//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: MLP: As Evening Falls // by kurusagi16 //------------------------------// Chapter 6 "Is everyone comfortable?" asked Fluttershy, as she finished setting down toasty mugs of warm cider in front of her animal friends. The animals all chattered in reply, happily lapping up their cider as they huddled around together on the floor. Since they were all going to be cooped up inside for a while, Fluttershy decided that she might as well try to lighten the mood and help make her furry friends feel safe and happy. She flew over to the corner of the room, where the animals who'd helped her and Angel escape from the monster were resting. Not long after Fluttershy had escaped, they'd joined up with her, and all of them went back to the cottage. Much to Fluttershy's relief, they only suffered a few minor wounds, which she was all to happy to treat. Harry the bear gave a low, content growl as Fluttershy petted his head and added a little honey to his warm cider, just the way he liked it. And to the others, she gave them a treat of fresh berries to munch on. "Alright then, since everyone's nice and comfy, why don't we all read some stories together?" Fluttershy suggested. The animals all agreed with the pleasant idea, and moved closer to the armchair, as Fluttershy sat herself down in it and cracked open a book she had set aside on the little table. Fluttershy cleared her throat and was about to begin, when all of a sudden, a bright flash of white light appeared before her. It was Discord, who looked a little weak and battered. Fluttershy gasped in surprise as she watched her friend fall unconscious to the floor. "Oh no! Discord!" she cried. She got up from the chair and knelt down at his side, checking to make sure he was okay. "Discord? Are you alright?" He didn't answer. "He's still breathing." Fluttershy said after checking his vitals. "But he appears to be completely out of it." She looked to her goat friend and and Harry and asked politely, "Can you please help me get him onto the couch?" The animals happily obliged, together with Fluttershy, they gently lifted the Draconequus and set him down onto the the couch. Fluttershy draped a couple of warm blankets over him to keep him cozy while he rested. "Oh Discord, what happened to you?" she wondered aloud. Fluttershy knew she would soon have her answers as soon as Discord woke up, but for now, she would have to wait, and try to take care of him until then. (A little while ago...) Not long after Princess Luna and Twilight's sudden disappearance, things began to change. The castle shook and seemed to warp, and the once peaceful and colorful sky of Aestas changed to a gaping hole, leading directly to the dreamscape. Eve, like the other Nightmares in the castle, were quick to notice this, and hurried to escape the castle. "What's happening? Where's Princess Luna?" she asked one of the passing guards. "No one knows." he replied. "She and Princess Twilight have both disappeared without a trace." That's when it hit her. "The Tenebris, they must be behind this!" she said. Eve looked over her shoulder at some of the escaping guards and cried, "We need to get to the village and help all the Nightmares get to safety." The guards nodded in agreement, and followed Eve out to the village. There, the Nightmares were starting to panic, wondering what they should do. Eve managed to help the guards rally them all up together, so she could talk to them and get them organized. "Everyone, listen up!" cried Eve, calling for their attention. "The Tenebris are once again attacking us." "The Tenebris!?" "Oh no!" "What do we do now?" "We're doomed!" "Hey, there's no need to panic!" said Eve, speaking over the rest of them. "We don't have much time, we all need to leave as soon as possible, I have some friends in Equestria who can--" "Hold it!" cried a voice from the crowd. Some of the Nightmares parted, and out stepped Starla, who gave a toss of her deep red mane as she looked down at Eve. "You're telling us to leave Aestas? For the dreamer realm?" she asked. "Yes!" answered Eve. "If we go now, we can make it before--" "And what gives you the authority to tell us what to do?" asked Starla snootily. "Nothing, but Starla, listen--" "Exactly! So why should we listen to you?" The Nightmares began to murmur and clamor in agreement with Starla. "Look, you all need to listen to me. You know how dangerous the Tenebris are, and if we don't leave to someplace safe, we'll--" "And that's another thing." added Starla, getting up close to Eve. "Weren't you the one who started the whole mess with the Tenebris in the first place?" Eve froze. "H-how did you know that?" she asked. "You'd be surprised how fast word travels around, especially after you got sent to the castle. No doubt Queen Almathea had you there so she could keep and eye on you and make sure you didn't screw up again like you did last time." "That's not--!" "And let's not forget, that it was you who got Queen Almathea killed too! Because of you, we not only no longer have a ruler, but now you've made it so there's no one who can stop the Tenebris from taking over. In fact, I'll bet that was your plan all along." "No! I would never do that! I didn't ask for what the queen did to happen, and I still haven't forgiven myself for it either. You've got to believe me!" "Hmph! Funny you should say that. You're asking us to listen to you, and to believe you, but how can we when you've done nothing to prove that you deserve our trust and attention?" Eve looked hopelessly out to the crowd of Nightmares, desperately searching for somepony to speak up and side with her, to show that they did trust and believe her. But unfortunately, they all agreed with Starla, and were quickly turning a blind eye against her. Even the guards seemed much more reluctant toward her now. "I...I..." she stammered, but she couldn't get the words out. "You haven't changed one bit, Moonlight Eve." Starla sneered. "You're still the same pathetic screw up you've always been, and