Discord, for a master of chaos, was actually a very good planner. Despite the confidence that he would bring Equestria to its knees in mayhem, several millennia of experience had taught him to have a back-up, no matter what. And after watching from the sidelines as Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, he knew he had found an ace in the hole. Despite his defeat, Discord's greatest trick was still to come.
You know what this means: Equestria's greatest Nightmare is back. And this time, she's not alone.
Edit: Featured 9-27-2013, first time I've had a featured story. Thanks to everyone who's stuck by this story in spite of admittedly slow updates!
Chapters (11)
Exciting!
Next chapter pl0x.
Damn it dude. I thought no one had used this picture so far and then when I submit my story, you had it. I swear God works in funny ways
674773 I've had this story in the woodwork for some time now as an idea, and I just now decided to start on it. Wierd.
An excellent beginning, and I just love how Discord's silver tongue was showcased here.
More please!
Temptation. The Faustian deal is struck.
"From this day forth, you shall be known as Darth... Rainbow
.
For the Shadowbolts are you coming up with your own or are you using these guys
4.bp.blogspot.com/-ynAk3EYEUCk/Th4uf5D_KaI/AAAAAAAAIB8/bUilLegz25U/s1600/20962+-+artist+YoorPorick+oc+original_characters+pooryorick+shadowbolts.png
P.S. Yoorporick (artist) said they were free to use on his DA, btw.
700681 I probably won't go too in-depth with the Shadowbolts, given the story's more about Dash and Luna. But I may explore them, and if I can't think of any good OC designs, I'll probably use these 5. My only concern is that they may turn out too over-the-top, and somehow take over the story. Sorry I can't be more definite, but I'm kind of making this up as I go along in terms of specifics.
701156
Fair enough, we don't want to lose ourselves in the other characters afterall.
Thanks for answering that question and good luck with story.
705671 I've been thinking about it, and if I work the Shadowbolts in to have a bigger role, it may be interesting to have these guys go up against the rest of the Mane 6. I think it could work well, so if I do that, I'll probably use these 5, though I never say anything about my stories for certain. Thanks for the suggestion.
706389
Once again, fair enough. Stories ideas change even while writing. Over a year ago I got an idea and I'm still working on it. :missingshrugemoticon:
Still, looking forward to the next chapters. This is staying in my favorites for sure.
Author's Note: Shadowbolts come from art of YoorPorick, who I personally thank for freeing them for use. If he's on here, I hope he enjoys them. And thanks to transblitz1 for the idea.
Rainbow Dash loves explosions! She's made of them! Keep up the good work.
Why can't I like this again it really does deserve more views.
As for the Shadowbolts, no problem. I really thought they deserved a bit more attention as well. You really managed to capture the personalities as i thought they'd be.
This is really an excellent story. i hope to see more of it.
Alright, Lunar Apprentice is back. I was worried you'd abandoned this story.
1061677 No way, I've got big plans for this one. But you have no idea how busy my summer's been, and adding that to the fact that I have four active stories to work on, and updates have been slow in coming. But I'm freed up for the rest of the summer, so I should get back into a normal pace.
1061790
I know what you mean by busy summer. From this point on i'll be spending just about every weekend away from home.
I've started a story of my own and I want to be able to balance my personal life and give my readers "constant" updates.
Anyway, glad to see this story in my updates again. Last time I loved a story like this, it just up and died with no warning at all.
Ohhh. Twilight's gettin suspicious, and Rainbow... I mean Dash seems to be a full fledged Shadowbolt. I'm sure I've said it before, but I'll say it again I really love this story.
MOAR!!!!
You sir, have acquired 5 moustaches for being awesome:
Good, good. Now continue.
*Sighs in satisfactinn* Only God knows how many times both fics and the actual show've made me want (or want someone) to punch the Wonderbolts. THANK YOU for finally doing just that!
1587542 You are very welcome. I don't personally hate them, but there's no such thing as too much rage-fuel. If you want someone punching the Wonderbolts, try this:
Not a technical punch, but close enough.
i loving this story.please continue this awesome story.
Good except for the whole dropping part of her name thing. Ponies call her 'Dash', but she's still 'Rainbow Dash' in the end. That'd be like you dropping the front half of your IRL first name for no reason whatsoever.
Other than that, I love it. Really hoping to see more from you on this.
2108139 Thanks. I'm working on the next chapter, should be out soon. My idea with the "Dash" thing was just that I'm trying to take RD to the dark side, if that makes sense. Rainbows and darkness don't really go together. Same story with spiking the hair, I'm just trying to make her more edgy and dark. I also feel that it would be easier to take her seriously as an antihero with the 'Rainbow' taken out. Honestly, the entire concept has little actual value to the story; of course the rest of the Mane 6 will call her by her normal name, and it's easier to say "Dash" instead of "Rainbow Dash" in a fast-paced combat scene. Hope that clears it up for you.
