The conclusion to the Nightmare/Aestas trilogy has finally arrived. The peace of Equestria hangs once again in the balance, between good dreams, bad dreams, and the realm in between.
The Tenebris have slowly been building up their power, and now they've unleashed their great attack against Equestria. It'll be up to the Mane 6 and friends to stop it. Relationships will be challenged, secrets will be revealed, all within this great conclusion of the Nightmare Trilogy.
Far away, hidden from the watchful eye of the princesses, the Tenebris dwelt within the thick shadows as they made the final preparations for the attack they planned to unleash on the unsuspecting populace of Equestria. Nightshade, the high general and King Morpheus' most trusted servant, supervised over the Tenebris, taking note of how well they were progressing. After the embarrassing defeat at the hand of Moonlight Eve and her dreamer friends, King Morpheus had instructed his subjects to work tirelessly these last few months, so that when the right moment arrived, they would strike, and bring about their vengeance on all the Nightmares for hindering his plans.
"Um, Nightshade?" Nightshade whipped around to face Pseudea, his fellow general and comrade.
"What is it?" asked Nightshade.
"The king wishes to see you." answered Pseudea. "He said it was very important."
"Very well then." And without another word, Nightshade drifted off, toward the chamber where their king had taken residence.
"Enter!" King Morpheus beckoned.
Nightshade did as he was commanded and entered into the chamber. The towering form of the king gazed down upon him, his luminescent eyes glowing with a kind of fire as he spoke.
"Nightshade...are the preparations nearly complete?" he asked.
Nightshade nodded. "Yes, my king. All is going accordingly to your plan."
"Excellent!" Morpheus hissed. "The time where we shall claim our vengeance is nearly upon us. Once day turns to night, we shall strike, and begin to plunge this world and all the dreamers within it into an eternal nightmare. All will be mine, and you, my faithful general, shall be greatly rewarded."
"Thank you, my king, you are too kind." said Nightshade respectfully, bowing before his great master. "But, if I may, King Morpheus, there's a matter I must discuss with you."
"You may speak." said Morpheus.
"It regards that Nightmare, Moonlight Eve, and her dreamer companions." he said.
"Yes, yes, what of them?"
"I wish to know, my lord, how they should be dealt with. My fellow generals and I tried to lead them astray, but they were able to break from our control. There's no doubt that they'll once again try to hinder our plans, so tell me, great king, what must I do?"
King Morpheus was silent as he pondered over this, then, he finally answered, "You make a valid point, Nightshade. Thus, I'd like you to personally assist me in dealing with these little...annoyances."
"I am at your disposal, my king." said Nightshade humbly.
"Good. Now, that Nightmare and those dreamers, while they may have been able to defeat us, and while they may currently pose a minor threat to our plans, we can still have a use from them."
"How do you mean?"
King Morpheus grinned a horrible grin and replied, "Quite simple. We shall use them as the tools we need in order to secure our rightful place in this realm. And here is how we shall do it."
Once Nightshade had finished his audience with the king, he left the chamber, appearing quite serious as he passed by the other Tenebris.
"So, what did the king want?" asked Pseudea, coming up to Nightshade's side.
Nightshade gave him a hard, narrow-eyed glare. "That is none of your concern." he said, a distinct edge in his tone. "What is your concern, is keeping an eye on the workers just like the rest of the generals are. Once nightfall hits, tell Moros and Erebus that there is a meeting, and that they must be there as soon as possible."
Pseudea gave him a salute. "You can count on me, sir." and with that, Psuedea hurried off to do as he was instructed.
Nightshade heaved a sigh as he looked out over the lower Tenebris, as the were finishing up the construction on the circle King Morpheus had instructed them to make. He thought about the plan the king had told him to execute, finding his thoughts beginning to drift back to Moonlight Eve. He'd succeeded in fooling her into thinking he was an ally, but before he had a chance to take advantage of her properly, his plans went awry, and the Nightmare ended up helping him, even almost considered him an actual friend. The thought of it made his insides feel...strange. He quickly shrugged it off. Now was not the time for him to be experiencing strange feelings. King Morpheus needed him to be at the ready for when they would resurface and claim vengeance against those who imprisoned their great race and denied them that which they so richly deserved.
'It won't be long now, Moonlight Eve, very soon, we'll be coming for you, and the rest of those pathetic dreamers.'
Eve woke up in a cold sweat that night, her breathing rigid and her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Being a Nightmare, she was unable to have dreams, but she was able to see memories as she rested. And one memory that kept on recurring each night had been of her last time in Aestas, when Queen Almathea had been killed, Nightshade turned out to be a Tenebris, using her for his own gain, and the Tenebris King, King Morpheus being resurrected. All memories she wished she could forget, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to get it out of her mind.
'I wonder if this is how dreamers feel when waking up from nightmares.' Eve wondered to herself.
She got out of bed and walked over to the window, looking out at Ponyville, as it was bathed in the peaceful moonlight. It had been a few months since that incident, and Eve had been in Equestria, staying with Princess Twilight Sparkle in her castle ever since then. She just couldn't bring herself to go back there yet. Not after all that happened with the queen and the Tenebris. Right now, she needed to be away from her homeland, so she could think and figure out what to do from here on out. With the queen now dead, Princess Luna had been taking over her duties, acting as a temporary ruler of Aestas and the Nightmares until a new ruler was chosen. She had offered to let Eve come back and resume the duties Queen Almathea had assigned to her, but Eve didn't feel up to it. After all, once a new ruler was found, what would happen to her?
"Hmph! They'd probably kick me out and send me back to the village." Eve said to herself aloud. "Or worse, they'd banish me from Aestas for good." She let out a loud, heavy sigh, so loud that it woke up her little dust bunny, Lumen, from his sleep. He lifted his head up at Eve, twitching his nose at her as if asking her something. "Oh, sorry Lumen, I didn't mean to wake you. Just go back to sleep."
Eve turned and was about to head back to bed herself, but as she did so, she felt really weak and collapsed to the floor. Lumen looked at her with wide, alarmed eyes.
"I-I'm fine, Lumen." Eve said tiredly. She'd been away from Aestas for so long, she was beginning to feel weak. Nightmares could not live for long outside of Aestas, either wise they'd slowly die off from not receiving the necessary nourishment that only said realm could provide to the Nightmares. Eve quickly recovered and slipped back into her bed and closed her eyes, willing herself to go back to sleep.
"I'll need to go back home soon, but not just yet. Not until I find a way to make up for what happened." And with those last little words, Eve once again drifted off into a dreamless slumber, waiting for when morning would finally arrive.
In the confines of her castle library, Twilight was buying herself by going over the maps of Equestria, looking over the places that had been searched for the Tenebris and anyplace where the Tenebris could possibly be hiding. Since their return to Equestria, Princess Luna warned her and her friends to be vigilant until for the Tenebris, and had begun to search them out, to put a stop to them once and for all. So far however, there had been no luck in finding them.
Knock! Knock!
Twilight looked up from the maps toward the door of the library, where two of her friends, Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, were standing just outside in the hallway.
"Hey, Twilight. Can we come in?" asked Starlight.
"Oh, girls! Of course, come right in." said Twilight, ushering them into the library.
"How's it coming along with the search?" asked Sunset, peering over at the maps.
"Not much luck I'm afraid." said Twilight in disappointment. "I've looked over this map over a hundred times, and I can't seem to find where the Tenebris could be."
"I hear you, wherever they are, they seem to be doing a great job of lying low." said Sunset Shimmer.
"Makes you wonder what sort of scheme they might be planning." said Starlight Glimmer, entering into deep-thought mode, along with Twilight and Sunset.
Their concentration was quickly broken as Spike barged in and said loudly, "Twilight! I've got something for you!"
"What is it, Spike?" asked Twilight.
Spike held up a little scroll to Twilight. "This arrived for you, it's from Princess Luna."
Twilight didn't hesitate as she levitated the scroll and read through it aloud, "Dear Princess Twilight, after many weeks of searching and with little results, I've finally uncovered something that should aid us in subduing the Tenbris threat. I want you and Moonlight Eve to please come to Aestas as soon as possible so that we can discuss this further in detail. Sincerely yours- Princess Luna. P.s. Please send word through Spike when you are ready and I shall send a portal for you to bring you straight to the castle."
"What do you think the princess found?" wondered Starlight aloud.
Twilight shrugged as she set down the scroll. "I'm not sure." she said. "But what I do know is that we can't waste anymore time. If Princess Luna really did find something that can stop the Tenebris, we should find out what it is and have it ready for if and when they try to attack."
"Do you want us to come with you?" asked Sunset.
Twilight shook her head. "No, you two stay here. If anypony asks where I went, tell them that I've gone to see the princess. Eve and I will try to hurry back as soon as possible."
"Got it." said Starlight.
Twilight then left the library and hurried down to Eve's room to tell her about Luna's letter. But when she got to the room, she found the door open and that Eve was nowhere to be found. "Spike!" she called.
"Yes, Twilight?" asked Spike, who had been following after her close behind.
"Do you know where Eve is?" she asked him.
"Let's see...I think she went over to Fluttershy's to pay her a visit." he said.
"Great, thanks." Without another word, Twilight disappeared in a blast of magic, teleporting to the cottage to find Eve.
A few minutes earlier at Fluttershy's...
In Fluttershy's cottage, Eve was sitting down next to Fluttershy, drinking some tea with her old friend.
"So, how've you been Fluttershy?" asked Eve.
"Oh, everything's been...fine." said Fluttershy, looking away and blushing.
"I take it then that everything's good between you and Discord?"
Fluttershy's blush deepened, confirming Eve's suspicions. The two of them had been steadily spending more time with each other, and yet they both claimed they weren't officially a couple.
"Discord's been so nice, and so charming." cooed Fluttershy, taking a small sip from her cup and smiling fondly to herself. "Though, I would be lying if I said I wasn't flustered as well."
"Of course you're flustered. This is your first relationship, isn't it?"
"I-I wouldn't call it a relationship, exactly."
"Oh yeah? Then what would you call it?"
"Well, we're just, taking it slow, you know? To see what happens and how things should go from here."
Eve snorted. "Honestly, I wish you two would stop acting like a couple of schoolponies and kiss already."
"Eve!" exclaimed Fluttershy in embarrassment.
"What? It's true!" said Eve defensively. "Every time you guys come close to taking it to doing something romantic and taking it to the next level, you both get all nervous and awkward before changing the subject."
