The large black pegacorn in front of me seemed to splutter in either shock or rage, probably both, as she stared at me. "HOW DARE YOU!" She cried out at last, "I am Nightmare Moon, and I shall not be insulted by a strange and insignificant creature such as yourself!"
I yawned exaggeratedly at her declaration, "Big words for an old banshee." I chuckled, speaking with a confident smirk. "Besides, I doubt there's much you could do to me."
Nightmare's eyes twitched as she looked at me, "Begone." She intoned, turning to walk away as her horn glowed, causing tendril of shadow to bat at me from the side.
I waved a hand at the shadow, pushing it away with a yawn. "Really? You think you can just dismiss me so easily?" I asked with a twisted grin, wrapping her in shadows of my own with a small gesture. "I don't know if I should be insulted or amused."
"Release me this instant!" The black pegacorn cried out angrily, her horn glowing as she struggled against the shadows. "I am the night! You cannot do this!"
I rolled my eyes at her, floating closer. "What is it with you pegacorns and your 'High and Mighty' attitudes? I've got the home field in shadows, deal with it."
Nightmare glared at me, "I am an ALICORN you simpleton!" She corrected me venomously before teleporting a few feet from my shadow's grasp. "And I will kill you if you get in my way!"
Shadofang materialized then, her smoky form rising from the ring. "This is it! This is the source of dark energy!" She exclaimed triumphantly.
I gave her a deadpan stare, "And where were you with that info about ten minutes ago?" I asked, annoyance lacing my tone.
"I was.. Um.. Shut up!" Shadofang retorted with a pout.
"You were napping, weren't you?"
Shadofang opted to remain silent, turning her head away from me.
"I thought so.. But anyways, to the matter at hand." I looked at the black 'Alicorn' with a curious gaze. "I never imagined that one of you would turn to dark magic. Especially after the fuss all of your little subjects caused from something as simple as Shadofang's materialization."
Nightmare narrowed her eyes at me, "Are you deaf? I continue to tell you that I am not Luna. I am Nightmare Moon!" She ranted angrily, "Luna is naught but a presence in the back of my mind! I am in control!"
"So you're possessing her body then? Interesting..." I rubbed my chin as I thought about this new development. "Well as long as you don't try to stop me, I will stay out of the way of.. Whatever it is you're doing." I told her, turning to leave.
"Wait!" The Evil Alicorn exclaimed, "You are a powerful being of darkness to be able to wrap me in shadows..." She grinned evilly, "I propose a partnership. You help me to bring Equestria to Eternal Night and I shall reward you greatly."
I gave it a few moments of thought before shrugging, "Eh, what the heck. I'm bored, so why not?" I offered my hand out for a shake. "You've got yourself a deal Nightmare."
"Excellent!" Nightmare replied, placing her hoof into my hand and shaking it. "However, as you have not introduced yourself yet, what shall I call you?"
"Hmm..." I rubbed my chin in thought. I don't think 'Tony' would quite cut it here, sure it's my name but.. It's not theatrical or villainous enough. Oh, I know! How about.. "Tainted Shade at your service." I said, grinning as I gave a low bow. Sure it's cheesy but, considering the names I've heard so far, that seems to be the norm around here...
"Very well Shade, I sh-" Nightmare was interrupted as the door opened again, quickly teleporting away as seven ponies walked into the Castle. I quickly swept my cloak around my form, hiding myself within the shadows of a nearby pillar.
~~~About Ten Minutes Earlier~~~
"Well?" The Shadowbolt asked Rainbow expectantly.
"You." Rainbow began, causing the three darkly uniformed pegasi to grin. "Thank you, I mean. But I'm afraid I have to say no." She finished, quickly fixing the bridge.
The three Shadowbolts scowled, glaring angrily as they made to attack. "Well that's too bad... But we can't let you pass!" The leader exclaimed as the three darkly clad pegasi lunged at Dash.
Rainbow flinched at the unexpected move, falling backwards as they lunged. She closed her eyes, knowing she couldn't possibly dodge the three at this range
"Rainbow!" Twilight called out fearfully as she watched the three ponies lunge at the chromatic pegasus, running across the bridge with the other four hot on her hooves.
