Chapter 1
Far away, hidden from the watchful eye of the princesses, the Tenebris dwelt within the thick shadows as they made the final preparations for the attack they planned to unleash on the unsuspecting populace of Equestria. Nightshade, the high general and King Morpheus' most trusted servant, supervised over the Tenebris, taking note of how well they were progressing. After the embarrassing defeat at the hand of Moonlight Eve and her dreamer friends, King Morpheus had instructed his subjects to work tirelessly these last few months, so that when the right moment arrived, they would strike, and bring about their vengeance on all the Nightmares for hindering his plans.
"Um, Nightshade?" Nightshade whipped around to face Pseudea, his fellow general and comrade.
"What is it?" asked Nightshade.
"The king wishes to see you." answered Pseudea. "He said it was very important."
"Very well then." And without another word, Nightshade drifted off, toward the chamber where their king had taken residence.
"Enter!" King Morpheus beckoned.
Nightshade did as he was commanded and entered into the chamber. The towering form of the king gazed down upon him, his luminescent eyes glowing with a kind of fire as he spoke.
"Nightshade...are the preparations nearly complete?" he asked.
Nightshade nodded. "Yes, my king. All is going accordingly to your plan."
"Excellent!" Morpheus hissed. "The time where we shall claim our vengeance is nearly upon us. Once day turns to night, we shall strike, and begin to plunge this world and all the dreamers within it into an eternal nightmare. All will be mine, and you, my faithful general, shall be greatly rewarded."
"Thank you, my king, you are too kind." said Nightshade respectfully, bowing before his great master. "But, if I may, King Morpheus, there's a matter I must discuss with you."
"You may speak." said Morpheus.
"It regards that Nightmare, Moonlight Eve, and her dreamer companions." he said.
"Yes, yes, what of them?"
"I wish to know, my lord, how they should be dealt with. My fellow generals and I tried to lead them astray, but they were able to break from our control. There's no doubt that they'll once again try to hinder our plans, so tell me, great king, what must I do?"
King Morpheus was silent as he pondered over this, then, he finally answered, "You make a valid point, Nightshade. Thus, I'd like you to personally assist me in dealing with these little...annoyances."
"I am at your disposal, my king." said Nightshade humbly.
"Good. Now, that Nightmare and those dreamers, while they may have been able to defeat us, and while they may currently pose a minor threat to our plans, we can still have a use from them."
"How do you mean?"
King Morpheus grinned a horrible grin and replied, "Quite simple. We shall use them as the tools we need in order to secure our rightful place in this realm. And here is how we shall do it."
Once Nightshade had finished his audience with the king, he left the chamber, appearing quite serious as he passed by the other Tenebris.
"So, what did the king want?" asked Pseudea, coming up to Nightshade's side.
Nightshade gave him a hard, narrow-eyed glare. "That is none of your concern." he said, a distinct edge in his tone. "What is your concern, is keeping an eye on the workers just like the rest of the generals are. Once nightfall hits, tell Moros and Erebus that there is a meeting, and that they must be there as soon as possible."
Pseudea gave him a salute. "You can count on me, sir." and with that, Psuedea hurried off to do as he was instructed.
Nightshade heaved a sigh as he looked out over the lower Tenebris, as the were finishing up the construction on the circle King Morpheus had instructed them to make. He thought about the plan the king had told him to execute, finding his thoughts beginning to drift back to Moonlight Eve. He'd succeeded in fooling her into thinking he was an ally, but before he had a chance to take advantage of her properly, his plans went awry, and the Nightmare ended up helping him, even almost considered him an actual friend. The thought of it made his insides feel...strange. He quickly shrugged it off. Now was not the time for him to be experiencing strange feelings. King Morpheus needed him to be at the ready for when they would resurface and claim vengeance against those who imprisoned their great race and denied them that which they so richly deserved.
'It won't be long now, Moonlight Eve, very soon, we'll be coming for you, and the rest of those pathetic dreamers.'
Eve woke up in a cold sweat that night, her breathing rigid and her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Being a Nightmare, she was unable to have dreams, but she was able to see memories as she rested. And one memory that kept on recurring each night had been of her last time in Aestas, when Queen Almathea had been killed, Nightshade turned out to be a Tenebris, using her for his own gain, and the Tenebris King, King Morpheus being resurrected. All memories she wished she could forget, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get it out of her mind.
'I wonder if this is how dreamers feel when waking up from nightmares.' Eve wondered to herself.
She got out of bed and walked over to the window, looking out at Ponyville, as it was bathed in the peaceful moonlight. It had been a few months since that incident, and Eve had been in Equestria, staying with Princess Twilight Sparkle in her castle ever since then. She just couldn't bring herself to go back there yet. Not after all that happened with the queen and the Tenebris. Right now, she needed to be away from her homeland, so she could think and figure out what to do from here on out. With the queen now dead, Princess Luna had been taking over her duties, acting as a temporary ruler of Aestas and the Nightmares until a new ruler was chosen. She had offered to let Eve come back and resume the duties Queen Almathea had assigned to her, but Eve didn't feel up to it. After all, once a new ruler was found, what would happen to her?
"Hmph! They'd probably kick me out and send me back to the village." Eve said to herself aloud. "Or worse, they'd banish me from Aestas for good." She let out a loud, heavy sigh, so loud that it woke up her little dust bunny, Lumen, from his sleep. He lifted his head up at Eve, twitching his nose at her as if asking her something. "Oh, sorry Lumen, I didn't mean to wake you. Just go back to sleep."
Eve turned and was about to head back to bed herself, but as she did so, she felt really weak and collapsed to the floor. Lumen looked at her with wide, alarmed eyes.
"I-I'm fine, Lumen." Eve said tiredly. She'd been away from Aestas for so long, she was beginning to feel weak. Nightmares could not live for long outside of Aestas, either wise they'd slowly die off from not receiving the necessary nourishment that only said realm could provide to the Nightmares. Eve quickly recovered and slipped back into her bed and closed her eyes, willing herself to go back to sleep.
"I'll need to go back home soon, but not just yet. Not until I find a way to make up for what happened." And with those last little words, Eve once again drifted off into a dreamless slumber, waiting for when morning would finally arrive.