• Published 25th Nov 2011
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Shroud of darkness - LeTriggs

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Chapter 2

Nightmare

The main hall of Canterlot castle had grown slowly quieter over the evening as Twilight Sparkle told both the princesses of her time in Ponyville, Luna having entered and began listening intently just a few minutes after Twilight began telling Celestia everything excitedly. Luna would occasionally chime in asking of different things or to make a comment such as when Twilight told of her saving the town from an Ursa Minor stating that she was incredibly brave to take on a creature like that and that in all of the history she had known from documentation she had read in canterlot library only one other pony had taken on an Ursa single handed and won. To which Celestia shot her a look that made her go quiet immediately confusing the lavender unicorn but she shrugged it off and had carried on. Celestia herself merely sat and listened nodding at the appropriate times or chuckling when she found something amusing in-between sips of her tea, she never had a liking for alcohol and as such had asked a waiter to bring her a pot which he had done so within mere seconds.

Twilight looked around realising how long she had been talking, the hall was almost empty her friends were dotted around Fluttershy and Rarity were talking whilst standing in front of one of the large portraits the hung elegantly from the wall. Rainbow Dash was with Applejack most likely planning some sort of bet between them from the looks on their faces and pinkie was at the buffet table eating all manner of treats her sister obviously having left a while ago, Along with them there was also the pony she spoke to earlier called Bruce talking to who Twilight recognised as Lance Strongshy from his visit to her just last month who was standing on the other side of the room with his back to Fluttershy clearly not wanting to speak to his daughter. She could overhear snippets of their conversation it seemed to be that Bruce was talking about making a donation to Cloudsdale hospital and they were talking about what the money should be used for.

"I swear that Bruce is going to run his company into bankruptcy if he carries on with these donations" Celestia had overheard too and sighed as she spoke

"Still I guess its better than having just another businesspony that is obsessed with making themselves more money he just needs to preserve his employee's jobs" Celestia looked around the room herself realising how long she had been listening to Twilights stories

Along with these ponies there were also 3 royal guards leaving who clearly had drunk too much alcohol as the night had worn on they had their hooves round each other to keep them standing and were singing as they went

“Show me the way to go home! I’m tired and I want to go to bed!” The one in the middle fell as they were singing making the others burst into fits of laughter. They then picked him up and dragged him off in the direction of what Twilight assumed was the guard barracks.

“They’re going have the worst hangover in the morning” Celestia chuckled softly whilst Luna merely looked at her older sister trying to figure out what prank she was planning for them tomorrow to add insult to their soon to be headaches.

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The captain sighed as her saw the young soldiers in their drunken state guffawing as they meandered they were towards the barracks.

“Got to remember to give them a few more drills tomorrow to make them not get that intoxicated again at such a high profile event” He spoke to himself as he made the mental note to punish them, not to say he didn’t like to have the occasional drink himself but there was a time and a place such as on a night off or in their own quarters as he remembered his own bottle of scotch on his mantle. Making another mental note that he would open his prized drink and relax he rounded the corner into the main hall to see a few more of the guests had stayed behind whilst the others had left about half an hour ago he instantly recognised 6 of the guests from last year’s gala

“Oh great, them again” he muttered the words so nopony would hear them and kept walking towards the princesses making him the most professional in the room including the 2 Alicorns.

Twilight noticed the other unicorn walking towards them his head held high with a strong sense of pride his coat was white as any other guard but that was where the similarities ended. His mane and tail had gone grey through age which was strange considering that the guards had to be young due to how physical the job was even some of the more seasoned soldiers weren't that old. He wore less armour a chest piece that fitted his body perfectly emblazoned with the mark of both the Princesses which was odd as how most guards wore either the armour corresponding to Celestia a brilliant gold with the sun on the front of it or to Luna which was a black piece same in shape to the other guards but instead with a moon on the front. His helmet was also allot smaller compared to the others hugging his head without the brush that was atop the others and it also had a gold plate over his left eye that had been welded their after its initial forgery, The unicorn also had a number of scars on his legs and flank probably from a fight he had had Twilight had forgotten that even though there hadn’t been a war in over 600 years that there were still criminals that the guards had to deal with from time to time if the ordinary police could'nt handle a situation. He approached them with a salute that seemed to annoy Celestia slightly.

“There really is no need to salute captain it is a party after all” Celestia’s words fell on deaf ears as he snapped the salute off then gave his report.

“The gala has been good as always no incidents to report this year which all the guards are thankful for, we are soldiers after all not cleaners” he shot Twilight a look as he spoke the last part making her ears flop back against her head as she remembered the chaos from last time her and her friends came to gala.

“Yes it’s been the same as it always has been captain, boring,” she looked at Twilight thinking her words through “well not exactly boring but you know what I mean”

“I believe peaceful is the word you're looking for ma'am and it has been this evening, which the guards are surely happy for” he thought back to the drunk trio he saw earlier with shame. He also noticed the lavender unicorn looking at him with confusion specifically at the portion of his face where his eye would have been.

