“…And then there was the time the princess taught me how to cast a gravitational inversion spell! It took me an hour to figure out how to get her throne off the ceiling!” Twilight narrated with a hearty laugh. Speaking of Princess Celestia and her experiences being her student had done wonders to help her loosen up, especially after a day like the one she’d just trudged through.
Her audience, on the other hoof, wasn’t so receptive of her dragging out the princess’ entrance. Some ponies had eventually lost interest, while others were beginning to trail off to sleep, thanks in no small part to having stayed up to watch the sunrise.
At least Rainbow Dash, who stood near the back of the crowd, was enjoying Twilight’s anecdotes if her stifled laughter was any indication.
Standing just barely off to Twilight’s side, Mayor Mare loudly cleared her throat. “Um, Miss Sparkle? Perhaps we should, er…move things along?” she proposed with a nervous grin.
Twilight blinked. “…Oh!” Realizing that the sun should’ve been raised several minutes ago, and by extension that she made Princess Celestia wait backstage longer than necessary, she blushed deeply. “Heh. Uh, m-my apologies, everypony,” Twilight offered the audience in mild mortification. She straightened herself and brought a hoof up to her mouth. “Ahem! Without further ado, it is my great honor to introduce to you all the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good and wise bringer of harmony to all of Equestria… The greatest mentor anypony could ask for… Princess Celestia!!!”
Fluttershy’s choir of songbirds tweeted another piece of grand fanfare to herald the alicorn’s arrival, and all eyes fell on the curtains of the upper balcony as Rarity drew them open.
And then…silence.
A deafening stillness fell swiftly upon the pavilion when eager pony eyes expecting to see their alabaster princess in all of her glory instead saw…nothing. For a handful of moments, a vacant stage was all anypony saw.
Unrest quickly followed. Murmurs of ranged volume blanketed the town hall, as every pony present wished to voice their ever rising concern. Among them was one Twilight Sparkle. “Princess…?” she finally managed to push out from her stiffening throat.
Mayor Mare stepped up to quell the audience’s disquiet, hoping doing so will help with her own. “Everypony, remain calm,” she told them, “there must be a reasonable explanation!”
“Ooh, I love guessing games!” Pinkie was heard spouting somewhere in the crowd. “Is she hiding?!” An Earth pony is suddenly hoisted a few feet off the floor. “Yoo-hoo! Princess!” That pony is then lowered down, and then a unicorn goes up seconds later. “Olly-olly-oxen-free!”
“Miss Rarity,” Mayor Mare began to the indigo-maned unicorn above, “could you please check in on the princess?”
“Of course,” replied Rarity, who proceeded to disappear behind the curtains.
Everything’s fine, Twilight told herself. She probably just got a tangle in her mane or something, and Shining Armor’s helping her comb it out. You’ll see. Everything’s fine. As she recited those two words over and over in her head, Twilight found herself unconsciously glancing up toward the moon. Its light cast down through apertures in the domed ceiling, giving the hall some much needed illumination. Twilight grew even more edgy at the fact that the Mare in the Moon’s silhouette was gone from its surface. Everything’s…fine. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Rarity finally returned, and Twilight perked up a little at the thought of Princess Celestia following her out shortly.
“She’s gone!”, Twilight heard Rarity say…
…and she grew deathly cold.
My Little Pony: The Key to Friendship
~ Chapter 6: Enter the Darkness ~
The crowd’s murmurs had now escalated to that of alarmed chatter. Everypony was wondering where Princess Celestia was, and nopony had the answer, least of all Twilight who, since her brother – the Captain of the royal guard – was also missing, was the target of choice for much of this line of questioning.
“Where’s Princess Celestia?!”
“You’re her student, aren’t you?! Shouldn’t you know where she is?!”
“Oh, goodness! Did something happen to her?!?”
“Everyone, please calm down!” Twilight cried back at the throng of ponies. It was amazing how quick they were to break down in panic at the mere idea of something happening to their ruler. Celestia truly was loved and depended on, the unicorn thought. “Your mayor and I are on top of the situation, alright?” Twilight mentally scolded herself as soon as those words left her lips; she realized she just passed the buck onto the already stressed-out mayor. Nevertheless, she turned her back to the panicked ponies and made her way over to where some of the royal guards stood. Everypony wanted answers, and Twilight was one of them. “Excuse me, sir?” she said to the Pegasus in gold armor in the middle, trying her hardest to keep composure. “Do you know where Captain Shining Armor is?”