Erg.
You're riding real hard on the 'Celestia is a tyrant' train, my friend. This has the potential to be so great, but here you are going down the cliche'd route of 'Celestia's is an evil, power-hungry nag'. She's the antagonist here, so clearly she has to be different than the protagonists in a number of ways in order for there to be conflict, but you needn't make her seem outright villainous.
I find it difficult to swallow that things have progressed to the point where Luna can no longer love her sister, seeing as they've been together for millenia at this point. They are quite literally the only constant companion the other has, but suddenly there's no love lost between them? Really hard to stomach.
Technically speaking she's already a legend. Between the Rainboom and saving Equestria from eternal night... yeah. Rainbow Dash is not a name that's going to fade into obscurity, no matter how you look at it.
2163724
Maybe. But then again, would Luna distort the truth to get Rainbow Dash on her side? You bet she would. She's not outright lying, but she's not being completely honest either. She knows Rainbow Dash wouldn't get on board if she thought it was only a revenge gambit, so she's trying to pull her in by playing the victim and making Dash think there's a moral stake in it. Don't worry, in a chapter or so the actual truth will be revealed, beyond Luna's blinding rage and Celestia's blinding naivete. We'll find that neither of them are completely in the right, and neither are completely in the wrong, either.
As for the 'legend' line, I'm not sure if you got it, but it's from Batman Begins. I love working in movie quotes and references to my stories, though I guess this one was a bit gratuitous.
Technically I think she is playing this too very hard. She could even get the elements on her side if she worked at it correctly, not just RD, although Twilight would be very difficult to convince. AJ, Fluttershy, and Rarity would all be of moderate difficulty. Pinkie is a wild card, and Twilight would need the other five all completely convinced before even attempting. After the clash though they become enemies.
Why isn't there more???
2518667 I'm working on it, but 5 AP classes are not being kind to me. I'll have the new chapter out by the end of May, absolute worst-case scenario.
2519203 Oh
Hands-on? Tsk tsk tsk. Don't you mean hooves-on?
Nitpicks aside, this is a nice fic. Always good to see a competently-written story where one of the Six goes over to the Dark Side.
2523117 Oh, glad you caught that. Fixing...
i read something like this before.ended badly for RD.i hope it playes out differently in this story.good job.
2561619 Don't worry, I have no plans for Dashicide. I'm curious, what story was that?
an update! yay! why did it take so long though?
2600477 For one, that's the single longest chapter I've ever written. I also worked on a chapter for another story, and I don't like to work on more than one chapter at once. But the main reason is that it's the second semester of my junior year at high school; I was prepping for 5 AP exams, working on the nomination process for the Air Force Academy, and juggling more than a few extracurriculars. In short, there just hasn't been a lot of time to write. But now that school's basically over and I've gotten to a stopping point on the other story, the next chapters should come much more quickly.
2601583
awesome! sorry if i sounded nosy or annoyed, i was just curious is all. i hope your school year went well!
this is amazing.i'm looking forward to the next chapter.
Oooh this is great! Also just read a chapter of a twi sombra fic and this chapter pops up. My reaction is "meanwhile on the other side of grim dark equestria!"
Have Nightmare rip Celestia a new one!
2601647 Don't worry about it, the last thing I want is for my readers to think I've forgotten my work.
2602064 Glad to hear it. Don't worry, the next one should be coming out much sooner.
2602567 Equestria can be a pretty scary place, in the hands of twisted minds like ours. And next chapter (unless this twisted mind surprises itself), Nightmare and Celestia are going to go at it until I can't throw them at each other any more. As was the case in last night's Doctor Who series finale, the truth will finally be revealed!
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Oh goodie. And twisted minds? Absolutely! I mean I'm the sick person who threw a life consuming demon Destroyah into equestria. Yea I know sick.
2602977 I think there's something innate about MLP:FiM fanfic writers that rebels against the cheerful, bright, vibrant nature of the show and decides that darkness and evil must be introduced to improve the quality of the universe as a whole. Or we could just be loosing our sadistic impulses on poor defenseless ponies. I don't care; either way, it makes good writing.
2603992
I think so! So hail the villains and let loose the inner monsters!
Oh I missed seeing this in my updates! Looking forward to next chapter's battle, and good luck with that nomination process.
rainbow's speech,that was amazing.can't wait until the next chapter.man this is good.
very well written; especially the speech, but a bit OOC in my opinion... meh, its alternate universe so no big deal
PHILOSOPHY!!
2876018 If the backstory is what you're talking about, all I have to say is this:
"I always think it adds a little resonance to a hero's mission to have some defining element of tragedy in [her] background, don't you?" -The Joker, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker