Nightmare's Rising

The ancient castle of the Royal Sisters. Once it was the most glorious landmark and capital of all of Equestria, but was now a dank, abandoned ruin. Gone were its enormous golden roofed towers. Over millennia of neglect they had crumbled. Gone was the lustre of its polished floors and decorative halls. Now instead they rotted with a slimy film of dust and grime. No one except the Princesses remembered its once meticulously crafted beauty, save for the dark presence that still lingered there.

For eight years since its defeat at the hooves of the element bearers, the Nightmare lingered in the icy cold tomb of this castle. Nopony dared explore it. The monsters prowling its halls and the superstitious awe ponies placed on it warded off any would-be adventurers. And nopony noticed the black corruption seeping into the castle’s walls like a cancer on a dying host. The Nightmare was strong now, and it was plotting. Finally, its plans were coming to fruition. Soon, it would reap its just vengeance on the ponies who had sealed it away and Ponyville would fall. The rest of the world would soon follow.

Applejack stirred restlessly in her bed. Her rest after a long day of apple harvesting was broken by the sound of barking in the orchard outside her home. At first she tried to ignore it, but the barking was incessant. She scowled, rolling out of bed onto her hooves.

“What’s that darn dog barking at?” she grumbled. For a moment she considered shutting the window and trying to get back to sleep, but now that she was awake she realized that the barking sounded panicked. Maybe somepony was hurt and had collapsed in the orchard or some monster from the everfree forest was ransacking her orchard again? Either way she couldn’t take the risk.

Applejack opened the drawer of her bedside table and picked out a flashlight in her teeth before leaving the room. Applebloom was standing in the doorway of her own bedroom, rubbing her tired eyes with a hoof.
“Sis, what’s up with Winona?” she asked. “Is she okay?”

“Ah’m gonna go check up on her,” Applejack reassured her. “It’s probably just some bunnies getting into the Carrot fields again. You best get back to sleep.”

Applebloom yawned, “okay. Please be careful, sis.”

“I will, don’t you worry,” Applejack said, trotting down the stairs. She opened the front door and stepped outside. A sudden chill ran down her spine. It was so cold outside it was as if all the heat from the normally warm summer night had been snuffed out.

Applejack perked up her ears and swivelled them discern which direction the barking was coming from and followed the noise. She flicked on the flashlight in her mouth by tonguing the switch. The night around her was morbidly still, shadows seemed to crawl and writhe around the edges of the torchlight. Even the crickets that had often lulled her to sleep with their musical chirping were silent.

Soon Applejack was deep into the orchard, and Winona’s barking was louder than ever. She was thankful she didn’t have any neighbours. If she did they would probably be at her door the next morning demanding that Winona be leashed up inside the barn at night. Whatever had drawn Winona out this far must’ve been important, she hardly ever ran off like this.

“YIP!”

Applejack’s eyes widened at the high pitched scream, her stomach twisting at the sound. She galloped through the orchard, panicking. Winona’s barking was now a cacophony of yelps and snarls. Then, with a horrifying scream, they stopped. Applejack burst through the brush into the orchard clearing, frantically shining the flashlight about the clearing for a sign of Winona. The grass was trampled and tree branches had been snapped, clear signs of struggle, but there was no blood.
Applejack searched for hours for her beloved hound, but the forest was now deathly silent. Whatever had taken Winona was long gone.

Rarity stirred, the rhythmic thrumming of a sewing machine drifted from the boutique below her bedroom into her ears. Her eyes fluttered open. Had she left the machine on? No, even if it was left on, somepony would still need to operate it to make that noise. Could it be Spike? The now adolescent dragon had generously offered to sleep over and help her redesign the flight suits for the Wonderbolts. Surely though, he wouldn’t be working at this hour. She glanced at the clock, it was 4am. Either way, she would just have to tell him that while she appreciated the help, she couldn’t have him overworking himself like this.

Rarity crawled out of bed and telekinetically opened her bedroom door. The boutique at the bottom of the staircase leading up to her bedroom was pitch black. What was Spike doing working in the dark?
She carefully trotted down the stairs and flicked her hoof at the light switch. It wasn’t working.

“Spike?” Rarity called out, her voice quavering uneasily. She had just replaced the bulb yesterday. “Spike? Are you down here?”

