*Note: This is my first fanfiction, constructive criticism would be appreciated.

"The night will last - FOREVER! " Nightmare Moon laughs evily, triumphantly exclaiming her return from banishment on the moon. Ponies everywhere in Town hall were screaming in terror as Twilight Sparkle and her newly found friends went to the Treebrary to figure out the location of the Elements of Harmony - the old castle of the two royal sisters in the Everfree forest.

"... the element that brings all of these elements together, the element of- MAGIC!" With this exclamation, Twilight Sparkle becomes surrounded by a magical haze and emits light that lifts her other friends up in the air. With their newly found friendship, they summon a rainbow of magic that blasts away at Nightmare Moon.

"Nooooooooooooo!" Nightmare Moon cried in agony, and the friends settled in for a group hug... until that is, Nightmare Moon stood up again.

"Foolish ponies! Didst thou think your measly friendship that you found only within the course of a day would be enough to defeat me?"

"Bu- but, we used the Elements! Nightmare Moon should be gone! I just don't understand, how could this happen!?" Twilight Sparkle was going into panic mode. "Alright Twilight, think calmly about this and assess the situation. 1 - We were able to harness the Elements of Harmony. 2 - Nightmare Moon is still here. 3 - Therefore, the Elements didn't work. But how could this be? Princess Celestia used them in the past to ban-" Twilight's though process was interrupted as Applejack tackled her from the side.

"Look out, sugarcube!" Applejack managed to save Twilight from being hit by Nightmare's magical blast. "Listen, Ah' know you're thinking about how we failed, but Ah' reckon that our only chance is to take action, so stop thinking and use some of that fancy magic of yours!" With that, Applejack returned to the rest of her friends, where they danced to and fro to avoid Nightmare Moon's magical bolts of darkness.

"This entertains me, foolish ponies! Dance more for your new sovereign!" Nightmare Moon cackled as one of her bolts singed the tip of Rainbow Dash's feathers. "Oops! Did that hurt? Better dance faster or your head will be next!"            

"Thats it, time to bring in the PAIN!" Rainbow Dash backed up to the end of the hall and charged at top speed towards Nightmare Moon.

"Rainbow Dash, no!" Twilight yelled out in warning a moment too late. Nightmare Moon simply stepped to the side, and behind her stood a magical Darke portal that she had been hiding the entire time.

"Wait, what in the hay is tha-" Rainbow Dash flew straight into the portal, her last words lost over the magical force being gathered there. The portal closed in on itself, leaving no trace of it or RD.

Suddenly, a shocked silence enveloped over the ponies while Nightmare Moon simply sneered from her throne.

"Ah yes, Rainbow Dash was always the most headstrong of you six. It was so easy to fool her into my trap, and now you are no longer able to harness the elements."

"Wh-what have you done to her?" Twilight managed to whisper, barely audible in the wide chamber of the throne room.

"Oh, I simply sent her on a little trip. She'll be back...maybe." Nightmare Moon's cackling shook the entire chamber, causing rocks to fall on the group of friends.

"Now lookie here, Miss Moon, Ah reckon you better bring our friend back to us or you're in for a world a' hurt, ya hear? I ain't going to stand for one of my friends being transported to Celestia knows where with all tha- OOF!" Applejack's speech was interrupted as the portal opened up beside her and Raindbow Dash's battered, unconscious body slammed into hers, causing them both to skid into the opposite wall.

"Rainbow Dash! Applejack! Are you alright?" Twilight called over to them, but the only response was a scarcly audible groan from AJ.

"Hah! Two of your group hath fallen, miserable peons." Nightmare Moon surveyed the remaining four ponies with contempt. "Look at your little sun-filled faces. Disgusting! By the time I'm through with this country, none shall dare REMEMBER the sun again!"

Fluttershy had been cowering in her spot, too afraid to speak until she saw Rainbow Dash fly out of the portal into AJ and hit the wall. With two of her friends down, she snapped into an angry rage.

"How DARE you? You will NOT lay another hoof on MY friends or I will do UNSPEAKABLE THINGS to you. I don't care if you're Nightmare Moon, stay away from my friends! Do you understand!?" Fluttershy had her warface on, with her stare at full power directed at Nightmare Moon, who was actually stunned for a moment before shaking it off.

"Forgive me if I don't exactly quiver in fear at thou words, young mare. I am a goddess! You are a simple peasant. It's time thou learnest thy place in this world, young Fluttershy..." Nightmare Moon charged another magical beam and fired it at Fluttershy.

"NOPONY TOUCHES FLUTTERSHY!" Pinkie Pie jumps and pushes Fluttershy out of the way, recieving the full power of the beam which froze her on the spot.

"P-Pinkie Pie...?" Fluttershy's rage had abandoned her, now close to tears. "No!" She wheeps on the statue of her fallen friend, unable to deal with reality any longer.

"Oh Celestia..." Twilight's head was downcast, and she had lost just about all hope when Rarity came to her side to comfort her.

"Twilight, dear, we simply musn't give up yet! We can't! If we do, it means the end of all sunshine! All happiness! I'll have to convert my entire fashion line for gloomy weather! It will be a disaster! We MUST defeat HER" Rarity glared at Nightmare Moon for causing all this pain to her friends.

"I'm sorry, Rarity... I can't... There's no hope left, Equestria is as good as gone..." With a sigh, Twilight simply lay down on the floor, refusing to budge. Tears lined her eyes as they shut, refusing to take in her surroundings any longer.

Rarity gives a comforting pat on her shoulder before rising up to face Nightmare Moon. "You...I'll DESTROY YOU!"

Harnessing the power of her Element of Harmony, Generosity, Rarity generated more magical power than she had ever known in her lifetime. Under her hooves, gems started to float through the floor and surround the air around her. Gathering the rest of the energy inside of her, she launches herself at the evil princess with a vengeance.

Nightmare Moon marvels at this. "So, thou hast decided to fight for thy friends. What an...admirable attempt. One doomed to FAILURE." Nightmare Moon proceeds with a charge of her own, her horn glowing with darke energies as she ran.

When the two magically charged ponies made contact, a ball of light was created from the impact, throwing both combatants to the opposite sides of the room. Rarity hit the wall with a crunch and did not get up again.

Nightmare Moon stood in the middle of the carnage, gazing at her handiwork. "Hmm, not bad for one that has been out of practice for a millenia, although I suppose practicing on those moon bunnies helped me along." Staring at Twilight Sparkle with contempt, she added " Thy friends fought for thou, and what dost thou do? Cower like a diamond dog! You were not deserving of their friendship. Although I suppose I must thank you. Because of your cowardice, I am now able to take the throne! " She turned at faced an open window, ready to take flight and conquer the rest of Equestria when Twilight whispered "No..."

She turned around suddenly "What didst thou say?"

"No... I won't let you!" Around Twilight, a magical corona suddenly appeared and filled the entire room, encasing both her and Nightmare Moon within an impenetrable barrier. A second barrier forms around Twilight herself, rising from a magic circle inscribed on the floor with light.

Nightmare slams herself against the barrier and recoils from the touch of pure magic against her own Darke soul. "What hast thou done, you peasant!" She rushes again against the barrier, yet it still repels her.

"This barrier" Twilight struggles to speak words under the pressure of her spell, " is the most powerful defense spell that I know...It's designed to keep evil out...but can keep you in just as easily... I ...will...not...let...you...pass!"

"No!" Nightmare Moon rushes now towards Twilight but is halted by the barrier. "You think thou canst keep me here forever!? I will outliveth your puny life a thousand times and again!"

"I don't plan to keep you here forever...just long enough for Princess Celestia to arrive"  Twilight grunts as Nightmare Moon blasts away at the barrier.

"You" -blast- "will" - blast- "not" -blast- "keep" -blast- "me" -blast- "here!" With a final blast, Twilight Sparkle's energy gave out and she collapsed, panting on the ground. Nightmare Moon looks with grudging respect. "Perhaps you hath trained this one well, dear sister. Now, on to Canterlot! But first..." Nightmare Moon summons another portal and spreads the elements of harmony all over Equestria and beyond. "None shall dare oppose me again!"

Back at the palace, after decimating the Royal Guard with almost contemptuous ease, Nightmare Moon faces off against Princess Celestia. Outside, the skies were already turning dusk at midday as the night slowly encroached upon the day.

"I once called you my sister...but now you have become a monster!" Celestia glared at the opponent before her, horn ablaze with a fiery light.

"Hah! Sisters? You ceased to be my sister when you sent me to the moon for 1,000 miserable years! But now, it is my time to rule the throne, and you cannot stop me!"

"For the sake of the kingdom and all of Equestria, I will protect my subjects... from you!" Celestia and Nightmare Moon engage in magical combat, beams of light connecting with each other as each alicorn struggled to enforce their will onto the other. However, Nightmare Moon was not to be defeated. Her magic, augmented by the power of the stars for this, the day of her escape, was more than a match for Celestia even on her strongest day of the year. Nightmare froze Celestia into a crystal state, her body forever battling with the cold. Nightmare Moon laughed an evil, haunting laugh that could be heard as far as Ponyville. "Now, Equestria is mine! All mine!"

Nightmare Moon was quick to install her regime. After throwing all of the royal guard who rebelled into prison, she quickly overtook the rest of Equestria. Legions of shadow knights traveled across the land, spreading terror and fear wherever they went. They shut down the libraries and magic institutions, outlawing all written materials except those approved of by the royal chief of publications. Schools were converted to fit the new teachings of Nightmare Moon. Scrolls of history and magic were burned by the hundreds as Nightmare purged the land of any trace of sun or Celestia. She enacted a curfew where every pony had to be in their houses by 8 at darknight (the new night time) and lights out at 9 darknight. Nopony was to leave until their homes until 1 dusknight (the new daytime). This curfew was heavily enforced by her shadow guards, who harshly dealt with curfew breakers and any other ponies who found themselves on the other side of Nightmare Moon's law. Some were lucky - they were forced to work in the quarries, mining mysterious minerals for her Lunar highness. Others were never heard from again. Ponies everywhere in Equestria weeped at the downfall of their princess Celestia, currently missing but presumed lost forever.

And so Equestria was plunged into darkest night for many years to come...