The Nightbringer Saga

Prologue

Princess Celestia wandered through the Canterlot Garden taking in the smell of the flowers and the sound of the birds. The mid-day sun cast a bright, warm glow that lit up the garden and increased its beauty. But as she wandered, a soft voice called out to her.

“Celestia.”

The odd voice sounded distant, yet it began to echo around her.

“Celestia.”
The voice called again echoing eerily from all directions. The princess began walking in an attempt to discover the source of the strange voice.

The voice continued to call out growing slightly louder as she followed it. Before long she found herself entering the palace, though things were now very strange. The light of the sun had begun to dim, not as it did when it set but as though the sun was beginning to fade away. Silence weighed on Celestia as she wandered. The lack of palace guards or any other pony worried her. The only sound that could be heard was the calling voice.

For every step that Celestia took, the voice grew louder reverberating all around, even in her head. The darkness continued to grow, swallowing everything like a ravishing creature. Now in the throne room, she could not only hear the voice but she could feel it as well. The now booming voice shook the very foundations of the palace. The light was almost completely eaten away as a swirling mist fell upon the room clouding everything still visible. Celestia became dizzy and disoriented by the smothering mist and the booming voice. Nausea overtook her, her ears rang, and all of her strength was drained. She struggled to stay composed until everything stopped. A dim red light began to shine through the darkness from the throne. In an instant, two bright red eyes flashed towards her from the throne as the voice shouted one last time.

“CELESTIA!”

Celestia found herself waking suddenly to two royal guards calling her. “Princess, are you okay?” one of them asked. “You fell asleep and seemed to have a terrible nightmare. We’ve been trying to wake you for some time now.”

The princess got to her feet, her legs wobbly and barely able to support her. She was shaking and breathing heavily. She looked around to see that everything was normal.

Was it just a dream?

“I’m alright. I’ll be fine,” she told the guards once she finally calmed herself down.

“Thank goodness,” the second guard said.

Relieved that the princess was okay, the two guards returned to their post. Nevertheless, Ceslestia could not stop thinking about the dream and the voice she heard. There was something familiar about it yet she could not quite place it. Finally, it dawned on her. The shock of the realization nearly caused her to fall over.

“No,” she said aloud. “It can’t be. Not now. Not this. All of Equestria may be doomed.”

Nightfall: Return of a Nightmare

Twilight Sparkle stared at the wall of trees that surrounded her. She could make out that she was in the Everfree Forest, that much was obvious. As for how she got here or anything beyond where she was, she was at a loss. She looked around and found an opening in the trees and started to make her way out.

“This is weird,” she said aloud. “How did I get here and why am I alone?”

She wandered for what felt like hours but only seemed to go in circles. The scene around her was unchanging and the silence was deafening. The young princess continued on but was getting nowhere. After some time she saw a hint of light in the distance. Twilight darted towards the light desperate for escape but the light only seemed to get farther away. She galloped faster, tried flying, but despite all her efforts she was no closer to escape. Frustrated, she snorted and charged once more at top speed closing her eyes a as she ran. This, however, resulted in her running into a tree. When she opened her eyes she found herself back where she had started and gave a cry of frustration and anger.

It was not long after that a sound came from deep in the forest. It was difficult to identify due the distance and the fact that the thick forest nearly swallowed all sounds. Twilight listened carefully and was finally able to make out that it was a voice. She opened her wings and flew off to find out who else might be trapped here. Perhaps she could get some answers to what was going on. As she closed in on the voice, it sounded as though the one crying out was in trouble. Twilight hurried faster to help.

As the young princess flew she grew exhausted like she had been flying forever and set down to continue on hoof. Nearing the edge of the forest things began to strange, even frightening. Twilight came to the opening expecting to see light but beyond the forest was only shadows and darkness. The sky was black and shadows roamed everywhere. Twilight looked back but the forest had now vanished and an expanse of darkness had taken its place. She looked ahead to see a black void where all of this seemed to originate.

As she stared, Twilight fell into a bizarre daze as she walked towards the void drawn by a strange allurement that drew her closer and closer. She had now all but forgotten why she was here in the first place. After walking several feet, fire shot up mere inches away halting her progress. The young princess leapt back, dropping to the ground, to avoid being consumed then shook her head as she came to her senses.

