MLP S4: The Birth of a Nightmare Part 1
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 4 Episode 1: The Birth of a Nightmare Part 1
"Hello everyone, it's Nextstep11. I was watching the Comic-Con Season 4 sketches/notes/drawings, and it gave me a couple ideas of what could happen. These are the stories I'd write if I worked at DHX Media. I hope you enjoy!" -Nextstep11
All was well in Equestria. Princess Twilight Sparkle, while getting off to a rough start as a a princess with the enchanted mirror in the Crystal Empire, had proven to be a highly intelligent and wise advisor to Princess Celestia and Luna. However, Twilight missed being with her good friends in Ponyville, so Celestia came up with a solution: Twilight would become Equestria's first Royal Advisor. In other words, she would go around to all the other settlements around Equestria to help organize events, solve problems, defend against the small bits of evil that still remained, and even teach young ponies about the study of magic and friendship.
So her life went on as usual, with her still writing to Princess Celestia about her insights into friendship, her studying and her duties as Equestria's Royal Advisor, and her life just hanging out with her friends. But today especially stood out in her mind, for today was the day that she and Applejack finally returned from their month-long trip to the Crystal Empire. Twilight had specifically brought Applejack along because they were trying to introduce the art of growing apples to the Crystal Ponies. Not only had the Crystal Ponies instantly grasped the concept of growing apple farms, but they had even created a new kind of apple, the Crystal Apple. Applejack had been planting a seed in the ground, but she didn't know that she had planted it on an underground deposit of enchanted crystals. This caused the tree to instantly sprout, grow to full size, and bear fruit. Twilight and Applejack made sure to get as many tasty Crystal Apple treats as they could before getting on the train to go to Ponyville. Now they could finally relax as the train sped home.
"Wow," Applejack said, plopping down on one of the beds, "My dogs really are barking now." Twilight sat down next to her.
"Yes, it was hard work teaching all the Crystal Ponies how to plant apple trees, but it was worth it. Princess Cadence said that this was the absolute happiest she had ever seen the Crystal Ponies."
"And," Applejack said proudly, pulling out a Crystal Apple, "We successfully created a new kind of apple." She took a bite out of the apple.
"Now the Crystal Empire has its first item to export to other places in Equestria," Twilight said.
"And Ponyville is sure to be its number one customer!" Applejack nodded enthusiastically in agreement, swallowing the rest of her apple.
"Well I, for one, hope you can get me more of those crystals so I can teach the rest of the Apple family how to plant and nurture them."
"Don't worry AJ. I'll send a letter to Cadence asking for more once I get home," Twilight replied, staring out the window as the small dot of Ponyville quickly zoomed into view. Within minutes, the train had arrived at the station.
"I sure can't wait to see everyone!" Applejack exclaimed as she went to open the compartment door. As she opened the door, she was tackled in a bear hug by Pinkie Pie, who was shaking with excitement.
"Applejack!" She screamed enthusiastically, "Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to see you again! We all missed you so much! Oh! How could I forget? TWILIGHT!!!" Before Twilight could respond, Pinkie tackled Twilight, pinning her to the ground. "Twilight! How was the trip? Did you have fun? Did you go to any parties? Did you miss us?"
Twilight managed to escape Pinkie's grip. "Calm down Pinkie," she rasped, the breath knocked out of her by Pinkie's attack. "I'll tell you about it later. Where's everyone else?" Pinkie looked around.
"Oh, don't worry about them, you'll see them when we get there." Applejack looked up.
"Where are we going? Is it a surprise?" she asked. Pinkie giggled, obviously amused by her question.
"Well duh, if it weren't a surprise, I would have told you by now. C'mon, we have to go now."
Twilight and Applejack both put on their saddlebags. "OK Pinkie, let's go." Twilight said excitedly as she and Applejack walked out the door.
"Okey-dokey-lokey!" Pinkie replied, even more excited than before, as she bounced ahead of them and led them down the route to Sweet Apple Acres. As Sweet Apple Acres came into sight, Applejack asked, "Why are you taking us here Pinkie? Big Macintosh and Granny Smith are in Manehatten with Applebloom visiting Babs and her parents. There's no one here."
