Return of Nightmares

by Barrier Pavise

Chapter 1

The Return of Nightmares

Written and Created By: Brandon Ramos (Admin of Pinkamena Diane Pie FIM)

With Detail Support And Other Assistance By: Eddie Castro (Admin of Fluttershy)

It was an average day in Ponyville as the Pegasi raced to gather clouds into there humble village. Everypony was moving along with their daily business. Rainbow Dash and the other Pegasi finished up the gathering of all the clouds they needed in order to cover Ponyville for today’s cloudy weather. Rainbow Dash, feeling she had done her part, flew down into Ponyville to visit her friends that were getting things set up in Sugar Cube Corner for today’s special occasion. Twilight Sparkle and the other ponies were there getting everything prepared for their special guest.

Twilight hung up a large dark purple banner titled “Happy Birthday, Princess Luna” using her magic to place it in the center of the room. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were setting up balloons. Fluttershy, completely exhausted by now, finally managed to finish blowing her second air filled sphere while Pinkie was off into her twenties.

Rarity was wrapping the presents, completing the final touches by placing a single jewel encrusted bow on each gift. Rainbow Dash came swooping in, almost completely out of control, and crashed smack into Applejack who was setting up her appletastic treats. All of the pony delicacies flew into the air as Applejack stared at her treats that were doomed to come crashing down any second. After only a few airborne moments, the food came plummeting to earth and littered Rainbow's mane in sugary apple goods. Applejack got back up and turned her head with a stern look on her face to Rainbow Dash, who was shaking her mane furiously to get some of the apple cobbler out.

“Wha-?” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to get apple treats out of her mane.

“Rainbow Dash, y'all made me drop all the food for the party!”complained Applejack, pointing to the mess of food that laid on the floor.

“Did you really have to put clouds up today? You know we're having royalty here today!” Twilight pestered, finally getting the banner to stay up.

“Sorry Twi, but that’s what they were calling for so I had to” explained Rainbow, finally managing to get the rest of the treats out of her mane.

“Um, excuse me Twilight but um... I believe the balloons are done” Fluttershy muttered, pointing a hoof over to her area which had only 4 balloons done while Pinkie Pie’s area overflowed with countless different colored balloons that floated around as she bounced and giggled all over the room.

“Great! Thank you for helping, everypony. She should be here any minute now” said Twilight, checking off the rest of her to-do list with her magic.

“This party is gonna be so exciting! Well, it is a party and every party is exciting! Just like parties are meant to be; fun and exciting! NOT dull and boring!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, still bouncing around the balloon filled room. The pink earth pony gasped very suddenly and loudly in her shocked Pinkie way. “I forgot something! Be right back everypony!” Pinkie ran up the staircase at lightning speed to fetch whatever she had forgotten.

Just then, the sound of royal trumpets began to ring through Sugar Cube Corner as the party planning ponies ran to the window to see the royal Equestrian Guards open the door to the lovely and magnificent carriage.

“They’re here!” Applejack called to everypony, looking out the window.

“Oh my, everything looks alright. I hope...” said the yellow Pegasus with a quiet nervous tone.

“Relax – Everything looks great. *gulp* I hope” confirmed Twilight, trying to calm the others down.

They all took another glance out the window to catch a glimpse of the arrival of their guest. A dark purple Alicorn took one step out of the carriage and was followed by her taller sister right behind her.

“Happy Birthday Luna” praised Princess Celestia to her younger sister with a graceful and calm voice. Princess Luna gave her sister a huge hug, followed by a “Thank you so much, big sister.”

Spike then stepped out of the carriage and jumped down onto the grassy grounds of Ponyville, holding a purple wrapped present in both of his clawed hands.

“Right this way, Princess” Spike said, bowing as she passed by him right into Sugar Cube Corner.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!” everypony cheered and screamed, with balloons flying up and touching the ceiling as confetti flew about the room. Luna’s eyes grew large in excitement. She walked up to Twilight and began to greet each pony one by one.

“Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner your Majesty!” greeted a white unicorn to the Princess with a charmingly graceful tone of voice.

“Happy Birthday, Sugar cube” said Applejack, shaking Luna’s hoof so fast that her hoof was still vibrating as she let go.

“I hope this is all to your liking Princess” Twilight said walking up to her.

“But of course, this is all fantastic. Thank you for doing this, everypony” thanked Luna to the small crowd of ponies with a dark blush around her cheeks. The purple Alicorn’s eyes focused on a pink pony flying down the stairs that ran up to her.

“GUMMY IS READY TO PARTAY!” Pinkie Pie yelled in her energetic voice, Gummy biting on to her hair as she rocketed down the staircase. Pinkie Pie spotted the purple Alicorn and rushed over to her. “Hey I’m Pinkie Pie, I hope you have the bestest birthday party ever!!!! We've got games and candy and decorations and candy and punch and candy and cupcakes and even more candy! So much candy!!!” Pinkie had spoken so quickly that Luna got lost at “Hey I’m Pinkie Pie”. The pink fluffy maned pony bounced around and started to dance.

“Oh my, this is all great and all, but don’t you all think this is a little too much for a silly birthday?” asked Luna shyly, looking around at all of the decorations, food and games.

“On the contrary darling! This is far from 'some silly birthday'” Rarity began, putting a hoof over Luna’s shoulder.

“This is your birthday” Twilight finished.

Pinkie Pie joined into the conversation, “LETS PARTY!” she yelled out, and so they did. Luna decided to enjoy the party and get to know the other ponies more.