“I’m sorry about that, but if you had taken one more step you would have become trapped here.” Twilight looked up, searching for the pony talking to her, but saw nothing but the shadows.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

“Don’t worry,” came the voice again, “I won’t hurt you.” The calm, deep toned voice belonged to a stallion, yet Twilight saw nothing but darkness.

Twilight looked once again towards the spot where the flame had sprung up and now saw a shadowed silhouette of a pony standing there. “Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m afraid we don’t have time for introductions,” said the pony. “We have to get out of here, you especially.”

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, confused at what he meant.

The other pony responded, “Just look at yourself.” Twilight did and noticed that her bright purple coloring had become dull and dark.

“What’s happening to me?” she cried.

“I’ll explain everything later but first things first, you have to get me out of here.”

“Why you first?” demanded Twilight.

“Because I’m the only one that can get you home.”

“Fine, but how do I help you?”

“There is a barrier surrounding this area keeping me trapped here,” the other explained. “You need to use your magic to weaken a small portion of it to let me pass through. Once I am out then I can get both of us out of this place.”

Twilight tested the barrier with her magic. “I don’t know if I can do this. This barrier is really strong.”

“I believe that you can do this.”

“How do I know you’ll help me once you are free?” she demanded, skeptical of the shadow pony’s motives.

“You will have to trust me,” the other said. Twilight thought for a moment then readied herself.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

Twilight took a stance and began charging her magic. “Remember,” the other pony said, “it only has to be weak enough for me to pass through.”

“Alright,” Twilight acknowledged. She concentrated hard and built up more magic but nothing was happening.

“It’s not working! I can’t do it!”

“Relax,” the other said, “Imagine that the barrier is a bubble dissolving away.” Twilight relaxed and did so. The barrier lit up, glowing a bright yellow, as the purple glow of Twilight’s magic surrounded it.

“That’s it. You’ve got it. Almost there,” the other pony encouraged. Now totally relaxed, Twilight felt her magic build and grow stronger than ever before. The barrier flashed and gave in, vanishing instantly.

With the barrier gone, the shadows of the void burst forth, swarming everywhere. Frightening images flashed all around and in Twilight’s mind. Within these she saw shadows of two ponies engaged in a struggle but there was no way of telling who they were. After what felt like several minutes of this, a shadow leapt towards her. She dropped down covering her head in a vain attempt to protect herself. She looked up to see that the other pony was standing over her, guarding her from the darkness and menacing shadows. The blackness kept Twilight from being able to see exactly what he looked like. He looked towards the black void as a red glow flashed. All of the shadows, at once, ceased their violent movement and remained motionless. A second later they instantly rushed towards the void as a new red colored barrier surrounded the area. Twilight looked up again to try and get a clearer look at the other pony but a bright red light flashed and everything went black.

Twilight opened her eyes to find herself on the floor of the study of her Ponyville home. She looked around but nothing seemed out of place or different. She thought back to that dark place and everything that had happened there.

“What exactly happened? Was that all a dream? It seemed so real,” she thought aloud. As she got to her feet she noticed an old, dusty book on the desk. It was opened near to the beginning and spoke about something called the Dream Realm.

As Twilight struggled to recall all that had happened, still confused on what, if anything, was real and what was not, she heard Spike yell from the other room.

“TWILIGHT!”

He sounded terrified, as though something horrible had happened. Spike barged in slamming the door behind him and held the door, desperately trying to keep something out. There was a look of sheer terror on his pale face. The little dragon gasped for air.

“Twi…light…” he panted.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, almost afraid of what the answer might be.

There was a knock at the door that caused Spike to jump almost two feet. The little dragon darted towards Twilight and coward behind her.

“It’s him,” he whispered still terrified.

