Chapter 6
Nightshade had taken control of the castle, and the Nightmares had all been taken care of. The throne room had been remodeled with dark magic to suit their needs and specifications. He turned to his three comrades, Erebus, Moros, and Pseudea, they were all in pony form.
"Has Amalthea been taken care of?" Nightshade asked. He paced in front of them as they stood before him in a line. Erebus, who had the form of a Unicorn with a black mane and a midnight blue hide, gave a curt nod.
"We've chained her in the lowest level of the dungeons." he said.
"Excellent. Moros, report on our progress." Moros had the form of a pony stallion, the color of slate gray.
"All Nightmares are imprisoned and accounted for. The other Tenebris are filling up before they head out to continue with the plan." said Moros. "With a bit more power, we'll be able to remove the seal on the king."
"Good. Pseudea, has there been any disturbances?" Pseudea was a pegasus stallion with a long, dark blue mane and a black hide, gave a playful smile.
"There's somepony trying to sneak there way in." he said in a sing-song voice. "Coming to rescue the queen no doubt, the portal is going to open."
"Really, then we should prepare a proper greeting for them, shouldn't we?" asked Nightshade deviously. "It only seems like the right thing to do. We'll even give them the personal tour."
"Do you think it's wise Nightshade?" asked Erebus. "Shouldn't we just cast a spell on them like we did with the Nightmares?"
"You're no fun Erebus!" whined Pseudea. "It's been millennia since we had any fun, or terrorized anypony. Let us enjoy ourselves before we get to the serious business. Right Master Nightshade?" Nightshade gave a nod.
"Something like that, but in truth, I want to kill two birds with one stone." he said. The others were befuddled, trying to figure out what Nightshade meant. Nightshade sighed, seeing that he'd have to explain it to them.
"Look, we need more power if we are to ever break that accursed seal, why these Nightmares provide sustenance, they don't give off the same filling kind of energy as dreamer. So, we'll turn the dreamers against one another, placing them in their darkest dreams and eat up their nightmares. We'll have disposed of the interference, eaten a good meal, and come up with the needed power to free our king." The Tenebris agreed with this plan.
"Oh, you're so brilliant Master Nightshade!" cooed Pseudea. "Rest assured that I won't fail!"
"I'll make sure that these idiots don't fail." said Erebus. Moros and Pseudea glared at him.
"Hey!" they shouted in unison. Nightshade grinned wickedly.
"Alright, Erebus, you'll be in charge of those two."
"What? Master Nightshade, you can't leave us with this guy!" cried Pseudea, having a fit. Moros on the other hoof was indifferent.
"I'll do it, though I will most likely fail." he said in a flat monotone.
"Get ready for their arrival, split them up so that it'll be easier to pick them off one by one." said Nightshade. The Tenebris bowed to him, then left to begin their task. Everything was coming together perfectly, and victory was fast approaching.
The girls had packed essentials into saddle bags (Discord didn't bring anything because with his power he didn't need to), and had assembled in Twilight's castle library, where Princess Luna was ready to perform the spell and open up the portal.
"Be careful," said Luna. "This will be a very different Aestas, one that is twisted and under the Tenebris' control. While there, their illusions will be strong, not unlike the solid illusion from the Garden of Shadows. Be on your guard, no matter what."
"Yes, yes, I think we all get the picture Luna." said Discord nonchalantly. Twilight shot Discord a look and said to Princess Luna,
"We'll be careful princess." Luna gave a nod, her horn lit up and grew brighter as she opened up a portal.
"Wait!" cried a voice. Everypony turned to see Fluttershy running toward them.
"Fluttershy, what are you-?" But Discord was interrupted, by a sudden hug. Fluttershy and looked up at him.
"I wanted to say good bye, and wish you all good luck." said Fluttershy. She pulled away from Discord and went to each of the girls. She exchanged brief words with Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, and gave Twilight a hug like the one she gave Discord. She then looked to Eve and hugged her as well.
