The Nightmares Return

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy arrived at the castle. “I don’t see Pinkie or Rainbow anywhere.” “Hi girls!” They all turned around to see Pinkie Pie. “Hello Pinkie, where is Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie giggled. “Don’t worry Rarity, she’ll be here soon. There she is now!” Something struck the ground, raising dust. A mysterious wind blew away the cloud, revealing a blue pegasus with a striking rainbow mane and a brilliant golden necklace. “HAH! beat you Jester!” As if on cue, a black cloud with six orbiting diamonds flew in and touched down. When the smoke cleared, a dark yellow earth pony appeared. “Yes, yes you did Rainbow Dash. Brilliant speed! So, the Royal Guards summoned us?” Twilight looked at him “They mentioned to bring you along too.” A dark figure flew down. It was a gray pegasus with a yellow mane. She had on an intricately carved golden armor and an eye patch over one eye. The mare surveyed the group. “You must be the Elements of Harmony.” She looked back to Jester. “You must be the one with the Preludes of Chaos.” Jester nodded. “Captain of the Royal Guard. Call me DD. Follow me, there is no time to lose.” And they all followed the DD.

Twilight walked into the room to find Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the Alicorns that brought the sun and the moon up when they were needed. But Princess Celestia had Princess Luna under a spell, and Luna’s eyes glowed a dark color. Twilight looked on in horror. “What’s happening DD?!” Twilight looked to the Captain. “I honestly have no idea. I do believe that Princess Celestia would explain, but apparently the spell has taken all her concentration.” Twilight looked at Celestia. She walked up beside the white alicorn, and applied the same spell to her target, relieving some of the pressure that was on the Princess.

“Thank you Twilight, my faithful student.” Celestia turned her eyes onto Twilight. “Would you please explain to me what is going on here?” Celestia’s eyes turned back to Luna. The midnight blue alicorn was struggling against their spell. “Do you remember Nightmare Moon?” Twilight could only respond, for the spell had also taken her concentration. “Nightmare Moon? I thought we defeated her!” Celestia frowned grimly. “You did. Look on Lunas’ flank.” Twilight was slightly reluctant, but looked anyway. “Do you see that blotch of black?” Twilight looked closely. Yes, there was a strange spot of black that looked as if it doesn’t belong. “That blotch marks a host of a Nightmare.” Twilight was confused. “A Nightmare?” Celestia nodded slightly. “You know that when Nightmare Moon was defeated, Princess Luna was left, but Nightmare Moon was only suppressed.” Twilight frowned. “So wait, we only kept Nightmare Moon back?” Celestia nodded again. “Yes, and a very good job of it as well. But the Nightmare is acting up inside her.” Twilight was confused. “What does that mean?” Celestia frowned. “I’ve thought of everything, but I came down to one conclusion. And it isn’t a good one.” Twilight frowned. “But what is it?”

Celestia staggered a little bit in her effort. “The Nightmares are appearing again.” Pinkie Pie perked up. “Wait. There’s more then ONE Nightmare?” Celestia nodded again. “And they are quite powerful if they are not bound to a host.” Twilight was even more confused. “How were we able to conceal Nightmare Moon then?” Celestia breathed sharply. “Fortunately, Nightmare Moon already appeared inside a host, Princess Luna.” Twilight took this in slowly. “So who or what ARE, the other Nightmares?” Princess Celestia frowned. ”There are four nightmares in total. Each represents an emotion in a pony. Nightmare Moon represents resentment. The three others are Nightmare Pyre, Nightmare Frost, and Nightmare Terra. Each represents Rage, Mercilessness, and Arrogance respectively.” Celestia paused to catch her breath. “As Nightmare Moon takes the form of an alicorn, each Nightmare takes the form of a pony race. Nightmare Pyre is a pegasus. Nightmare Frost is a unicorn, and Nightmare Terra is an earth pony.” Twilight intensified her spell to let her teacher relax a little more. “Thank you Twilight. I know it must be difficult to keep the spell up.” Twilight simply smiled. “It’s nothing. Go on.” Celestia smiled. ”There used to be a prison where the Nightmares were kept. It is high up, close to the dragons lair in the Everfree Forest.”

Pinkie Pie scratched her head. “EVERYTHING important is in the Everfree Forest.” Twilight shifted. “Alright. Thank you Princess Celestia. I’m going to release my end of the spell. Are you ready?” Celestia breathed a few times, then nodded. Magic faded from Twilight's horn, and Celestia closed her eyes in concentration. “So there’s a prison in the mountain ranges?” Twilight nodded at Jester. “That could take forever to find on hoof!” Applejack was discouraged. Twilight agreed. How were they supposed to find a discreet cave in the large mountain ranges of the Everfree Forest. “You girls really haven’t tried out the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight looked at Jester. “And how does that help us?” Jester nodded at the door. ”I think the Preludes of Chaos can do everything the Elements can and vice versa. follow me outside.” Pinkie Pie hopped. “He’s going to teach us something! COME ON!” And she followed Jester out to the court yard. “Come on. It couldn’t hurt to try.” Applejack went out, followed by everyone else. “DD, stay here and keep the Princess safe.” The Captain raised her hoof in salute. “Will do miss Sparkle.”