Carefully she stepped into the boutique. The room was chilly, like as if all the homely warmth of it had been sucked out. But still, the sound of the sewing machine persisted. “Spike, darling. It’s 4am, I appreciate the help but you simply must get to sleep.”

No answer.

She dimly illuminated the room with the glow from her horn and looked about the boutique, the mannequins with their fancy dresses gleamed in the light, looking at her with faceless stares. “Spike? Come on, darling this isn’t funny.”
Still no answer, save for the rhythmic thrumming coming from her inspiration room. She bit her lip, her morbid curiosity fighting the urge to run out of the house. No, she would not sully her dignity for what could just be an innocent prank at her expense. Puffing out her chest bravely, she telekinetically turned the door handle and pushed open the door.
Her heart froze. Her eyes caught the flash of gleaming white teeth curling unmistakably into a wicked grin, and the creature was on her. She didn’t even have a chance to scream.

Applejack raced down the road to Ponyville as fast as she could gallop. Her stomach was twisting in double knots. She knew there was no hope after searching all night that her beloved hound that Winona could still be alive. She loved that dog like a sister, and the thought that after fifteen years of companionship she was now lying in the belly of some monstrous beast from the Everfree Forest made her sick. Somepony would have to be able to help.
Applejack slowed to a trot when she reached the streets of Ponyville. The normally bustling market square was deserted. The streets were silent save for the fluttering of newspapers in the wind. “Now this just ain’t right,” she muttered to herself. “Where is everypony?”

Mayor Mare had served Ponyville for years. She had guided the town through its share of crises: bad harvests, monster attacks from the Everfree Forest, floods and other natural disasters, and serial thievery. But she had never dealt with anything like this. These ponies were terrified.
They huddled together, speaking to each other in hushed voices. Some were crying. She couldn’t blame them. In a peaceful town where everypony knew each other, a dozen of the town’s residents had mysteriously vanished overnight as if into thin air, leaving not a trace behind. Nopony knew if it was some kind of horrific predator, a supernatural anomaly, or even... dare she say it, a murderer at large.

Finally, she spoke.

“My dear ponies, I know that today has been a hard time for all of us,” Mayor Mare spoke. “As of this morning there have been a dozen disappearances. All of them friends, loved ones, even foals. This is a crime of the highest degree.”
Applejack soon found the crowd congregating in the town square. The sight of so many ponies gathering set her on edge, the only time Mayor Mare held a conference was when something terrible or wonderful had happened. Judging by the terrified look of the townsfolk, it was the former.

Mayor Mare gestured to the lavender unicorn beside her. “On behalf of Celestia, Twilight Sparkle has been sent here from Canterlot to investigate these disappearances. Miss Twilight, I’m glad you could come on such short notice.”
Twilight smiled, “I’m happy to be able to help,” she said. “And may I say, it’s good to be home.”
Mayor Mare beamed. “Rest assured, ponies. With Twilight’s help we will find who is responsible for this debacle and bring them to justice. In the meantime, lock your doors at night, and watch over each other.”
The crowd didn’t seem the least bit convinced as they left the square, hanging their heads and muttering amongst themselves. Soon, Applejack was alone, save for Twilight and the Mayor. She approached the stand where they were talking. Seeing her old friend made her feel a surge of hope.

Of their group of six friends, only Applejack and Rarity had remained in Ponyville. Fluttershy now worked in Canterlot’s largest hospital, drawing on her vast veterinary knowledge and applying it to her patients. She was now regarded as a miracle doctor. Sugarcube Corner had evolved from a humble corner shop into a booming national business, Rainbow Dash was now second in command of the Wonderbolts, and Twilight was now head mistress of Celestia’s school for Gifted and Talented Unicorns.
Applejack missed their adventures, back when they had simpler things to worry about like mad gods threatening to throw Equestria into eternal chaos. Of course she was happy for them, and she still saw her friends occasionally, but life and aspirations often got in the way.

“Twilight?” Applejack asked.
The lavender mare turned to her, beaming. “Applejack!” she cried, embracing her with her forelegs. “Oh it’s so good to see you!”
Applejack smiled. “Same here, it’s been too long ‘Twi.”
“I was just about to head on over to the old library, care to join me?”
“Sure, Twi’,” Applejack chuckled.

Twilight opened the door to the Ponyville library and stepped inside. She breathed in deep, the smell of old and new books mixed with the pine smell of the tree house was sweeter to her than all the perfumes in Canterlot. “It’s good to be home,” she said to Applejack, who filed in closely behind her.

