Nightmare Night
The Harvest Moon was glowing a soft orange as Luna smiled at her creation while her black chariot flew across the celestial body on Nightmare Night. Departing from Canterlot Castle, they made their way to the town she has grown to love. Looking left to right she noticed two extra guards that her sister must have sent but didn't give much thought and just assumed more fun in Ponyville.
However, Luna couldn’t shake a growing sense of dread in the bottom of her gut. She could feel something wrong in the night air, but what? She tilted her head; maybe it was worry over how the town would react to her visit. She smirked, after all, since her last time visiting she had decided to enlist both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in her little scheme.
The chariot continued its way towards the town of Ponyville as the wind blew through Luna's mane. Though promised of a wonderful party that was not full of the Canterlot elite by her sister, she was going to spend it her way. Not in some stuffy banquet that was lacking of the one thing she knew Ponyville would have, a fun night of games and laughter.
That same harvest moon bathed all of Equestria in its light, including the ruins of a once mighty and magnificent castle in what was now the Everfree Forest. The Castle had lost a few more stones and looked a little worse for wear since the fateful battle two years ago. However, it still could not keep out a band of figures who were gathering around a circle, all of them speaking in whispers and looking as if it was an everyday occurrence to be in the heart of a dangerous forest. The cloaks they were wearing covered their faces. The only visible part of their head being the unicorn horn coming out of the small hole, allowing control of their magic.
“Now,” A raspy voice called out as the moonlight rose to finally bath the entire room in its light. One could almost call the light beautiful, magical even, and yet the air was cold and the wind still. It was as if nature itself was holding its breath at this spot in the Everfree Forest. The one that spoke seemed to be the leader; he looked at the center of the circle of unicorns, a young unicorn colt who shivered in fright as the specter of unicorns slowly closed around him. “You should feel honored.” The same raspy voice spoke.
“You will help bring about the true reign of the pony that will lead us all to victory, bringing all lives together in a harmony never seen before. I only regret that you won’t live to see what it is you must do to help us achieve this goal, but sacrifices,” his voice grew detached and cold, “Must, be made.” His horn began to glow and soon every other unicorn was pouring magic into the spell that was forming above the group.
The Colt tried to move but the ropes had been staked down to prevent him from moving from the middle of the circle. His eyes widened more in fear as he could almost hear a dark chuckle as he saw, in the only shadow of the room, a pile of purple glowing smoke appearing, he closed his eyes and prayed for help and safety.
The air became more charged with the feel of what the young unicorn knew was going to be a very powerful spell. It seemed they were working fast and hard. To his own horror, the Colt felt his eyes forced open on their own as he saw a sickly purple glow surrounding him, and he could feel as if something was tightening its grip over his body and squeezing slowly he was unable to shake as it grew tighter and tighter, there was a chuckle, that same chuckle as a voice whispered into his mind, or was it his ear? He couldn’t tell.
“No need to fear just yet,” The voice sounded almost giddy at the pain it was causing. “You won’t die tonight, but you are going to be sent to a world that is far more violent than ours. A world that would never think twice of harming something out of fear and terror, and they are going to become my new puppet, a life for a life, so thank you.” There was a pause before the voice chuckled.
"Since you are moments away from being transferred, and as you can only hear my voice, I shall tell you just what I have planed." There was a chuckle this one deeper, richer, and more alive. "Yes, I can feel it, the power, it is getting closer, soon I shall have what will be a creature of hunger, of anger, the need to control the world with its own might, and with my power, with my might, they will not be opposed, with their imagination for conflict, I shall reign both in this world... and then the homeland of these most delightful creatures." The voice this... nightmare's voice to the Colt sounded truly thankful that he was going to be, what? Sent to a new world? He gulped as he suddenly felt his voice returning but could only scream in pain as the spell was reaching the climax.
At this moment in time, would make for either the safety of the world or doom it to the resurgence of an evil presence, one brave soul took action. The unicorn that stood next to the leader looked at the Unicorn Colt and pushed the ringleader into the Unicorn next to him causing a chain reaction that lasted seconds, yet the screams of pain and red lightning arched around the entire circle, building till it filled the entire room with a blinding light of red that slowly, ever so slowly began to dim into nothing. The room looked worse for the wear, deep gouges were left from the energy of the suddenly disrupted spell, everything was silent, till almost as if nature had decided it was over, and let a small breeze of air as if a giant had suddenly slowly breathed out in a sigh of relief.
The breeze tickled the leaves on some of the vines in the once magnificent throne room; it also seemed to have little thought to disturbed the littered cloaks that had fallen to the ground. A fine dust was slowly being spread; the cloak of the unicorn that had set off the chain reaction was lifted a little showing a golden breastplate with a sun emblem upon the front, the bottom of the breastplate was covered in a pile of dust, smudging the glimmer of the armor. The Dust that had built up around and under the cloaks, creating a strange kind of wall around where the Unicorn colt had been, however unlike the circle, the middle was clean, clear of anything but one thing.
A strange lanky creature lay in the middle of the circle, much larger than the Colt had been. This creature unlike the Unicorns that were there before, looked like it could stand on two legs, was dressed in some strange clothing, all a different shade of tan, starting at his feet, the creature had covering them a light tan covering, which had the pants tucked inside of the footwear. The pants and the rest of his clothing were covered with the strange designs of square dots, rectangles, and Jigsaw like pieces if you got close enough, far enough away, it all blended together to create some kind of camouflages. On his back was a pack with the same type of design, that looked rather fully and bulky, on the top near the head of the creature was a sleeping roll or bag that was latched to the pack with some ropes. His arms were sprawled out in front of him, as his head lay buried into the ground, a helmet with the same design as the rest of his clothing firmly attached to his head, his left hand resting on a long black metal tube that was attacked to some kind of mechanism. The creature slowly breathed in and out looking peaceful and pure innocence, unaware of the breeze that was blowing over him, the Moonlight soft orange glow, or the hissing sound as if some creature was in pain, coming from a pile of ruined armor that was on the raised dais of the throne room. At that moment in time, the room was silent and peaceful.