Rainbow Dash walked alongside Fluttershy to the little cottage. The cyan pegasus felt concerned about her friend. The two had none each other since their days in flight camp. Ever since then, Rainbow had been there to defend the timid pony, and tried to encourage her to take risks and face her fears. But whatever Discord had done to Fluttershy...it seemed like something she wouldn't be able to fix. This only further frustrated Rainbow Dash even more. Never before had she ever felt so...so...useless! Her red-violet eyes wandered to Fluttershy.
"You know you can tell me anything that's on your mind." said Rainbow. Fluttershy squeaked something that was inaudible.
"Whatever it is, you can tell me."
"He said I wasn't his friend." whispered Fluttershy, her voice constrained by the tears that leaked down her round cheeks.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash hadn't quite heard what she'd said. But at least she was finally talking. Fluttershy stopped and faced her foulhood friend. Her teal eyes were flooding with water.
"He said I wasn't his friend."
"That's it?" Rainbow Dash was confused, saying that somepony wasn't his friend couldn't have been that bad. But Fluttershy was very sensitive pony.
"You don't understand Rainbow Dash...nopony understands. We laughed together, confided in each other, showed our best and worst sides to each other." Fluttershy sniffed. "But when he laughed at our friendship like that, and said that I wasn't his friend...it...it was just like what happened with Tirek!" Rainbow remembered that day well. When Discord had betrayed the ponies of Equestria, including Fluttershy, all the girls were shocked by this, thinking that friendship had actually meant something to him. It had brought poor Fluttershy to tears as she was caged and robbed of her flight by Tirek. But this was different from then. Discord had said that they were friends, but had been tempted into betrayal, and he'd apologized when he'd seen the errors of his choice. Whatever made him change to his old self, it didn't seem like he'd be apologizing for his actions.
"Fluttershy..." Rainbow tried to comfort her, but Fluttershy pushed her hoof away, hiding her face in her mane so she couldn't see the tears that were likely soaking her face. Rainbow Dash could only watch as her friend ran inside her cottage, shutting the door loudly behind her. Rainbow turned back to Ponyville, the girls would need her help in the library. 'We're here for you Fluttershy, when you need us.' Rainbow thought.
The girls were pouring over the books in Twilight's castle library, searching for any word or mention of Nightshade to no avail. Rainbow Dash entered, looking a bit troubled.
"How was it with Fluttershy?" asked Rarity.
"She's pretty broken up, said that this was just like the time with Tirek and everything." Pinkie sighed, her poofy magenta mane slightly deflated.
"Now I'm feel all wishy washy and depressed." she said.
"Come on girls, Twilight and Princess Luna are counting on us. Now let's knuckle down and find something we can use." said Applejack, lifting thee ponies' spirits up a bit. The search continued, till Spike entered the library, carrying a thick and heavy book.
"Um, do you girls need this?" he asked. They all turned and saw the cover of the book: Ancient Equestrian events vol 3- The defeat of Nightmare Moon and the reign of Celestia. Rainbow was the first to snatch the book out of Spike's claws.
"This is exactly what we've been looking for!"
"Ooh, convenient!" said Pinkie.
"Where did you manage to find it?" Rarity asked. Spike got a little embarrassed and looked away.
Oh, uh, I was...sitting on it...at the table." he said.
"Regardless of how or where you've found it, this'll be a mighty big help. Thanks Spike." said Applejack.
"Aw, it was nothing." Rarity stopped Spike before he left.
"We still need you Spike, get a quill and some parchment. Twilight will need to know whatever it is we find out."
Twilight Sparkle had searched the Canterlot archives going far back, but without knowing anything specific, she couldn't pinpoint what she was supposed to find in the last 1,000 years. Princess Luna entered the archives, looking up at Twilight who was scanning over the different shelves to see if anything caught her eye.
"Any luck?" ask Princess Luna. Twilight shook her head and landed back down to the floor.