“Ah can imagine. Ah’ve missed you Twi, will you be staying with us for long?” Applejack asked.
“The Princess has assigned Amethyst Star as the new head mistress at the academy until this case is resolved,” Twilight
said. “So there’s no rush to get back.”
“Ah’m glad, and ah just want you to know that ah’m here to help,” said Applejack as they sat on the floor by the bookcases.
Twilight telekinetically levitated a notebook and a quill from her saddlebags and set them on the floor. “Whoever or whatever took those ponies also took mah Winona, ah’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”
“It took Winona?” Twilight gasped, she frowned sympathetically at her. “Oh Applejack, I’m so sorry. I know how much she means to you.”
“Ah raised that beautiful hound from a pup, ah was the first thing she ever saw...” Applejack said sadly. “Ah loved her, she wasn’t just a pet to me. She was a sister.”

Twilight levitated the quill and dipped it in ink, raising it over the notebook. “Well you can be my first witness. Can you describe to me what you saw?”

“Ah didn’t see much, it was dark,” Applejack admitted. “It must’ve been around two in the mornin’. Ah heard Winona barking in the orchard and went to find her. Then ah heard her scream, and by the time ah found her, she was gone. Ah searched for hours, but there was no sign of her or the creature that took her. There wasn’t even any blood.”

Twilight scribbled this down on her notebook. “At the very least, there is some hope that she’s still alive. Most animals would kill their prey before returning to their dens, there should have been some sign of that.”
“Ah know, which makes me wonder if, considering all these ponies are going missing, if it wasn’t just some animal from the Everfree Forest after all. Is there anything in those case notes that’ll help us?”

Twilight looked over the notes. “All we know is that last night, twelve ponies went missing in their sleep. There was no blood, no sign of struggle. For lack of a better phrase they disappeared without a trace.”

“That doesn’t sound too comforting,” Applejack said, looking over the list of names of the ponies that had disappeared during the night. One name stood out in particular. “Dinky?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. She tapped her chin in thought. “Dinky lives with her mother, Derpy. Why isn’t Derpy on this list? She doesn’t work the night shift at the post office anymore. She should’ve been home with her.”

“When I first saw that Dinky and Berry Pinch had been taken, I thought the creature might’ve been abducting foals but look at the rest of the names. Colgate, Pokey Pierce, Lemon Hearts... age doesn’t seem like an important factor. I think we should go see Derpy about this, maybe she remember something that could help us.”

Twilight knocked on the door to Derpy’s home. It was a quaint little cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville. While most ponies indulged in the technological comforts and enjoyed the neighbourly bustle of the town, Derpy seemed content to live alone. She looked up at her cottage. Its roof was a thick canopy of leaves magically enchanted so they would never die. The windows glowed with the warmth of firefly lanterns.

The door opened. Standing there was an anxious grey mare. Her crossed eyes were puffy and had a tint of red and her ears were flat against her head, as if she’d been crying for hours. “Oh, hello Twilight,” she sniffed, wiping her face with a hoof. “I’m sorry. I haven’t been coping well with Dinky’s...” Twilight hugged her.

“It’s okay, Derpy,” Twilight soothed. “Applejack and I are on the case, we’ll do everything we can to find your daughter.”

“Is there anything at all that you know that could help us, ma’am?” Applejack asked.
Derpy was silent for a time as she withdrew from Twilight’s embrace. She looked like she was fighting with herself, deciding if she was able to bring herself to talk about it. “Come in,” she said finally, and walked back inside the cottage.

Derpy’s home was small but warm and cosy. The front door led into a simple living room with a fireplace and plush cushions. Sitting on the windowsill and atop of the hearth were framed photographs of Derpy and her beloved daughter.
Derpy sat on one of the cushions and looked up at them. Twilight had never seen a mare look so helpless. “What do you want to know?” she asked.

Twilight levitated out her notebook and quill. “To start with, please tell me what kind of girl was Dinky?”

“Dinky was a good filly,” Derpy answered. “She was the smartest, most talented, and beautiful unicorn I knew... she was my whole world, the only thing I’ve ever truly done right. At school, a lot of the fillies and colts called me a... retard, because of my eyes. She’s a good girl, she never stood for that.”