“No, ma’am,” the guard said as he shook his head. “The captain elected to stay close to the princess at all times today and ordered the rest of us to remain on standby. I imagine wherever the princess is, he’s with her.”
“And neither he nor the princess said anything about stepping out for a bit? Or if they planned on stopping somewhere on their way here?”
He shook his head again. “Sorry, ma’am.”
Twilight thought it impossible for her unease to worsen. She was dead wrong. She felt like she was on the verge of fainting. And not just uneasy now either; she was starting to get just the tiniest bit angry. Whatever was going on, both Princess Celestia and Shining Armor were being secretive about it. But why? To what end (or ends)? Not only were they keeping Twilight out of it, but also Shining Armor’s own subordinates. The next time she saw her brother, Twilight would make sure to—
~CRASH~!
A great, earth-shattering crash interrupted Twilight’s thoughts. It shook every stallion and mare in the pavilion to the core and turned their attentions skyward. There, they saw a white and blue figure come crashing in through the ceiling and plummet straight down toward them. The ponies at the center of the floor scattered outward as the figure, and the chunks of roof debris it brought down with it, slammed into the ground. Those nearest to the resulting crater coughed and wheezed in the dust, and gasped heavily at what they saw:
A white unicorn stallion, body bruised, armor fractured.
“SHINY!!!” someone shrieked through the crowd as they made their way through.
Within seconds, Twilight and Spike ran up to the fallen pony. Kneeling down, Twilight took his head and upper body into her hooves. “Shining Armor! Are you okay?!”
In his little sister’s warm hold, Shining Armor winced in pain. He struggled to open even a single eye, and his vision was somewhat blurry. “T-Twily…” he groaned.
“I’m here, Shiny!” Twilight squealed, lightly squeezing one of her brother’s hooves in hers. “Who did this to you?! Where’s Princess Celestia?!?”
The feeble stallion ignored her frantic questioning and simply told her through clenched teeth, “Run… You’ve…gotta get out of here… She’s too powerful…!”
“‘She’?! ‘She’ who?!” Before Twilight could (or would) receive the answer to this, she felt a strong chill wash over her.
Similarly, many ponies in the hall started shivering. “Brrrr! Good golly, did it get a mite cold all of a sudden!” Applejack exclaimed. “Ain’t it supposed t’ be th’ middle o’ summer?”
Just then, a loud yelp from Pinkie Pie and a chain of deep gasps saw the early morning’s second arrival: at the balcony where Princess Celestia was expected to appear was a cloud of dark-blue starry mist. The mist grew as it entered the town hall, and in a wide outward expulsion of air, a mare with a black coat and gaseous mane emerged.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh, no… It’s her!” she said in a terrified whisper. “Nightmare Moon!”
The mare of darkness looked over the assembly of ponies with a pleased smile. “Ahhh… My beloved subjects…” she crooned to them, her voice low and soft. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious, little sun-loving faces. Truly I’ve missed them these long thousand years. Or rather…the look of abject terror on them.”
Rainbow Dash leaped up from her spot in the crowd. “What did you do with our princess?!” the cyan Pegasus shouted, ready to pounce on the black mare at a moment’s notice.
Nightmare Moon lightly chuckled. “Why, am I not royal enough for you? Do you not know who I am?” The wicked alicorn of darkness suddenly sprang from her perch on the balcony with a bountiful leap and hung in the air for several seconds before coming in for a landing on the floor, a few feet away from Twilight, Spike, and Shining Armor. The ponies around her backed away even further until their backs were practically to the wall. She watched closely as they did this. “Is my crown no longer of any worth,” she began to them again, “now that I’ve been imprisoned for a millennium’s time?”
“I know who you are!”
All eyes, including Nightmare Moon’s, fell on Twilight, who’d made her voice heard.
“I know exactly who you are!” Twilight said with a glare. “I know the legend! I saw the signs! You’re the ‘Mare in the Moon’ – Nightmare Moon!”
Yet another gasp filled the room at the sound of the pony of legend’s name. Nightmare Moon raised an intrigued eyebrow at this and took a tentative step forward. “Well, well, well, somepony who remembers me. I’m so flattered. Might I have your name, my little pony?”
“…Twilight Sparkle.”
“‘Twilight Sparkle’…” She sounded out the name, intentionally stressing each syllable, and then remarked, “I sense Celestia’s light within you.”
“So you do know where the princess is! Tell me before I—!”
Twilight was cut off when a large pony stepped in front of her. “Don’t even think about it, Twily.”
“Shining Armor!”