Fluttershy's face went pink as she looked down at her teacup. What Eve said was true, but she couldn't help it! When Discord first told her that he loved her and admitted to his crush, she wasn't sure what to think. She did enjoy the longer get togethers she and Discord had and how he now opening showed his affection to her, but each time, Fluttershy would end up getting a little nervous, not sure of what to do or what to say. She'd never been in this kind of situation before, and it was with somepony who'd been one of her best friends. What if it turned out that the affections he showed her were nothing more than a passing infatuation? What if he became possessive of her like with Tree Hugger and Eve? What if she were to never have the same feelings as him and only end up breaking his poor heart? With all these worries swarming around in her, Fluttershy tried to be careful so as not to hurt Discord's feelings and to give him a chance to see whether or not they should change their relationship to the next level. But she'd gotten so used to having Discord as a friend, that the thought of Discord becoming something more made Fluttershy's heart beat faster than a humming bird's wings, and caused her stomach to tie itself into all sorts of complicated knots.
"Look, I'm not telling you what you should do." said Eve, resting a hoof on Fluttershy's arm. "But sooner or later, you're gonna have to make a decision about whether or not you want a serious relationship with Discord, or if you just want to remain friends."
Fluttershy felt a little better and cracked a smile at Eve. "You're right, Eve."
"Well, duh, of course I am. That's what friends are for, right? Giving their friends good advice when they need it." replied Eve.
Fluttershy's smile then turned into a smirk as she said, "Although, I can't help but wonder, when did you get to be such a expert on relationships anyway?"
Eve's pupil's shrunk. "Well, I--"
"Is there a stallion or something?"
"What?! No! Nothing like that."
"Then what?"
Eve looked away. "Well, it's a little embarrassing."
"You can tell me. I am your friend after all."
"Well...okay. So long as you promise not to laugh."
"I promise." said Fluttershy sincerely.
Eve opened her mouth, about to speak, when a gust of wind blew open the door. Fluttershy got up and quickly closed it before returning to her seat. "You were saying?"
"Yes, you see, I've kinda, sorta, been reading a few romance novels from Princess Twilight's library. A lot of them are the really cheesy ones that play out kind of like soap operas."
Suddenly, a burst of laughter filled the air, but it wasn't coming from Fluttershy. Fluttershy was looking around in the seemingly empty air of her cottage. "Discord? Is that you?"
The laughter stopped as a familiar voice spoke up. "Guilty as charged my dear. Do forgive me, but I just couldn't help myself!" He suddenly appeared in the air above them.
Eve's eyes widened. "What the! When did you get here?"
"Oh, just a few moments ago." he said, pointing at the door that had been blown open, though now both the girls knew that it hadn't been a wind that blew it. "Just thought I'd drop by to see how my dearest friend has been, when much to my amusement, I ended up overhearing how a certain little Nightmare has developed a fondness for cheesy, dramatic romance novels."
Eve's black cheeks flushed with touches of red as she narrowed her eyes at the Draconequus, feeling a mix of embarrassment and anger. "That was a private conversation!" she said.
"Now, now dear Eve, there's no reason to get all testy with me." Discord said in usual nonchalant manner.
"Discord, could you please not bother Eve?" asked Fluttershy politely. "It was a private conversation, and you shouldn't have been listening in on it."
"You're right, Fluttershy, how careless of me." Discord turned to Eve and said. "I'm deeply sorry, Eve, really I am." Though he didn't sound like he meant it.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are." said Eve sarcastically.
"Oh! Where are my manners? Would you like some tea, Discord?" asked Fluttershy.
Discord shook his head and held up a paw. "No, no, that won't be necessary. Though thank you for taking me into consideration. I just wanted to see you before I head off."
"Right, I almost forgot you were leaving today." said Fluttershy.
"Leaving? Leaving where?" asked Eve, wondering what they were talking about.
"Well, you see Evie," began Discord. "Princess Celestia has asked me to help further the search for the Tenebris, and so I shall be gone for a while. I'm not certain when I shall be back, but hopefully soon."
At the mention of the Tenebris, Eve couldn't help but wince, while Fluttershy looked at Discord with worry.
"Oh dear, will you be okay?" she asked.
"But of course!" answered Discord confidently. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, you did fall for one of their traps." pointed out Eve.
Discord frowned at Eve and shot back, "Please, like you're one to talk."
Eve's mouth tightened as she looked down at the floor.
"Those Tenebris may have gotten lucky when they...tricked me," he said that last part as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "But not this time! There's no way I'll let them try to fool me twice. Just you wait and see."
Eve rolled her eyes. Fluttershy smiled a teeny bit. Then, without any warning, Twilight Sparkle popped out of thin air and quickly turned to Eve.
"Eve! I need you to come back to the castle with me." she said.
Eve blinked in surprise. "Wait. What?! Why?" she asked.
"I got a letter from Princess Luna, she wants us to come to Aestas as quickly as possible." answered Twilight.
Eve felt her throat tighten. She gulped and replied, "Sh-she wants us to return, to Aestas?"
"Yes! And we need to hurry, we don't want to waste any time."
Eve bit her lower lip, glancing over at Fluttershy. "Um, Fluttershy, do you mind if I--?"
"Not at all." said Fluttershy. "You go on, and we can get back to our talk later."
"W-well...okay then." Eve went to Princess Twilight. "So, should we hurry to the castle?"
"There's no need for that." Twilight's horn lit up as she prepared. "We'll be there in no time." she said. As the aura began to envelope them, Eve took one last look at Fluttershy and said, "I'll see you later, Fluttershy." And like that, they were gone.
"Well, that was certainly an interesting little visit from our dear princess." said Discord, stroking his goatee before looking down at a squiggly handed watch that suddenly appeared on his right wrist. "And I should be going as well." He spun to face Fluttershy and looked down at her. "So sorry to cut this visit so short, my dear. But as they say, duty calls."
"Don't worry, Discord. I understand. Just promise me that you be careful, okay?" she said, looking at him with her sparkling doe eyes.
"Aren't I always?" he replied back.
Fluttershy giggled. "Do you really want me to answer that?" she asked.
Discord chuckled in reply. "Don't you fret, Fluttershy. I'll be back here and ready or tea before you know it."
Fluttershy's mouth slowly curved into a relieved smile, and quite suddenly, gave Discord a warm hug. "Good luck." she said.
Discord smiled warmly at her before returning her hug.
"Thank you, Fluttershy."
With their goodbyes said and done, Discord snapped his talons and disappeared in a flash, heading off to Celestia knows where.
Fluttershy's gaze lingered to the spot Discord had been standing and whispered, "Be safe."
Once Princess Luna had been informed that Twilight and Eve were ready to leave, she sent a portal to them, as she'd promised in the library of the friendship castle.
"You ready?" Twilight asked Eve, getting ready to step through.
Eve cracked a nervous smile. "As ready as I'll ever be." she replied.
"Then let's get going."
Starlight, Sunset, and Spike, who were also in the library, were waving goodbye and wishing them well.
"See you guys soon." said Sunset.
"Good luck!" said Spike.
"Take care!" said Starlight.
With a final little wave to their friends, Twilight and Eve passed through the portal, and headed for Aestas. The travel between the two realms was nothing short of fantastical. It felt as though you were plunging into refreshing water and yet you remained dry, and then, it felt like you were whooshing through silk as you passed through light and shadow. It didn't take too long for the girls to reach their destination, stepping out of the portal and now finding themselves in the throne room of Aestas' castle. And there, standing before them to greet them, was Princess Luna.
"Princess Twilight, Moonlight Eve, it's good to see the two of you once again." said Luna graciously.
"You said you found a way to stop the Tenebris." prompted Twilight.
Luna nodded. "Yes, of course. I'd been going through all the information that was available, when I found something quite interesting from Amalthea's old personal collection." she said. "Apparently, she'd been working on a spell to help weaken the Tenebris and return them to their original forms."
Eve blinked in surprise. "Original forms? What does that mean?" she asked.
"I don't know, that's all she wrote on the page where I found the information. But my best guess is that the Tenebris and the forms we've encountered them in isn't what they truly are. If we take away their excess power, they should revert to their original and true forms, from before they rebelled and sought to overthrow Aestas."
"Not their true forms, huh?" Mused Twilight to herself. "If that's the case, then I wonder what they really look like."
Eve wondered that as well. The Tenebris had been gone for so long, and the only images of them that were available were the ones depicting them as the terrifying creatures they were now. But now it seems that they hadn't always been that way.
'What could've happened to make them like that?' Eve asked herself silently.
"So, if we use this spell on the Tenebris, and return them to their original forms..." began Twilight.
"Then they shall no longer pose a threat to either Aestas or Equestria, and can be dealt with accordingly." concluded Luna. "However, I'm afraid it won't be quite that simple."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Eve.
"The spell in question is very complicated, and requires a lot of magical energy need to power it. If a normal Unicorn were to try to cast it, it would leave them severely and completely drained of all their magic, and if an Alicorn were to cast it, they would be critically weak but their magic should return to them over time."
"I see, so it's that powerful is it." said Twilight. "Then what do you propose we do?"
"If this should be cast by more than one Alicorn, then it should not only prove to be more effective, but it should also lessen the repercussions of the side effects." answered Luna. "As such, I'll need you, Princess Cadence, and my sister to help me in casting this spell."
"If it'll help stop the Nightmares for good, I'll gladly do anything I can to help." said Twilight.
Luna smiled at her. "Thank you, Twilight."
"Um, Princess Luna?" piped up Eve. The two Alicorns turned to her. "What about me? What do I do?"
"Ah yes, Moonlight Eve. Since I'll be busy with the preparations for the spell, I need you to help me keep everything in order here at the castle."
"You want me to...what?"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all, well, it's just that, I don't think I'm exactly the kind of pony or Nightmare you want for the job."
"And why not?"
"Uh, well, because there's plenty of others who are much more qualified than I am. Like Twilight! She's already a princess after all." Eve pointed a hoof at Twilight as she said this. "I mean, what if I mess up and make a mistake? What then?"
Luna smiled and chuckled lightly at Eve. "There's no reason for you to worry Eve. I have the utmost confidence that everything will be fine in your care."
While those words might've been meant to comfort Eve, all they did was make things even worse. Her pupils shrunk as she imagined the entire Nightmare kingdom falling into a panic because of her. She'd already messed up quite a few times already, and chances were that she'd do it again.
"So, are you up to the task?' Luna asked her.
Eve gulped. "I...I'll do my best, princess." answered Eve shakily.
"Good." Luna turned to Twilight and said, "We must go over the spell and give a copy to Celestia and Cadence, hopefully we'll have it all prepared by the time the Tenebris are located."
"Right!"
