Darkness Acsending

Nightmare Night, PonyVille

The night was filled with the sounds of laughter, cries of fear, and playful screams of young fillies and colts as they ran about, gathering candy to offer to Princess Luna when she arrived. Off in a corner of PonyVille, a more adult party was going on, and that's where Twilight and her friends were currently. The reason for separating the Adult Party is because alcohol was being served there and nopony wanted the younger ones to accidentally take a drink of Hard Cider. Vinyl Scratch was blasting her PonyStep over the massive speakers set up and she bobbed her head rhythmically with the bass kicks and snare drums that were the backbones to her music.

Twilight was sitting at a table off in a corner, her head in her hooves, trying to get rid of a nagging headache that was plaguing her all day. The party environment wasn't helping her condition either, and for the life of her, she couldn't remember how she had gotten dragged to the party when all she wanted to do was stay inside and curl up with a horror story.

"Although this party is sure a horror story to my headache...Why couldn't Fluttershy be here also...?" She thought to herself as she looked up to see a staggering Rainbow Dash coming over to the table she was sitting at. Twilight couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the athletic pegasus.

"Got into the cider, eh Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

"Wha-Twi?! What are you doin' over 'ere?" Rainbow Dash asked, her speech patterns slurred.

"Yup, definitely under the influence." "Oh nothing, I was just taking a break from the party. You know, resting my hooves and such." Twilight said, rubbing her hoof in fake soreness. Rainbow Dash just looked at her with a half-closed eye and a scowl.

"You're a terrible liar Twi. Come on an' party!" Dash said, reaching over the table to try and grab Twilight's hoof. Luckily, Twilight was able to pull away before Dash got a hold of her.

"No Rainbow. I'm not going to party. To be honest, I don't even want to be here right now." Twilight said with a sigh.

"Whaaaaaaat? But Twilight, it's Nightmare -HIC- Night!" Rainbow Dash said shocked.

"I'm aware of what night it is. I just don't want to be here." Twilight said scowling now. Rainbow Dash slid up next to Twilight and put a foreleg around her friend, smiling as she looked at the Bookworm pegasus.

"Eh, can I help you Dash?" Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Stick with me kid, and -HIC- I'll show ya' how to parrrtay!" The pegasus replied, casting a hoof as she spoke.

"I said no Rainbow Dash. Go home, you're drunk." Twilight said trying to escape Dash's hold on her.

"Oh no ya' don't! Come on! Live a -HIC- a little Twi!" Rainbow Dash said dragging the unicorn away from the table, ignoring Twilight's pleas to be released.

Over in another section of the party, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were taking cider shots. Although for Spike, the first sip of hard cider that he took immediately made him fall onto the ground, knocked out.

"Aww, poor little guy." Pinkie said looking down at Spike.

"Little fella' shouldn't brag about how he can stand hard cider. He's too young still." Applejack said kneeling down and throwing the sleeping Spike onto her back. "Besides, tha' brew's a tad bit too strong for us Ponies." She added. "I don't know how ya' can down ten of them shots Pinkie."

"I dunno either! I guess I'm just immune to hard cider!" Pinkie said as she stood on her four hooves, and started listing off to her right side. "Eh, Applejack? Why are you going left...?" She asked before slumping over onto her side and giggling like a mad mare. At this time, Rarity decided to grace the two ponies with her presence.

"I say, darling, why are you on the ground, rolling in the dirt?" She asked, raising a hoof slightly.

"Ah, Pinkie dipped too much inta' the Cider." Applejack explained. Rarity shook her head and sighed.

"Honestly Pinkie Pie, you're going to regret ever drinking that horrid liquid in the morning." said said. At this time, Rainbow Dash and Twilight both showed up. Twilight looked rather agitated and was glaring daggers at a still drunk Rainbow Dash.

"Hey everypony! -HIC- What you all doing?" She asked grinning.

"Oh Rainbow Dash, dearie, now you're drunk as well?" Rarity asked.

"I'm not drunk! You're drunk!" Dash said pointing an accusing hoof at Rarity who rolled her eyes. Applejack nudged Twilight, which made the unicorn stop wishing Dash to be dead.