They stopped in front of the large barn. "You'll see," Pinkie said as she opened the tall barn door. Twilight and Applejack both walked into the dark barn as Pinkie closed the door behind them, cloaking them in complete darkness.
"Pinkie?" Applejack asked nervously, "What's going on?"
Suddenly, The room was bathed in multicolored lights. "SURPRISE!!!" exclaimed all their friends. The room was decorated in traditional Pinkie style, with lots of streamers, balloons, and lots of sweets, treats, and cake. As Twilight and Applejack stood with their mouths slightly ajar, they were swarmed by their friends.
"Twilight!" Rarity said, giving Twilight a hug, "How was the Crystal Empire? How did the Crystal Ponies look at this time of year? Did they have any new fashion styles I should know about?"
"Twilight!" Rarity was knocked back by Rainbow Dash, who flew at Twilight (literally), and pinned her to the ground. "How was the Crystal Empire? What did you do there? Did you have fun?"
"Girls, take it easy," Twilight said, managing to get out from under Rainbow Dash, "You've showered all your attention on me, and you haven't said anything to Applejack here."
As she said that, Rainbow Dash then proceeded to tackle Applejack. "Applejack! How was your trip? What did you do?"
"Here we go again," Twilight sighed happily as she greeted Fluttershy and Spike, who had been helping Fluttershy take care of her animals while Twilight was gone. Suddenly, Pinkie Pie jumped up to the speaker system, where Vinyl Scratch was waiting patiently for something to do, and called out into the microphone, "Enough chitchat! Let's part-ay!" With that, Vinyl Scratch turned up the volume, put on a song, and soon everyone was dancing happily to the music.
After what seemed to be hours of partying and storytelling at the barn, Twilight finally went home, taking Spike with her.
"And so, that's how Sweetiebell nearly got her cutiemark," Spike said happily as Twilight opened the door to the library. It was spotless and clean, just as she had left it nearly a month ago.
As she put her saddlebags away and got ready for bed, Spike said, "You know, I still think that it would have been cool for you to have your own kingdom, like Cadence and Shining Armor."
Twilight smiled, and replied, "Spike, I'm very honored to be serving as an advisor to Celestia. It's a very important job, and I think that I have successfully proven that I can handle it."
"True," Spike said, stifling a yawn. "Good night Twilight. I'm going to get some sleep." Twilight turned off the lamp and curled up in her own bed. She needed the sleep.
In the early morning of the next day, Twilight woke up extra early to the sound of Spike gagging. "Spike?" she asked worriedly as she focused on the choking dragon. Suddenly, he burped up a scroll.
"Huh," Twilight said, picking up the letter. "That's odd. Princess Celestia never sends a letter this early." She unfurled the scroll. "Twilight," she read. "I need you to travel to Canterlot immediately. This is urgent. Meet me in the library of the palace when you get there," Twilight finished reading. "Spike this is serious!" she exclaimed. "We have to get to Canterlot immediately!"
Spike asked. "How are we going to do that? It's super-early, and the train's too slow."
"Exactly Spike," Twilight replied confidently, newfound energy rushing through her body as she said, "That's why we're going to fly there." With that, she opened up her purple wings, a gift granted to her upon becoming a princess and transforming into an alicorn.
Spike's eyes widened. "Oh no," he said nervously, taking a large step back. "I know you're a princess now, but I still don't trust your flying skills."
Twilight handed her saddlebag to Spike to hold, as she couldn't wear it while flying. "Don't worry Spike," she responded calmly, "I spent a lot of time practicing my flying skills with Cadence during my free time in the Crystal Empire."
"If you say so," Spike replied, still not convinced that they would make it to Canterlot in one piece. "Wait a sec, though. Why couldn't you just teleport the both of us to Canterlot?"