“Kids can be so cruel,” Twilight said sadly, shaking her head. She briefly remembered her time in Magic Kindergarten, and forced those traumatic memories to the back of her mind. “You said that Dinky was a unicorn?”
“Her father was a unicorn, but would have been better off a mule. He thought he could take advantage of me, and left as soon as I became pregnant,” Derpy growled. “I’m glad he’s long gone now.”

“In that case, do you think he could have done it? Do you have any other enemies?” Applejack asked.

“No, he doesn’t care about my little muffin. I haven’t seen him in years. As a mailmare, I know everyone in this town,” said Derpy. “Unfortunately, that means I’ve met a few shady characters in my time. At first I considered that one of the ponies who don’t like me could have done it, but that didn’t make any sense. I don’t believe that anypony could be capable of taking my Dinky, or all those other ponies for that matter.”

“So you don’t think it was a pony that took your daughter?” Twilight asked, scribbling notes down in the notebook. Derpy shook her head. “Can you please tell us what you remember from last night?”

Derpy couldn’t bring herself to look at her. She looked as if she was fighting back tears. “Last night was nothing out of the ordinary,” she said. “My little muffin and I were reading a bedtime story together. She fell asleep beside me, under my wing, hugging me.” Her ears flattened against her head. “When I woke up, she was gone. Do you know what it’s like to fall asleep with the thing you love the most in all of this world under your wings, only to find it’s gone when you wake up? It’s the cruellest, most heart wrenching feeling you could imagine. I looked for her the entire morning before I reported her missing to Mayor Mare.”

Twilight listened intently, scribbling every word into her notebook. “Did you check the school she goes to? Her friends? Other family members?”

“The school was closed today for a public holiday, her friends hadn’t seen her since yesterday,” Derpy explained. “And I don’t have any relatives living in Ponyville. They’re all in Cloudsdale.”
“Was there any sign of struggle? Anything to suggest that she had been taken?”

Derpy shook her head. “No, it was as if she just vanished,” she looked up at her with teary eyes. “I’m sorry, Twilight. I don’t know anything else that can help you.”

Twilight put a comforting hoof on Derpy’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Derpy,” Twilight said. “You’ve been a great help. If we find anything, we’ll let you know.” The two mares rose to their hooves.
“Thank you for ya time, ma’am,” Applejack said with a tip of her hat.
“You’re welcome, and thank you,” Derpy said. Her eyes were pleading now. “Please, let me know if you find anything.” She sighed. “It’s not fair. I just wish they had taken me instead.”

“Ah’ve been thinkin’,” Applejack said, trotting beside Twilight on her way back to the library. “About what Derpy said, whatever took Dinky could very well have just taken the both of them. If it’s not after foals, why didn’t it take Derpy as well?”
Twilight stopped walking, “now that you mention it, that is weird,” she said, bringing out her notebook. The two of them perused the names scrawled across it of the ponies that had been abducted over the night. Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Wait a minute!” Twilight cried. “These ponies are all Unicorns!”

“You’re right. But what kinda critter only has a taste for unicorns?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know, but there may be something helpful in the library, will you help me?” Twilight asked.

“Of course,” Applejack said. “The harvestin’ can wait a few days in these circumstances.” She looked down the street. Standing by one of the food carts was a familiar rainbow maned mare. “Hey, is that?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight cried, galloping over to the mare and embracing her in a big hug. “My goodness it’s been so long! It’s good to see you!”

Rainbow Dash chuckled, returning her embrace. “I’ve missed you too, Twi,” she said. She nervously scratched her head with a hoof. “Sorry I haven’t been around much lately, the Wonderbolts and I were on tour the last few months and we’ve been really busy.”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, you don’t have to apologise to me. I know what that must be like,” Twilight reassured her. “So what brings you to Ponyville? I’m here to investigate the disappearances.”

“Disappearances? Now that you mention it the townsfolk did seem a little on edge today,” Rainbow Dash mused. “Do you have any idea who could’ve done it?”

“I think a better question is what could have done it,” said Twilight. “There’s no way it could have been a pony. It also seems whatever is abducting these ponies is only interested in unicorns.”

Rainbow Dash’s smile faded, “oh no.”

“What?”

“I went to check up on Rarity today because she was redesigning my flight suit. When I knocked, nopony was home.” Rainbow Dash said. “I’ve been looking for her all morning, nopony’s seen her!”

Twilight’s heart sank into her stomach, “now that you mention it, I was wondering why I didn’t see her at the assembly this morning.”