Eve remained firmly in place as she watched Princess Luna and Princess Twilight head off to get the spell. Her first day back in Aestas, and already she was given a tough assignment, one she couldn't fail at any costs.
Eve grimly thought to herself, 'What have I just gotten myself into?'
In the secret location...
In the secret location of the Tenebris, Nightshade was going over the final stages of the ritual they would soon be using for when they unleashed their attack.
"Erebus! Are the sunstone and moonstone in place?" asked Nightshade.
Erebus nodded. "Yes, everything is set and ready to be set into motion." he said.
"Good, King Morpheus will be most pleased."
Moros then went up to the two of them, giving them his report. "I've just received word that Princess Twilight and the Nightmare Moonlight Eve have gone to Aestas, apparently, they were summoned by Princess Luna."
"I'll inform King Morpheus of this at once." replied Nightshade. He returned his attention to Erebus and asked, "Are the cages ready?"
"Yes, all four of them are nice and secure. I even had them tested to make sure that no one will be able to escape from them."
"Everything is going smoothly." said Nightshade with a smirk. "If this keeps up, we'll be able to execute our plan by tomorrow evening as planned."
"Oh, there's one other thing." added Moros. "Princess Celestia has the Draconequus, Discord, joining the search for our base."
"Hmph. Let him search all he wants." said Nightshade, clearly not afraid. "If he does get close, we'll simply have to provide a little distraction to keep him busy for the time being. Tell Pseudea about this immediately and to whip up a trap that that Draconequus won't be able to break."
Moros sighed and moaned. "Okay, if I have to." And off he drifted to go and find Pseudea.
Nightshade continued to grin, feeling very pleased with himself. The tables had turned, and very soon, the Tenebris kingdom would become victorious.
'At long last, Queen Almathea, the reign of your kingdom and your Nightmares will come to an end.'
Eve wasn't sure what sort of work Princess Luna wanted her to do while she was helping Twilight and the other princesses prepare the spell, but she soon got her answer when she was directed to a room filled with a mountain of paperwork, all of which had to be looked over and organized.
"I've gone back to being a secretary." Eve said glumly to herself. "Oh well, there's not much point in me complaining about it."
Eve went over to the desk and sat herself down as she grabbed the first paper. It was all on the usual stuff, petitions from the Nightmares to help build upon their little kingdom, but also mixed in were forms for the damages that had been done to various buildings from when the Tenebris attacked. Eve did her best to go through the paperwork, filing it accordingly, but no matter how many forms she went through, there always seemed to be even more in its place for her to go over. After what felt like a couple hours (which, it probably was), Princess Luna entered the room.
"Oh, Princess Luna, is everything alright?" asked Eve.
"Yes, everything is fine." replied Luna. "I just wanted to have a word with you."
"What about?" asked Eve.
"About how you've been away from Aestas for so long." Eve gulped as she stared at the Princess of the Night. "Both you and I know very well what happens to Nightmares if they are away from Aestas for too long. Since you didn't show any signs of returning on your own, I felt I had no other choice but to summon you along with Twilight."
Eve looked at her in surprise. "You...you used that letter as an excuse to bring me here?"
"Forgive me, but I felt that it was necessary. If I hadn't done that, there's no telling what could've happened to you. It was for your own good."
"Um, well..." Part of Eve wanted to argue, but the other part agreed with Luna. She still felt a little weak, but she was regaining her strength little by little, and didn't feel quite as tired as she had before.
"I can understand how you may feel reluctant to returning to Aestas, after everything that has happened here." said Luna solemnly. "After I disgraced Amalthea and the Nightmares, I wasn't sure if I'd ever face them again, or be able to properly atone for my actions." She lifted her head up and looked Eve right in the eye. "But because of you and Princess Twilight, I was able to return and make amends, and for that I thank you."
"Um, your welcome?" said Eve unsure.
Luna gave her a small smile. "I want you to know, that if there's anything you need, or if you ever want to talk, I'll be right here to help."
Eve felt a little stunned, and confused. The princess was offering to help her and give her advice? Why? "O-okay." she replied back.
"Good." Luna then turned, heading back for the door. "I must go and see how Twilight is doing with the spell, keep up with the good work on those papers."
Eve sat back down in her seat and let out a sigh. Why did royalty have to be so mysterious? Why couldn't they just give a straight forward answer like normal ponies? Eve couldn't dwell on this for too long though, she had work to do. Thus, she resumed sifting through the papers, letting her thoughts only drift to Luna's somewhat comforting words now and then.
"I've sent the copies of the spell to Celestia and Cadence." said Twilight to Princess Luna. "What should we do next?"
"Next, we should go over the spell until we have it etched into our minds." said Luna. "We cannot risk any mistakes when it's time to cast it, otherwise we'll end up draining ourselves of our magic and leaving ourselves completely vulnerable."
Twilight gave a firm nod. "Got it." She laid the spell out on a nearby table for both her and Luna to look over and scanned over the writing that had been scribbled onto the parchment.
"It would be best if we try to surround the Tenebris, that way, we can properly converge our powers together for the attack to work effectively." said Luna.
"But there are so many of them." pointed out Twilight. "How would we be able to surround them all?"
Luna sighed. "Then we'll have to come up with something else, so long as our magic is able to converge to form the spell and is able to affect all the Tenebris, then it shouldn't matter too much how we do it."
"What if we line up side by side? That could work!"
"I suppose. Maybe if--" Luna cut herself off, her pupils shrinking as she stared off into the distance.
"Princess Luna? Is everything--?"
"Something is wrong!" Luna cried.
Before Twilight could ask what was wrong, she soon got her answer, as the castle began to quiver, and their shadows began to tremble. Twilight and Luna gave out a loud cry as their own shadows rose up and swallowed them whole, and began to pull them down into the heavy darkness. By the time the Nightmare guards arrived to see what was the matter, it was too late. Princess Luna and Twilight, were gone, without a single trace.
Twilight gasped for breath, her heart beating a million miles a minute. She looked around and found herself in some kind of iron cage, on either side of her were her fellow princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, all of whom were trapped in similar cages as hers.
"What's going on? Where are we?" asked Twilight, demanding answers. Then, a sinister chuckled emanated from the nearby shadows, from them, out stepped Nightshade, his eyes glowing with wicked pleasure in their entrapment.
"Your highnesses, so glad you could join us." he said with false sincerity, and giving them a mocking bow.
"Nightshade! What is the meaning of this?" questioned Luna.
"The meaning of this, Princess Luna, is us quickly dealing with the unwanted nuisances who think they stand a chance at possibly stopping our plans." he answered.
Twilight narrowed her eyes at him. "We will stop your plans, Nightshade!" she said. "We've done it once, and we'll do it again!"
Nightshade snickered. "I'd like to see you try." he said.
"Oh yeah? Then watch this!" Twilight aimed her horn at Nightshade, ready to fire a spell at him.
"Twilight, no!" cried Cadence, trying to warn her.
But Twilight already shot the spell, only to have it end up bouncing around the cage walls before fizzling out. Twilight's eyes widened. "What?"
Nightshade laughed cruelly. "You didn't think it'd be that simple, did you?" he asked.
'I kinda hoped that it would be.' Thought Twilight.
"We've learned from the mistakes of our last encounter, and have prepared for any interference you or you fellow dreamers might concoct against us." said Nightshade. "It's pointless for you to struggle, so I suggest that you surrender quietly. It'll be a lot easier on you if you do."
The princesses all gave him a hard look, not backing down or cowering before him.
"We will never surrender." said Princess Celestia. "So long as we and the rest of Equestria are full of strength and hope, we will continue to fight until we triumph over you."
Nightshade scoffed. "My, what a touching speech. Unfortunately for you, speeches won't help you to escape the fate our king has in store for you."
From the shadows, the other three Tenebris generals came out, giving the princesses sinister looks as they began to advance toward the cages.
"I suggest you all make yourselves comfortably." said Nightshade. "Because you're all going to be here for a very long time."
After their little business with the princesses had been complete, it was time to move onto the next phase of their plan. King Morpheus emerged from his chambers and approached Nightshade.
"Have you captured the princesses?" he asked.
"Yes, my king, the spell worked just as you said it would."
"Good, and are all the Tenebris ready for the ritual to commence?"
"Of course, they're all waiting for you to begin right now."
Together, the two of them went down to the spirit circle that had taken months to prepare. In its center, there was a pedestal, where there sat a gleaming moonstone, and a brilliant sun stone. All the Tenebris gathered around the circle, the four generals took their positions at each point of the circles border. King Morpheus nodded at the circle approvingly, and stepped inside it, floating just a few inches off the ground so as not to disturb the carefully made markings. He reached out and touched the two stones, beginning to enact the incantation. King Morpheus spoke in a series of whispers before the spirit circle began to glow, as the circle glowed brighter and brighter, so did the stones on the pedestal. It was time to commence the spell. One by one, the Tenebris bowed to the circle, giving to it their power, and siphoning it to their King.
"Et apertum est inter regna, et in somniis et realitatem, et aperuerit mihi januam, ad aeternarum tenebrarum." Morpheus chanted.
All the light in the circle flowed toward the pedestal, the light shot up from it, becoming a pillar of light and piercing through the ceiling of the cavern chamber. The two stones that sat on the pedestal began to darken, until soon they were completely black. Morpheus grinned.
"And so it begins..."
Discord had been taking a quick break from his very boring search, when suddenly it hit him. His body spazzed uncontrollably as he sensed a tremendous magical imbalance. When the spasms ended, he looked up and saw something happening to the sky. It was beginning to get darker and darker, and not only that, but the sun had prematurely set, and was now gone from the sky.
"Oh my, this is certainly peculiar." he said to himself.
The changes continued, as holes began to rip open, holes that led to Aestas, and the dreamscape. Magic poured out from them, altering the landscape and causing it to twist and change. Discord cracked his knuckles, and flew up to the holes, using his magic to seal off each one. But right as he was in the middle of it, Discord felt something blast him from behind. He whirled around to see what it was, and saw a few of the Tenebris soldiers, the ones who worked under the four generals of King Morpheus, and all of them were gaining up on him. Discord scoffed at them.
"So, you want to fight me eh?" he asked them. He held out his talon, creating a ball of magical energy. "Well, if that's what you want, then let's fight!"
"Sigh! I miss Twilight already." said Spike, feeling a little bored and lonely, even though there were two friends sitting right with him at the castle's dining table.
"Hey, I'm sure Twilight will be back before you know it, we just gotta be patient." said Starlight.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." he replied.
Then, without any warning, the castle began to shake and groan.
"What in Equestria?!" shouted Sunset in surprise.