A couple of hours of partying and laughing passed and soon the party was coming to an end. Luna got to know the ponies more and grew fond of them very quickly. Twilight and the others gathered around Luna and got ready to say good-bye. Luna stared at them, a small amount of tears of joy forming in her eyes. But before she could shed a single tear of happiness, the lights when out. All the ponies screamed in fear, but then stopped one by one.

“Wha- Who turned off the lights?!” Twilight questioned.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow Dash asked with a tough tone of voice.

Fluttershy was the only one still screaming but then stopped and started to hyperventilate. Then, everypony was silent. The lights began to flicker back to life and Luna gasped in fear and terror at the scene that lay before her. A bloody massacre had taken place within the shroud of darkness and Luna had been completely unaware. Each pony was brutally murdered.

Twilight's stomach lay torn apart, with lungs torn out of her chest and littering the floor. A pool of blood surrounded her as she laid lifeless on the floor, gone forever. Luna started to breath heavily as she could not believe what had happened. She turned her head to see a half dead Applejack crawling to her legs that were cut off and thrown to the other side of the room. Blood gushed from her chopped off limbs as she continued to crawl to her legs, tears pouring down her face as her feeble attempt of regaining her appendages grew more and more in vain. Luna didn't know what to do, so she cried.

Through teary eyes, she saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash lying next to each other. Rainbow's wings were torn off of her back and sown onto Fluttershy as the yellow Pegasus flapped all four wings aimlessly, throwing herself all over the floor as fresh blood flowed from the poorly attached wings. Fluttershy's cutie mark was sown onto Rainbow Dash’s lips, keeping them sealed shut forever and cutting off her air supply, it'd be only a matter of time before she was gone. Rarity's body lay against a wall, head caved in and destroyed against the stone. Bits of brain oozed down from the wall and onto her chest.

“No…. No. No. No. No” Luna kept repeating, hoping everything would just go away.

She slowly turned her head to see each of Pinkie Pie’s limbs tied to floating balloons. A hoof here, a leg there, blood dripping from each limb and onto the floor of the Sugary infested building. Luna gave up and covered each eye with a hoof and fell to the floor. She started to feel insanely dizzy. Maybe it was the stench of death. Maybe it was the loss of her new friends. However, even disoriented, she felt the presence of another mare as she took one hoof off of her eye to see a dark shadowy figure in the back smiling, enjoying what it was seeing. The shadowy figure walked over to her. Luna’s eyes opened in fear as she saw who it was. It was Nightmare Moon. Luna gave in to the weakness that claimed her and fell into a state of unconsciousness.
---

Luna slowly awoke through blinking eyes, but instead of seeing the bloody massacre, she was staring up at a white ceiling. She tossed and turned, but didn't feel the hard floor she thought she was on. Instead, she was on a soft white bed. Being ever so distracted, she barely heard a door open from her left. As she turned to see who or what it was, she was blinded by a giant white curtain. The stranger hid behind the fabric, getting ever closer to the purple Alicorn. The shadow that formed behind the curtain got closer to her, taking on the shape of Nightmare Moon. Luna's body tensed and her horn glowed slightly as she prepared for the fight of her life. The shadow was ready to attack and came striking down at her... but vanished as the curtains were swept open by a nurse.

“Oh my, you’re finally awake!” The Nurse Pony said pushing back her light red mane behind her face.

“Where am I?” The dark purple princess asked, allowing the magic of her horn to dim once she realized there was no threat.

“You are at Canterlot Hospital, Dear.” Said the light red maned pony, writing on a clipboard with Luna’s name on it.

“How did I get here?” Luna asked looking around the white room full of medical supplies.

“Your friends brought you here” explained Nurse Redheart, laying the clipboard back on the table.

“Friends?” Luna mumbled to herself, confused at the thought.

The door opened again as a lavender unicorn walked into the room with a small dragon on her back.

“Twilight Sparkle!” exclaimed Luna in joy, yet still being confused from what she witnessed back in Ponyville and what she was looking at now.

Twilight Sparkle was perfectly fine. She had no scars. She wasn’t injured. She was normal. Along with Twilight, the remaining ponies from the party walked in.

“That was some fall you took, sugar cube.” The country pony said putting her hat against her neck with her hoof.

“Fall? What do you mean?” Luna asked Applejack.

“Well darling, back at Ponyville you tripped on one of Gummy’s chew toys” Rarity explained, pointing over to the scaly little alligator that poked out of Pinkie Pie’s pink mane.

“Gummy and I are really super duper sorry for that little trip you took” apologized Pinkie, having a slight light pink blush in her cheeks.

“You’ve been unconscious the whole night, Princess” Twilight expressed with concern as she walked over to her.

“Well, look on the bright side princess!” commented the rainbow maned Pegasus. “that party was getting pretty dull, and that must have made things at least 20 percent cooler.” Twilight gave Rainbow a nudge on her side, telling her now was not the time for such a comment.

“I gathered these for you Princess. They are called Chocolate Clouds. Only found in Cloudsdale” spoke Fluttershy, in her ever so soft voice and laying a basket full of chocolate clouds on the table that stood to Luna’s left. “I really hope you enjoy them.”

“Well, I think I'll just leave you ponies here for a little while to catch up okay?” said the medical earth pony.

“Thank You, Nurse Redheart.” Twilight said to the nurse as she walked out of the room to leave the rest alone.

“We were really worried about you. We spent the night in the lobby of the hospital.” Twilight said walking up to Luna.