"Take care of yourself." she whispered in Eve's ear. Eve smiled.
"I will." she said. Discord frowned and folded his arms, thinking that Eve was hugging Fluttershy for too long. He used his magic to pull Eve away and placed an arm around her.
"Thank you for your gracious good byes my dear, but we really must be going." said Discord.
"Oh, I understand, I didn't mean to take up your time." said Fluttershy. She stood back as one by one the girls got into the portal. Discord actually tossed Eve in before smiling sweetly at Fluttershy.
"Be back in a bit!" he called, and ducked into the portal. Luna's horn stopped glowing and the portal was starting to close, when something shot out of it. Black tendrils that forced the portal open and shot out of it. Two tendrils restrained Luna and kept her from defending herself. The rest shot out at Fluttershy. She let out a scream as the tendrils pulled her through the portal, which snapped shut behind them. The tendrils around Luna dissipated, the spell had weakened them, but they had enough strength to drag somepony back. Luna looked at where the portal had been with worry and fear.
"This is not good." said Princess Luna gravely. Which was a bit of an understatement.
There was no trouble going through the portal, Twilight, Sunset, Starlight, Eve and Discord landed in Aestas. There was a drastic, and noticeable change to it. The sky was like a black void that could swallow them up like the mouth of a titanic beast. The once lush and soft grass was dead and almost barren. Thorns (like the ones Discord had made) were scattered around like weeds. Eve let out a strangled gasp when she saw her old village and the castle. Gaping holes had been blown into the roofs and some of the houses, dark crystals could be seen as well.
"No...." whispered Eve. She galloped toward the town without waiting for the others.
"Eve, wait!" called Twilight, following after her. Starlight and Sunset went too, leaving Discord to heave a sigh and go with them. Eve sped down, faster and faster, she needed to see if there were any survivors, and if they were alright. Her pace slowed down, as she trotted through the quiet and desolate ruins of the town. When she got near one of the crystals, she stopped and was horrified by it. Inside was a Nightmare, lying unconscious. She could see wisps of something coming out of it, making the crystal even stronger.
"What is that?" asked Twilight warily, the others approached behind her. Eve's throat tightened as she said what it was doing.
"I-it's a prison....for the Nightmares, it's draining away their essence. What gives them their own abilities and gives them life." Eve felt her face begin to pale as she recognized each and every Nightmare that was trapped. Calypso, Coal, Starburst, and even Starla. While Eve didn't like the mean mare that much, she'd never want her to suffer something as horrible as this. Starlight Glimmer drew closer to one of the crystals, looking through it.
"I can't believe the Tenebris managed to do all of this." she said. Sunset looked to Discord.
"Can't you free them with your magic?" she asked.
"I would," said Discord, "But there wouldn't be much point. If I freed them now, they'd only end up captured again. I'm afraid they're gonna have to wait a little while before we rescue them."
"Let's try going to the castle." said Twilight. "They might be holding the queen there, she'll know what to do." Eve was barely listening, unable to look away from her fellow Nightmares. What had she done?! If this was the fate of the Nightmares, then what would it be like for the dreamers?
"Hey, Eve, are you coming?" asked Sunset Shimmer. Eve lifted her head, and saw that the other had already moved ahead of her.
"I'm coming." she said. She looked back at the the crystals one last time and then headed for the castle.
"You idiot!" yelled Erebus. He was directing his rage on Pseudea. "What possessed you to bring that...that dreamer here!" He pointed a hoof at Fluttershy, who was coiled up by the black tendrils emanating from Pseudea's mane. The Tenebris pegasus pouted.
"Don't get all huffy with me Erebus, it took a lot out of me to bring this Pegasus here, I'm feeling faint from even holding her like this." he said, putting a dramatic hoof to his head. "And besides, this little thing is a gift to Master Nightshade. When he sees the dreamer I caught just for him, he'll be so pleased with me, he'll make me his closest comrade." A dreamy look took over his eyes, while Erebus and Moros remained unamused.