“We better go check up on her.”

The boutique was a ruin.
Rolls of fabrics, sewing needles, and dresses littered the once pristine floor of the fashionista’s home. Mannequins bearing beautiful and exotic new designs had toppled onto the floor, the whole boutique looked like one big inspiration room. There was no sign of her, or Spike who had been her assistant the last few years. Spike, even though he was a dragon and not related by blood she was still his mother. The sense of loss was overwhelming. It felt like as if a great weight had been thrust on her shoulders.
“She’s gone...” Twilight stammered, her shoulders shaking with rage. “That monster's going to pay.”

The Nightmare was ravenous, like a hunter thirsting for blood after consuming a fresh kill. For so long it had yearned to gorge itself on unicorn magic as it had done so over a thousand years ago. It was glorious, the taste sweeter than it remembered. With each hapless soul consumed its monstrous presence grew stronger. But it needed a host, a body to possess and use for its own dark devices. It needed... her...

As the days passed ponies vanished in droves like sailors lost at sea, snatched from alleyways and stolen from the safety of their homes, they disappeared as if into thin air without a single cry. In the panic that followed Ponyville became a ghost town. The days where one could safely keep their doors unlocked or walk down the streets at night felt like a lifetime ago.
The townsfolk huddled in fear like rabbits hiding in their burrows from a lurking predator. Even in the day, the doors were locked, windows were shuttered, and the normally bustling market square was deserted. This was not the Ponyville Twilight remembered.

Twilight and her friends’ investigation was proving fruitless. They interviewed the families who had suffered from the abductions, all the victims were unicorns and all shared the same story. They scoured the library for clues. Each night they fell asleep amongst a growing mountain of books. But they would not give up. Too many ponies were counting on them.
Until one night, hidden at the back of the library while her friends were asleep Twilight discovered a tome she hadn’t seen before. It was a curious thing. The title had faded long ago, and its cover depicted a gruesome face shrouded in darkness. Carefully she unbound its cover, the pages were yellowed with age, but the handwriting was still clear from the magical ink it was written in. Twilight’s eyes widened, she recognized the handwriting – it belonged to Starswirl the Bearded.
The book was a journal, each page depicted sketches of creatures that she had never seen before. They resembled ponies but had dark and twisted bodies and slitted turquoise eyes that gleamed with a dangerous intelligence. One of the pages in particular that she read caught her eye:

My research into the magical anomaly known only Dark Presence has finally beared fruit. Ponies have always speculated that Night Mare Moon was merely the result of the Lunar Princess allowing herself to become consumed by jealously and hate towards her sister, the Solar Princess, but my research has finally proven otherwise. In fact, Luna did not create the Dark Presence as most ponies today believe. Instead, there is evidence that the Dark Presence could very well be older than the Chaos God Discord or even the Royal Sisters. After scouring the ruins of ancient civilizations that have existed long before ponies came to Equestria, I have discovered that Equestria’s previous occupants became extinct from a massive food shortage caused by a night that lasted for three whole months.
This has left me to speculate that the Dark Presence is a ravenous, ephemeral beast. The texts and recent events following Luna’s banishment indicate that this creature follows a vicious and fatal cycle: A species will settle on Equestria. This land is particularly inviting thanks to its weather conditions and plentiful food. The Dark Presence will awaken from hibernation and begin to feast on the migrated species (taking preference to any creature that is magically inclined). These consumed souls become effectively mindless shadow creatures called Noctals (see fig 2.4). The Dark Presence will continue this process until it becomes powerful enough to consume the species as a whole through instigating an endless night until the prey species is extinct. With no more food to consume, it will go into hibernation until the next would-be occupants arrive. Typically, this entire process will require a host. In the case of Luna, the alicorn was a perfect host as the Dark Presence was able to play on the negative emotions she harboured towards her sister and allowed them to fester to the point where she involuntarily became its vessel.
On the subject of Noctals, these monsters are the result of a creature consumed by the Dark Presence. Contrary to what one may believe, in my encounters with the few that still remain amongst the ruins, light is not lethal against them. It is at best a mere hindrance. It appears that when the Dark Presence returns to hibernate, the Noctals will be consumed as a food source to last it until its food supply is replenished.