Luna looked at them all. Images of the gruesome events that happened at the party flashed through her mind. She couldn't place her hoof on what had happened then and couldn’t understand how that fit in with what she was seeing now. Luna wanted to tell them what she experienced, but instead she smiled and quietly thanked them for taking her here and for the wonderful party they had thrown her. She was glad that the gruesome events that happened at the party was nothing more than a terrible nightmare that had worked its way into her mind, and even happier that her new friends were safe.

---

Luna aimlessly wandered through the marvelous halls of the Canterlot castle, trying to make sense of the endless thoughts swarming around her head. She couldn’t help but shake the feeling that those events at the party may have been some type of warning for what was to come. Many of the butlers and other workers cheerfully greeted Luna, including Minty Fresh who had asked Luna why she seemed so gloom. Just as the regal princess was about to speak, her vision became insanely blurred and her balance escaped her. After rapidly shaking her head to regain her vision, she gaped in horror at what she saw.

The once brilliant hallway had become eerily dark. The dazzling marble floors had been replaced by cold rusted scrap metal and giant factory fans spun slowly against the left wall casting a huge source of wind through to the other side. In front of the fan laid a large gate, sealing it from the world. Luna began taking small steps forward, knowing that her only other option was to stand there in confusion and never know what was going on. She slowly trotted down the rusty metal hallway which seemed never ending. With each step, her hooves released a large echo that bounced across the walls of her new mysterious domain.

She came to a stop as she caught sight of her sister's dentist. Minty Fresh hung from the ceiling by four small hooks that pierced through each hoof individually. One large hook had found its way through the little pony's jaw and blood gushed freely from the entrance and trailed down the hooks. Luna didn’t know what to do, or even what to think. She didn't know and she didn't care why she kept being tortured with these images and visions, she just wanted them to stop. Behind the motionless Minty Fresh stood the same dark shadow Luna had seen back at the party and at the hospital. The Alicorn figured shadow stood within the darkness and called out, “Pity, isn’t it?” The Alicorn within the shadows rose one hoof and stomped it onto the metal floor.

Minty Fresh awoke suddenly with the sound and fire roared from each side of the walls and began to roast the little tooth cleaner. She was being burned alive. Her skin began to bubble and peel away from her body. Soon there was nothing but bone and her shouts of pain and agony which rang through Luna’s ears. Luna started to become dizzy and stumbled her way into the nearest room away from the flames and shadow. Luna blacked out.
---

Very faintly, through the shield of unconsciousness, she heard the distant sound of someone calling her name. Her eyes slowly opened to see her sister staring down at her.

“Sister!” Luna gasped as she got up. She was sweating and breathing heavily.

“Luna, what happened?! What’s wrong!?” Asked The Ruler Of The Sun, giving her younger sibling a concerned look.

The Purple Alicorn wiped beads of sweat from her face with her hoof. Luna stood there staring at her older sister, not knowing how to explain the terrible events that had occurred to her within the last day. As she opened her mouth to tell her story, the room suddenly became darker and began to shake violently.

“Luna what is going on?” Princess Celestia demanded to know.

Luna stood frozen, not knowing what to do. As the room grew ever darker, a window shattered from within the room and shards of glass flew in every direction. A visibly purple aura traveled around a dark circular figure that flew into the room, completely drowned in shadows. The shadow encrusted essence began to twist and form into a solid object. First a body, that of a large Alicorn. Then a horn, huge and full of power. Luna's eyes grew wide with terror as the shadows manifested itself into the one and only Nightmare Moon. Celestia charged over to her sisters side, ready to stand and fight for the sake of her sister's safety.

“What is this? Nightmare- how are you- This is impossible!” roared Celestia, knowing to herself that Nightmare Moon was simply Luna when infused with anger. Yet there she stood, evil and full of power.

“Let me explain, dear” Nightmare said very calmly while walking around the room.

“You see, when those 6 annoying fillies used The Elements Of Harmony to defeat me, it failed to completely destroy me. All those silly ponies did was simply force me to become a dormant entity within Luna, lying as nothing more than the last slimmer of hatred she felt for this world. However, once Luna had developed a certain power, it forced me out of her heart. A certain power than even I couldn't understand: friendship.

Once Luna had felt the power of friendship, her heart became so full of happiness and light that there was no longer any room for the darkness known as myself. And so her heart forced me out, banishing me to the physical world once again to wreak havoc to all of Equestria!”

Luna stood in her current frozen state, knowing now her nightmare had become a cold reality.

“Now, as you may be able to see, I am slowly evaporating into nothing” said the being as her body seemed to slowly disappear. “You see, I need a puppet. I need a body with enough magic to contain my extreme power.”

Celestia’s expression drastically changed as she came to realization of what Nightmare was planning.

“You’re not taking her away again!” screamed Celestia, spreading her fore legs wide in a guardian stance in front of her still frozen sister. “I am NOT going to lose her again! She is my sister and my world! If you so much as look at her I will tear you APART!” Celestia's horn glowed a very powerful red as anger and the need to protect filled her heart.

“Oh Celestia, calm your nerves. I’m not here for that Little Runt. I’m here... for you!” boomed Nightmare as a wicked grin grew across her fading face.

Princess Celestia began to charge at Nightmare Moon with full power in her horn. She was almost upon her target, but just before the tall white Alicorn made contact, Nightmare burst into a cloud of smoke and drifted overhead.

“Up here” taunted Nightmare from above in her cloudy shape.

Nightmare reshaped herself into her still vaporizing body and shot down a mighty bolt of dark lightning onto Celestia's back...direct hit.