“Lost my eye in a standoff with a terrorist group in Fillydelphia” he knew what the other unicorn was going to ask as everypony he came across asked whether he was wearing his helmet or on his days off his eye-patch. She was clearly embarrassed at being caught staring and timidly made an apology for both staring and over his loss which he shrugged off.

“If there is nothing that you would like me to do your highnesses I will return to my quarters there’s a vintage bottle of scotch calling my” He stopped mid-sentence the sound of fireworks could be heard going off.

“There weren’t any more fireworks scheduled tonight they couldn't fire off anymore they had run out I saw the report myself” he spoke the words as he rushed to the window looking out over the city the other 3 following closely. The air was different as to the usual sound of fireworks there wasn’t the anticipation but more a calm in the air….The calm before a storm.

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As the Captain, Twilight and the princesses looked out of the window that had taken up the entire wall at the other end of the hall to the door for what seemed like hours but was a few mere minutes they were met with a sight none of them expected. Buildings all over Canterlot began exploding the fireballs rising high into the air and making other nearby buildings catch fire the sight left them in shock as they watched. Within seconds the sky was covered in a thick layer of smoke and there was a flickering orange glow cast from the fires making the scene unfolding more surreal. The explosions were happening all over the city and didn't show a sign of ending. Celestia snapped back to reality first and turned to the captain

“Activate the automatic sequences! Then get every soldier you can find and help evacuate the citizens NOW!” He didn’t bother saluting and instead burst off through a door to the side slamming it shut as a section of wall came down making it seem as though nothing else was there

“Luna let’s get this door shut we need to protect everypony in here!” the Alicorns horns glowed as the heavy doors began to shut, a small group of guards came rushing in taking up a defensive stance near the doors as the enchantments were cast upon them making them glow brilliantly for a second. All the others in the room were stunned at the speed all this happened within mere seconds the room was sealed becoming an impenetrable bubble within the castle.

Bruce walked cautiously forwards standing near the guards with Lance rooted to the spot in shock.

“What’s happening?!” The earth pony addressed the guards with a sense of authority

“We’re not entirely sure sir the only thing we do know is Canterlot is under attack and that it is our job to guard the royal family” the guard had snapped back to him mostly out of nerves the guard was young most likely more scared than Bruce was himself.

“Fine then I guess if the princesses need protecting then I should help you guys should it come to it” the guard nodded to him waiting. They were more worried about those outside. With the enchantments on the door nothing could break through they were in the safest place in the entire city.

The sound of an explosion extremely close by sounded shaking the room and making Fluttershy squeal in fear they could her metal scraping and rock crumbling before they saw one of the towers that littered Canterlot collapsed landing in the city square. The destruction was immense, none of them had even seen anything like it before in their lives including the sisters who were stunned at ferocity of the attack on their home.

There was no time to react as the doors were suddenly blown off their strong hinges crushing the ponies close to it revealing what resembled………..an Alicorn?! It was different to the Sisters it was about the same height as Celestia It had a long perfectly straight mane that was black almost looking like it had been dipped in oil but with red streaks in it, its tail was the same as its mane. The wings on the creature weren't feathered like any of the other winged creatures in the room instead they resembled bat wings more than anything, leathery and long, ending in sharp tips tucked against its body. Its ears were curved slightly but ended in a point like the wings. its coat was a dark grey with black splodges on it that moved around the body swirling and constantly changing shape.

Applejack was holding Rainbow back the latter’s tail in the former's mouth she had tried to charge the creature as it stood there completely still but obviously being the cause for the door to come away and crush the ponies unfortunate enough to be where they landed. But another Pegasus had taken off and was charging it, Lance had a rage in his eyes, he found it hard enough when ponies died but murder brought out the worst of him. Remembering his wife’s death at the hand of his daughter many years ago when she was a filly. As he closed in on the assailant about a foot away its eyes shot open the pupils were diluted making them incredibly small compared to what they should be like the irises were a blood red with a black slit in them, again it was the same as a dragons. The black swirls had shot to different locations around the creature the largest bits ending up covering its forehead and horn and its chest other splodges were on the legs and flank which was blank. The doctor was stopped in his tracks as he felt a force round his throat gripping it, the creature’s eyes fixated on him and smiled showing its fang-like teeth. There was an incredible cracking noise as lance’s neck was suddenly crushed by the force gripping it and was then dropped to the floor in a mangled mess. Apart from Fluttershy’s screams the rest were in complete silence. Applejack who had let Rainbow go as her jaw dropped was the first to speak.

“Just who the hay are you and what do you want!” The creature's gaze snapped from the pony it just killed and pierced Applejack right to her very soul. It spoke, addressing the entire room the voice was focused showed intelligence that made the creature seem all the more frightening.