As Twilight wondered who Spike could be talking about, a red glow of magic surrounded the door. As the door opened, a large stallion entered. He was at least as tall as Princess Celestia if not taller and needed to duck to clear the doorway. His body was the darkest shade black that Twilight had ever seen, next to the void that she had seen in the shadow world from her dream. There where glowing, orange cracks across the stallion’s body, like the cracks of a volcano. His mane and tail were not only the color of fire but were actually made of roaring flames. There were also small flames that surrounded each of his hooves. He had a sharp, black unicorn horn that curved forward slightly while on his back were large demonic wings. Silver coloring outlined the bone structure of the wings. His eyes were crimson red with a purple, circular design surrounding the iris, covering the rest of each eye.

The stallion walked forward, each step slow and deliberate. For each step he took forward, Twilight took two backwards. She had only taken a few steps when she bumped into Spike who had bumped into the desk. The two froze as the stallion continued to advance. Spike tugged on Twilight’s tail as his fear grew. When the stallion was within inches of Twilight, he stopped. He stood towering over her, silent, with a menacing smile on his face.

After a moment, the stallion looked behind Twilight at Spike and said just one word.

“Boo.”

Spike jumped and yelled tearing out of the room at top speed, closing the door behind him. “Spike! Come back!” Twilight shouted and tried to follow, but the stallion stood in her way keeping her cornered.

“Relax,” he said in a calm voice, “your friend is fine. I was just having a little fun.”

“A little fun?!” yelled Twilight, almost surprised at her confidence despite the terror she had just faced. “You scared poor Spike half to death!”

“I am sorry but I was hoping we could talk in private and I could not have him interrupting,” the stallion replied.

“And so you decided to scare him off?!”

“As I said, it was only a little fun. Now, I believe you have many questions that need answers.” The stallion walked towards the middle of the room.

“How did you know?” asked Twilight curious about who this new pony could be.

The stallion turned to her. “Given what you have been through and what is happening now, there is no doubt that your mind is flooded with questions that demand answers. Such questions can only be answered by me.”

“How did you know I had questions? Who are you? What’s going on here? What hap-” Twilight began here string of hundreds of questions, but the stallion put up a hoof to silence her.

“Patience my dear, one thing at a time. First things first.” He nodded his head is a simple bow. “My name is Nightbringer. I am the pony you met in that shadow land in your dream.”

Twilight was taken aback at this. Was that all real then? “How did you know about that?”

“Because,” Nighbringer replied, “that was not a dream but a real place. It is called the Dream Realm.”

Twilight recalled the name from the old book on the desk. “What is the Dream Realm exactly?”

Nightbringer began to pace in the room as he explained. “The Dream Realm is the place where all magic originates.”

Twilight stood silent, stunned that she was never told about this. “I thought magic came from within and from all over.”

Nighbringer stopped at one of the many bookshelves. “True, but it is all originates from the Dream Realm.”

“It’s such a dark place,” Twilight said, thinking about all the darkness and shadows.

“That dark place where you and I met is called the Nightmare Zone.” Nightbringer continued his pacing while he explained. “The Nightmare Zone is area within the Dream Realm that serves as both the source and holding place for all dark magic. Those who use dark magic access the Nightmare Zone and draw from it.”

As Nightbringer answered each question, Twilight’s head fill with more questions. “What about you? What are you?”

Nightbringer stopped again and look towards her. “The Nightmare Zone corrupts all who enter it, come close to it, or draw power from it. I was within and was changed to what you see before you. You were only close to it.” He walked towards the window to look out. “Since I was within, and exposed longer than you, I was fully transformed.”

“But how can I trust you if you are corrupted?” Twilight asked, still wary of the dark pony’s true intentions.

“The Nightmare Zone will corrupt either mind or body, but it is capable of corrupting both. The will of the one exposed to its influence helps avoid mind corruption. You and I where corrupted in body.”

“So why am I normal but you are not?”

“The length of exposure plays a role. I was exposed for so long that my corruption is permanent.”

This worried Twilight. “How long where you trapped there?” she asked.

Nightbringer answered simply which did not fully answer her question. “Long enough to feel like an eternity.”

Twilight continued her questions, her mind still overflowing with the unanswered. “How do you know so much about all of this?”

A somber look came over Nightbringer as he walked over to the desk. “Aside from personal experience, I used to know the author of this book.”