“Ahhh!” cried Celestia in pain as she fell to the ground. The powerful white Alicorn tried with all her might to lift herself, but lacked the strength. She toppled to the ground, unable to regain herself. The blast landed too perfectly, Celestia was done for. She lifted her head and turned to her sister, just to take one last look at Luna. With her last bit of breath, Celestia whispered, “Run…” Luna stared lovingly at her sister, tears forming in her eyes. Luna followed her sister's orders and ran out of the room, tears rolling free now.

Nightmare stood in front of Celestia, already becoming solid with only the aura given off by the fallen princess. Nightmare placed a powerful hoof on Celestia's face, locking it to the ground. A wicked laughter sprouted from her throat that traveled throughout all of Equestria.

“Oh dear, I don't want to over do it do I? Besides, this is my new skin after all” Nightmare said to herself, taking her hoof off Celestia’s face.

“You won't get away with this you evil harpy…” Celestia threatened, clenching her teeth in rage.

“Oh, but deary, I already have. You already know what happens once I claim your body” taunted Nightmare, looking directly into Celestia’s spiteful eyes. Nightmare was finished toying with the former ruler of Equestria and she sunk deep into the floor becoming nothing more than a large liquidly shadow. The shadow worked itself over Celestia, completely drowning her in its dark essence and covering her beautiful white coat in shadows. Celestia thrashed wildly in an attempt to remove and fight off the oncoming shadows that began to cover her, but it was in vain. The shadows had taken over. Once the black force took Celestia's eyes, she was gone. Lost to darkness.

“This feels about right” said Nightmare, stretching out in her new body. Celestia was gone, replaced by a new being of darkness and hatred. Celestia's body stood large and powerful, covered in shadows with mane and tail as black and soulless as the Alicorn inside of it.

Nightmare stretched out each hoof individually, getting the feel of her new body “This castle needs a new look to it” observed Nightmare. The new Dark Ruler Of Equestria took a few steps forward. With each step darkness and shadows were born from where her hoof landed, spreading and growing to cover the once brilliant floor. “And so my reign begins...”
---

Luna managed to put about 2 miles between herself and her former home. She slowly turned her head, risking the heart break of one glance at her once beautiful castle. Instead of seeing a giant marvelous castle on the side of a mountain, she saw nothing more than the ominous sight of her old home being shrouded and hidden in a cloud of growing shadows. Luna gasped as tears started to run down her face. She covered her mouth with a hoof, just to stop herself from crying. She turned away from the terrible sight and made her way to Ponyville.

After a long and emotionally tearing journey, Luna managed to reach the town of Ponyvill. The night had already taken hold of the small village and everypony was asleep by now, an eerie silence had fallen over the town. Luna worked her way into the middle of town, breathing heavily from exhaustion after her long run. “Twilight, where in the world is Twilight!?” screamed Luna silently to herself, still breathing heavily. The exhausted Alicorn spotted a large tree out of the corner of her eye. Then, a thought struck her; her sister had once said something about her student living in a tree/library in the center of town. “She might be there!” exclaimed Luna, overcome with a sense of relief as she ran to the library. As she reached the wooden entrance to Twilight’s home, she banged each hoof fiercely on the door. A small commotion was heard from the inside as a small purple dragon worked his way to the door.

“Who is it?” Spike asked wearing a purple robe with a green belt around his hips and eating a donut with extra sprinkles. Spike only opened the door just a crack to see who was there.

“Spike, I MUST speak with Twilight Sparkle immediately!” demanded the princess with a worried and tired voice.

“Oh, well this sounds serious! Come on in, I’ll go fetch her.” Spike ran up the stairs to grab his unicorn friend. Luna stood alone in the middle of the library, wandering aimlessly and impatiently as she took random books off the shelves and placed them back with her magic. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, but a certain object caught her wandering eye. A beautiful picture hung on the wall next to the door she had entered in a gold frame. She walked closer to the picture to get a better view, but it was still too high. So she used her magic to bring it closer to her; it was a picture of Twilight and all of her friends.

They were all happy. Twilight stood in the middle with a big smile on her face, Pinkie Pie was to the left of her and waving to the camera. Fluttershy was laying in front of Twilight, with Applejack and Rainbow Dash to her left smiling. Rainbow Dash was striking an awesome pose with a hoof raised in the air. Rarity was beside Fluttershy smiling. Everypony in the picture seemed so happy, and they were. They were all friends, the very thing Luna longed for.

Spike came rushing down the stairs with a sleepy unicorn following suit, rubbing a tired eye with her hoof. Luna placed the picture back up in a hurry with her magic, secretly hoping Twilight had not seen.

“Princess what’s wrong? Why are you here?” Twilight asked with her mane all messed up. Luna inhaled deeply and explained the entire situation. She even included the horrific things that had happened to her sister, despite how terrible she felt about having to leave her behind.
---

“Nightmare is back!?” Twilight screamed with a worried expression. “But, but... HOW!? Isn't Nightmare – You!” accused Twilight, not knowing how to put it in any other way.

“Nightmare Moon was released from the last bit of darkness and hatred in my heart.” Luna said trying to make sense of it to Twilight.

“She was released….from your heart?” asked Twilight.

“Yes, I understand that it may sound crazy but you must believe me!” pleaded Luna, knowing Twilight was the only pony who could defeat Nightmare Moon and save her sister.

Twilight looked at the pleading princess with sorrow and worry. “Let's get the others.”
---

Twilight gathered her friends in her home, not yet telling them of what had happened. In a way, she was trying to avoid bringing it up.

“Well shoot Twi, y'all called us all down here in the middle of the night! How 'bout ya tell us why we're here” asked Applejack.

“Is there something wrong, Twilight?” The calm but worried Fluttershy asked.

“Indeed Twilight! Some us are trying to get our beauty sleep!” complained Rarity, rubbing her tired eyes.

“Okay girls here it is; there's been a horrible tragedy“ Twilight tried to explain the situation but was interrupted by Rarity.

“I'll say! Have you seen your mane lately? Simply atrocious!” said Rarity in discuss, pointing a hoof at Twilight's untamed mane.

“Rarity, now ain't the time for any tom foolery” cut off Applejack before Rarity could keep interupting.

“Thanks, Applejack – Listen up. There’s been a tragic incident at the castle!” Twilight said.

“What happen there?” asked Pinkie as she bounced to emphasize her question with a hoof thrown in the air.

“Nightmare moon….” Luna said walking into the group discussion.
Every pony besides Spike and Twilight gasped in fear and confusion.

“Just listen everypony. Nightmare Moon is back and this time, she doesn’t want everlasting night. No, she wants something far worst, she wants to turn Equestria into a living nightmare” Luna said not wanting to explain the whole situation to the others.

“So let’s defeat her like last time, with dem Elements o' Harmony.” Applejack offered. Luna stopped pacing for a second and looked at all of them in the room.

“They will not work against her this time.” Luna said putting her head down.

“Why wont the elements work on Nightmare?” Rainbow Dash said floating around the room.

“Nightmare has taken over my sisters body, and since me and her were the first in Equestria to discover the Elements, we have become immune to them. They trust that we would never become a threat to them, making me and my sister impervious to their magic” explained Luna.

“If we can’t use The Elements then what can we use to stop her!” Twilight asked, now walking towards her bookshelves pulling out books one by one with her magic.

“There is one thing we might be able to use on her…but I don’t know if it even exists” Luna said giving hope back to the ponies in the room. “It’s called The Heart of Harmony. It is said to be 10 times more powerful than the Elements. But the only problem is, I've never even seen this Heart” Luna said.

“Do you at least know where we might be able to find it?” Rarity asked with one hoof up.

“It is said to be located in a room within Canterlot Castle, but these rooms are rooms me, nor my sister, have never been in or even seen” sighed Luna.

“But, um, how do you think we could find it in your huge castle, Your Highness?” asked a yellow Pegasus with a quiet tone a voice.

“We don’t have all the time in the world to look through every room to find it. We need someone fast who could easily scout through the parts of the castle that I myself haven't ventured to” said Luna, suggesting someone in mind.

“Rainbow!” Applejack volunteered.

“Wait, what?” stumbled Rainbow Dash, only half paying attention.

“Yeah! Dashy would be perfect! She could swoop in all super duper fast and find that room in a jiffy!” bursted our pink party pony.

“Well okay. If you say so, I am the fastest pony after all.” boasted Rainbow Dash, raising her wings high and proud.

“Please stop gloating Rainbow Dash” Luna said, not yet finished explaining everything.

“There’s one more thing I need to let you all know. Nightmare Moon has covered Canterlot Castle within shadows. Searching through the rooms won’t be easy as it sounds as she can manipulate each part of the castle at her own will. If you search the Royal Canterlot Kitchen you might just end up in the bathroom” Luna warned.

“Makes my job a lot harder, doesn’t it?” asked Rainbow Dash with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“Come on every pony, let’s get going.” Twilight grabbed her bag with her magic and tossed it onto her back, preparing for the journey ahead.
---

“There it is” said Luna, pointing over to Canterlot Castle in the distance.

Every pony gasped as the once beautiful Castle that they visited before during the Grand Galloping Gala and the once beautiful castle Twilight use to study in became a giant void of darkness. Twilight, Luna and the others stood on a grassy plain, in the distance the plains were getting slowly devoured by darkness.

“Well come on, we can’t stop now” encouraged Twilight to the others who started to slow down with fear.

A few minutes later they reached the border between Light and Darkness, as the Darkness kept swallowing the grassy plain they stood in. They gulped and each took a step onto the shadowy field. In the distance was a White Tuxedo wearing Stallion screaming and running for help. It was Prince Blueblood running for his life and getting chased by a dozen of little creatures that crawled from the shadows.

“Ah don’t touch me, you shadow infested creeps!” Prince Blueblood shouted, not daring to look back.

One of the shadowy creatures launched itself onto the white stallion's back, forcing Prince Blueblood to fall onto the cold soulless ground of darkness.

“Noooo!” The Prince shouted out as the creatures born of shadows started to cover his body.

Twilight and the others watched helplessly as the shadows covered the once regal Prince. But Rarity couldn't bare the sight and looked away. Although she remembers very clearly how that pony had treated her at The Gala, she still had a little bit of feelings for him and knew he didn’t deserve this tragic demise. Prince Blueblood, covered in darkness, started to get devoured by the ground.

“This is all my fault.” Luna felt a wave of sorrow and guilt as soon as she said it.

“No, it’s not Princess” assured Twilight. “We WILL save your sister and defeat Nightmare once and for all.”

“Yes, Yes I suppose your right. Let’s hurry up.” Luna said.

“That’s the spirit, Sugar cube!” Applejack cheered as the party continued it's quest onward.
---

After what had seemed like an eternity of travel, the 6 fillies along with their purple princess reached the castle swallowed by darkness. They worked their way to the massive front entrance into the castle, assured they had finally reached their destination.

“Hey! Its locked!” Pinkie Pie said bouncing as she pointed a hoof over to a giant padlock that was attached against the Giant doors to the castle. The lock glowed with a certain aura, making it impervious to any form of magic.

“How are we aposta to get in then?” Asked the country filly.

“LOOK! I mean um, can you please look over there?” asked Fluttershy, pointing over to a shattered window on the side of the building.