“I am the bringer of death and destruction! I am the scourge of aeons! The harbinger of your destruction and the killer of gods! I have no title except what they came to know me as and you all fear my title! For I! AM!”

“Nightmare……..”

Celestia interrupted it with something that Twilight had never heard in her voice before that chilled her to the bone. Pure unrivalled, Terror.

“Good to see you remembered me I thought my legacy had faded away. It’s been over a thousand years since we last saw each other hasn’t it? I still remember back then the last time I saw either of you. One filled with pride and kindness. The other filled with fear and insecurity” He spoke focusing on one sister at a time as he spoke first to Celestia and then to Luna who shrunk back in fear, tears in her eyes as she remembered back to her last encounter with him making Nightmare grin with a sick glee.

“Ah the elements” he was addressing the others now.

“What a pitiful sight such power being contained in a pathetic group of mares. It appears that today is my lucky day I get to destroy the royalty and watch as you are broken” he laughed manically as the thought filled his head but quickly snapped his attention back to Celestia who was charging directly at him. He teleported in a small puff of black smoke to Celestia's side bringing his horn to her and managed to look into her eye for a brief mile-second smiling all the while. Celestia's eyes filled with pain as he blasted her across the room into a mirror making it shatter on impact. She landed on the floor lying on her side, blood trickled out of her mouth a bone sticking out of her wing that had been twisted and mangled by the attack. Twilight ran to her side and nestled down next to her mentor tears filling her eyes at the sight.

“Twilight I need you to listen to me there is something you have to do” Luna had engaged Nightmare moving as seamlessly as he did whilst the others approached the pair on the floor.

“Twilight I need you to take this” she made an ancient letter appear it was sealed formally with a metal clasp but twilight had never seen the symbol before, it was a shield with 2 crossed swords over the top of it.

“Take this. Twilight there is another Alicorn out there, find him and give him this letter I'm sorry to force this responsibility upon you but there is no other way. I’ll get you out of here but from then you’re on your own the most I can do now is take you to where I think he might be”

“I understand”

“And Twilight do me one more thing for me………live” with that her horn glowed and the 6 mares were teleported out of the room. Celestia used a spell to make her able to talk to her sister through her mind.

“Luna I need you to go to the tower and get the elements and then I want you to run do you understand me little sister?”

“Yes Tia but he’s going to catch me he’s too powerful”

“Don’t worry about that I’ll distract him”

“But he’ll kill you!”

“AND IF YOU DON’T HE WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING! NOW GO!” Celestia’s words rang in Luna’s head as she realised the plan her sister had formed.

“I love you Tia”

“I love you too”

Celestia launched a powerful beam of pure sunlight at Nightmare knocking his focus away from Luna giving her the chance she needed, she flew out of the door raced towards Canterlot tower and the secret vault within, all around were bodies of ponies that had been killed in battle. As she reached the door with the elements on the other side she opened the vault and grabbed the box containing the elements she turned ready to leave when she saw something else. On a lone pedestal in a dim light was an incredibly old mask designed for a unicorn with a hole on the top. Just below it was a recess where something once fitted and at the bottom of the mask a piece had been broken. Undoubtedly the same as the spike that was on the other side, she picked it up remembering its former owner with a tear in her eye.

As Luna flew as fast as she could away from the castle there was a blinding light that came from the main hall as a scream was heard all around overpowering the sound of the battle below. Luna didn't dare look back as she flew, tears streaming down her face as she knew what the blood churning scream meant.

Celestia was dead.

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Twilight and her friends landed painfully with a loud thud on the grass, there was a thick fog around them making it hard to see anything. Twilight was still holding the letter that had been given to her by the pony she had looked up to her entire life.

“What was that thing!” Rainbow shouted voicing her anger and confusion

“it didn't look like anything!”

“Hey Rainbow simmer down okay none of us know!” Applejack shouted at her then turned to Twilight who hadn’t moved since they arrived she just stared at the letter wondering what was written inside and the curiosity was burning her to open it. What was it to do with what was happening now? And how had she never heard of a third Alicorn before there wasn't even one mentioned in any of the history books she had read in either of the libraries she'd lived in over the course of her life. So how could one have been around for over 1’000 years and not have been mentioned.

“Hey sugarcube? Come back to us Twi”

“Oh sorry AJ what were you talking about?” Twilight’s voice was devoid of emotion as she spoke her mind still asking questions.

“I was asking if you had any idea where we are”

“Wherever we are somepony needs to do some serious tidying its positively vile” Rarity chimed in having stood in a muddy puddle.

“This place is just like the Everfree forest look at everything it's all over-grown” As the fog began to drift away they noticed that Rarity was more right than they thought, they were indeed in the Everfree forest more specifically they were standing just outside of the old Canterlot Castle. More strangely at the top of the tallest tower there was a flickering of light.