“Knights of Canterlot, fall in!” the captain cried out. And almost as soon as he did, a unit of four royal guards – two unicorns, two Pegasi – emerged from the crowd and advanced upon Nightmare Moon in circle formation. “You made a big mistake dropping me here instead of finishing me off, Nightmare,” said Shining Armor to her as he drew the Oathbrand. In kind, each of the royal guards that encircled her also drew his own Keyblade. “Now, you’re surrounded!”
Nightmare Moon’s smile was quickly replaced by an annoyed frown. “Learn your place, you impudent foal!” she snarled. Her mane and tail of glittery vapor drew in toward her body before swelling and expanding out, releasing a great wave of dark energy that blew harshly over the royal guards and many of the surrounding ponies. Shining Armor shielded himself and his sister from the violent expulsion of power. To most, it was like being hit by nothing but a strong gust of wind. But those like Twilight and Shining Armor knew different: the darkness in Nightmare Moon was immense.
Once the Keyblade wielding knights had been blown far enough away that they weren’t in her personal space, Nightmare Moon brought a hoof up and slammed it on the ground, causing a light tremor that knocked some ponies off balance. The shadow she cast suddenly took on a life of its own, taking the form of a small cluster of…
“Heartless!!!”
The town hall exploded with chaos. Screams of fright ran rampant, and ponies bolted left and right as they tried to put as much distance between themselves and those black-coated creatures as possible. Applejack and Rainbow Dash did what they could to ward off the invading Nightfoals, as did the Key-bearing royal guards. Fluttershy hid herself away underneath a table, while Pinkie Pie tended to a lightheaded Rarity.
The ponies darted for the door, but quickly found their means of escape cut off by Nightmare Moon and her Heartless.
“Leaving so soon?” she said to the trembling equines, some of whom had broken down in fear-induced tears. She chuckled softly through her nostrils at this sight.
“Leave them alone!”
In that instant, Twilight stepped before the sadistic mare. Within the grip of her magical aura, she held the Academia confidently. She drew her head back and to the right before twisting her neck left; the Keyblade followed her gesture and hurled itself at a nearby row of Heartless. They evaporated into black dust, and the cornered ponies took this opening to flee toward the opposing end of the hall. Having accomplished this, the purple-coated unicorn glared back at Nightmare Moon.
“Another bearer?” the alicorn noted. “Gracious, they’re just handing them out like party favors these days, aren’t they?”
“I… I’m not afraid of you!”
Nightmare Moon suppressed the urge to laugh. “Don’t insult my intelligence, little filly. You are very much afraid, as you should be. You know who I am; therefore, you must also know why I’m here. And what I’m capable of.”
Twilight stood her ground, in spite of her steadily growing fears.
“So it’s a fight you desire?” Nightmare Moon snorted. “If you were only so worthy of my time. How can you hope to stand against me…when your dear princess could not?”
The unicorn’s eyes widened considerably. “P-Princess Celestia?! What… What did you…?!”
“It’s rather amusing, now that I think about it. I wanted to give her a front row seat to my rise to power. But I imagine it’d be difficult to view Equestria from confinement in the sun when the sun will never again rise. Quite the conundrum, wouldn’t you agree?”
“You… You b-banished her to the…?!” Twilight’s mind reeled from the realization. Just as Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon a thousand years ago, so too did she now imprison Celestia in her very own sun. Twilight’s eyes started to water when the thought of never seeing the princess again occurred to her, and her blood began to boil. She gritted her teeth. “MONSTER!!!” she screamed, readying her Keyblade and galloping at Nightmare Moon at her top speed.
“Twily, wait!” Shining Armor called out from somewhere to her rear, but his voice barely registered to her. “She has a…!”
Twilight let loose a great cry of anger, further drowning out her brother’s voice, and brought her weapon down upon Nightmare Moon with all the force she could muster…
…only to have the loud clang of steel on steel ring in her ears.
“!!!”
The sight of the foreign Keyblade caused Twilight’s mind to go momentarily blank. The blade reached at least half a foot longer than hers, and its features were warped and menacing. Indigo and metallic gold comprised its color scheme, and the turquoise eye at the blade’s head that matched Nightmare Moon’s own eyes seemed to stare straight back at her.
The wind picked up again, and Twilight felt another fierce rush of black wind blow over her – a second glimpse at the sheer amount of power Nightmare Moon commanded. She also felt an intense pressure push against her Keyblade…and cracks started to form in the shaft. Twilight gasped at this and glanced up into Nightmare Moon’s eyes; the turquoise in them was now a brilliant white. Twilight’s knees shook.