Twilight sighed impatiently and said, "Spike, you know that I can only teleport myself and small inanimate objects, like my saddlebag. And I don't have enough power to teleport myself somewhere as far away as Canterlot. C'mon though, we're wasting time!" She signaled for Spike to get onto her back, which he did.
"OK Spike," Twilight breathed in, nervous at the thought of flying all the way to Canterlot. Despite what she said to Spike about practicing her flying skills, she was still a beginner when compared to Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy. Heck, even that mail-pegasus Derpy was more skilled than she was. Still, she had a mission, and she would not fail the princess. She breathed in, and felt her confidence return to her body. "OK Spike, let's check if we have everything. Quills!"
"Check!"
"Spellbooks!"
"Check!"
"My crown!"
"Check!"
"OK!" Twilight exclaimed, opening up the door to her balcony. The morning was crisp and clear, with the sun shedding light on their flight path to Canterlot. "Hold on Spike!" With that, Twilight opened up her wings and with an excited, "Let's go!" she pushed off, and she was quickly, albeit shakily, flying to Canterlot.
Soon, Twilight landed on the balcony of the Canterlot Castle and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Spike slid off her back, looking quite terrified. "OK," Twilight panted, struggling to regain her strength. "I definitely need Rainbow Dash to teach me how to fly properly after this."
"I agree Twilight," Spike replied, still very pale. "Your flying skills do need a lot of work." Twilight shook her head, trying to regain her energy.
"C'mon Spike, let's go." Twilight pulled out the crown from her saddlebag and placed it on her head. She looked quite regal. "We need to get to the library!" She used her magic to open the door, and she and Spike walked in. Surprisingly, this wing of the palace seemed to be devoid of guards. "Odd," Twilight noticed as she walked to the library. "You wait here," she told Spike, who complied as she opened and then closed the door to the library.
When she walked into the library, she didn't see anyone. "Hello?" she called out, walking around the large hourglass that resided in the middle of the library. Suddenly, Princess Celestia walked out from the Starswirl the Bearded Section.
"Twilight?" She asked, "Why are you here?" Twilight looked confused.
"But Princess," she replied, "I received an urgent letter from you earlier telling me to come to the castle immediately." Celestia's eyes narrowed.
"I never sent you any letter, Twilight."
"Then who did?" Twilight asked, now even more confused. Suddenly, the hourglass in the middle of the library began glowing and shaking.
"Princess! What's -" Twilight exclaimed.
"Get behind me, now!" Celestia ordered, as Princess Luna appeared in front of them. Twilight was about to ask what was going on again, when a portal appeared next to Luna, and Twilight was sucked into it.
"Luna! What is this?" Celestia demanded. Luna let out a diabolical laugh as she stared at her sister with pure contempt.
"You said that I would co-rule in Equestria, that I would help defend Equestria! So far, I have done NOTHING! Instead, I have been essentially stripped of my rank, where I have become little more than a figurehead representing the moon. I have also watched as your nephew and student both gain more and more power, until they have more power than I ever had! Your nephew Cadence gets an entire empire to rule. What about me, your sister! Aren't I worthy enough to be trusted with anything?"
"Luna," Celestia said, her voice leaden with guilt and sadness, "I -"
"Save it, sister." Like I said before, there can only be one ruler in Equestria, and it will be ME!!!" With that, she stomped her front hooves on the floor, causing white fissures to appear in the hourglass. Suddenly, the hourglass exploded, sending a supernova of white light to encase the room. When the light died down, the hourglass, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight, had all disappeared.
The exit to the library suddenly burst open, with Spike and multiple castle guards barreling in. "Princess Luna? Princess Celestia?" the lead guard grunted, looking around.
"Twilight? Where are you?!?" Spike shouted, his voice a combination of anger and worry.
"Send word to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. The princesses have disappeared!" The lead guard yelled, and a couple of the guards ran out to do just that.