“Great Job, Fluttershy!” Twilight thanked the yellow Pegasus.

“Well, I guess it’s my turn. I’ll open the door girls, you can count me!” Rainbow Dash bolted into the shattered window in the distance. Leaving her friends to wait for her return.
---

Rainbow Dash swooped into the dark room from the shattered window. The crunching sound of hooves on glass echoed through the massive room which appeared to be the main hall as Rainbow trotted over the remains of the window.

“Oh boy, it sure is dark” The rainbow maned Pegasus said to herself, trying to get her eyes to adjust to this type of lighting. Rainbow began to make her way to the massive entrance to let her friends in as she heard the unnerving sound of glass being stepped on by tiny feet, exactly where she had came from.

“Who’s there!?” asked Rainbow, moving into a defensive stance and trying to sound as tough as she could. Then, as if conceived from the very darkness that surrounded her, Rainbow was attacked by an army of small shadowy monsters.

The creatures latched onto her and dug their small shadowy claws into her soft flesh. Rainbow thrashed and flailed, prying off a select few. But she couldn't take them all...

“Nooo!!” She said as within seconds she was gone. Darkness had claimed her.
---

Twilight and the others started to become impatient for the return of their rainbow maned friend and the opening of their blockade.

“What could be taking her so long?” Twilight asked herself, pacing silently.

Suddenly, the padlock released itself from its vice grip and was claimed by gravity as it fell to the ground. Once the lock had hit the floor it began to dissolve into nothing, no longer having a purpose in this world.

“Rainbow did it!” They all said in joy.

The giant castle doors slowly opened themselves, allowing each pony to take a few steps into what appeared to be the main lobby.

“Uh, if Rainbow opened the door, where the hay is she?” questioned the cowpony

“RAINBOW!?” Twilight started to call out for her.

“Rainbow dear, where are you?” called out Rarity.

“C'mon Dashy! Stop playin' around! Ooh! Are we playing hide and seek!? NOT IT!” Pinkie ran behind a nearby plant, peaking her head out to make sure nopony could see her.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash came flying down the staircase at cruising speed.

“Rainbow, there you are! We've been calling for you” Twilight tried to start a conversation with Rainbow, but the Pegasus just stood there, silently.

“Well thanks for opening the entrance for us” Twilight thanked her.

“Okay, so there are no rooms in the main lobby of the castle so we should head upstairs now” Luna suggested.

As the ponies started walking up the stairs, Pinkie Pie sneaked out of her hiding place and started her way up the stairs to catch up with her friends. However, just before reaching the first step, Pinkie caught sight of a beautiful bust of Princess Celestia

“Oooh, pretty bust” Pinkie touched the bust with her hoof, but she put a lot of force into it, causing the bust to fall and break. “Oops…I busted it…” Pinkie said making a pun.

“Pinkie! What did you do!?” Twilight screamed from atop the staircase, running over to the bust that lay shattered in pieces across the floor.

“Pinkie you just broke a valuable royal item!” Twilight panicked, worried about the bust.

“Wait, look! What’s that thing on the pedestal?” asked Rarity, looking at what appeared to be a red button that laid under the bust.”

“JINKY’S! We found a button!” Pinkie Pie said laughing.

“Yes Pinkie, it is” examined Princess Luna, walking over to the group that stood around the pedestal.

“A button to what?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, I guess we're going to have to just see for ourselves” Twilight said slowly reaching her hoof over to it. Twilight pushed down on the button and waited. Nothing.

“Nothing! The button does NOTHING!?” Rarity shouted in disappointed. A clicking sound rang through their ears from behind them.

“What was that, sound?” They all questioned as they looked behind them.

The staircase they were just on began to collapse into the ground, dust flying everywhere, revealing a secret tunnel passageway leading deep within the castle.

“Bum Bum Bum!” exploded Pinkie, trying to make a dramatic sound.

“Pinkie, please” Twilight cut.

The tunnel was dark and wet as water dripped from the ceiling high above.

“Wow, I've never seen this in the castle before” Luna said. The small group continued to walk forward when they noticed a faint glow in the distance.

“Look over there!” shouted Twilight as she started to run towards the light. Everypony followed Twilight's example and started running. The glow that seemed so close at first seemed to be an eternity away as the party ran endlessly. After what must have been the most tiring run of these ponies' lives, they reached the source of the glow. Everypony breathed heavily, completely drained from exhaustion. Except Raindow Dash who stood silent and cold.

The mane 6 and Princess Luna scattered their eyes across their new environment. They were all in a square room with high white walls sealing it from the world. In the middle of the room stood a large white stone pedestal with green vines wrapped around the base.

“Hey! What's that glowy thingy on top!?” asked Pinkie, pointing a hoof to the top of the pedestal. Everypony looked over to what Pinkie had picked out. A large red crystal heart floated a few inches from atop the pedestal.

“The Heart Of Harmony!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed as she marveled at its glory.

“We found it” Luna said calmly.

“It’s so, beautiful” examined Rarity, drooling over the giant crystal.

“Well let’s go get it and defeat Nightmare” Applejack said to Twilight.

“Yeah, let’s get it” Twilight started walking over to the magnificent crystal.

As Twilight approached the pedestal, she couldn't help but stare in wonderment at the beautiful object that floated before her.

Twilight slowly raised her hooves to lift The Heart from its pedestal, but it was swooped away by a blue figure which left nothing but a trail of rainbows behind.

“I'll be taking that!” mocked Rainbow Dash from above, making away with the powerful gem in her hooves.

The sound of confused mutters ran through the room as everypony looked at each other in confusion.