always will be." Eve felt her heart sting at their words, tears forming in her eyes. She didn't get a chance to reply, as a massive swarm of Tenebris appeared, flying overhead of the village. The Nightmares tried to get away, but were quickly surrounded by the Tenebris soldiers, and the ones leading them, were there of the four generals, Moros, Erebus, and Nightshade. Upon seeing Nightshade once again, Eve felt her insides churn. Nightshade also caught sight of Eve, his eyes glinting as he spoke to her. "Moonlight Eve, how nice to see you again." "What do you want this time, Nightshade?" questioned Eve. "Getting right to the point, are we? Very well then, if you must know, we've come to have you, and your fellow Nightmares, join us as we reshape the dream realm, the real realm, and Aestas, into the grand design of our king." Squeaks of fear signaled from the crowd of Nightmares, Eve felt herself shaking, but refused to show weakness in front of Nightshade. "You won't get away with this! Princess Luna and the others--" "Oh yes, about that." interrupted Nightshade. "I'm afraid your princesses will be, detained for the moment. And as for the others, well, they'll be taken care of just as quickly." Eve gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes at Nightshade. "What did you do to the princesses?" she demanded. "They're perfectly fine, I assure you...well, for the most part anyway." he replied. Eve felt herself lose her patience and ran at Nightshade, getting ready to strike him, but instead, ended up getting captured in his grasp. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." he warned. "Thanks to King Morpheus, our power is growing at a steady rate, so it'd be unwise to do a stupid act like that again." Eve grunted and struggled to break free, but still remained firmly in his grip. "Now then, it's time to proceed with the next phase of our plan, and you, dear Nightmares, are going to play a part in it." said Nightshade. "Us?! We'd never want to help you." said Starla. "Oh, but you will." said Erebus with a sinister chuckle. "You don't really have much choice in the matter." Moros said dully. The Tenebris created dark surges of magic, which caused the Nightmares to cower as the were shot right at them. Eve watched with wide-eyed horror as the dark surges slowly transformed the Nightmares into shapeless, hulking monsters. Their bodies oozing like tar, and their claws razor sharp. Nightshade gave a grunt of approval. "Yes, all of you will do just nicely. Go forth, into the dreamer realm, and cause as much havoc while you're there." he commanded. The Nightmares, now these horrible monsters, did as they were ordered, and went up into the rift above, to travel through it to get to Equestria. "Oh, and don't worry, Moonlight Eve." said Nightshade wickedly. "We've got something special lined up for you as well." As he said this, his grip started to loosen a little, giving Eve just the right opportunity to slip out and gallop at full speed, jumping over the circle of Tenebris as she looked for a way to keep them off her tail. "Grr! Get her!" commanded Nightshade. The Tenebris soldiers chased after her. Eve had to think quickly of a way to escape, she needed a place where she could have enough time to open a portal to Equestria. She was still a little weak though, which meant that there was no telling where in Equestria the portal would send her, and there was no telling how long it would take before she would regain her full strength. But right now, that didn't matter. What did matter was finding a way to get to her friends so she could find some way of helping them, and stopping Nightshade's plans. Eve made a sharp turn at a corner, and slipped into one of the empty cottages, locking the door and preparing the spell for the portal. The cottage door banged, as the soldiers attempted to break inside to capture her. They were already starting to slip through the cracks of the door by the time Eve managed to get the portal halfway formed. It wasn't as big as a complete portal, but Eve didn't have much of a choice, so as the door finally burst open, Eve had already jumped through, and the portal had closed. The soldiers had no choice but to return to Nightshade and inform to him that she had escaped. "No matter." he said, retaining his composure. "We'll find her soon enough. Let us head for Equestria, and prepare it for King Morpheus' arrival, at once." The Tenebris all cheered triumphantly. Discord cracked his eyes open, trying to adjust them to the light. "Where...am I?" he said. "Discord!" cried Fluttershy in relief, giving him a hug. "You're finally awake, thank goodness." "Fluttershy? What...what's going on?" "You suddenly appeared in my living room and collapsed onto the floor." answered Fluttershy. "I was hoping you could tell me what happened." Discord growled. "It was those pesky Tenebris. They tried to use a spirit circle to get rid of me for good, but thankfully, I was able to outsmart them and get away." he said. He tried to get up, but Fluttershy stopped him by placing a hoof on his chest. "Discord, you shouldn't get up yet." she said worriedly. "You need to rest!" "I don't need to rest." he argued, getting up from the couch and heading for the door. "Wait!" cried Fluttershy. Discord opened the door, but as soon as he caught a glimpse of the outside, he closed the door and clicked the lock back into place. "Discord?" Fluttershy asked, confused. "What--" "I think it's better if we stay here for now, my dear." said Discord. "What do you mean?" "Things have gotten much worse, faster than I'd thought." "Huh?" "The Tenebris' plan is to change the land to suit their needs, and it seems as though, they've succeeded." Fluttershy still felt confused. She opened the shutter of one of the windows to peek outside, her eyes widening, as she saw everything, Ponyville, the forest, the entire landscape, completely altered and warped, like something from a bad dream. The Tenebris had returned, and they'd unleashed a horrible nightmare upon all of Equestria.