The three of them headed for the nearest window to see what was going on. They gaped up at the sky, watching as it became pitch black and warped. Little tears then began to appear here and there, from which they could see magic flowing out from them.
"Sweet Celestia!" cried Spike. "What is that?!"
"I...I don't know." said Starlight. "It looks like, portals of some kind."
"Yeah, but portals to where?" asked Sunset.
Screams of fright and panic filled the air. The threesome looked down below and watched as the citizens of Ponyville were running for their lives.
"Oh great, just what we needed. Not only does some freaky event happen, but now the entire town is starting to panic." said Spike.
"We need to get out there and see what's going on." said Starlight. "I got a strong feeling that those tears in the sky are very dangerous, we need to try to figure out what's going on and seeing if we can help anypony on the way."
"Got it." said Sunset, heading off with Starlight.
"Hey, wait for me!" called Spike, chasing after them, not wanting to be left behind.
Fluttershy had been doing her usual routine of feeding the animals and watering the plants that grew outside her cottage, when she noticed immediately that the sky turned black, and ominous tears began to form.
"Oh my goodness!" she cried in fear.
Her first thought was to hurry and get all her animals to safety. She gave a whistle, calling all her bird friends to her aid and asked them to warn all the animals they came across to hide and look for cover. Then she sent all the animals that had been with her during their feeding time into her house, and securely bolted the doors and windows.
Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! There, we should all be safe in here." she said.
The various animals clamored in agreement. Fluttershy began to do a head count of all the critters that were present, by the time she finished, she made a shocking discovery.
"Where's Angel?" she asked worriedly. None of the animals new the answer. "Then that means...he's out there." Fluttershy pointed a hoof to the door she'd just bolted. She knew it was dangerous to go out, but she couldn't stand the thought of her poor little bunny being out there, utterly helpless against this odd and frightening phenomenon.
Fluttershy took in a deep breath and put on her brave face. "I'm going out to look for him." she said.
The animals all rushed to Fluttershy, each one chattering over the other, trying to convince her not to go out there.
"I know, I know it's scary and dangerous out there, which is why I can't sit here and do nothing while he's outside, facing Celestia knows what kind of peril." She then looked each critter in the eye and added, "If any of you were in his position, I'd go out to bring you home safely, just as I am now."
The animals were still reluctant, but they backed down, and could only watch as their kind, wonderful friend stepped out to face the ongoing danger alone. The last things they heard before she was gone, was Fluttershy saying that she'd be back soon, and the sound of the lock clicking from the other side of the closed door, locking them all safely inside.
"Angel!" Fluttershy called out as loud as she could (which wasn't very loud). "Angel!" A harsh wind blew through the trees and around her body, sending icy chills down her spine and making her shiver. "Oh, where could he be?"
When it appeared that he was nowhere to be found near her cottage, Fluttershy decided to try looking for Angel further toward Ponyville.
'Perhaps he's somewhere in the park.' Fluttershy thought hopefully.
As she headed into town, she passed by some ponies who were searching for cover, or helping with maintaining the peace and order despite the circumstances.
"Angel! Where are you? Angel!"
"Fluttershy?" Fluttershy whirled around to see Spike, Sunset, and Starlight heading toward her. "What are you doing? You should be heading for cover like the others." he said.
"It's Angel, he's out here somewhere and I need to find him." she explained.
"Let us look for him." said Sunset Shimmer. "That way you can go home and wait where it's safe."
"But--!"
"Please, Fluttershy. We just don't want you to get hurt." said Starlight. "When we find Angel, we'll bring him straight home, okay?"
Fluttershy tried to argue, but ended up hanging her head and replying, "Okay."
"Good. We'll see you later then." said Starlight.
The three headed off, leaving Fluttershy behind. She was about to do what they said and go back home, but out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something small, white, and fluffy darting by.
"Angel!" she cried, and ran off in the direction of the blur. "Angel!" Fluttershy looked wildly around her, until she caught sight of the blur once more, heading around the corner of a cottage. She continued to pursue after it, until she followed it until she finally managed to catch up. Angel Bunny looked a little panicked, as his ears twitched as if listening for something, and sniffing the air for some kind of scent. Fluttershy scooped up her beloved bunny into her arms and cooed, "Oh Angel! Thank goodness I finally found you! Let's get you home quickly, so we can wait until the danger has passed."
Angel looked up at her and was squeaking something, he appeared to be trying to warn her, but Fluttershy couldn't tell what.
"Huh? What is it Angel? What's wrong?" she asked.
Angel pointed a fluffy paw to something behind her, his eyes wide with terror. Fluttershy froze, her ears twitching as she now heard the distinct sound of something lightly growling behind her. She could feel and smell its warm breath breathing down her neck. Very slowly, Fluttershy craned her neck to catch a glimpse at what it was. Hovering over her, was some kind of shapeless monster, made of what appeared to be black tar-like ooze, with glowing eyes, claws, and a wide mouth. Fluttershy felt her whole body freeze up. She wanted to run, but she feared that if she did, then the beast would chase after her. But if she stayed here, she would still be easy prey. So either way, she was doomed.
"No. No. no, no, no." she whispered fearfully. The creature raised one of its claws, preparing to strike. Tears formed in Fluttershy's eye. "Somepony, help!"
As the claws came swinging down, Fluttershy tightened her grip on Angel to Protect him with her body, and shut her eyes firmly, bracing herself for the impact. But after a while, it didn't come. Confused, Fluttershy cracked open an eye to see why the creature was hesitating. What she saw made her eyes widen in surprise. She let out a soft gasp. Some of her animal friends had arrived, coming to her rescue. The squirrels and birds distracted it by throwing nuts and berries at it, while the bigger animals, like the raccoons and Harry the bear, made a head on attack, all of them were distracting the creature, giving Fluttershy a chance to escape. They let out a chorus of growls, chirps, and squeaks, signaling her to go now, before the monster could try to attack her again. Fluttershy looked at her friends with teary eyes, not wanting to leave them to deal with this beast on their own, but she didn't want to make their efforts meaningless either.
Turning on her hoof, she galloped at full speed, looking over her shoulder to reply back to the animals, "Thank you, my friends." And hurried off for her cottage.
Fluttershy wasn't the only one to experience a run in with the shapeless creature. Several others like it were also beginning to rampage around the little town, attacking ponies or simply frightening them away. Luckily, Sunset and Starlight were there to help the ponies, using their magic to subdue the creatures long enough for the ponies to escape, but other than that, it seemed as though most of their magic had no effect on these creatures.
"What are these things?" asked Sunset, blasting on of them to hold it back from attacking a colt and his parents.
"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that they're coming from these portals." said Starlight.
"Then seal them up!" cried Spike, directing ponies like a crossing guard.
"We'd love to, but that takes concentration, something we don't really have right now." said Sunset, struggling with a particularly big, hulking creature.
Spike let out a groan. "If only there was a way we could just cage them all up in one place." he said.
Starlight's face lit. "Spike, that's it!"
"What's it?" he asked.
"Sunset, how good are you at containment spells?" Starlight asked Sunset.
"I'd say I'm pretty good at it, though, I'm a little rusty." she replied.
"Well we're gonna need you to cast one. Get ready to do the spell while I try to round all the monsters up."
"You got it!"
Sunset Shimmer fired up her horn, while Starlight worked double time to encase all the monsters that were coming towards them or were in the surrounding area in her magical aura and levitated them off the ground. She grunted a little under the strain of lifting so many.
"You ready?" she asked Sunset.
Sunset nodded. "Ready."
"Then, fire!"
Sunset aimed her horn at the monsters and shot out a blast of magic at them, a large transparent sphere formed around them, trapping them all inside. Starlight lowered the imprisoned monsters to the ground and smiled triumphantly with Sunset, as they watched the monsters roar furiously and try to break out of the orb with no success.
"We did it!" cried Starlight.
"Yeah we did!" cried Sunset.
The too gave each other a victory hoof bump.
"Uh, guys? I don't think it's over yet." said Spike, as he looked upward and pointed a claw to the sky.
Sunset and Starlight turned their heads to see a massive swarm of Tenebris flying through the air, as they passed through it, the portals began to warp and distort even more.
In unison, both the Unicorns said as they gazed with wide eyes, "Oh crud."
Meanwhile, Discord's fight with the Tenebris soldiers had gone by spectacularly easy for the Draconequus. Defeating these little minions was foalsplay for a being like him, which is why, by the time he let the last soldier fall, he felt suspicious of just how easy it had been. In fact, it was hardly a fight at all. It felt more like...a distraction. His eyes widened with realization. He returned his attention to the rips, which had grown out of control and were now starting to merge with the plain of reality.
"Oh no you don't." said Discord, with a flick of his claw, he attempted to seal off the rifts before they could properly merge. But each time he sealed one off, a new one would pop up in its place. "Darn it! There's no end to this!"
"That's the idea." chuckled an all too familiar voice.
Discord's eyes searched for the owner of the voice, falling upon the being in question. And that being, was none other than Pseudea, one of Morpheus' generals and the one who dared to use his own feelings against him. He was in his pony form, giving Discord a sickeningly smug smile. Discord shot a narrowed glare back at the Tenebris.
"You!" Discord hissed. "So, you decided to face me, did you?"
"But of course, Nightshade himself asked me to keep you entertained, and entertain I shall." he replied.
"Do you really think you can fool me with your little tricks after what happened last time?" asked Discord. "You may have gotten lucky last time, but no one messes with the Master of Chaos and gets away with it."
Pseudea smirked. "We'll see about that." he said. "Prepare yourself."
"I already have." said Discord.
Pseudea's eyes glowed, as he shifted to his wispy cloud form, he blasted a smoke at Discord, who conjured up and umbrella that opened up the wrong way, bouncing the smoke back at him. Discord smirked, thinking that this would be just as easy as taking down the soldiers. But Pseudea dodged out of the way of his returned smoke, and didn't appear to be angered by his attack being deflected. Instead, he continued to launch one attack after another, only to have Discord deflect each and every one of them. Discord was so caught up in how victory would once again be his, that he didn't notice the Tenebris soldiers melting into the shadows and oh so silently forming a circle around the Draconequus, and each whispered an incantation that created symbols on the ground.
"That was mildly amusing." said Discord. "But now, I think it's time to put an end to this." He held out his lion paw, preparing to throw a final attack on Pseudea.
However, Pseudea replied, "I couldn't agree more."
Suddenly, the soldiers completed their task and formed a spirit circle around Discord, causing him to be frozen in place.
"What's this?" he cried.