“Rainbow, why did yawl take that!” yelled Applejack up to Rainbow who dashed across the room with Heart in hoof.

“Rainbow, you know we need that to defeat Nightmare! Why'd you take it!?” asked Twilight rather angrily.

“The Pegasus didn’t take anything…” echoed a dark shadowy voice.

“No…” Luna gasped under her breath.

Rainbow floated on the opposite side of the room, holding the Heart of Harmony.

“Your trust was misguided” came a voice that was far from her own from Rainbow's body. As Rainbow spoke, shadows began to poor from her mouth and eyes and covered her in the darkness she created.

“Rainbow!” screamed Fluttershy as she started to fly towards her friend, but was too afraid to get close to the shadow covered Pegasus.

The shadows coated Rainbow Dash perfectly, forming a shield of darkness around her. The coating didn't last long however, for he shadows began to peel off of Rainbow Dash’s body like a wet sticker. The shadows drifted off into the air and began to form the all powerful shape of Celestia's blackened body.

“Nightmare!” barked Luna, taking one step forward.

As the last strand of darkness left Rainbow Dash to place the final touches on Nightmare's regeneration, Rainbow became unconscious and was claimed by gravity as she spiraled to the ground.

“Don't worry Rainbow, I gotcha!” hollered Applejack as she dashed over to save her friend. Rainbow Dash made a slight thud as she landed stomach down onto Applejack's back.

“You all right, Sugar Cube?” Applejack asked, looking up to Rainbow Dash that laid unconscious on her back.

“Ugh, what happen?” asked the cyan Pegasus as she slowly came to.

“I'll tell you what happened, you little runt” began Nightmare, planing to mess with Rainbow's head. Rainbow Dash stared at the body of Princess Celestia covered in shadows with hateful eyes.

“You gave into the darkness, Pegasus. They call you The Element Of Loyal, and yet you’re the one who handed me the Heart of Harmony. Very generous, if you ask me.” taunted Nightmare, not stopping.

“You’re asking for it!” warned Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth as she prepared to dash over to Nightmare.

“You’re a weak pony, you know that?” taunted the evil Alicorn. Rainbow Dash's temper was quickly rising and her fuse growing short.

“They call you the fastest? Ha! I call you the weakest.” Nightmare baited the young flier with anger. Rainbow took the bait.

“Rainbow Dash released a sharp battle cry as she flew straight to Nightmare at blinding speed, leaving nothing behind but a trail of beautiful rainbows.

“Rainbow don’t!” The other pony’s called out in an attempt to stop their friend. Rainbow Dash brushed off their plea and raised an angry fist as she came closer to the dark entity. Rainbow grew ever closer to Nightmare at her amazing speed. Nightmare stood unflinching as Rainbow closed in on her. But just before Rainbow's speed charged hoof came in contact with Celestia's body, Nightmare burst into a cloud of smoke. Rainbow flew straight through the smog and kept going at her amazing speed.

“What the-!” questioned Rainbow, looking back at the smoke screen and not slowing down.

Nightmare re-solidified herself behind Rainbow Dash, eying the Pegasus's available weak spot. Nightmare charged up her horn and released another powerful dark lightning spell which would have been a fatal blow. Luckily, our blue winged friend managed to spin just enough to avoid direct impact. But not completely. Rainbow received a massive dosage of lighting to her hind legs, causing her to spin out of control and lose consciousness yet again from the immense pain and lack of control in the air.

“Rainbow not again!” said Applejack, running over to catch her friend yet again. In Rainbow's rapid decent, she smacked into the pedestal thus breaking her hoof.

Rainbow let out another scream in pain as she continued to spiral to the earth, getting ever so close to the ground.

“I'm comin' Rainbow! Hold on!” shouted the country pony. But before Applejack could reach a point to catch the falling Pegasus, an upgrown vine snagged onto her hoof causing the earth pony to trip and skid painfully across the floor. Everypony gasped in horror as they knew the winged pony would soon plummet to the cold forbidding floor.

Applejack's skin began to tear as she skidded across the hard floor. Her body began to bleed heavily as her skin was ripped open. Not fatally, but enough for her to fall unconscious.

Twilight, Rarity and Luna all tried to save the falling Pegasus with their magic, but failed. Her decent was too fast for their magic to focus on. Seconds later, Rainbow fell to the ground next to Applejack. Rainbow's body hit the ground with a loud thud. If not for the pony's constant training and body hardening, the fall may have killed her. But it didn't. Instead it knocked her head just perfectly enough as to awaken her from the blacked out state that had claimed her in the air.

Rainbow lifted her wounded head to see Applejack lying next to her, bleeding fairly heavily. A single tear formed in Rainbow's eye and slid down her cheek at the sight of her friend in pain. Rainbow grabbed the earth pony's mane in her mouth and tried to drag her over to the others, regardless of how she could only use 3 of her hooves.

“I don’t think so!” boomed Nightmare. The wicked Alicorn shot bolts of fire in front of Rainbow Dash, causing a wall of fire to imprison the two wounded ponies from reaching the others.

“Nightmare! Stop this!” Fluttershy finally yelled out.

“Fluttershy don’t!” Rarity said biting onto Fluttershy’s tail as the Pegasus had begun to fly over to Nightmare.

“We don’t want anything bad to happen to you” Rarity said with Fluttershy’s tail in her mouth. Fluttershy looked back down at the others as tears poured out of her eyes. Fluttershy gave a glance at Rarity, only to see that tears were also rolling down her face.