Twilight looked at the book then at Nightbringer. “One last question. This has been bothering me for a bit now.” The dark pony looked at her, intrigued by this haunting question. “How did I get to the Dream Realm?” This was one question that had to be answered. “This book doesn’t have a spell to get there.”

Nightbringer smiled as he answered. “It is because of your strong connection with magic. I know you have many more questions but for now if you want more answers you should seek out the other two books that go with this one.”

Twilight thought for a minute, wondering if she could still trust him. “Where do I find them?”

When Twilight arrived at Canterlot, she decided to walk to the library instead of fly. She had come alone thinking it was best not to involve her friends, or any pony else for that matter, at least for now. Her mind was spinning with all that had happened and she needed time to sort through it all. The idea that the Dream Realm was where magic originated conflicted with what Twilight had been taught by Celestia plus everything she had read. Nightbringer as well was the biggest mystery. How did he get trapped in that Nightmare Zone? How was he able to control it once he was out? Could he be trusted?

When Twilight arrived at the Canterlot library, she began her search for the other two books about the Dream Realm. Nightbringer had decided it was best to remain back at Twilight’s home and she had agreed. As such, she only had his instructions to follow. It was not long before she came to a wall carving of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna watching over the day and night respectively.

“They’re right through here,” Twilight said aloud.

She began casting the spell that Nighbringer had told her hoping that no pony would walk by and see. As the spell took effect, the carving began to change. A third alicorn appeared next to Luna opposite Celestia. The image changed showing light on the side with Celestia and dark on the side with the new pony. Luna was in the middle as though giving balance. But then a door crack appeared, splitting the wall in half. It divided the light and dark side but also divided Luna.

Twilight thought about the image a moment, thinking back to the image she had seen in the Nightmare Zone of the two ponies facing off. Was this image related or was it just coincidence? When the door was fully opened, Twilight entered the dark tunnel that lay ahead. She used her magic to light the way and followed further and further. The tunnel seemed to go on forever with twists and turns everywhere. Finally, she reached a dead end. In the space was a pedestal with two books on top each one old and dusty like the other she had.

As Twilight opened the first book she quickly became enthralled by what was written. It was a study of the Nightmare Zone and confirmed everything that Nightbringer had said about the place as being true. Twilight quickly read through it and moved on to the next one. This one was a journal of the author’s journey to learn about, and even control, the Dream Realm and Nightmare Zone. Strangely, the entries ended abruptly with no indication as to why. According to the last entry, the author had more to learn and was intent to learn more. Yet all of the pages after were simply blank. When Twilight had finished reading each book, she searched for the name of the author but found none.

Was the author’s name left out or was it possibly erased?

Having read both books, Twilight carefully placed both in her bag with the last from her home, which she had brought as a reference. After she made her way out of the tunnel she saw that night had already fallen.

“I must have been down there longer than I thought.”

The young princess was relieved to see that no other pony had discovered the tunnel despite her extended stay. Twilight closed the door and the wall carving reverted to its original form depicting Celestia and Luna. She left for home but as she turned the corner she saw Princess Celestia standing before her.

“Twilight Sparkle.”

As Celestia spoke, Twilight felt her heart begin to race. She worried that Celestia would find out about the tunnel, the books, and Nightbringer.

“I have been searching for you everywhere,” Celestia continued, sounding relieved.

“What do you need Princess?” Twilight asked, her voice hoarse from nervousness.

“A great evil has befallen Equestria and I need your help.”

Twilight struggled to compose herself. “What evil is this?”

Celestia beckoned Twilight to follow as she explained. “It is an evil from long before Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, and even Discord. It is Equestria’s first great evil.” Twilight nearly fell over hearing this and her nervousness only made things worse. Fear exasperated her worry as Twilight noticed how frightened Celestia seemed as she spoke of this.

“I will tell you the story so you may know what you will face,” said Celestia with a somber tone in her voice. “Long ago, there was an ambitious pony named Nova. His level of magical ability and desire for knowledge surpassed any pony I have ever meet before or since. He studied many things and became very powerful. One thing he studied more intently than anything else was a realm of pure magic called the Dream Realm.”