"That'll never happen." said Moros glumly.
"What are we supposed to do with this dreamer anyway?" asked Erebus. "Wait until Nightshade comes and deliver her to him?"
"When you say it like that, it sounds almost foolish." said Pseudea.
"That's because it was foolish to begin with." said Moros.
"Ugh! I never!"
"Both of you, shut up!" yelled Erebus. He appeared to be in a meditative state, his eyes flashing as he snapped out of it. "They have arrived, the other dreamers." Fluttershy was filled with fear, looking back and forth between the Tenebris, what were they going to do to her and her friends?
"My, that was quick, what should we do?"
"We'll follow on Nightshade's plan. Intercept them, and break them away from each other." said Erebus.
"What about the pegasus?" asked Moros, tilting his head to Fluttershy. She let out a muffled cry.
"Leave her here for now, after we complete our assignment we'll hand her over to Nightshade. I'm sure he'll figure out what to do with her." The tendrils loosened around Fluttershy, only to toss her to the ground. Thorns shot up, trapping her in a dome. She watched as the Tenebris turned back into their smoke forms and disappeared.
"Hello?!" she called out as loudly as she could. "Can anypony hear me?! Somepony, help!" Sadly however, her cries were in vain, nopony was around to be able to hear her. Fluttershy was all alone.
Sunset and Starlight noticed how Eve was lagging behind the group, her head hung low. They could see the guilt and regret that weighed down on her, and knew she needed some help. Both slowed their pace down a bit, so that they could walk alongside Eve.
"Feeling okay?" asked Sunset. Eve didn't answer, or look up to acknowledge that she heard her. Starlight tried to get through to her instead.
"You know, if something is on your mind, you can always tell us." she said. But Eve remained silent, she didn't feel like talking. How could she? It felt better to keep it all inside, to punish herself for everything.
"Eve-"
"Finally, we're here." said Discord. Sunset wasn't able to say what she wanted, as they'd gotten to the tall castle. The splendor and high polished shine it once had had faded, becoming as dull as rock. There was no sound except for the band of five that traveled through. Their own steps echoing in the deathly silence. A light breeze blew through, circling and sweeping across the ground.
"Remember, there could be Tenebris lurking around, so be on your guard." said Twilight. The wind picked up a little, playing with the girls' manes.
"There's nopony in sight, hard to believe nopony noticed us." said Sunset Shimmer. The wind blew a bit more violently, circling the ponies.
"We've already noticed you." said a disembodied voice.
"It's a trap!" shouted Discord in a white space uniform. Twilight gave a look.
"Really?!" she cried.
"What? I've always wanted to do that. Maybe not always, but you know what I mean." he said popping out of the outfit. The wind became faster and faster, resulting in a cyclone that started to pull them up into the air. Discord however, able to defy logic, remained firmly on the ground and acted as if the wind was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. He stretched out his arms to hold onto the tails of Sunset, Starlight and Twilight.
"Wait! What about Eve?!" cried Twilight. Eve was spinning round and round, flying higher and higher up and screaming all the way.
"Sorry princess, but if I let go to get her, you or your doppelgangers will end up flying away too." said Discord. Sunset looked up at Eve, her pale blue eyes narrowed.
"That's a chance I'm willing to take." said Sunset. She pulled her tail free, and went up after Eve.
"Sunset!" cried Starlight, who also freed herself and tried to get Sunset.
"Girls!" Twilight cried, but Discord put Twilight under his arm. "Hey, let me go!"
"So sorry Twilight, but I think it's best if you stay close." said Discord. The wind started to die down, and the girls were long out of sight. When it cleared, Twilight and Discord were no longer at the castle, but instead some kind of forest. It looked like a larger version of the Garden of Shadow.
"Twilight, I don't think we're in Aestas anymore." said Discord. Twilight frowned, her eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"Oh, be quiet."