“Please come back down” pleaded Rarity, still tugging on Fluttershy's tail. Fluttershy sighed as she surrendered to her friends' wishes. She floated back down and landed by her friends as Rarity released her from her jaw grip. Pinkie trotted over to Twilight and asked, “Can't you do anything Twilight!?”

“I don’t know, Pinkie…” said Twilight, losing hope. An evil laughter exploded from Nightmare's throat as she relished at the pain of the innocent ponies and former weak self.

“This is so fun!” Nightmare cooed as she flew to the back of the room with the Crystal placed firmly on her back.

“Hang on Pinkie, I think I actually do! I think I can use a levitating spell I learned back in Canterlot to get The Heart from her.” Hope sprung in the ponies eyes at Twilight's words.

“Well then what's with the waiting Twilight!? C'mon, do it!” exclaimed Pinkie as Twilight started to focus all of her magic on the gem hanging on Nightmare's back and a red glow circled around her horn. Twilight tried to cover a grunt she had made in her concentration.

“You can't stop me My Little Ponies! Face it, it's all over!” taunted Nightmare, being completely unaware to what Twilight was planning.

The same red glow that coated Twilight's horn began to encrust The Heart as it was slowly lifted from the dark Alicorn's body.

“What!?” Nightmare screamed in disbelief. The crystal made its way over to Twilight and eventually fell gracefully next to the talented unicorn.

“Twilight Sparkle, you actually did it! You have the crystal!” Luna hollered in surprised. Luna’s eyes glowed white and bright with hope.

“Twilight, give me the stone” commanded the princess, knowing what needed to be done. Twilight nodded at the order and moved the stone over to Luna with her horn's magic.

“No! This is impossible!” cried Nightmare, not yet admitting defeat.

“Face it, Nightmare! It’s over, we've won” gloated Twilight in victory with a smirk placed on her face.

Luna focused onto the stone with all her magic. The Heart Of Harmony glowed furiously as it grew brighter and brighter with Luna's magic.

“Well Nightmare, looks like this is where it ends!” boasted Rarity. The crystal continued to glow with immense light. Its intensity rose rapidly until...until...it stopped. The glowing ceased and the stone faded back to its original state.

“WHAT!?” All the ponies gasped in confusion. Nightmare stood in her distant area, laughing menacingly yet again.

“The most powerful substance in Equestria, A dunce!? This is truly pathetic!” Nightmare said still laughing.

“No, this can’t be. Why didn’t it work!? Luna, why didn’t it work!?” yelled Twilight to the Night Princess.

Luna ignored the panicking unicorn and looked back at the other ponies. She saw Fluttershy, tears rolling down her face. She saw Pinkie standing next to Rarity, both staring back wishfully at the princess with heart broken eyes. Luna turned her head over to the injured Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The wall of forbidding flames still captured them within its grasp. The ponies laid motionless on the floor. They weren’t dead, just unconscious from blood loss and the smoke that filled their lungs from the fiery shield that kept them from their friends. Luna return her gaze to Twilight, who still stared forcefully into Luna's eyes.

“I know why, It didn’t work...” Luna said quietly to herself.

“You do!?” squealed Twilight in astonishment.

Luna yet again focused onto the crystal, but not with magic. Her eyes locked on the marvelous gem. She focused her mind on everything that had happened to her since her return to Equestria. She let the thoughts of darkness and hate leave her mind as she put her attention on things like the party, getting to know Twilight and the others. The connection she had made with everyone. Then, she focused on what was happening now. She wanted the world to be returned to it's former glory. She wanted Applejack and Rainbow Dash to be able to walk away from this day unharmed. And how she longed and craved for her sister to be at her side again. She just wanted the darkness to be gone and for Equestria to be the beautiful realm she once knew. And so the crystal wasn't being focused on with magic. No. It was infused with something far more powerful and amazing; friendship.

The Stone suddenly shined with a light so bright and fierce that everypony but the two Alicorn's had to shield their eyes from its intensity.

“No! This is impossible!” Nightmare cried, knowing her defeat was immanent. “Shadows, attack!” commanded Nightmare to a small army of dark monstrosities. As the misshapen creatures of the night leaped into the air to attack their pony prey, they screamed in slight agony before completely disappearing into thin air.

“Wha-?“ said The confused Dark Ruler. The crystal glowed a harsh white light as a single tear of joy and relief slid down Luna's purple cheek. Nightmare screamed as her dark essence was peeled away from Celestia's body and her beautiful white coat revealed itself.

“Nooooooo” echoed Nightmare's voice as she faded away as nothing but a sound in the distance. Luna's eyes sealed themselves shut as the light was far too bright to withstand anymore.
---

The feel of the glorious light began to dim as Luna opened her eyes to see her sister in her normal body standing over her.

“Sister!” Luna gasped as she got up. She was sweating and breathing heavily.

“Luna, what happened?! What’s wrong!?” Asked The Ruler Of The Sun, giving her younger sibling a concerned look.

The Purple Alicorn wiped beads of sweat from her face with her hoof. “Your back!” Luna said to her sister as she sprung up and gave her a huge hug.

“Where did I go?” The Princess questioned. Luna didn't respond to her sister, only stared at her lovingly into her sister's eyes with the joyous thought that everything had been returned to normal.
---

With the sun shining bright and a new day unfolding, a purple Alicorn rushed through Ponyville as she raced over to the house of a certain talented unicorn. As Luna knocked on the wooden entrance to the library, a happy young Twilight answered the door to her friend. Luna trotted into Twilight's home to be greeted by the other 5 ponies who had thrown her an amazing party just 2 days ago. Luna played and enjoyed herself with the other ponies and was finally happy with the one thing her life was missing. Friends.