They dragged her to the bubbling cauldron. Spell Nexus was there, Luna was there, Celestia was there, Diamond Tiara was there, they were all there, all of them chanting. "Throw her in, throw her in, throw her in!"

"NO!" She screamed. "Don't! Please Don't!"

"You're not a real pony," Diamond Tiara said. "You're just leftovers!"

"And you know what leftovers are good for," Zecora said. "Nothing but soup!"

"MMmrm, SOUP!" Nightmare Moon said. She sat at the table, a bib around her neck, a bowl in one hoof, a giant spoon in the other. "Gonna have me some SOUP!"

Celestia and Luna grabbed her, held her up over the cauldron. The broth glowed with a green and sickly light. "In you go!"

"NOOOOO!" Nyx screamed as she plummeted into the cauldron.

Nyx awoke with a choked-back cry. She was in the Crusaders Clubhouse. She gasped for air, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was another bad dream, like the ones she'd been having for months. The alicorn filly curled up in a ball and cried quietly to herself, not wanting to wake any of her friends.

She was so tired of bad dreams.

She wiped her face on her pillow and curled up in her sleeping bag, listening to the rain. It was dark in the treehouse, but some light still leaked in through the rainy windows from the night outside.  It was late at night; Everyone had spent the day plotting and planning for Nightmare Night, and then just playing and goofing around till late. They'd all finally given up to sleep and sprawled wherever there was space for a blanket or sleeping bag.  She could hear Twist and Truffle snoring. boy, if there ever was a couple born to be married, it was those two. Of course neither of them could compete with Scootaloo's buzz-saw rasp.There was a tiny amber glow over where Dinky and Pipsqueak were sleeping; a little fairy lamp Dinky used for a night light. For a moment Nyx wished she had a night light, right then. But Dinky was little, nobody seemed to mind--- Would the others have laughed at Nyx if she'd brought one as well?

She noticed a faint glow coming from the doorway. The door was open, and there was a small yellow light sitting out on the narrow porch. She could make out the silhouette of somepony sitting out there, their back turned to her. Did she hear crying?

Curious, she crawled out of her sleeping bag and crept over to the door. The tiny golden light was Peewee; the little phoenix had made a nest out of some cloth scraps he'd found in the rag box and was napping cozily in the shelter of the porch.  Sitting next to him was Rumble, the pegasus colt. He was staring out into the rainy night. Nyx could see tears glimmering in his eyes.

She crept closer, her curiosity and sympathy piqued. "Psst?" she whispered, trying not to wake anyone.

Rumble was staring glumly out at the rain, huddling close by the faint glow from the little phoenix chick. There was a shuffling sound behind him, then he heard a "pssst!" Startled, he turned and looked into the dark clubhouse... and saw a pair of glowing, cat-slit turquoise eyes looking back at him. Rumble's big brother Thunderlane liked to joke that Rumble didn't have much going for him, but he had a scream that could do a tornado klaxon shame. Rumble sucked in air like a jet turbine--

Two indigo hooves came out of the shadows and plugged his mouth. "Rumble, stop! It's me!" the eyes hissed. They moved closer; the purple mane came into the light. Rumble sagged to the floor, wings quivering with relief. "It's you," he said to Nyx. "Horseapples, don't DO that to me!"

"Sorry," Nyx said, eyes downcast. She looked up at him. "I thought I heard..." she hesitated, biting her lip. She couldn't say she heard him crying; boys got all weird about that kind of stuff. If she said she heard him crying he'd just get mad."  I thought I heard somebody get up, so I came to see." She sat down next to him on the porch, on the opposite side of Peewee's little nest. "are you okay?"

Rumble shrugged and looked away.  "Did you have a bad dream?" Nyx said softly. Rumble scuffed at the floorboards with his hoof. "Yeah," he admitted finally.

Nyx looked sad. "I'm sorry," she said.

Rumble looked puzzled. "Why are you sorry?" He said. "You didn't give me my bad dreams."

Nyx looked away. "I-- I might have," she said.

Rumble was flummoxed. All he could think of to say was "huh?"

"Because of being Nightmare Moon," she said. "I found out after I came back that a lot of colts and fillies have nightmares now because of me." She didn't say any more. She just remembered all the clues she'd picked up, conversations she'd overheard, accusations colts and fillies had thrown at her, that grownup ponies had thrown at Twilight. All the colts and fillies who had started having bad dreams. How Silver Spoon had trouble sleeping. How Diamond Tiara was constantly afraid her father would be taken away again. How Dinky had to sleep with a night light. It wasn't hard to figure out why.

Rumble actually snorted. "You think it's all because of you?" he scoffed. "That's dumb. You're not the only thing that's happened in Ponyville lately."

Nyx looked surprised. "Like what?"

Rumble grinned. "Y'know, it's kind of hard to remember you're really only one year old," he said. "Lots of stuff happened before you-- er, happened." He counted them off. "There was the hydra. And the cockatrice. And the Ursa Major. And then there was Discord. And the time Cerberus came to town. And the parasprites. "

"Who'd be scared of parasprites?" Nyx said scornfully.

