My Little Pony: 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