Twilight was taken aback when Celestia mentioned the Dream Realm. She knew all along but why did she never say anything about it? Why did she hide this from me until now? As Twilight thought, confusion and anger built inside.

Celestia continued her story. “In those days, the Dream Realm was infested with dark magic that leaked out and caused chaos. Nova attempted to control this by gathering all of the dark magic into one place within the Dream Realm. Thus, the Nightmare Zone was created.”

As Celestia spoke, Twilight compared this to what she had read in the books. So far, everything was true although the books never mentioned any pony named Nova. This meant that he must have been the author of the books.

Celestia continued, “By gathering the dark magic into one place, Nova had controlled its influence on Equestria. But, the combined darkness had a terrible influence on anyone near it. As Nova explored the Dream Realm he became vulnerable to this influence.” This coincided with what the books and Nightbringer had said meaning that everything Celestia was saying was true.

“The Nightmare Zone’s influence corrupted Nova increasing his desire for power. He took on the likeness of the darkness and chose a new name for himself.” This was new to Twilight. Though Nightbringer was evidence of the corruption of the Nightmare Zone and the books had told about it, Twilight had not heard of Nova’s fall.

This must be why the journal entries had stopped.

“I feared that Nova and this dark influence would corrupt all of Equestria and was forced to banish him to the Nightmare Zone and seal it away.” As Celestia finished her story, Twilight became more fearful now beginning to connect some of the many dots.

“What was the name Nova took?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

“Nightbringer.” Twilight froze when she heard the name. “It was 1,500 years ago that I banished him but now I fear he has escaped,” Celestia said unaware of Twilight’s fearful state.

The young princess realized that she was responsible for releasing the greatest evil of all Equestria. She who had saved Equestria more than once would now be responsible for its destruction.

As Twilight pondered her guilt, Celestia spoke again. “Just before I banished Nightbringer, he split his power and sealed it into three books. These books contain his studies on the Dream Realm and the Nightmare Zone written before his transformation. After sealing his power he scattered the books across the land. I have found two of them but the third has eluded me.”

Twilight thought to her bag which held all three. The keys to Nightbringer’s power sat together in one place in her possession. She could not stand it anymore. The knowledge that she had not only released Nightbringer but had brought together the keys to reviving his lost power was too heavy a burden. She had to tell Celestia everything.

“Princess…” Twilight began her confession, but before she could say any more, a voice interrupted.

“Hello Celestia, long time no see.” Twilight and Celestia both turned towards the source of the voice and saw Nightbringer walk out from behind a bookshelf.

“Nightbringer,” said Celestia with malice in her voice and a fierce look on her face.

“My, my Celestia. This is not how the princess should behave,” Nightbringer mocked. “Especially with so much fear in your eyes.”

“How did you escape?” Celestia demanded.

“I’m afraid I don’t have time for question and answer right now,” the dark stallion replied, “I must re-take what is mine.”

The three old books floated out from behind Nightbringer then held above him. Twilight looked in fear inside her bag to see that they truly were gone. The books glowed with magic which enveloped the dark stallion. His flaming mane roared and the orange cracks across his body glowed more intensely. His wings folded in then the left extended alone, twice as long as before. After this, the books vanished.

“Now Celestia,” Nightbringer said as he readied a powerful spell, “your rule comes to an end.”

With that, he blasted Celestia who made a comparatively feeble attempt to counter. Nightbringer’s spell easily overpowered the princess and hurled her to the ground where she lay unconscious. The dark stallion looked at Twilight with a smile that was menacing yet somehow kind. There was a bright red flash and Twilight found herself back in her home in Ponyville.

Back in Canterlot, dark clouds covered the sky and blocked out all possible light. Black lightning flashed violently across the sky as thunder rocked the very foundations of Canterlot. As darkness overtook the royal city, ponies fell into unconsciousness where they stood before being absorbed by the shadows. Nightbringer stood on the overlook balcony of the palace watchtower. With a careless kick, he sent Celestia’s telescope tumbling to the ground where it shattered to pieces. He looked over Canterlot then off into the distance at the rest of Equestria and smiled at his work.

“Now Equestria shall know true fear.”