"My sister. She hates bugs anyway, then the parasprites came. They ate all the food in the house, then someone cast a spell to stop them and they started eating the house, too... she thought they were gonna eat HER, next." Nyx felt bad for giggling, but she couldn't help it. " I'm just saying..." Rumble waved his hoof around. "There's lots of scary stuff out there, all the time. It's not all your fault."

Nyx smiled hesitantly. "So what was your bad dream about?" she asked.

Rumble's smile faded away. He looked back out at the rain. "You remember the Changelings? I mean, you heard about them, right?" Nyx nodded, and gave a little shiver. It had happened the year before she was "born"--- the shape-shifting creatures, half insect, half pony, had almost conquered Canterlot.  They were the reason every home, every business, every caravan, every train, every office and town hall in Equestria had one of the special emerald lanterns of Celestia's own design alight somewhere inside. Any Changeling that walked into their light would lose their disguise and have their true form revealed. "We were in Canterlot when it happened," Rumble continued. "My parents and brother and sister and me. Just a special outing, to see Canterlot.

"It just happened all at once. There were Changelings everywhere. Everyone was screaming and running... and... we got separated. I ran everywhere looking for Mom, looking for Dad, for my brother... And I found my Mom.

"But it wasn't my Mom."

Nyx gasped, hoof to her mouth.  "She ran with me down an alley and I was hugging her and telling her how scared I was and--- and she turned into one of those things...." Rumble seemed to curl up into a ball. "then there was this big flash of light, and she was blown away... we found my real Mom down the alley, wrapped up in a big cocoon. We were all safe... but..."

"But ever since then..." Rumble rubbed his eyes with his foreleg. "Ever since then I've had nightmares. Again and again and again. Where my Mom turns into a Changeling, or my Dad, or my big brother, or my sister, or my whole family---" he hiccuped a little. "But the scariest ones are when I look in the mirror and it's me--" He hiccuped again, and again. "And they just won't go away, they just won't stop--"

Nyx did the only thing she could think of. She scooted over to Rumble's side, wrapped her forelegs around him and pulled him close in a hug. Peewee, awoken by the noise, fluttered up to sit on Rumble's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with his beak. They sat like for a minute, till Rumble's hiccuping sobs finally faded. He sniffled. "Promise you won't tell the guys I was cryin'?" He said.

Nyx smiled and nodded. "I promise..."

They sat and watched the rain for what seemed like hours. "What what were you having bad dreams about?" he finally asked.

So she hadn't been as quiet as she thought. Nyx frowned. "It's... it's stupid, you'll laugh at me," she mumbled.

Rumble shook his head. "Promise I won't," he said, crossing his heart.

"I dreamed I was thrown in a pot to make soup," she said.

Rumble shuddered and nodded. But he didn't have it, he didn't have that "oh I understand" face Nyx was hoping for.

Nyx bit her lip. She just couldn't tell. Why was it so hard to tell ponies about her nightmares? She tried, she tried to tell Twilight and Spike and even Cheerilee, but it was so hard to put the words together.  Every time she tried the words sounded too stupid in her head. And when she did say something, nobody seemed to understand. "It's not just one dream. Sometimes I dream that I'm being.... gobbled up," she said. "Or melting into a puddle. Or..." she waved her hooves about, frustrated.

"So you just have lots of bad dreams," Rumble said. He looked somber. "I guess that's even worse in a way. At least I know what's giving me nightmares." he looked at her, eyes full of sympathy.

Nyx smiled a little sadly. "Thank you, Rumble," she said.

Rumble blinked. "What for?"

"For trying to understand," Nyx said. She leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek. The pegasus colt's wings flared in surprise. Nyx giggled at the expression on his face. "G'nite, Rumble." She got up and went back inside. Peewee cheeped and followed.  She found her sleeping bag and snuggled down in it, Peewee nestling in beside her. She pulled the flap over both their heads, Peewee's warm glow filling the little cavern made by the cloth over their heads. In a moment she drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

Rumble sat out on the porch a while longer, still watching the rain. It took him a while to realize he had a goofy smile on his face. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a lot better about things now.

Sundiver grinned. "Awwwww," he said. "That was the most adorable thing ever..."

Lightning Blitz (1)snuffled next to him and woke up. "What? Whuzzat? Keep it down, they'll hear us."

Sundiver snorted. He pointed over the edge of the cloud. "You missed it," he said. "little wingpup down there just got his first kiss."

"Oh yeah?" Blitz raised an eyebrow, looking over the side. "Which one was it?"

Sundiver grinned. "No less than our assignment," he said.

"Really? Heh. Way to go, kid," Blitz muttered. He pulled out his binoculars. "Yeah, look at the goofy grin. Peck on the cheek?"

"Yep. I remember when a little kiss on the cheek made my whole day," Sundiver said wistfully.

