In the dead of night, the two villains sit out under the full moon. Howling winter winds blow frost and ice all about them, yet it does not manage to penetrate the magical field that encompasses them. Nightmare Cadence has a crazed grin on her face, seemingly eager while the Shadow Dragon Spike sits idly by, watching as shards of crystalized snow bombards his shield.
“So when will we be going back to the Crystal Empire?” Cadence demands.
“Patience, sweet Cadence,” Spike gives her a solemn nod. “There is much preparation needed before we attack the empire. I will need you to go to the Dragon Lands and head off the ponies.”
“The Dragon Lands?” she does not seem amused. “Why do you want me so far out there?”
“No doubt Celestia has told Twilight of my attack,” he contemplates. “The ponies are probably heading there now to warn Dragon Lord Ember of my arrival. I will not take back the dragons without my power being fully restored. I’m going to need you to distract Twilight and her friends, drive them back to Ponyville.”
“And if I do this, you will give me the power I need?”
“It is Twilight Sparkle that has the power you seek,” Spike lies. “She is just another usurper of your empire. She is just as much a threat to your rule as your daughter.”
“You’re right,” Nightmare Cadence says, opening her wings.
“Then take flight, my dear. Head them off before it is too late.”
“And what about you?”
“There is something in the Everfree Forest that I must find…”
Twilight and Rarity are on their journey toward the Dragon Lands. Even with her wings, the princess has chosen to walk alongside her friend. Rarity is disheveled, a pack on her back seems to slow their progress.
The landscape has shifted from the grassy plains of Equestria to the staggering rock formations. There is some vegetation, but most of the area is a rocky wasteland. Walking by a crack in the earth, steam shoots out, nearly striking the Princess of Friendship. She leaps back, knocking into Rarity and has the unicorn slide into the dirt. Rarity leaps back to her hooves, looking disgusted at the filth clinging to her coat.
“How filthy,” she shoots a look at Twilight. “Must we really travel this way? Couldn’t you just teleport us to the Dragon Lands?”
“If only,” she sighs, “But my teleportation spell only works if I can see where I’m going.”
“Then why didn’t you ask Rainbow Dash to come,” Rarity dusts herself off. “This dust is just dreadful, and it is everywhere.”
“Rarity we don’t have time for this,” Twilight insists. “I asked you to come because you have already been to the Dragon Lands with me.”
“I know, but…”
“Please, Rarity, I need someone on this,” Twilight says.
“Darling,” she walks over to her friend, “Do you still believe you can save Spike?”
Twilight Sparkle puts her head down, “I don’t know. I kept thinking I could get to him, make him remember that we are friends. But, the more I think about it, maybe I wasn’t a good friend at all.”
“Well, it isn’t too late to try and reach out,” Rarity puts a hoof on her friend. “I know that somewhere, deep down, Spike still thinks of you as his friend. Even if his pride doesn’t want to show it.”
“Thanks Rarity, I really need it.”
Both girls share a smile, but it is short lived when a beam of energy strikes the earth by their hooves, kicking up rocks and debris. Twilight looks up just in time as another magical blast comes rocketing toward them. A violet dome is thrown in front of them, causing the beam to splash harmlessly away from them. The girls look to the sky, seeing an alicorn hovers overhead.
“Is that, Princess Cadence?” Rarity.
Twilight squints, shielding her eyes against the sun, but she sees the darkened form of a familiar friend and sister-in-law.
“Stay here, Rarity.”
Taking flight, Twilight rises to meet the other princess. Immediately, she takes note of the darkened appearance, putting her on guard.
“Cadence, what are you doing here? And what’s with the look?”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Nightmare Cadence glares. “Are you here to cut me down and steal my throne?”
“What? No, we are here to warn Dragon Lord Ember.”
“Lie all you want, but I have been shown the truth. If I want the Crystal Empire to survive, the alicorns must be eliminated.”
Her horn becomes illuminated in the pink light as she fires a ray from it. Twilight spins out of the way, avoiding another attack in the process. She dives from the clouds, whirling around to deliver a magical attack of her own. It strikes the side of Nightmare Cadence’s helmet, but does not seem to bother the darkened alicorn.
Down below, Rarity is helpless as she watches a light show. Two alicorn princesses do battle in the air, exchanging bolts of magic, but neither appears to yield. With the sun at their backs, they charge straight ahead, firing a magical beam at one another simultaneously. Beams clash in a furious display of magic. From the center of the bombardment, the magic rebounds, causing an explosion that swallows up both princesses.