The stories she heard about the Mare in the Moon growing up had for a short time given her bad dreams, but they were nothing compared to the real deal. She felt so small, so utterly terrified of this…thing…standing before her.
She couldn’t even react accordingly when the alicorn turned her weapon on its side and swung at Twilight to blow her away. The unicorn pony flew back several feet before the ground met her. When she moved to pick herself up, she craned her head up to see Nightmare Moon standing above her and looking scornfully down at her with those same glowing white eyes.
“Yet another audacious foal,” the black alicorn hissed, “who fails to learn her place…!”
Twilight’s body failed her. W-Why?! Why won’t my body move?!
The evil mare brought her blade up over her head to deal the finishing blow…
C’mon, move! Please!
“…Let this be a lesson to all that I am not to be crossed.”
Twilight clenched her eyes shut and awaited the inevitable. PRINCESS CELESTIA!!!
“Argh!”
When the sound of Nightmare Moon crying out in irritation hit her flopped down ears, Twilight cracked one eye open and looked up. There, she saw something small and scaly scratching feverishly at her head and helmet.
“You leave Twilight alone, you big bully!”
Her eyes opened fully. “Spike!”
Sure enough, the purple unicorn’s number one assistant had grabbed onto Nightmare Moon’s head and was holding on for dear life. “Twilight, run!”
The muscles in her body now less tensed, Twilight found she was indeed able to move again. She hopped to her hooves and moved a handful of feet away before looking back to the wrestling mare and dragon.
The black winged unicorn lashed her vaporous tail around Spike’s neck, not tightly enough to choke him but such that he was suspended above the floor. She brought him around to look straight into his eyes. Strangely, Nightmare Moon found it difficult to be angry; after being opposed by Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor – both formidable Keyblade wielders – to then be beset upon by one so diminutive was humorous. Her lips curled upward, and she said to him, “Rambunctious little reptile, aren’t you?”
“Try and hurt Twilight, and I’ll show you ‘rambunctious’!” Spike warned before belching a tremendous plume of green flame in her face.
It barely singed her. “Oh-ho! As fiery as the flames your race breathes! I like it!”
Twilight brandished the Academia. “Let him go!”
“BE STILL, WHELP!” The white glow returned to Nightmare Moon’s eyes…
…and once again, Twilight was stricken immobile. “Nngh! Can’t…move!”
That done, she looks back to Spike and grins again. “…You and Twilight Sparkle clearly mean much to each other. You could be of use to me.”
“Forget it!” the little dragon spat. “I’ll never help you!”
“You misunderstand. I wasn’t giving you a choice.”
Just then, using the tail she had wrapped around Spike as a channel, Nightmare Moon poured her dark essence into him, engulfing him in black, translucent fire. The little dragon screamed.
Twilight watched in horror and helplessness as one of her favorite creatures in Equestria was subject to this suffering. “SPIKE!!!”
As the flames died away, Nightmare Moon’s grip on Spike lessened, and she allowed him to fall to the floor. But the process was only half over. To Twilight’s further horror, her best friend’s body began to transform. He had grown several times bigger. His neck and tail grew longer. His arm and leg muscles became toned. The green spines that lined the top of his head like a Mohawk became longer, sharper, and crooked. And to top it all off, the purple of his scales had turned a much darker hue.
“…S-Spike…?”
The almost unrecognizable dragon slammed his front claws on the ground, causing everypony nearest to him to jump. He then turned around to look at Twilight; the pony, now smaller than him by comparison, was petrified by the look of complete wrath in those orbs of emerald. He roared at her.
A cruel smile stretched across Nightmare Moon’s features as she stepped forward. “I’m afraid you’ll find that not a shred of what made your little friend an individual remains. He’s become one with the darkness. He’s mine now.”
Twilight’s limbs grew limp, and she fell to her haunches. “No… Please… Not Spike too…” she whimpered, eyes welling with tears.
“There. Right there. That feeling you have? Of utter misery and despair? Learn to embrace it, for it will be all that you know. All that any of you will know, should I again be opposed.” The wicked mare looked out to the throng of ponies. “Listen well, little ponies! Remember this day fondly, for it was your last! From this moment forth, the night will last forever!” Nightmare Moon’s evil cackles filled the night air. The starry vapor that comprised her mane and tail rose and swirled, enveloping herself and the subjugated Spike. And as swiftly and mysteriously as she arrived, they vanished.
Silence blanketed the town hall once again, and Shining Armor cried out to his little sister as her body finally shut down and she lost consciousness.