"Stay on your side of the cloud.  Any activity?"

"Nope. The farmgirl came out and checked on them a couple hours ago, but nopony's come sniffing around."

"Good." Blitz yawned.

Sundiver and Lightning Blitz were two of Celestia's trusted royal guards, assigned to Ponyville after Nyx's restoration to fillyhood. They were two of a team; unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies stationed throughout the town and assigned with watching over Nyx, Twilight Sparkle, and (to a lesser extent) the rest of the Elements of Harmony.

At the moment, they were in a low-hanging cloud floating over Sweet Apple Acres. They had hollowed the cloud out from the side, giving them visible cover from above and below, and had camped out there overnight to keep an eye on the alicorn filly and her friends from concealment. They'd been there a while; the cloud was littered with coffee cups and empty pastry boxes from Sugarcube Corner. It provided a hiding space and, ironically, shelter from the rain, but little else in the way of amenities.

While the others rotated duties, Sundiver and Lightning Blitz were routinely assigned to 'eye in the sky' duty. They were high speed power divers, as their names and talents indicated. Aerial surveillance suited them the best.

Thus far they had kept their presence and purpose hidden from everyone in Ponyville, including their clients. Apparently it had dawned (ha ha, pun) on Celestia that she had an incredible number of eggs all in one very frequently shaken basket, and had dispatched a team of undercover basket-tenders to protect those incredibly valuable targets.

"And about darn time, too," Blitz muttered.

"Whussat?" Sundiver said.

"Didn't you ever wonder why Celestia went so long without putting someone here to protect the Bearers?" Blitz said. "There should've been someone here from day one to protect them..."

Sundiver snorted. "You mean like that poor, frail pegasus damsel who bucked a dragon in the face? Or maybe her soft sweet vulnerable friend who made it cry? And followed that up by staring a cockatrice down? Or maybe you were planning on helping Twilight hoist a few Ursa Minors and chuck them out of town..."

"Okay, okay, point made. They ain't exactly frail little hothouse flowers. Still..."

Sundiver shrugged. "guess it just crossed a threshold when Twilight's darlin' little dumplin' came on the scene," he said. "A mother with a little foal is vulnerable in whole new ways."  Lightning Blitz nodded, his face darkening a bit. In spite of everything, their charges had grown on them a great deal. If Nyx or Twilight had ever been in danger the two of them would have dropped out of the sky like twin thunderbolts of an angry god.

Heck, he'd come within a hair of dropping down and giving that brat Diamond Tiara a tail-whupping she'd have never forgot.

There was a few minute's quiet while the two watchponies ruminated. "Wouldn't mind getting closer to that yellow one, if you know what I mean," Sundiver said idly. "I bet she's soft to cuddle with."

Blitz shook his head. "Not me, brother," he said. "She's sweet and all, but she's got issues. Remember the Grand Galloping Gala a couple years back? I was there." He waved his forehooves in the air. "You're going to looove meeeee," he intoned. "I don't know if 99 percent sweetheart is worth the 1 percent crazy."

"Well, how about that dressmaker? She suit your fancy?"

"No way. High maintenance, and don't you know it." They both chuckled. "Now speaking of the farmgirl..."

"Oh yeah," Sundiver said dreamily. "Wouldn't mind loungin' under an apple tree with her. All that farmwork made her a FINE figure of a filly."

"Good thing her brother can't hear you talk about her like that," Blitz noted.

"Him? C'mon," Sundiver scoffed. "Besides, he ain't that tough."

"Had your eyes checked lately? We'd be picking what was left of you out of the inside of one of his horseshoes," Blitz said drily.

Sundiver sighed, as much as he hated to admit it his partner had the right of it. That slow-speaking stallion was scary huge. "Well dang if it wouldn't be worth it," Sundiver said.

"True dat," Blitz said. They both shared another chuckle.

They bantered for awhile in the manner of soldiers everywhere, comparing the pros and cons of the mares under their watch. (2) The conversation drifted from mares to dates to the upcoming festival on Nightmare Night. "So what's the plan for that?" Blitz said.

"Commander's a little jumpy about that," Sundiver said.

Blitz nodded. Prime opportunity for any ambitious filly-snatcher.

"Looks like they're going to split up for the evening. Twilight Sparkle's apparently planning on going to the Castle ball, while Nyx goes trick-or-treating  and through the "haunted castle" with her friends. He wants us watching from the air, and two tails on the ground for Nyx. There'll be other arrangements inside the palace for Miss Sparkle, he says.

Blitz grunted. "Hope he coordinated with the castle staff and guard," he muttered. "This could be an epic level screwup otherwise.

"Well, que sera sera, as the French ponies say. Catch some more Zs," Sundiver said. "I'll wake you in another hour." Blitz lounged back on the clouds and dozed off, while Sundiver patiently scanned the terrain below for threats. And so another night in the illustrious royal guard passed for two of Celestia's finest.