//------------------------------// // Chapter One // Story: War of the Ages // by Night Princess //------------------------------// Twilight's eyes opened slowly. She was laying on her side on something cold and wet. Everything was blurry and white, and the wind was howling. Next to her was her friends: Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Princess Celestia. Celestia was now no taller than Twilight was, and her mane was a solid pink instead of multicolored pastel. What had happened? It came back to her in a flash. Nightmare Moon was alive and well, and she had diminished Celestia's power and banished Twilight and her friends to this place. Wherever it was.  Twilight craned her neck to get a better look at her surroundings. They were lying on a huge boulder, covered in snow, just like everything in sight. The sky was a deep grey, and Twilight could see nothing but snow for miles.  "Twilight..." Celestia groaned. "What happened?" "I'm not sure," the purple unicorn replied. "Do you know where we are?" Celestia opened her mouth to speak when a booming voice came out of nowhere. "You're in the middle of the Equestrian Mountains, miles away from any civilization. I have sent you here because I do not wish to kill you...yet." The rest of the ponies sat up, terrified looks on their faces.  "Oh, Celestia. How long I have waited  for this day! How long I have yearned to see that horrified expression on your face." Nightmare Moon cackled.  "We're not afraid of you!" Rainbow snarled. "Let us go so we can fight you, you big coward! "Rainbow Dash, you and your silly loyalty." Nightmare's voice said disapprovingly. "I wonder how loyal you will be once your friends are dead." "If you touch a hair on their heads, I swear I'll-" Celestia threatened.  The voice became louder. "Silly sister, I will only hurt them once I have done away with you, dear. And after I have used the Elements to enslave Equestria!" "You and wut army?" Applejack demanded. "There's only one of y'all and seven of us!" "Applejack, don't lie. You represent Honesty, don't you?"  "We defeated you once, we can do it again!" Rarity added confidently.  "You really think so, do you? Oh, you silly foals. I am not working alone this time, as my mistake was when I first tried to take over. No, I have gathered an unstoppable army, hiding in every corner, watching you while you sleep. You are idiots to think you can defeat them!" The voice faded away. "Goodbye, Tia, and good luck trying to escape!" Silence. The ponies heard nothing but the wind howling.  "We have to stop her!" Twilight said to break the silence.  "Do we have to?" Fluttershy hid behind her hooves.  "Of course we do! She's a big fat mean meany-pants!" Pinkie Pue insisted.  "We need to take the Elements of Harmony back before she uses them to destroy Equestria," Celestia said softly. "Before it's too late. It may be too late already. With all six of the Elements, she may be unstoppable." "But what if she only has five?" Twilight opened her hoof and revealed a slightly dented tiara.  "The Element of Magic!" Celestia cried. "How did you get it in time?" "I grabbed it right before Luna went through the transformation. She was telling us about how Nightmare inside of her, craving the Elements, and-" Twilight stopped. "What happened to Luna?" The princess hung her head. "Dead, most likely." She turned away. Everypony stayed silent as Celestia grieved her sister. After several moments, the princess turned back to them, her eyes red with tears.  "We need to stop Nightmare Moon. For Luna's sake." The ponies nodded in agreement. "For Luna." Celestia suddenly looked up and her eyes grew wide. "We are not alone in this mountain. I can sense something. Something that won't exactly fight on our side." "How can you tell?" Twilight asked, almost afraid to ask.  Her question was answered by an ear-splitting shriek. It sounded like somepony dragging nails across a blackboard. The ponies screamed.  "What in the hay was that?" Applejack cried.  "I don't want to find out!" Twilight leapt to her feet and, with the rest of the ponies following, galloped down the boulder as fast as she could.  They jumped off the rock and ran down the mountain, sending chunks of snow, ice and rock down the mountain towards them.  Finally they found an opening in the mountain, leading into a cave. The ponies dashed inside and stood very still.  "Did we lose it?" Fluttershy asked nervously.  "My hair!" Rarity wailed.  "Quiet, everypony!" Celestia ordered. "Do you hear something?"  Twilight listened. She could hear faint thumps off in the distance, getting louder with each one.  They huddled together and dared not to even breath.  The thumps stopped. Everything, even the wind, was silent.  The ponies were about to breath a sigh of relief when they heard the terrifying screech again, and the whole side of the cave was ripped off.  They screamed with terror. Standing in front of them was a huge monster, with the head of a bull and the body and claws of a bear. However, unlike the animals it was similar to, it was a deep black, except for its yellow, glowing eyes. It seemed to be made out of darkness itself.  It was much bigger than a house. It seemed to be the size of the mountain itself.  "Run!" Rainbow Dash shrieked. The seven ponies ran out of the cave and down the mountain, with Celestia leading. They stopped abruptly in front of a huge cliff, more like a canyon. It seemed to lead straight into the center of the Earth.  The monster shrieked and leapt up, landing with a huge thud between the ponies and the cliff.    It grabbed a huge boulder the size of Sugar Cube Corner and held it above its head as if it were a pebble, ready to hurl it at the group.  "Get behind me, girls!" Celestia screamed, as if she were a mother protecting her children. The ponies obeyed, bewildered.   Celestia, as small as she was, stepped up to the monster, and, using her magic, took hold of the boulder it held. Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but gasp when Celestia slammed the rock into the monster's chest,  knocking it to the ground.  It was halfway off the cliff, shrieking louder than anything Twilight ever heard before.  "Go to Canterlot and take the Elements from Nightmare before its too late!" Celestia cried.  The monster, practically hanging off the cliff,  clutched the mountain with one hand. With the other, he grabbed the Princess.  "Celestia!" The ponies screamed.  "Run, foals!" She cried.  The monster's grip on the mountain weakened, and it fell, with Celestia still clutched in it's hand.  They fell down, down, down, until the six couldn't even see them.  Twilight felt as if her heart would fly out of her chest. Princess Celestia was gone. They were on their own.