"Ya'll right sugarcube?" the farm pony asked. Twilight was about to answer when her eyes saw Spike slumped over on Applejack's back.

"Am I alright? What happened to Spike?!" Twilight asked as she used her levitation magic to float the sleeping baby dragon over to her. Applejack gave a sheepish smile.

"Eh...tha' little guy tried ta' be a big boy...So...he tried some cider..." She said rubbing the back of her head.

"He did what!?" Twilight asked, rage coming into her voice.

"We tried ta' stop him Twi! We honestly did! But he was as stubborn as a mule and insisted he try some." Applejack explained.

Twilight grumbled darkly under her breath. "Spike, when you wake up, you're in serious trouble..." Just then, the music stopped and Vinyl Scratch started speaking on the microphone.

"Alright everypony, it's time to go to the town square and welcome Princess Luna! If you would all just leave in an orderly fashion, that would be wub-tastic." Vinyl said chuckling at her own joke. "Thanks for coming tonight!" The crowd started to disperse and leave towards the town square. Twilight and her friends grouped up and all left with the crowd.

In the center of town, a small stage was set up. This stage was where Princess Luna would land and greet all those who came to see her. After the formalities, she would then mingle with the crowd and a new party would start in the town square. A large crowd of ponies were all waiting near the stage. The fillies and colts that had candy to offer to Luna were in the front of the crowd, eagerly waiting to see the Princess of the Night. Twilight and the others arrived just in time to see Fluttershy come hovering a bit off the ground towards the town square.

"Fluttershy! Glad you could make it!" Twilight said as her friend drew close.

"Oh, hello everypony. Sorry I couldn't make it earlier. There was a tiny emergency I had to take care of." She said with a gentle smile. She noticed Spike and raised an eyebrow, but Twilight gave a look of "I'll explain later" to her and Fluttershy nodded. The six ponies all moved their way to the front behind the eager foals.

"Excited to see Princess Luna?" Fluttershy asked one of the young colts who was dressed up as a Royal Guard.

"You bet'cha! I love Nightmare Night!" He said excitedly. Fluttershy smiled and looked to Rainbow Dash, who was looking back with a half closed eye and was slightly waving back and forth. "Uhm...is Rainbow Dash alright...?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight looked at the blue pegasus and slapped her with a hoof. Rainbow Dash snapped out of her drunken stupor and looked side to side quickly.

"Who? What?!" She said quickly.

"Had to sober you up for Princess Luna." Twilight said with a mischievous grin.

"So you slapped me?!" Dash asked.

"Only thing I could think of." Twilight said shrugging. Rainbow Dash grumbled a bit as the clouds over head started to grow darker and come together. The fillies and colts started smiling widely as the clouds formed. A small tornado of clouds started to form and the Ponies Ooo'd and Awww'd. The twister touched down on the small stage and it soon became a smokescreen, hiding a figure within.

"Yay! Princess Luna's here!" A young filly squealed as she picked her candy bag up in her mouth and started to run forward. She was nearly there when a pair of yellow and red eyes pierced through the smokescreen and a evil cackle pierced the night.

"Not quite your petty Princess..." the figure said. Twilight's eyes widen and the others' jaws dropped. "No...it can't be..." The filly came to a halt and spat the candy bag strings out of her mouth.

"What do you mean..." She asked. Another round of evil cackling and the smokescreen vanished to reveal the figure.

"Behold! It is I! Discord!" He said giving a show entrance stance. Ponies screamed in shock and gasps could be heard. Discord looked at the crowd and raised an eyebrow. "Tough crowd. Come now, my little ponies, surely you're happy to see Uncle Discord again, right?" He asked giving a wicked smile. Some ponies shuttered and flinched back.

"After what ya'll put us through? I'd say not Discord. Besides, didn't ya' go good?" Applejack asked. Discord gave a dramatic sigh.