Pseudea laughed, returning to his pony form so he could properly gloat. "It seems you've once again fallen into one of my traps." he said. "Master Nightshade wanted me to whip up one of my usual illusions, and I was going to make my most powerful yet for you, to make up for my previous failures from last time." Then he added. "However, that didn't seem like enough. So asked I asked myself, 'What would Nightshade want?', and so, I came up with the brilliant plan to get rid of you entirely. That'll make Master Nightshade most pleased."
Discord gritted his teeth. "There's no way you can make a circle powerful enough to get rid of me."
"I admit, it was a rather difficult task to find a spell that would work, but luckily, King Morpheus was more than gracious enough to provide me with one, since I told him of my plan."
The circle began to glow, Discord could feel his power draining, as the circle prepared itself to get rid of him for good. He had to get out. He let what remaining power that was in him feel around for a weak point, something he could use to escape. But so far, there appeared to be none, and Discord's strength was fading fast, soon, the circle would be ready to activate.
Pseudea stepped closer to the circle, looking up at Discord, feeling that he now had won. "Farewell, Discord. It's been a real pleasure."
Discord's eyes darted downward, Pseudea's hooves were touching the circle's border. An idea came to his mind, as Discord said, "It won't work you know. Someone as weak and as pathetic as you won't truly succeed. And I'll bet all you'll do is end up failing that dear Nightshade of yours."
Pseudea's face went red, and without realizing it, he stepped further into the circle. "Don't you dare talk about Master Nightshade!" he screeched.
Discord bit back a small smirk. The Tenebris had unknowingly scuffed up some of the symbols, making the circle incomplete. Using every ounce of magic he could muster, Discord managed to teleport himself at the last split second, as a column of intense light erupted from the spirit circle. It was so blinding that Pseudea had to shield his eyes until its light dissipated. He looked down at the now empty circled, feeling quite pleased with himself.
"It's done, the Draconequus is now gone for good." he said. Believing that he had won, he flew up into the air, and headed back for the secret hideout, to report back to his superiors of what had transpired. Not knowing that Discord would be back again, and ready for more.
"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.
Eve felt like she was going to be sick. Because the portal had been incomplete and she jumped into it recklessly, the travel through it went not quite as smoothly as it would have under normal circumstances. In this case, Eve was spiraling and spinning, almost as though she were going on an extreme roller coaster at incredible speeds. just as she wondered how much longer before she arrived in Equestria, Eve was spat out of the portal and plopped down onto the ground with a loud oomph! Shakily getting up to her hooves, and shaking her head to clear her disoriented vision, Eve's eyes adjusted to her surroundings, it didn't take her too long to recognize where exactly she was.
"This is...the Everfree Forest!" she said to herself.
And sure enough, Eve was in the Everfree Forest, surrounded on all sides by dense, dark foliage. She let out a relieved sigh.
"I made it." said Eve. "Not exactly the place I had in mind, but, not too bad." Her eyes glanced around, searching for familiars markers to use to help navigate through the wood. "Now then, where do I go to get to Fluttershy's place?" And so, Eve began to head further inward into the Everfree Forest, searching for a way to find her friend, and warn the others of the immediate danger that was to befall Equestria.
'I just hope I'm not too late.' she thought.
Fluttershy gaped at the view she saw outside her window with wide eyes. It all looked, like something from out of a twisted nightmare. Everything looked darker, as if cast under some kind of heavy shadow. Crystals, like the kind that had been used to capture the Nightmares back when the Tenebris had been released, now grew up all around, each carrying a sinister glow to it. What's more, with each passing minute, the surrounding area continued to become more warped and much darker. Slowly, Fluttershy backed away from the window and firmly closed the shutters before turning to Discord with a shocked expression on her face.
"T-the Tenebris...d-did that?!" she asked.
"It would seem so." answered Discord, glancing at the now closed window. "I can hardly believe it myself, that they were able to do something as immense as ripping holes between realms and such."
"Ripping...holes?"
Discord nodded. "Those big gaping holes in the sky? They lead directly to the dreamscape, and beyond that, there's another hole that leads to another realm, which I can only assume is Aestas."
"Then...that means..." Fluttershy's eyes widened with realization. She let out a gasp. "Eve and the Nightmares, their in trouble! We have to do something!"
"I'm afraid it's a little late for that." said Discord.
"What do you mean?"
"From what I could gather before I was so rudely attacked, the rips behind the dreamscape were the first to be opened, meaning that Aestas is probably in an even worse state than how Ponyville is now."
Fluttershy's eyes widened as she thought about such a horrible thing actually happening, it made her shudder. "Eve..."
Discord frowned, seeing that his words had only served to worsen Fluttershy's mood, so in an attempt to make her feel better, he added, "Of course, I wouldn't worry too much. After all, Eve has proven to be too stubborn to go down without a fight."
"You think so?"
"Yes."
This made Fluttershy feel the teeniest bit better, but it didn't help to relieve most of the worry she was already currently feeling.
"Oh dear, I wonder what's happening to her right now, and if she's alright." she said to herself.
At that exact moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Now who could that be?' wondered Discord aloud.
Fluttershy opened the door and let out a gasp when she saw Eve.
"Eve!' she cried, pulling the Nightmare into a big embrace. "I was so worried about you!"
Eve smirked. "Hey, those Tenebris may be tough, but they don't know that I don't go down easily without a fight."
"Hmph! Told you so." said Discord.
Eve looked over Fluttershy's shoulder at Discord, her eyes widening as she saw him in his condition. "Whoa! What happened to you? You look like a mess."
"I'm well aware of that, thank you very much." he said. "But if you must know, I had a little run in with the Tenebris and nearly ended up in quite a perilous situation." He puffed up his chest proudly and said, "However, despite their little tricks, they were no match for my quick thinking and ingenuity."
"Yeah, right." said Eve, arching a skeptic eyebrow at him. She knew how Discord could tend to exaggerate, and this felt like one of those times. She then turned serious as she looked at Fluttershy. "I came to warn you and your friends about the Tenebris, but it seems like it's a little late for that."
"It's just awful! Everything's changed! And there were all these scary, horrible monsters attacking everypony."
Eve looked down at the ground, a regretful look appearing in her eyes. "I'm afraid that those monsters, were the Nightmares from Aestas." she said.
"What?! But...but how?" asked Fluttershy.
"The Tenebris used some kind of spell, no doubt they got it from that king of theirs."
"I could've told you that much." said Discord, butting in.
Eve ignored him. "What's more, they somehow managed to make Princess Luna and Twilight disappear!"
"Disappear?!" Fluttershy's eyes filled with even more worry and fear than before. "What happened to them? Are they alright? Please tell me if they're alright!"
"I...I don't know." said Eve, upset that she couldn't come up with a good answer for her friend. She could see how upset she was, and things only seemed to be getting worse and worse. So she said, "But I'm gonna find out!"
"You...you are?"
Eve nodded. "You can just leave it to me. I'll find out what happened to the princesses, and then they can help to defeat the Tenebris and their King once and for all."
"You make it sound like it's easy." commented Discord, who was starting to get miffed at being ignored.
"I never said it was." said Eve. "Princess Luna found an old spell left behind by Queen Almathea. She and Twilight were working up a plan so that they could use it against the Tenebris. Which means that there is a way to fix all of this and return things back to normal."
"Even so, there's an entire army out there, and their powerful king who seems to have a spell for every occasion up his sleeve." pointed out Discord. "So unless you're some how able to face up to all of that on you own, then I don't think you're gonna get very far."
Eve's ears drooped as she lowered her head. "I, guess you're right." she said, a little depressed.
"But you don't have to go alone." piped up Fluttershy. Eve and Discord looked at her as she said to Eve, "You have Sunset, Starlight, and the rest of the girls. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you out." Fluttershy gave her a big smile as she finished her sentence.
"What about you?" asked Eve.
"Well, I would like to help you, but with Discord in the condition he's in, it's best if I stay here to take care of him until he recovers." she said, Looking over at Discord before returning her attention to Eve. "But I'll do my best to try and help you anyway I can!"
"You mean it?"
"Of course! That's what friends do after all."
The two ponies hugged once more, while Discord rolled his eyes.
"Yes, yes, this is all very heartwarming, but I think you might want to get a move on before the Tenebris finish up their takeover." he said.
"Right." said Eve, turning to leave. "I'll send you word soon, wish me luck!"
"Goodbye!" called Fluttershy, waving as Eve hurried off.
With the door once again firmly closed, Fluttershy sighed and said to herself, "And good luck." She spun around and faced Discord. "Now then, if you'll please lie down, I'll make you some tea to drink while I treat to your injuries."
Discord happily obliged, and laid back onto the sofa. While Fluttershy went into the kitchen, he cracked the shutter open by just a hair and caught a glimpse of Eve as she galloped off toward Ponyville, preparing to gather up the help she would surely need.
In the hidden base of the Tenebris, the princesses were all in a weak and helpless state. The cages that held them prisoner were siphoning off their power and their strength, and was being used to fuel King Morpheus and his four generals. Because of this, the princesses laid upon the ground of the cages, unable to get up, and unable to fight against the enchantment. Twilight willed her eyes to open up, she could just barely see one of the generals, Nightshade, standing nearby and watching her with a somewhat amused expression.
"The attack has gone better than anticipated." said Nightshade, smiling smugly. "We've moved from Aestas, to Ponyville, and are quickly beginning to spread outward across this world. It's only a matter of time before we begin with the next phase."
"Next phase?' questioned Twilight.
"Oh, so you still have enough strength to speak I see." remarked Nightshade. "Yes, the phase of our plan that will further cement our victory over Nightmares and Dreamers alike."
Twilight gritted her teeth, as she strained to retain her consciousness as she looked at Nightshade. "What is it that you hope to gain exactly? Just what do you plan to do?"
Nightshade chuckled and smirked at Twilight. "Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? You'll have to wait and find out for yourself I'm afraid, but I assure you, you won't be disappointed." He turned, and disappeared into the shadows.
"Wait!" Twilight managed to cry out. But it was too late. He was gone, and Twilight was unable to hold out any longer, and slipped into exhausted unconsciousness.
Nightshade took a quick glance over his shoulder, stealing one last look at the helpless princesses who were now at their mercy.
To himself he muttered, "Yes, dear princess, I'm afraid you and the rest of your fellow monarchs will be unable to defeat us as you hoped. Soon, you and that Nightmare, Moonlight Eve, shall watch as the world you once knew fades away, and fall into utter despair." With those words said, he went off, heading for the king's chamber, to report on the progress, and receive his further instructions.
The Tenebris were running rampant through the streets of Ponyville, terrorizing every helpless creature that they came across. Sunset and Starlight had their hooves full as they attempted to deal with them, and Spike did his best to help them out, despite not being able to do much to ward the Tenebris off.