The End
Part 2 coming soon! -Nextstep11
MLP S4: The Birth of a Nightmare Part 2
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Season 4: Episode 1: The Birth of a Nightmare Part 2
By Nextstep11
It's soon! You said I should upload Part 2 soon, and well, it's soon. I hope you enjoy part 2 in this fanfic installment. -Nextstep11
Twilight awoke to find herself in the same strange space-time environment that she had been transported to when Princess Celestia had transformed her into an alicorn. This time however, she was alone.
"Hello?" She called out uncertainly, looking around for any signs of life. "Princess Celestia? Princess Luna? Anypony?" Twilight attempted to use her wings to get an aerial view of her surroundings, but her wings were still tired from her long and difficult flight from Ponyville to Canterlot with Spike on her back, so she came crashing down pretty quickly. She then tried a teleporting spell, but she just appeared a few feet away.
"Ugh," Twilight groaned, frustrated by the fact that she couldn't even use her unicorn magic to her advantage. It was then that she remembered her Element of Harmony, which she still had atop her head. "Well," Twilight said to herself, "it's worth a shot." She was about to channel her energy to do another spell when a dark indigo portal appeared next to her. She took a step back as the portal imploded on itself. Twilight looked back at the area where the portal once was in astonishment, for standing where the portal had been was Princess Celestia.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed with happiness as she ran over to her teacher.
"Twilight, my dear student." Celestia said, putting a wing over Twilight. "I am so happy that you're safe."
Twilight suddenly stiffened up as she remembered in detail the sequence of events in the library before she woke up in this strange place. "What happened back there Princess? How did we get here?"
Celestia began to walk with Twilight walking next to her. "As much as I wish it weren't true, it is. Nightmare Moon has returned."
Twilight's eyes widened. "Princess, with all due respect, are you sure? We all saw when Nightmare Moon transformed back into Princess Luna. I know she could at times not hold back her anger and might do something bad, but I don't think she could return."
Celestia lowered her head. "I originally thought so too, Twilight. But after you were transported here by that portal, Luna let loose at me with all the anger and hate she had in her body. It became clear to me that despite our and her best efforts, her dark side has corrupted her again, and worse this time."
Twilight looked at her mentor. "What do you mean, "dark side?" And what do you mean worse this time?"
Celestia took a deep breath, and then responded, "I have come up with a theory about what happened on the night that Nightmare Moon was defeated by you and your courageous friends. When your combined power destroyed hers, it seemed that the Luna that I once knew and loved had returned and that the persona I knew as Nightmare Moon was gone forever. But as I watched your discoveries and exploration into magic and friendship, I watched Luna's personal demons return, also. Her jealousy of the quick ascension to power of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor grew very pronounced, and she began to resent all the attention I was giving to you and her friends, Twilight. Her desire for more power also fueled her demons, and I finally came to a conclusion a couple weeks ago: Nightmare Moon never "died." Instead, her personality had been split in two by your defeat of her; one side was the Luna that we all knew and loved, and the other was her darkness at its worst. It is clear to me now that that darkness has truly corrupted her like it did a 1000 years ago, but this time, she is 10 times as evil, for all the jealousy and resentment towards me was joined by all her resentments, jealousies, and dark desires. Now she has banished us here, to the place in between teleportation, inter dimensional, and time travel."
Twilight stared off into the distance for a long time before replying. She said somberly, "Princess Celestia?"
"Yes Twilight?" Celestia asked, obviously worried that she had crushed the young mare's spirit completely.
Twilight's muscles stiffened as she asked, "Is it possible for me to see what happened the first time Luna turned into Nightmare Moon?"
Celestia thought about it for a second, realizing what Twilight had in mind, and said only, "Prepare yourself, Twilight."
Celestia closed her eyes, and then pointed toward Twilight with her horn, which began glowing a soft gold/yellow color.
"Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked nervously, unsure of her mentor's intentions. "What's going on?" Suddenly, one ray of golden light shot out of Celestia's horn and struck Twilight, the light splitting off and circling around her body. Then, the sphere of light that now encased Twilight's body imploded on itself, evaporating into the atmosphere almost immediately. When Celestia opened her eyes again, Twilight was gone. "I hope she truly understands what's happening," Celestia said softly to herself.
