her.

A horrible chill ran through her when she turned to look at her chaser. While it's body was just a form of dark mist, the dangerous aura around it made Rarity feel helpless and terrified. “I told you it is futile to run from me.” the Nightmare purred again. Its two eyes were dark violet slits, slicing their way into the unicorn’s soul.

In desperation, Rarity fired another shot from her horn right at those evil eyes that haunted her every time she closed her eyes. The spell made an impact, and it seemed to surprise the nightmare a little bit… but only a little, and not for long. “It has been a fun game. But it must now unfortunately end, my dear Rarity. Unfortunately, that is...for you.”

Rarity tried to distance herself, her hoof was in a tight grip and soon her right hoof felt the same as she was then slowly being pulled towards it.

“Dream on, nightmare scum!”

Somewhere, a small light sparked right behind the Nightmare. Something flew towards it at breakneck speed. The clang of metal on a solid object pierced the air like a knell. .

“Don't ya even dare to take another pull, ya big fat cloud a-ugly.”

A knight in bright silver armor emerged from the forest. The mystery warrior leapt high; before the Nightmare could react, she landed right next to where her shield had struck the Nightmare.

She hooked her hoof under it and flicked it up with astonishing force, catching the Nightmare on what would on anypony else be the chin.The Nightmare howled in pain.

Knight charged at Nightmare, taking advantage of its pain and distraction to draw her sword. The mighty weapon shone like the sun, at once making the forest seem bright and full of life instead of dark and foreboding .The pommel itself contained a small sun and the warmth and the light glinted off its blade.

With a quick slash, the sword cut through the Nightmare like a hot knife through butter. The more the knight continued her hacking and slashing, the more the Nightmare disappeared into nothingness.

The knight, in her haste to destroy the abomination, had failed to notice one of it's tendrils' that had slithered behind her like a snake. It wrapped around her hoof and pulled her down. She dropped her sword and shield. The Nightmare laughed.

“You fool! You really thought you can defeat me so easily?” Nightmare bellowed weakly.

Rarity immediately noticed that the Nightmare’s gloat lacked much of the energy of before. Maybe she needs a little help? Rarity wondered,her horn glowing. A stream of blue light blasted from her horn at the creatures eyes, blinding it completely. The Nightmare trashed around, firing its own attacks all around, but missing its targets completely. The Knight got up quickly, reclaimed her shield and sword, and charged directly at the creature.

The blade sand itself right between the Nightmare's eyes. It let out a terrified scream as its body dissolved into nothingness. The knight sheathed her sword and turned to Rarity, who gasped deeply as she now looked at her saviour.

The knight had, as the lady Rarity would put it, a lustrous blonde ponytail undisturbed from the battle that had just unfolded. The tail itself was also a marvel in Rarity’s eyes. Even after such fight, it still seemed to look perfect as ever. Her gaze then moved to Knight's two shining emerald eyes looked at her with worry, but also with glee.

For a moment, she believed that those eyes were actual emeralds that the knight had found and just decided to put them on. But no, there were real. Real and glorious. That just made them even more beautiful for Rarity. From the way they looked at her, she could just get lost into those amazing forest eyes and be happy for her rest of life.

The armor that the knight wore complemented her natural features. The metal was just so pristine that it looked it was made out of the purest silver. The trio of apples that expertly carved into it made it look unique and gave the knight some character. The design of the shield echoed the armor. She even caught a small glance of the Knight's cleavage, which made her blush on a second. I'm a lady! I can't just be so vulgar!

“Ya alright there, sugarcube?” the knight asked. Rarity swooned from the her voice.

Oh-hohohoh-oooooh! That accent! That voice! It’s...divine!

“Uuuuh, everything alright there darlin’?” Knight asked again. Rarity was close to shake from excitement.

Darlin’... I love the way you say it...such an alluring drawl...

“OK, would ya just kindly stop staring at me and pay attention,” the knight said in rather commanding tone.

Rarity couldn't help but let out a loud: “Hmph!” and raise her nose. Such rude manners!...But I should probably answer her. She did save me from that horrid, horrid Nightmare.

“Oh yes, I am alright.” she finally said. “Thanks to you, my dearest knight,” she added, taking a couple steps towards her savior. She added a sweet little sway to her hips to emphasize just how grateful she was. Her smile grew as she saw that her actions were not unnoticed.

“But now, I can't help but wonder...” she smirked. “Would this noble knight wish to be rewarded by this humble maiden?”

“Oh really now?” the Knight asked back playfully, but her wandering eyes belied the false bravado. “An'... wha' kinda reward ya had in mind?” she asked, leaning towards Rarity. Rarity did the same.