"There's no end to them!" said Sunset annoyed.
"At his rate, they're gonna overtake Ponyville in no time." said Starlight.
"I hate to say it, but I think they already have." said Spike.
Sure enough, that was pretty much how it appeared, seeing as how the swarms of Tenebris filled the skies, and no matter how much Sunset or Starlight attempted to fend them off, their efforts had little effect on the invader's attacks.
"Look out!" cried Spike, as one of the Tenebris launched a ball of dark energy at them. Luckily, the three of them managed to dodge just in the nick of time.
"Uh, I think now would be a good time to look for some cover." said Sunset.
"But what about the rest of the townsponies?" asked Starlight. "We can't just leave them here to fend for themselves!"
"Oh! I know!" said Spike. "Twilight set up an emergency around the castle a while back, it'd be a good place to lay low for now."
Sunset and Starlight stared at Spike for a moment in disbelief.
"And you didn't mention this before, why?" asked Starlight.
"You didn't ask." answered Spike.
Sunset and Starlight groaned and rolled their eyes.
"Alright, we'll go to the castle to use as a shelter, and along the way we can try to round up as many ponies as we can to stay with us until we can figure out more of what's going on and what we should do next." said Sunset.
Meanwhile, not too far away from them, Eve had arrived in town, and was weaving her way through the panicked streets, searching for the rest of Fluttershy's friends, a task that proved to be more than difficult with everypony running away and the Tenebris attacking without restraint. Eve silently scolded herself for just rushing in without thinking out a plan for what to do once she got to town. As she tried to think up of what she should do next, Eve spotted a group of ponies, led by Starlight Glimmer, heading in the direction of the Castle of Friendship. With no other ideas of what she should do, Eve decided to follow after the group, hoping that maybe the rest of Fluttershy's friends would be there, and that maybe she could tell Starlight and Sunset about what had happened back in Aestas and with the princesses.
'Maybe they can help me figure out a way to find the princesses.' Eve thought to herself hopefully. And so, she quickly galloped after the group of ponies.
Sunset and Starlight helped to fend off the Tenebris along the way as they hurried for the castle, once they all got safely inside, Spike got the crowd's attention as Starlight addressed them.
"Alright, everypony! We should be safe here for now." she said.
As soon as she spoke, a barrage of questions came at Starlight, asking her what was going on and how the monster would be stopped, etc, etc.
Sunset interjected and told the crowd, "We don't know exactly what's going on ourselves. However, the best thing for us to do in a situation like this is to remain calm, and to lay low until it's safe."
This seemed to placate the crowd enough, as Starlight continued to assure them that they had nothing to worry about, and that they all were now safe inside the castle. Eve wove her way through the crowd, heading toward Sunset and Starlight. Lucky for her, she was easy enough to spot among the crowd. Once they finished addressing everypony, Sunset and Starlight grabbed Eve, and took her out into one of the many hallways to have a talk in private.
"Eve! You're back!" said Sunset. "Is Twilight with you?"
"Do you know exactly what's going on? Why are the Tenebris attacking all of a sudden?" asked Starlight.
Eve took a deep breath, as she began to explain to the two Unicorns about the invasion in Aestas, how Princess Luna and Princess Twilight were captured, and now the Tenebris were moving on with their plans to conquer not only Aestas, but the dream world and real world as well.
"I came to town to see if Fluttershy's friends were alright, and to try and find a way to help save Twilight and Luna too." said Eve. "Do you know if they're all right."
Sunset shrugged. "We're not sure, but they're probably okay. I mean, they're used to this kind of stuff before, so I think it's safe to say that they'll be able to handle things if they get out of hand, er, hoof."
"Yeah, but not for long." said Starlight. "Unless we can figure out some kind of plan to stop the Tenebris, I don't think the girls or Equestria stand a chance against them."
Eve tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, there might be a way, but..."
"What? What is it?"
"Princess Luna did find a spell that could stop the Tenebris once and for all, she talked about how it required a lot of power, and how she'd need the help of the other princesses in order to complete it."
"Great!" said Sunset. "All we have to do is find the other princesses and have them do the spell."
"I don't think it'll be as easy as that." said Starlight doubtfully.
"Why do you say that?" asked Sunset.
"Think about it, if the Tenebris kidnapped Twilight and Luna, who's to say they haven't captured the other princesses as well?"
"Hmm...you make a good point."
"Then we'll have to find them." said Eve.
"How?" asked Starlight. "They could be anywhere. It'd taken months to search for their hideout and still nopony's found it. Looking for the princesses would be just as difficult."
"Not if you know where to look." said Eve.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," said Eve as she began to explain. "The Tenebris are kinda like Nightmares, they need power from dreams or in the very least, the life energy of Aestas in order to help stay alive."
"So? How does that help?" asked Sunset.
"The Tenebris are using a lot of power right now in order to open all these rifts and to cause all this damage, if we can somehow track the source of this power..."
"We'll be able to find their hideout!" finished Starlight.
"Exactly."
"But wait, how are we supposed to do that?" asked Sunset. "We could try a tracking spell, but with all these rifts between realms, it could cause interference with it."
"Oh." said Eve, hanging her head.
"What about you Eve? Can't you do it?" asked Starlight. "I mean, you're a Nightmare, so shouldn't you be able to sense the source?"
Eve shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. Nightmares can sense disturbances relating to dream magic and the like, but to be able to sense something as immense as this, you'd need a Nightmare with skills and powers far greater than mine." Immediately, Eve thought of Queen Almathea, which made her frown deepen at the sad thought. "So unless we can find someone who can sense disturbances or magical imbalances, I don't know how else we can--"
"Wait, of course!" Sunset and Starlight cried out in unison.
"How did we not think of it before?" said Sunset.
"It's so obvious!" said Starlight.
"What are you two talking about?" asked Eve.
Starlight turned to Eve and grinned. "We'll explain in a sec, but first, we gotta get ready to head out and search for the princesses." she said.
"And make sure that the ponies here are safe and protected while we're away." added Sunset.
"I can help with that." said Spike, suddenly appearing in the hallway.
"Spike!" cried Starlight. "Were you eavesdropping?"
Spike's pupils shrank. "Uhhhh, maybe?" he said. "But that's not the point, if you need someone to bravely look after some innocent bystanders during a crisis, then I'm your dragon." He puffed up his chest and grinned.
Starlight's narrow gaze on him lightened a bit at his willingness to help. She turned to Eve and Sunset who both gave nods of approval. "Alright, Spike. Just make sure that nopony leaves the castle until we get back, and if the Tenebris try to break in, find some way to stop or stall them for as long as you can. Got it?"
"You can count on me!" Spike said with a salute.
"Okay, now that that's settled, would you two mind telling me what your plan is?" asked Eve.
Sunset and Starlight grinned at one another before turning to Eve.
"Well, it just so happens that we know someone who can sense magical imbalances, and is more than capable enough to come and help us on our mission." said Starlight.
Eve cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Really? Who?"
Being confined to a couch for recovery for his injuries gave Discord some mixed feelings. On one hand, he was humiliated to have been so easily caught in that spirit circle, and that he'd even gotten injured in the process! It made him debate with himself whether or not it was worse than the time he allowed Tirek to trick him and steal all his magic without expecting a double cross. But then, on the other hand, he did enjoy being placed into Fluttershy's care, even if there was chaos and pandemonium happening outside. With a little help from his magic and Fluttershy's nursing, he managed to fix up most of the serious injuries, but he didn't have his full powers back quite yet, which served to make him feel more irked and humiliated.
"Feeling any better?" asked Fluttershy, as she walked into the living room with some more soup and cider for Discord.
Discord nodded a little as he took the soup and cider, sipping the both of the broths together. "Yes, thank you, my dear." he said.
"Is there anything else I can do?"
"No, no, you've done more than enough."
"Well, alright. I'll let you rest then, just let me know if you need anything."
"I will."
Fluttershy went back into the kitchen, leaving Discord to himself, as he held up his talon and exercised his chaotic powers through it. Just a little longer. If he could just have a little longer more to get rid of the circle's affects and be back at full strength, then he could teach those puffs of smoke a thing or two for trying to destroy him. But as he opened the shutter a crack and peaked out the window, he could see that he didn't have much time left. He could see far off in the distance, the calamity the invading Tenebris were causing on the town. It would only be a matter of time before they spread out across the land, and eventually make their way to Fluttershy's cottage. The thought of Fluttershy once again being in danger because of these pests worsened his mood, made him feel all the more willing to get better,and to finish the job of hunting down these creatures and put them in their place.
Discord exhaled and closed the shudder back, his thoughts turned to Fluttershy once again, as he imagined the innocent mare being in peril, and he, the powerful Spirit of Chaos, being unable to do anything to help her if his powers didn't fully return in time. He'd have failed her, and ended up bringing her nothing but trouble. A possibility he wanted to avoid at all costs, especially after having only recently telling the Pegasus of the crush he'd developed toward her. After finally getting his feelings out in the open with her, he had felt a little of the pressure that had been on him lift off from his shoulders. However, that pressure was soon replaced by lingering doubts and worries, about whether Fluttershy would or could love him back or if they were simply not meant to be. And if she did love him, what if all he did was end up hurting her or breaking her heart? So it was because of these worries, that when Discord got too close to Fluttershy, he would draw back, putting a little distance between the two. By doing this, he believed he would be able to keep himself and Fluttershy from getting hurt should any of his worries end up true.
Just as his emotions were about to spiral into a tornado of worry, frustration, and uncertainty, his ears perked up at the sound of Fluttershy's peaceful humming coming in from the kitchen. Hearing the sweet and playful ditty made Discord relax a little and push away some of the worrisome thoughts. But only a little bit. His eyes drifted toward the direction of the kitchen, and softly under his breath, Discord made a little promise to himself and to Fluttershy, "No matter what happens, I won't let Fluttershy get hurt, by anything or anypony."
At the secret Tenebris hideout...
Twilight's consciousness had been drifting in and out, making it incredibly difficult for her to get anymore bearings on the place she and her fellow princesses had been imprisoned in, and for her to muster up any strength to free herself or deflect the affects of the energy sapping cages. When she was awake, it was only for a few minutes, during which her senses were blurred and she could only make out faint impressions of what was going on around her. It irritated Twilight, being so utterly useless and helpless. She wondered what had happened to Aestas, and to her friends. How could they fight or stop this enemy without the spell Luna had uncovered? Twilight tiredly looked over at the other cages, the other princesses were also weak, but not in quite such a ragged condition as she was in. Princess Luna appeared to be asleep, her breathing calm and controlled, while Cadence and Celestia were awake, steadily holding onto whatever magical power they could muster, preparing to fire it off, at what Twilight didn't know.