Twilight looked around nervously to see that she had appeared in a different location entirely. "Where am I?" she asked herself, trying to process the past few minutes. As she looked around, she realized that she was in Princess Celestia's castle. Something felt different, though. The castle seemed newer, and more plain. Twilight was trying to process everything she had just learned, when a voice snapped her back to attention: "Not another step!"
Twilight looked up to the empty throne just in time to see Princess Luna step out from behind it, her eyes blazing with pure anger. "Princess Luna!" Twilight exclaimed, nervous about being in Luna's presence after the discussion that she had with Celestia. Yet she still thought that she could talk to her. So she continued: "I don't understand. Where are we? Why did you and Celestia disappear?" Luna stared at Twilight, not acknowledging her presence, instead just glaring at her.
"Did you really think that I would sit idly while they all basked in your precious light?" She asked angrily. Something clicked in Twilight's head at that moment.
"Precious light?" she asked, her mind forming a theory of where she really was. But before she could say anything, Luna continued her rage.
"There can only be one princess in Equestria," she shouted as she stepped behind the small slate that resided in front of Celestia's throne. Engraved in it was the images of two alicorns, one with the outline of the moon, and one with the outline of the sun. "And," she continued, raising her front hooves. "That princess, will be me!!!" With that, she brought down both her hooves on the slate, crushing it and sending debris everywhere. Twilight jumped back, her wings flaring, as she attempted to use her magic to stop Luna. To her dismay, her magic wouldn't work, so her only option was to look on in terror and amazement as Luna continued her rampage. From where the slate once stood, cracks appeared on the ground, snaking up the throne and up the wall until eventually reaching the large stained-glass pane that stood above her throne, the beautiful mural depicting two alicorns raising and lowering the sun and the moon in harmony. Suddenly, the glass exploded inward, sending shards everywhere.
Luna then closed her eyes, flared her wings, began lifting herself off the ground, and soon she was hovering in front of the broken window above Twilight. Her horn began glowing dark purple, and she raised her front hooves above her head as from out of the blue, the moon began to rise, eclipsing and then completely covering the sun, casting a dark shadow over what had at one time been a beautiful day. Without warning, black fog began to gather around Luna's trembling body, and it soon encased her in a giant translucent black sphere. Twilight stared in horror as the outline of Luna's body curled up into a ball, and the sphere's color became solid, blocking out any view of Luna. Then, the sphere exploded, sending a black wave of energy back a Twilight. As the wave continued, it steadily dissolved into thin air. Twilight looked up, expecting to be hit with a wave of black energy. What she saw, was ten times worse.
Standing in front of her, her wings flared, her teeth bared, and her reptilian eyes glinting evilly in the moonlight, was Nightmare Moon. She threw back her head and began laughing maniacally. Her laugh echoed through the throne room, and continued for almost a minute. Horrified by what she had seen, Twilight looked around desperately for an escape root when her surroundings suddenly dissolved into golden-yellow light. Her surroundings then morphed completely, and she found herself back next to Princess Celestia's side, her mentor looking at her with concern.
"What did I just see?" Twilight asked tentatively, her mind still trying to process all that had just happened. Celestia put her wing over the trembling mare, and replied, "Twilight. You just witnessed the first time Luna became Nightmare Moon. You saw it from my memory from my perspective, which is why you couldn't use your magic. I had to pull you out of there for fear of what would happen to you in the events that followed."
Twilight looked up at her mentor, her mind sorting out all that had happened. She stared into the distance, trying to think of a solution to their crisis. She wanted to help Luna, for she knew that she could be saved; she could feel it in her heart, and she could see that on the inside, Luna was a good mare. She had just been corrupted, but she hadn't plunged into evil so much that she was unsalvageable. But to do that, Twilight would have to find a way out of their current predicament. After much thought, she finally came up with a solution.
"Princess Celestia," Twilight said, her body filling with confidence she hadn't felt in a while, "I have a way to get out of here!"
More to come.
-Nextstep11