“Maybe a small-”

“RARITY!” the knight suddenly screamed, her voice jumping two octaves with a distinctly different accent. “RARITY! WAKE UP!” the knight insisted, now shaking the maiden harshly.

Why is she jumping on me?

“WAKE UP ALREADY!”

Rarity's eyes were blinded by a bright light. She soon found herself looking at the ceiling of her bedroom and the face of a young filly. Wait, what!? Sleep had not yet left her mind. “Who, what, when?” Rarity asked, confused.

“About time you woke up,” Sweetie Belle replied, rolling her eyes.Her mission complete, Rarity’s little sister leapt from the bed. “I've tried to wake you up for forever now!” she complained.

Rarity rubbed sleep from her eyes as her brain tried its best to process the situation. “Alright Sweetie. Why have you tried to wake me up?”

“Well, duh. I thought you’d want to wake up before sunset.” Sweetie replied.

First Rarity’s mind didn’t register what Sweetie was saying, but when hearing the clock strike noon, realization dawned. “Oh my goodness!” she screamed, almost tumbling out of her bed in surprise.“Why didn’t you wake me before now!?”

“You were so tired from working until yesterday you just fell asleep in the middle of it!” Sweetie quickly countered.

Rarity stared - or rather glared - at Sweetie while her mind tried to find what her sister was telling her true. I was rather tired last night… she started to recall. That order Photo Finish asked me was simply staggering! Rarity thought, upset. The order had simply been ridiculously large one. To complete it all on such short notice drained Rarity’s reserves.

The nasty look Sweetie shot her belied the filly’s name. It made Rarity melt. “Oh, I’m so sorry Sweetie Belle guess I did overwork a bit…” she finished awkwardly.

To which Sweetie just raised an amused brow. “A bit?”

“Just keep your witty remarks to yourself for once. It’s unbefitting a lady,.” Rarity groaned. Right now she didn’t want to deal with Sweetie Belle making clever remarks about her exhaustion. “Sweetie Belle, if you said I had fallen asleep in middle of my work,how were you able to carry me back to my room?” she asked, cupping her chin in thought. Sweetie’s telekenesis magic wasn’t that developed that she could carry her elder sister up the stairs to her room.

“Actually, it wasn’t me.” Sweetie replied, shrugging.

“Really? Well, who was it?”

“Applejack.” Sweetie said matter of factly.

Something in Rarity’s mind froze. Sweetie answered her next unasked question before Rarity’s brain could catch up. “She just came by to give back your mane pin you forgot back at Sweet Apple Acres.”

Her explanation fell on deaf ears as Rarity’s mind roamed elsewhere. Applejack…? the mention of the name suddenly made her heart beat faster and her face blush. Why am I feeling like this?

“And I told her that you… were…” Sweetie stopped herself when seeing that her sister seemed to be in deep thought. She wasn’t exactly sure as Rarity’s expression looked more like a shocked realization. “Rarity? You alright in there?”

That seemed to snap Rarity out of it. “What?” she blinked. Then looked down at her sister. “Oh, yes. Quite. Very. Appley.” she forcefully said.

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. “Appley?”

“Peachy!” Rarity insisted, fervent in her correction.“Sweetie Belle. You wouldn’t mind being alone for a little while, would you?”

“Noooo… why?” Sweetie asked, unsure what Rarity was planning.

“Oh, just quickly visiting Applejack.” Rarity simply replied.

“Why?” Sweetie scratched her head.

“Just wanting to say thank you for last night.” Rarity replied, styling her mane in a far more elaborate manner than a simple jaunt to Sweet Apple Acres would demand.

Sweetie just shrugged. “I guess that’s okay. I might as well go to mom and dad’s for a while then.”

Rarity beamed at Sweetie’s answer. “Oh that sounds absolutely perfect!” she said, a little too happily.

“Okay… whatever you say…” Sweetie was getting now little afraid of her sister’s erratic mood changes, but decided to leave her sister alone. Rarity was just fine with that. More time for her own thoughts.

Yes… I will go to Applejack’s and thank her for her help. After all, had it not been for her, I would have been ever so sore this morning. Once she recalled the details of her dream, her smile grew sweeter and more sultry.

And then later… a fabulous, but still simple, and cozy candle dinner at my home. Just the two of us…to thank her properly, of course.

Meanwhile, at Canterlot, a certain Princess of the Night smiled broadly. She couldn’t wait to tell Twilight about this.

Author's Notes:

Well, I hope you liked this little one-shot. And if you could guess it, this story was inspired by the cover of this one-shot by AquaticSun's picture "By Her Side". So yeah, that is what I really had to say. So again, I hope you guys liked this story and will comment and like. :)

So, till next time!