"W-what--?" Twilight tried to ask, her voice coming out weak and shaky.
Celestia, not taking her eyes off of her own horn, answered Twilight quickly and carefully. "We're getting ready to send out a warning. With Cadence's magic combined with mine, we should have enough strength to send out a single message, but it'll take a while for us to recover, especially with these cages continuously draining us."
"B-but how?" Twilight asked.
"Luna." Celestia answered. "Right now, she's in a meditative state, focusing her energy and dream power onto a single pony, so she can send them the message."
"Let's just hope it works." said Cadence.
Once both the Alicorns felt they had accumulated enough magical energy, they pointed their horns at Luna, whose own horn began to softly glow, sending out a flash of light that gradually grew brighter, before zipping away and disappearing from the room, heading for its destination. The three Alicorns collapsed, breathing shallowly from the strenuous spell they'd cast together.
"Celestia! Luna! Cadence!" Twilight cried out in concern. She looked upward to the ceiling, where the light had disappeared. "Whoever gets the message, please hurry." she said softly. And once again, Twilight felt herself slipping out of it, with nothing left to do for now but hope and pray that they'd find a way out of this, and that they'd somehow be able to put a stop to this nightmare.
* * *
Nightshade flinched. He whirled around in the direction of where the princesses were being kept. Just now, he had felt a chill, like an interruptions or an interference had occurred. 'What was that?' he wondered.
"Nightshade." Nightshade's attention shifted from that odd little feeling to Erebus, who approached him with a pleased look on his face.
"Erebus, what is it?" he asked.
"We have located the Nightmare Moonlight Eve." said Erebus. "She has been sighted in the first town that we have attacked, Ponyville."
Upon hearing the Nightmare's name, Nightshade immediately looked interested. "I see, anything else?" he asked.
"Only that she's currently inside a castle residing at the edge of the town. Our forces ave tried to infiltrate it, but there's a powerful force that seems to be keeping us out. Many of the dreamers from the town have fled to this castle for sanctuary."
"Hmph! Foolish dreamers, thinking they can delay the inevitable. Have a few soldiers positioned around the town, to keep things under our control until the invasion is complete, then have the remaining forces spread out and conquer the rest of this land. Leave no stone un-turned."
"Understood." said Erebus, heading off to carry out these orders, when he stopped and asked, "What about the Nightmare? What should we do with her should she escape from the castle?"
Nightshade fell silent, his insides doing uncomfortable and unfamiliar flips and twists. Then, he replied coolly, "Leave her to me. I'll deal with her while you just continue to carry out orders and keep Moros and Pseudea in line."
"Got it." said Erebus.
As Erebus left, Nightshade felt...anxious almost to see Eve again. He would face her and bring her back to the hideout, where she'd be presented to the king and forced to give her energy to their great cause. He could practically taste the negative dream energy that could be extracted from her. That naive, foolish, innocent, kind, sweet...Nightshade blinked and shook his head violently. Where had that come from? 'Perhaps I should get some rest.' he thought. 'Yes, all this work with the invasion must be messing with my head. Just a little rest and I'll be able to think more clearly.' With that last thought, Nightshade went to his private chamber, believing that there was nothing to be concerned about, that all was right and going as it should.
At the Friendship Castle...
"Got everything loaded up?" asked Sunset.
Starlight nodded. "Yep." she said, pointing at the bulging saddle bags on her back. "Got everything we'll need."
"Are you two sure about this?" asked Eve to the both of them. "Do you really think that Discord will be able to help us?"
"Of course, after all, he's the only one we know who can be able to track the Tenebris." said Starlight.
"I guess, but, he seemed pretty weak the last time I saw him." said Eve.
"That's why we're gonna cast a healing spell in him." said Sunset. We might not be able to remove all of the affects that the spirit circle did to him, but he should be well enough to help us track down the hideout."
"In that case, let's get moving." Eve put on a brave, determined face, as she and the two Unicorns made it for the doors, and were about to leave through them. But just then, a speeding light flew into the castle and hit Eve from behind, making her cry out in surprise and fall to the floor in unconsciousness.
"Eve!" Sunset and Starlight rushed to Eve's side, wondering what had happened to her, as they attempted to shake her awake. But no matter what, it didn't seem like their Nightmare friend was able to wake up. Sunset and Starlight looked at one another with the same worried expression, wondering what they were to do now.
"What should we do?" Sunset asked Starlight, looking up from Eve's now fallen body.
"First things first, we should probably set her someplace to lie down, probably one of the guest rooms." said Starlight. Using her levitation magic, she carried Eve into one of the nearby guest rooms, gently setting her down on the bed.
Sunset trotted to the bed, looking down at the unconscious Nightmare with concern. "What the heck happened to her?"
"I'm not sure." Starlight replied. "Maybe it has something to do with the Tenebris or maybe she just felt weak from the travel from Aestas. Either way, its best to leave her here for now while we hurry and get Discord."
Sunset sighed. "You're right, but, we should double back to see if she's alright before we ask Discord to help us track down the Tenebris' location, that way we'll know if this is anything we should be worried about."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's move."
Without another word, the two Unicorns left the castle, and headed for Fluttershy's cottage, hoping that Discord would be able to help them put a stop to all this craziness.
In Eve's mind...
"W-what's going on?" Eve asked in a panic, finding herself surrounded in some kind of void. "Where am I?"
It was then, that a soft ball of light appeared before Eve. Her eyes widened with surprise and curiosity as she beheld the strange, ethereal orb. And just as quickly as it appeared, the orb changed shape, and took on the form of Princess Luna.
"Princess Luna?" Eve cried out. "What are you doing here? What is all this?"
Princess Luna said nothing, seeming to look through Eve as though she wasn't really there, and then, she spoke. "To whom it may concern, this is a message sent out to the bearers of harmony. Due to the conditions that I and my fellow princesses are enduring, there's only so much I can say, and I have no control over who receives the message, which is why have done my best to concentrate it on the Castle of Friendship. So please, listen carefully to what I have to say."
"Alright." said Eve, opening up her ears to what Luna had to say.
"As you undoubtedly know, the Tenebris have commenced their plans and have invaded the realms of both Equestria, Aestas, and the dream realm. At this moment, their king is planning on collecting enough dark power to cast a spell that will create an eternal nightmare for all beings within the realms. However, there is a way to put a stop to this. There is a spell that can return the Tenebris to their original form, and strip them of the excess power that they've so far accumulated. Before our capture, I sent two copies of the spell to Princesses Celestia and Cadence. If those spells can be retrieved, then they should be able to give Equestria a fighting chance in averting this nightmare. Of course, such a spell requires immense power and skill, something only we princesses possess, and it is with great disappointment that I tell you that we ourselves do not know where we are being held. However, I am sure that no matter what, we shall escape, and the realms shall be saved."
Luna's form then began to fade away slowly. "That is all I have to say, I wish you all, on behalf of me and my fellow princesses, the best of luck."
"Princess, wait, don't go!" Eve shouted, reaching out to the fading image. But by then it was too late. The princess was gone, and Eve plunged into the void, which caused her to wake up in an almost panicked state, crying out, "No!" Eve found herself sitting in a bed in one of the castle's rooms. Her breathing was still a little heavy, but she quickly shook it off, and looked around for any sign of Starlight and Sunset.
"They must've went off without me." said Eve to herself. "Looks like I'm gonna have to catch up." She then hopped out of bed, and rushed out of the room, through the hallways, and out of the castle, wanting to catch up to the girls as quickly as possible to tell them of what she'd seen and heard.
A little ways outside the Tenebris' base...
Nightshade had finished up most of his duties, and was now setting off to find Moonlight Eve. As he flew in the direction of Ponyville, he thought about the little Nightmare, and how she'd been an interesting little thing in regards to his plans. When he first encountered her, it had been in the Garden of Shadows, where after so long, he had been awoken by her dark and bitter feelings, which helped to provide him with sustenance and power, enough so to slowly revive his comrades and begin their plot to take over and finish what they had started all those thousands of years ago. She had proven to be quite useful, but after the Tenebris had been freed, there wasn't really much need of her anymore. Well, nothing except for power and food of course. But then, if that was the case, why didn't Nightshade do that when he had the chance? When Eve and her little friends had returned to try and stop them, he had an ample opportunity to deliver the blow and imprison her like he had with the other Nightmares. And yet, he didn't. And it baffled him completely. It seemed that every time he was close to taking care of her once and for all, something interfered and caused her to escape time and again from his grasp.
'Well, not this time.' he thought to himself as he smirked sinisterly. 'This time, there will be nothing to stand in the way of me capturing Moonlight Eve, and putting a stop to whatever petty interference she might try to launch against us.'
And of course, Nightshade was very serious about these thoughts. He'd come so far in carrying out the will of his king, and Eve had ended up being right there with him, trying to foil him and King Morpheus. No matter what, he couldn't risk even the slightest chance of interference. At all costs, she and anyone else who wanted to stop them, had to be eliminated. 'No matter what.'
On the way to Fluttershy's...
Getting to Fluttershy's cottage proved to be a not so easy feat, as Sunset and Starlight did their best to fight off the massive swarms of Tenebris that attacked them from every direction. That said, the two Unicorns were making slow progress in reaching the cottage, even though they had some very powerful magic on their side.
"Is it just me, or have these things gotten a lot tougher since the last time?" asked Sunset, remarking on how it seemed to be a little more difficult to take out just one of them.
"There's no doubt, something has made these things stronger." replied Starlight. "Pretty soon, they might end up being impossible to take down on our own."
"All the more reason we need to hurry and stop these creeps."
"Agreed, but right now, that's easier said than done." said Starlight tiredly. She'd been trying to focus most of her energy on keeping the beasts at bay, but seeing as how they just kept coming back up, she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to keep it up.
Just as they were wondering what they should try to do, a voice rose up and diverted the Tenebris' attention away from Sunset and Starlight.
"Hey, Tenebris, over here!" shouted Eve.
"Eve?" the Unicorns cried in surprise. "What are you--"
"No time, just run for it. I'll try to catch up with you later, now go!" Eve made taunting motions at the Tenebris, angering the Tenebris and causing them to give chase and give the girls a chance to escape.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" wondered Sunset.
"I hope so." said Starlight with uncertainty. Taking one last glance over her shoulder at Eve, as she ran in the opposite direction of them. To herself she thought, 'Thanks, Eve, be safe.'