"Your friends sent this message through Spike. You might want to read it." Twilight took the letter, absorbing what it had to say.
Dear Twilight,
We found some information that might be able to help you. According to this history book, it has a brief mention of Princess Celestia fighting a nightmare creature in Hollow Shade sometime after Nightmare Moon. It didn't say much, only that it was a rare creature that had power over nightmares and other dream magic. Maybe the Canterlot archives could give you a little more detail.
Take care- Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike.
"A nightmare creature?" Twilight flew back up to the book shelf, scanning for anything that had nightmare or something of the like.
"Aha! Here it is!" Twilight pulled out a scroll, on it was the title: The creature of nightmares. "Not a very clever title, but who am I to argue?" Twilight set down the scroll and showed to Luna. Both reading its tale.
Nightmare creatures are by far one of the most rare and elusive creatures ever to be seen by ponykind. Described as being a shapeless cloud or mist, they feast off the dreams of ponies, and often have powers over said dreams. The type they have a particular fondness for are nightmares, the bad dreams that ponies would be thankful to be rid of. The also possess longevity as well as their powers from feasting. Over the course of time, many have vanished without a trace, unclear of what happened to them. Except for one, known as Nightshade. Presumed to be the last of his kind, Princess Celestia sought to make peace with the creature, however Nightshade cared nothing for peace or friendship with anypony. He saw ponies as weak beings only useful for supplying him with the needed sustenance to sustain him. But he wanted even more. So, he began to create a powerful spell that would not only make him stronger, but cast all ponies, all creatures into an eternal nightmare. That way, he could forever feast and gain ultimate power. But Princess Celestia discovered his plans and confronted him just as he was about to add the last and key ingredient for the spell. The princess tried to persuade him to forgo his hostile ambitions and live a life of peace. Nightshade however attacked, having no interest in what she had to say. Celestia knew she had no other choice to fight back. She could've destroyed the creature, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she gave him a punishment that in Nightshade's eyes, was worse than death.
She took away his longevity, turning him into the mortal form of a pony, and locked him in the dungeons of Canterlot castle. Not long after, he escaped and was never heard from again.
Twilight set down the scroll. "So Nightshade was once this creature."
"So it would appear." said Luna. "My sister did the right thing, entrapping that beast. But now it seems he found a way to escape death as well as my sister."
"Do you think he'll try to cast the spell again? That he'll throw Equestria into an eternal nightmare?" Luna nodded.
"We may have a chance of defeating him yet. In his pony form, he isn't as strong as he once had been. We'll need to find him and find a way to undo the spell of Celestia and Discord."
"Easier said than done." Twilight said dejectedly. "Unless we find out what spells he cast exactly, we can't come up with a good counter spell." Both princesses looked out the window, black thunder clouds were rolling across the sky, crackling and flashing as they traveled. Like a sign of the oncoming trouble
"Nightshade is nothing but a weak coward." Luna said in a steely tone. Her eyes narrowed with anger at the thought of him. "Weakening the one pony who knew of him and how to stop him, and using another to throw the ponies into a state of helplessness and confusion. All so that he can swoop in and attack the defenseless ponies." Twilight ruffled her wings a little, she turned to look into Luna's face.
"He may be a coward, but right now we need to focus on his next move." said Twilight.
"You're right." Luna breathed, trying to keep herself composed. "I suggest that we assemble a small band of troops. We need to track down Discord, we need to keep him from causing anymore damage than he already has."
"But he could be anywhere by now!" argued Twilight. "Couldn't we try tracking down Nightshade?"
"You think I haven't already thought of that? We have no idea about where he could be, or what he's capable of. If we can subdue Discord, there's a chance we can get him to help us go against Nightshade."
"But princess-"
"My decision is final Twilight Sparkle!" shouted Luna. "We'll send them out as soon as possible." Princess Luna stalked off to ready the troops. Twilight wanted to go after her, to try and stop her, but there weren't many other options for them to take.
"I hope this works." said Twilight. "Celestia help us all."