The Legend of Nightmares

"It looks like the hand writing of... Princess Luna! Sh-Should we read it?" Twilight asked Rainbow, unsure of whether or not to go on reading.

"L-Let's read it, but we can't tell anyone. What if... what if there's something important in it that we need to know? I think we should call the girls." Rainbow insisted.

After the six ladies gathered together in the basement of the library, they started to read the text.

"Day 1:

The days have grown long and tiring. Father and mother, as well as sister are weakened by these assaults on man kind. These beings seem to come from no where. We don't know how or why they possess us, but they do. Our extended family all over Equestria have reports of these beings taking over some people. One has even taken over my dear cousin Necronome, Prince of Darkness. Cousin Pastel sent him to Tartarus... this frightens me. My research has lead me to conclude that these creatures take over a person's body when they feel extreme emotions. Like their heart breaks in half, literally. I must go, Tia is coming back to my room."

The six looked at each other, scared. What were these creatures?

"Twilight, have you ever heard of such a thing?"

"Yes, once. In Rainblitz the Princess had a student. She was overcome by one, but somehow, it died or left. I don't know all the details. Let's just keep reading."

"Day 2:

The deaths of Aunt and Uncle Rainartica have pained us all, but mother mostly. She grieves over the loss of her dear brother; her only brother. We try to comfort her, but she has fits of rage. She will lock herself in the basement and do something that we can't understand or hear. She just sits and locks herself away. Celestia caught me writing yesterday. Even now she watches over me as I write, dear sister, it is truly unnerving. But alas, she will tell mother and father if she cannot read what I write here. Tia is a great sister, and I understand her concern. I have been intrigued by these creatures, and I told father I would like to help study them. He chuckled and said "We'll see," like he always does. Tia says he'll say yes, but the way he said it made it sound like a no. Dinner time. Tia and I must go; the midday sun she has made is burning my fur a little as I sit in the light. I haven't eaten since breakfast; Tia is urging me to come along, as well as the servants."

"Oh my Celestia." Twilight gaped, nearly dropping the book.

"What?" Applejack asked worriedly.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Pinkie Pie asked as well.

"She's talking about the Nightmares. They're creatures that live in your heart... but... that's all I know of them. Celestia took the book on them out of the library and said it was just old mares tales. Now... now we know of them as truth. There must've been a war... something, something catastrophic. And... by the looks of it, I'd say it's going to happen again. Many ponies have been... behaving strangely these past few months. The creepier thing is... when it started, it was the exact same day as described in Luna's diary!"

"But they just say Day 1, Day 2..." Rarity pointed out.

"No... no, I've seen this method before. I-I think it might've been about 3 thousand years ago, this paper seems to be around that age, and... it seems like... y'know, BNMM." Rainbow commented.

"What?" Applejack asked.

"Before Nightmare Moon?" Fluttershy asked.

"Precisely." Rainbow responded grimly.

"Continue, Twilight." Rarity said, confidence on her face.

"Day 3:

Cousin Pastel is very upset; but thankfully she will not yield to the dark forces of these creatures. Tia was right; Father has allowed me to examine the creatures. I have concluded a lot of information in just one day; how much could I gather in a year? A decade? A century? The thought of the knowledge is making me shudder. I've found that when a pony suffers an extreme amount of an emotion at once, their hearts crumble away. Literally, parts of their heart become ash. I examined the corpse of a woman who died. It seems the creature died with her. Half of her heart was black and red, like it had a plague or something. When the monster takes control, their eyes loose their sheen and are completely dark. I fear that mother may-Tia slapped me. But I will record MY feelings in MY diary and I don't care. I fear mother has been suffering from her sadness, and a Nightmare- that's what I'm calling them- has taken residence in her heart. Tia keeps hitting me, gently sobbing. For once I must be the big sister and comfort her. Somehow I do not cry. I hug Celestia; we're both scared."

"It skips a whole other day... something bad must've happened." Twilight commented.

"Day 5:

Mother has... expired. I know I was not supposed to, but I did. I watched her in the basement. She argued with herself, angry and upset. I ran down the staircase to comfort her when she fell, but she hissed at me. It wasn't mother. It was a demon. It told me things. Things I wish it hadn't. "We're coming for you." That is all it said. Mother then charged a spell, as far as I know, and killed the monster, but her along with it. I will ask father to look at her heart; it may hold the secret of her death.

I asked father. He looked angry, as if I had crossed a line. But he nodded, then went into another fit of sadness. I looked for her heart, but all I found was a valve. A single valve and nothing left except ash. Ash. She was possessed by one of them. I was right, but I wish I were wrong."