“Twilight!” Rarity shouts.
From the smoke that lingers in the sky, she sees a purple alicorn fall a few feet before her wings open up again. She coughs out the smog she inhaled, and shakes the dust from her body.
“I’m alright, Rarity.”
“Not for long…”
In a flash of magic, Nightmare Cadence appears just above her with magic already building at the tip of her horn. Laughter escapes her lips as she slams it onto Twilight Sparkle’s back. It slams the princess to the ground like a meteor hitting the earth. It creates a crater, breaking up the ground from the impact. Rarity runs over to her friend, but suddenly a flash of light makes her stop. Nightmare Cadence careens downwards, forming a mock cone in front of her as she slams into the fallen Twilight. The resulting blast propels Rarity backwards.
When the dust clears there is an even deeper crater. Poking her head over the edge, the unicorn looks down to see Nightmare Cadence standing over the fallen Twilight Sparkle. She has a hoof on her former sister-in-law, and a magic spell illuminating her horn. There is a crazed look in her eye.
No, she is really going to do it, Rarity looks around nervously. I have to stop her. I have to get Twilight out of there. Oh if I only knew that teleportation spell. Come on, Rarity, I’ve seen Twilight do it hundreds of times before. If I don’t do it, my friend will…
Just as the nightmarish pony brings the death blow, a white unicorn magically appears nearby in flash of blue light. The unicorn looks absolutely terrified as she grabs Twilight Sparkle, and disappears again.
Not too far from the crater, Rarity has Twilight on her back, and is going on a full-out gallop toward Ponyville. From afar, Nightmare Cadence watches. Although Rarity does not look back, the red light of the spell casts its glow over the landscape.
Back at Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle wakes up in her bed. Opening her eyes, she finds that she is surrounded by her friends and mentor, Princess Celestia. Sitting up sends a wave of pain over her body, making her wince. She realizes that parts of her body have been bandaged up.
“Glad to see you awake, Sugarcube.”
“How did I end up here?”
“I brought you back, darling,” Rarity says. “Cadence acted like a complete brute.”
“Cadence!” Twilight sits up in bed, “What happened to her.”
“I ran out of there as fast as I could darling, so I don’t know.”
Celestia speaks, “I sensed a strange, yet familiar magic out in the Dragon Land. I’m afraid that the same presence that turned my sister into Nightmare Moon has taken ahold of Cadence.”
“The Tantabus?” Twilight looks at them, “I thought we got rid of it.”
“It would seem someone has brought it back.”
“And I reckon I can guess which foul lizard done did that,” Apple Jack says.
Twilight looks disheartened, “Spike…”
Out in the Everfree Forest, the shadow dragon finds himself lurking among the trees. He has stopped his journey as a number of Timber Wolves surround him. The branched beast growls, but Spike is not amused at the pack.
“I don’t have time for this…”
The largest in the pack lunges at him, and in an instant the shadow dragon obliterates the creature, sending twigs and grass sprawling on the forest floor. The other wolves seemingly back off, their ears tilted down in fright. The shadow dragon continues moving forward.
Soon enough, he finds himself in a rocky cavern. At the center is a small pool of water. When he approaches, Spike sees the darkened dragon that he has become, which brings a scowl to his face.
“Only a mere shadow of what I am supposed to be.”
His tail slithers toward the reflective pool, dipping gingerly into it. Suddenly, the pool blackens as the crystal clear water becomes polluted with dark magic.
“That shall change, but I need the former faces first.”
The water starts to bubble as a pony emerges from the mirror pool. Draped in a dark gray coat, his emerald eyes look out on the world. A fiery red mane is short, yet flowing. Once out of the water, he shakes off, drying his coat.
“Thorn Eclipse,” the shadow dragon says.
“You bring me back to the world, for what purpose?”
“In due time. For now, we have another to join us.”
Again the pool starts to bubble uncontrollably. It splashes out, forcing the dragon and pony to back away. The ground starts to quake as a giant skeletal arm bursts through the water. Violet tendrils bind the bones together. Pulling itself free, the dragon skull breaks the surface, liquid dripping from its lower jaw. Empty sockets are filled with emerald orbs glow fiercely. The shadow looks onwards with an evil grin as his undead counterpart rears back its head, spewing flames into the sky.