*Poof!* "Huh?" Rainbow wondered at the strange sound and lack of pain as she opened her eyes.
"You okay there?" Lightning asked, looking at the fallen pegasus as a dark and sparkly mist-like substance snaked away unnoticed.
"Pfft, I could've handled them." Rainbow Dash replied, standing up and dusting herself off. "But uh.. Thanks for the help."
Lightning rolled his eyes at her claim, looking at her and the other five mares. "You're welcome. But what are you all doing out here? It's dangerous."
"We know, Nightmare Moon is on the loose." Rainbow replied, grinning. "But don't worry, we'll stop her!"
"Wait, Nightmare Moon?" Lightning paused, raising a brow at her. "Isn't that just an old tale?"
"W-wait.." Rainbow looked at his uniform, "OHMYGSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!! YOU'RE A WONDERBOLT!!!" She exclaimed, flying figure-eights in excitement.
Twilight rolled her eyes and stepped forward, "Nightmare Moon isn't fiction, she's real and she wants to bring eternal night." She looked at the Wonderbolt curiously, "If that's not your reason for being here, then why are you here?"
Lightning looked at the castle, "The Dark Menace is free, and I've tracked him to this location."
"The Dark Menace!?" Twilight asked with wide eyes, "The dark creature that appeared and terrorized Canterlot a thousand years ago!? I thought he was just a myth!"
Lightning gave her a pointed look, "I suppose two myths have been proven fact tonight then." He said.
Twilight looked away sheepishly, blushing slightly at her mistake. "Right.."
Rainbow Dash finally recovered from her excitement, "Well then what are we waiting for!? Let's bust down the door and kick some dark flank!" She declared with a grin.
Lightning shook his head, "I can't let you go in there, it's too dangerous."
"You also can't stop us." Twilight said, glancing at the Wonderbolt.
He sighed, "Fine. If the rest of my team were here then maybe I could stop you, but they're currently occupied..." Lightning lead the way to the castle entrance, "But I'll be going in first, just in case."
~~~Back in the Present- Mane 6 POV~~~
Twilight gazed upon the six arranged stones in awe, "The Elements of Harmony... We've found them!" Fluttershy and Rainbow began carefully taking the stone orbs from their pedestals, gently placing them in front of Twilight. "Careful.. Careful.." the studious mare cautioned.
Pinkie began counting happily, "One, two, three, four.. uh.." She looked at Twilight. "There's only five."
"Where's the Sixth?" Rainbow asked.
"The book said: 'When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed." Twilight responded, laying on her stomach in front of the five stones.
"What in the hay is that supposed ta mean?" Applejack asked, an annoyed frown creasing her lips.
"I'm not sure, but I have an idea." Twilight responded. "Stand back, I don't know what will happen..."
The other four mares left Twilight to concentrate, with Lightning staying to guard her and the five important relics.
~~~My POV~~~
As the purple unicorn concentrated, I watched a tendril of ethereal darkness snake over, picking up the 'Elements' in a whirlwind of magic. "The elements!" The unicorn cried out as she jumped into the tornado, followed by a familiar seeming pegasus.
"I wonder what Nightmare is planning..." I said contemplatively, watching the other five mares rush into the room with exclamations of distress. As they rushed back out I walked into a nearby shadow, following the feeling of Nightmare's dark presence.
Somehow I think I got lost in the shadows somewhere along the way, appearing in a few different locations I know I hadn't meant to... It was actually a bit of a wake-up call since, for all of my power and abilities, it reminded me that I really need to practice with them. I'm pretty sure the only reason I held out against Nightmare is because I was riding a power high or something... And Shadofang forcing knowledge of her powers it into my head. Either way, I should still practice.. Okay, enough mental ranting, I'm starting to sound like John now. A thousand years was not kind to my mental health.
Anyways, I finally arrived in the shadow of a pillar near Nightmare moon. The Purple unicorn from earlier was ranting about something or other, her friends surrounded by rings of floating rock shards. "This place is so weird.." I muttered, watching as the unicorn floated into the air, a rainbow light spinning towards Nightmare.
I flew over to snatch her from the rainbow laser since I knew that the rainbow wasn't anything good for her health, and cursed when it simply bent to follow me. "Just what I need, a homing laser!" I grumbled, dodging the magic rainbow as best as I could. I looked behind me to see if it was still following me when...