Eve was glad that she was able to help her friends escape so that they could go help Fluttershy and Discord, but now she had a bigger problem to deal with, that being the throng of Tenebris that were currently chasing her through the streets of Ponyville. Whenever she could, she made sure to make as many swerves and sharp turns as possible to try and throw them off, but for the most part, Eve was trying to think up a plan for a way to get rid of them, so that she could try to regroup with the girls, and tell them of the vision she'd been sent. But how? Her mind raced. Helplessly thinking up of a solution, when very quickly, she began to feel faint.
'Oh no, not now!' she thought. While Eve had managed some recuperation during her very short return to Aestas, she unfortunately hadn't reclaimed her full strength, and what with having traveled back to Equestria, helped out Starlight and Sunset get ponies to cover, and running from Tenebris soldiers, Eve was starting to feel weak. Her legs wobbled a little, as if they were about to collapse. 'No, I can't stop now.' She told herself. Thus, Eve pushed herself to continue running, not wanting to allow them to catch her and do Celestia knows what. But, after a few moments, Eve felt as though the heavy presence had disappeared, and instead had been replaced by a different, and somewhat familiar one. A presence that felt dark and ice cold. Eve slowed her running, and glimpsed over her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that most of the soldiers had stopped their chase and had went to resume their previous acts of rampage, while a few stayed behind and circled around their master who floated before them. It was none other than Nightshade, in his pony form, looking down at Eve with an almost unreadable expression.
"You." Eve cried out, swerving on her hoof to stop and face the dark general. As she looked up at him with a hard, narrowed expression, Nightshade simply smirked at her, as if finding her somewhat mildly amusing.
"Moonlight Eve, at last." he replied. "You've been quite resistant to our control, but now I think it's time to put an end to that." Eve took a step backward, but found that the soldiers moved behind her, to block her escape. "There's nowhere to run now, so I suggest you surrender nice and quietly."
Eve however, stood her ground. "Yeah right, like I'd just let myself surrender to the likes of you." she snapped.
"Very well then." he said, lowering himself back down to the ground. "If that's the way you want it, then so be it." Without any warning, Nightshade charged at her. Eve quickly braced herself as Nightshade collided with her, but unfortunately, she wasn't able to stop him from knocking her down to the ground.
Nightshade scoffed. "Pitiful. I was expecting more from you...but it seems I may have overestimated your abilities. A shame, and here I was, actually looking forward to our meeting, thinking that you'd put up more resistance than this, but, it seems you've proven me wrong."
Eve gritted her teeth and lunged again at Nightshade, hoping to punch him, or do something that would cause him some kind of pain. But Nightshade grabbed hold of her arm, and with great ease and strength, he threw her over his shoulder and onto the ground. This action caused all the wind to be knocked out of Eve, leaving her gasping for air. As she tried to breathe, Nightshade pinned her down to the ground, firmly pressing his hoof against her chest.
Nightshade looked at her, tilting his head to the side and having an expression that could only be described as a mix of morbid curiosity and amusement. "Such a weak and fragile thing you are." he said. "And yet you even have the nerve to believe otherwise, that you have any possible chance whatsoever in defeating us." Nightshade let out a dark, cruel laugh, in which the soldiers soon joined in.
Eve felt her anger broiling within her, but as much as she wanted to hurt them, they did have a point. Right now, she was weak and vulnerable, without her full strength, she had no hope of ever stopping the Tenebris, or gain vengeance for Queen Almathea's murder. There was nothing she could do.
Then, just as she was about to fall into despair, and just as Nightshade was about to knock her out and return her to the base, a blast of confetti shot at Nightshade right in the face from nowhere, taking him completely by surprise. Eve, like the other Tenebris, was equally shocked by this sudden and crazy occurrence, but she quickly recovered and used this as her chance to escape. Nightshade spit out some of the confetti that had got into his mouth and growled, spotting Eve as she was making her get away. "Don't just stand there, after her you fools!" he ordered.
The soldiers obeyed, and quickly gave chase. But unlike last time, when the Tenebris got close, a barrage of confetti would explode in their faces, slowing them down enough for Eve to gain more distance away from them. Eve glanced around over her shoulder, wondering what could be causing all this confetti bombing, when she spotted the source. The source of course, was none other than Pinkie Pie, hopping from rooftop to rooftop, and lugging her deluxe party cannon with her. She smiled widely and waved over at Eve.
"Hey, Evie!" she called out happily. "Hope you don't mind, but it looked like you could use some help."
Eve grinned at her in reply. "Thanks Pinkie, you're the best!"
"I know." She waved goodbye to Eve, watching her head off on her way to Fluttershy's. A few of the Tenebris then began to surround Pinkie, in an attempt to stop her. But she merely gave a determined face and smiled, turning her deluxe party cannon up to maximum level. "Say hello, to my little friend!"
Behind Eve, she could hear a loud Boom, almost like there was an explosion. She peered over her shoulder again and saw a giant mushroom cloud of confetti rise up from where she had left Pinkie and the Tenebris behind. And while she hoped that Pinkie would be alright, she couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight. And thus, off she went, hurrying as fast as she could to warn her friends of what the princess had told her.
Nightshade's hooves crushed the confetti that littered the ground, as he walked up to his soldiers, who also laid out sprawled onto the ground. His face was set into that of unadulterated anger and irritation.
"YOU INCOMPETENT MORONS!" he seethed. "YOU'RE USELESS! NOT ONLY DID YOU FAIL TO RECAPTURE THE NIGHTMARE AND ALLOWED HER TO ESCAPE, BUT YOU ALSO ALLOWED YOURSELVES TO BE THWARTED BY A MERE PONY WHO HAS ALSO ESCAPED!!!" The soldiers all cowered in fear, their master's eyes burning with icy flames. Using his magic, he lifted the soldiers up from the ground, and used his magical grasp to crush them, making them cry out in pain and had them begging for mercy.
"Please, master Nightshade, please forgive us!"
"Yes, we promise, we'll do better next time."
"We'll work twice as hard even, to make up for our failure."
"Forgive us, master!"
Nightshade sighed with irritation, and let the soldiers drop to the ground with a loud thud. "Very well, you are aloud one last chance." he said, his gaze firm and cold. "And I do mean, last. If you once again fail, you shall not only be reported to his highness, but I shall personally see to your punishment. Is that clear?"
"Y-yes sir!"
"Oh, thank you, master!"
"You can count on us, we won't fail you or King Morpheus."
And with that, the soldiers flew away, to engage in their new mission and hopefully not screw up again. Nightshade let out another sigh and rubbed the bridge of his muzzle. "While our forces have grown in power, it seems that they still lack some much needed competence." He lowered his hoof (which he had used to pin down Eve), and looked at it with narrowed eyes. 'Moonlight Eve...still you continue to make a fool of me and resist our forces.' His hoof tightened into a fist. 'Enjoy your precious and fleeting freedom while you can.'
Completely out of breath, Sunset and Starlight panted in front of Fluttershy's door, knocking on it as loudly as they could.
"Do....you think...she's home?" wheezed Sunset.
Before she could answer, the door opened, with a surprised Fluttershy standing in the doorway. "oh, hello Starlight, Sunset. What are you two doing here?"
"We came to check on you." said Sunset.
"Is Discord here?" asked Starlight.
Fluttershy nodded. "He is, but he's resting right now."
"Resting?" questioned Starlight.
"Come inside, and we can explain." Fluttershy ushered the two Unicorns inside. Upon stepping inside, they spotted Discord lounging on the couch with a comfy blanket draped over him.
He turned his head toward his new visitors.
"Ah, if it isn't Shimmer and Glimmer, what brings the two of you here?"
"I take it you've seen what's been going on outside." said Starlight, pointing a hoof toward the door.
Discord nodded. "It's pretty hard to miss."
"Then you know that we need your help to stop them." said Sunset.
"Sorry, I would if I could, but I can't." he replied.
"Wait, what? Why not?"
Fluttershy then stepped in and began to explain to the girls how Discord had been weakened by the Tenebris, and how he had barely managed to escape. "I'm glad that he managed to get away, but I think it'd be best for him to stay here and rest."
Starlight sighed. "Well, there goes that idea. Now how are we gonna deal with the Tenenbris?"
At that moment, Eve rushed into the cottage, the door flinging behind her. "Is...everypony...alright...?" she gasped. There was a chorus of agreement. "Good...I'm..." Eve then dropped to her knees on the floor.
"Eve!" cried Fluttershy worriedly, rushing to her friend's side.
"I'm fine, just...a little out of breath. I was little worried that I'd end up getting captured." With Fluttershy's help, EVe got back to her hooves and turned to Starlight and Sunset. "There's something I wanted to tell you. Back when I passed out at the castle, I had this vision from Princess Luna."
"From Princess Luna?" echoed Sunset.
Eve nodded. "She and the other princesses are fine, but the Tenebris are using them as part of their scheme. She also told me that before she and Twilight got captured, she managed to make two copies of the spell that'll defeat them once and for all!"
"Really? Where are they?" asked Starlight.
"She said that she sent one to Princess Celestia, and the other to Princess Cadence, though, since they're also captured I'm not sure where they could be."
"So, the princesses have ended up useless once more? How predictable." said Discord in a mocking sort of tone.
"Discord, be nice." scolded Fluttershy.
He held up his arms defensively. "I'm only saying the truth."
The rest of the girls ignored him, as Sunset said, "Well, if they were sent to the princesses before they got captured, that must mean that the spells are somewhere in Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Castle."
"But, how will we get them?" asked Eve. "I mean, even if we knew where they were in the castles, we'd still have to make it past all those invading Tenebris."
"With my magic and Sunset's we should have enough to teleport all the way to the castle, but from there we'd have to search on hoof." said Starlight. "Since Canterlot is closest, it'd probably be best to start there."
"I'm ready." said Eve.
"Are you sure, Eve?" asked Fluttershy, not wanting her friend to get hurt.
"Don't worry about me, Fluttershy." said Eve, giving her a brave, reassuring smile. "Just stay here with Discord until it's all over, and try to keep safe till we get back."
Fluttershy looked like she wanted to say more, but she let out a sigh and said, "Okay. But you be careful out there too."
"Don't worry, I will."
There then came a cough, and everypony's heads turned toward Discord, who was looking at Eve with a regarding gaze as he said, "Try not to get yourself killed on your little adventure, alright."
Eve wasn't sure what to say, but just gave a little smile. "Thanks, Discord."
He turned and looked away, as Sunset and Starlight prepared the teleportation spell, and in an instant, they, along with Eve, were gone. On their way to find the spell that would save their land once again.