Twilight nearly dropped the book out of her telekinetic grip, there was no doubt about it now – the reports from witnesses started to add up: The disappearance of solely unicorns, ponies jumping at shadows, and the unscheduled moonless nights during the abductions could only mean one thing – the Dark Presence was feasting again, and the ponies were its prey.

“Twilight...”

Twilight’s ears perked up at the eerie sound resonating through the house. She rose from the back section of the library and cautiously followed the voice. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were sleeping amongst the mounds of books. A warm glow emanated from the ceiling lamp above. Twilight sighed in relief. It must’ve just been her imagination.
The Dark Presence knew it had to act now, Twilight had ascertained its involvement in the disappearances. If she told the royal sisters they would ruin everything.

The library’s windows shattered, bringing with it a powerful gust of wind that blew the few books that hadn’t been checked yet off of their shelves. Shadowy tendrils of darkness burst through the walls, lashing around her legs and wrapping her inside a cocoon. Twilight didn’t even have a chance to scream before her world faded to black.

Darkness...
Twilight was floating in a sea of shadows. A wildly churning abyss of nothingness. She heard the whispers of thousands of voices in her ears, their wails spoken in a tongue she did not recognize. It would have driven a lesser pony mad.
“At last, I have found you,” a voice spoke in her head. “My perfect vessel.”
Thread-like tendrils lashed around Twilight’s legs, pulling her out of the sea of darkness and suspending her in mid air. She struggled futilely, desperately trying to cast a spell in her vast repertoire to escape this nightmare. It was useless, magic alone could not stand against the power of an ageless evil. She looked up, dozens of shadowy tendrils snaked down from above her, merging together to form a gruesome shadowy face. Twilight’s heart felt like it had stopped in its chest. She realized she was staring into the face of evil.

“What is that!?” Rainbow Dash shouted, rising to her hooves and looking up at the dark cocoon. “It just took Twilight!”
Noctals poured in through the library’s windows and doorway. Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood back to back, wide eyed. The monsters looked like ponies, but their bodies looked like they were made of shadows made solid. “Ah dunno but we’ve got company. Hmmph, just like old times aye Dash?” Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash snorted in agreement, taking a fighting stance.

Twilight screamed, writhing in the tendrils’ grasp as the Dark Presence advanced on her. The monster opened its cavernous maw. There was a horrible sucking sound, and Twilight felt as if all the heat had drained from her body. The world was silent, save for the pounding of blood and adrenaline in her ears.
Its voice was a chorus of a hundred whispers. “Surrender!”

Rainbow Dash reared up on her forelegs and bucked into the scowling face of a Noctal, shattering its jaw into an ephemeral ruin. Applejack narrowly dodged a Noctal’s vicious charge, slamming the creature into the floor with a powerful foreleg and crushing its head underhoof. One of the creatures pounced on her, its ethereal hooves slamming her into the floorboard. Applejack gasped, the air whooshing out of her lungs. She struggled with the monster as it snapped at her face, her forelegs thrown up to protect herself. Its gnashing teeth clamped onto her foreleg. Applejack snarled in pain, blood oozing from the wound. With a pained cry she slammed her free forehoof into the creature’s head, hard enough to shatter its jaw with a resounding crack. She bucked with her hind legs, its ribs shattered underhoof.

Twilight felt as if her soul was being wrenched from her body. The pain was unbearable, she would have screamed but she couldn’t make a sound. It took all of her vast reservoirs of magic to resist it. If anything, she thought she was only delaying the inevitable.
“It is futile!” the Dark Presence’s voice shouted.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were surrounded. Their manes were dishevelled, their bodies bleeding, but neither of them showed any sign of backing down against the horde of the Noctal. They lurked cautiously, searching for a weakness. They had lost too many by relying on sheer numbers alone. “If we don’t make it, Dash,” Applejack said. Her breath heavy. “Ah just want you to know, ah’ve always fancied you.”
Rainbow Dash grinned. “You’ve got good taste in mares then, my friend.”

Twilight felt like a fish paralysed on a chopping board, drowning in the open air. She couldn’t fight it anymore. The Dark Presence was too powerful, it had won. It would consume her soul and use her body as a vessel for its own dark and murderous desires. The pain was fading into nothingness, soon it would all be over. Sleep had never seemed so inviting. She couldn’t feel them, but she knew she had tears in her eyes.

“Surrender,” the Dark Presence said, its voice strangely soothing. “And you shall become more powerful than the Goddesses themselves!”