"Alas, the good life was not one for me. I soon started to miss reigning chaos upon the land. So I broke my promise to Celestia and disappeared to study some new powers. And I've come here tonight to show them off. And what better night than on Nightmare Night? Under a blood moon?" He said. A grin came across his lips and he snapped the fingers on his lions' paw. The clouds overhead pulled back to show the Blood Moon. The land below became covered in its' evil red glow. "Now, for my demonstration. You, little one. Care to help me out?" Discord asked, pointing to the young filly from before. Her eyes opened widely and she screamed. She turned to try and run, but the ground beneath her opened up and a ghastly moan could be heard. In mere seconds, rotting hooves snatched the little filly. She screamed as the hooves began to pull her down into the ground. The crowd gasped once again and watched in shocked horror at the show before them.

"And this, my little ponies, is something I like to call, necromancy." Discord said. He snapped his fingers again and a rotting stallion's head came up and started biting into the young filly. Other rotting heads appeared and began devouring the filly. The group screamed and began running in different directions to a form of safety. All that was left was the Elements of Harmony.

"Discord, stop this immediately! This is wrong on so many levels!" Twilight cried out. The others all nodded and looked at the God of Chaos.

"My dear Twilight Sparkle. How good to see you and your little friends again!" Discord said smiling.

"Enough of your games Discord! Stop this right now!" Applejack said taking up a fighting stance. The others joined her in taking up stances.

"Games? My dear, this is just my path back to the throne! I told you all the good life wasn't for me." He said, the smile now leaving. "Now, let's get down to business. See, I've learned from my mistakes in the past. If I want to win, I have to get rid of you six first!" He said snapping his fingers once more. His yellow eyes became a full yellow glow as Undead Ponies began to rise from the ground. Soon, a mod of dead stood infront of the ponies and Discord chuckles.

"Feed." Was all he said and the Undead let out a collective bloodcurdling screech.

"Run!" Twilight said turning heel and taking off. The other five followed her example and ran after Twilight, the Undead hot on their heels. "To the Library!" Twilight called as she took a right onto the street that would lead her and her friends to safety. More Undead started to appear out of alley ways and stores. Their yellow eyes followed hungrily as they began to run after the retreating mares. The library was close, and Twilight started feeling a sense of hope.

"Once in there, we can start thinking of how to reach Canterlot and get the city into lock down before-" But her thoughts were interrupted when an undead colt stood between her and the library. "Girls, avoid him!" She said jumping over the colt. The zombie reached up and snapped at Twilight, but missed her. She landed and continued running, the others following. Applejack stopped to buck the undead colt far away and she continued running. Twilight reached the front door and opened it. She ushered her friends in quickly. Once Fluttershy entered, Twilight and the others began barricading the front door with random pieces of furniture. After that was done, they all collapsed and panted heavily. Rarity let out a sound of uncertainty.

"Uh...girls, where is Spike...?" She asked. Twilight's eyes shot open and she checked her back. She didn't see her number one assistant there anymore.

"HE MUST STILL BE OUTSIDE!" Twilight said bolting up to the window to look out.

In the street outside, Spike laid there. He slowly shifted and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked around and saw the street was empty. Panic set in and he looked to his left to see the library. He began to stand up when the undead colt from earlier tackled the baby dragon and pinned him to the ground. Immediately, more zombies began circling around the flailing dragon and began their feast.

"NOOOOOOO!" Twilight screamed as she slammed her hooves on the window. The glass panes shook violently, threatening to fall out if she continued.

"Twilight, there's nothing we can do!" Applejack said as she started to pull Twilight away from the window.

"There must be something we can do! We can blitz them and quickly grab Spike and run back in!" Twilight said as her eyes began to tear up.

"That would get us all killed! There's too many out there even for me to handle!" Rainbow Dash said. Twilight just began to cry and fell to the floor.

"I PROMISED I WOULD TAKE CARE OF HIM! AND NOW HE'S DEAD!" She screamed slamming her hooves once again. Her friends all sat and watched her, pained expression on their faces. Rainbow Dash looked to Rarity.

"Isn't there something you can do?" She asked. Rarity thought and and idea popped into her head.

"I can send a message for help!" Rarity told Dash.

"Then do it!" Dash said. Rarity's horn began to glow a bright white and it started to power up. Suddenly, a bolt shot out from the tip of the horn and a white portal appeared on a vacant wall in the library.

"Hello!? Is anypony there!? We're in dire need of assistance! We have multiple...dead...and we need help!"