"Look out!" Nightmare screeched, pointing ahead of us.
My eye twitched as I looked up, just in time to see the rainbow beam I was flying at, "Crap, not again..."
Surprisingly enough, when I regained consciousness I was not back in the hedge maze. I was still in the castle, with a dark purple Alicorn laying on top of me. I raised an arm up, noticing that I was back to my normal skin tone. I glared at Shadofang, "You knew that the dark energy would make me evil, didn't you?"
The face in the gem grinned back sheepishly, "Well... Evil is a strong word. I knew it would make you more, hmm... Open-minded?" I glared at her and didn't respond, simply opting to put my arm back down. "Oh come now, the silent treatment? That's just childish!" She attempted to chide me.
I didn't even twitch at her declaration, instead letting my gaze wander around the room. I took in the sights of the castle room, the eight shocked ponies, the ruined decor, th- wait, eight shocked ponies?
I glanced over to confirm it, "Hi Sunbutt." I said nonchalantly, waving the arm that wasn't being held in place by a sleeping pony. "Long time no see." the other seven conscious ponies gasped in horror.
"How dare you speak to Princess Celestia like that!?" the two unicorns of the group raged indignantly.
"Dark Menace." The tall alabaster pony replied neutrally. "I would prefer it to have been even longer."
"Dark Menace?" I asked, annoyed. "Is that what I'm known as?"
"You terrorized Canterlot." 'Celestia' replied, still using a neutral tone.
"Oh come on, are you still pissed at me for that incident in town!?" I declared in annoyance, looking at her. "I didn't even do anything, technically speaking! My companion materialized and every single one of those ponies just freaked out!" I pointed at her, "And then you trapped me, completely conscious I might add, In stone for a thousand years! I think I've paid my dues for that and then some!"
"I..." Princess Celestia shook her head, "I didn't realize.. I apologize Dark M-"
"Tony, my name is Tony." I interrupted, rubbing my forehead to stave off any potential headaches. "I refuse to go by that ridiculous and innacurate moniker. The only thing I've ever willingly menaced, while in my right mind at least, has been John's baked goods... And bullies."
Celestia blinked at that, "I see... Then I apologize Tony. I had no idea that you were conscious during your imprisonment."
"That's what you're apologizing for?" I deadpanned, as Moonbutt finally began to stir. "Not the fact that you jumped the gun and imprisoned me for a thousand years!?"
The white Alicorn was saved from replying to that as Luna woke up. "Princess Luna.." She said, recieving a gasp from the smaller pony. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this..."
What is it with this place and 'A thousand years'? Well on the bright side, if it can be considered bright, thousand year imprisonments as the normal punishment must make crime rates pretty low.
"Time to put our differences behind us. we were meant to rule together, little sister." Celestia continued, "Will you accept my friendship?"
"I'm so sorry!" Luna cried out, bounding forward to.. Nuzzle? Yeah, I'd call that a nuzzle. Anyways, she nuzzled her sister with tears in her eyes. "I missed you so much big sister!"
In the meantime I cradled my stomach, which had been used as a springboard by Luna, in pain.
Celestia, of course, responded with "I missed you too." She then turned her attention towards me. "As for you..."
I slowly got to my feet, leaning against a wall for support. "If you're gonna petrify me again, at least put me somewhere that I can't hear that patchworked annoyance's terrible singing." I requested with a small shrug, guessing at what she had planned.
"Actually..." Celestia responded with a small smile, "As you tell it, we had wrongfully imprisoned you in the first place."
"What's the catch? Do I have to stand trial or something?" I wondered.
"Not quite." Celestia replied. "I shall give you the benefit of the doubt, so I shall not imprison you. However..." She looked at me and frowned slightly, "I cannot say that I trust you. So I shall be keeping you under observation until I am absolutely sure that you shall not be a danger to my little ponies."
I raised a brow at her, "So... You're going to have guards follow me around or something?"
"Not quite..." That smirk of hers does not bode well for me... That's the kind of smirk John gets when he's about to pull a prank. "I have a much better idea in mind." ...you know what? On second thought, put me back in the garden.