Power, the Dark Presence would turn her into the most powerful unicorn in the world. All she had to do was stop fighting. But at what cost? Her world and her thoughts never seemed so far away, she knew she was on the verge of passing out. What would it cost?

Her friends. Ultimate power would cost her friendship.

She remembered the friends she would leave behind, if she gave in, she would forget all the good times that she had shared with them.

She thought of how she first met them, she remembered all the trials and tribulations they’d endured and how much they had grown together, how she had brought six completely different and normally utterly incompatible mares together and formed a friendship powerful enough to change the world.

Twilight’s eyes opened, her body glowed with an inner fire that she had never felt before. This monster wanted to destroy their friendship, this monster wanted her to betray her friends. It had to be stopped. With an otherworldly scream one of the tendrils incinerated, writhing as it dropped into the sea of darkness below.

“NO!” the Dark Presence screamed. No creature ever defied its possession.

She remembered the Grand Galloping Gala, and how even the most prestigious and most celebrated event in all of Equestria could not compare to a day with her friends.

Her eyes widened, glowing with a brilliant white light. Another of the tendrils shrieked as it burned away.
“STOP HER!” the Dark Presence screamed. Dozens of shadowy winged monsters descended from above, slashing at her with cruel talons that ripped and tore at her very soul.

She remembered the long forgotten Elements of Harmony and how her friends had saved the world from Night Mare Moon and eternal night. She remembered the Spark that created the sixth element, she remembered the joy she felt when she realized she had finally, after years of solitude and study, had found friends.

She grit her teeth against the pain of their slashing talons, tearing through to the bone and drawing blood.

She remembered the Chaos God Discord, and how his chaotic powers could not compare to the power of their friendship. She remembered the loss when Discord stole their virtues, of how empty and grey her world was without them.
This monster wanted to take that friendship away. It wanted to tear apart the greatest thing in her life. No! Not while she still drew breath, not while she had an ounce of magic left.
“I will not let you hurt my friends!” Twilight screamed. Her voice resonated with a volume that shattered the darkness. Her body glowed with a light so brilliant it scattered the darkness like shadows fleeing from torchlight. The Dark Presence screamed, writhing as the light burned it into nothingness.
The last thing Twilight saw before she blacked out was that she was falling, falling into the waters of the sea of darkness below.

Twilight awoke, or at least was roused into something resembling wakefulness. Comforting white ceiling lights swam against the unicorn’s vision. Her forehead felt like it was on fire. The only sound she could hear was the beeping of a heart monitor. What had happened? Was she dead? She didn’t feel dead, though she ached all over... then her memory came flooding back. The Dark Presence, the Noctals, a blinding light.

She seized up in panic. Rainbow Dash and Applejack!

She sat up in her bed, but she instantly regretted it. A searing pain lanced through her skull and into her spine. It felt like as if her horn was being forcibly wrenched from her forehead. She winced and whinnied in pain as she fell back into bed, mixing with the electronic screech of the heart monitor beside her.
The curtains of the medical ward were thrown aside, revealing a mortified yellow pegasus. “Oh thank goodness,” Fluttershy said quietly, relaxing when she realized that Twilight had just dislodged the heart sensor clipped onto her chest fur. Twilight realized that she was in a hospital.
Fluttershy opened the freezer cabinet in the bedside table and pulled out a fresh icepack. “You startled me, Twilight. I thought we’d lost you.” She gently set the icepack around Twilight’s horn, relieving the burning pain. “Are you okay?”
Twilight rested a hoof against her aching temple. She had never before felt so tired, as if her entire supply of magic had been exhausted. “I’m alright, but where am I?”

“You’re in Ponyville hospital, it was my day off but I flew over here to fix you up,” Fluttershy said, not with a trace of contempt.

“What about the Noctals? What happened to the ponies?”

“See for yourself,” Fluttershy said, pulling open the curtains. Twilight’s eyes widened, not only were all her friends here but also all of the ponies claimed by the Dark Presence. Their souls and bodies returned to normal by Twilight’s divine magic. "Looks like you saved us all again, Twilight."

That night Pinkie Pie held one of the biggest parties that Ponyville had ever experienced. It was one of the happiest nights of Twilight’s life. Friends and families were reunited, mothers with their foals and husbands with their wives. The ponies sang, they talked, and they played to the beat of festive music.
The Dark Presence was gone, never to return. The heart of the town they loved beat again. Lived again.