The Captain of the guard took a squad of his best stallions and traveled to where the dark clouds originated from. When he arrived, he was disappointed with what he saw. The only thing that was there, was a burnt out fire pit. The rest of his soldier spread out to find anything suspicious or find any evidence of dark magic. They weren't too lucky on their initial search, but eventually they found something.

“We found something!” Iron stood up to see one of the guards pointing up towards the mountain.

At first, he didn’t see anything, but upon a closer inspection, he saw a faint path leading up the mountain side. The path ended in the middle of the mountain side. Right where a solid black rectangle laid.

“I’m getting too old if I couldn’t see that,” Iron grumbled to himself.

“Don’t worry sir. I didn’t see it either. It’s probably because how dark it’s getting.” Iron looked up in the sky to see that it was in fact getting dark. Awfully fast too.

“Well, come on. It’s going to be too dark to see soon. Let’s finish this up and come back tomorrow,” Iron ordered his troops. One by one, the ponies climbed the stairs and headed inside the opening. They, however, didn’t go farther than the entryway.

“Does anyone else feel… weird?” one of the soldiers asked.

“Now that you mention it yeah. It feels… cold… and--”

“Disconnected,” the ponies looked at Iron. “I can’t feel any magic in here. Like something is blocking it,” he said as he inspected his troops. They were all shaky and nervous, not the ideal troops at the moment.

“And I don’t like it. I am calling it a day. Let’s go back home, and come back tomorrow, after the Summer Sun Celebration.” The guards were all too happy to get out of that place. Iron would be lying if he said he wasn’t even a little relieved that he was leaving, but he wouldn’t say it out loud.

The guards filed out as fast as they filed in. Each pony was happy to go home to their families and forget about that place. Iron sighed as he hopped on the chariot. His mission started out strange and it wasn’t getting any less strange. He just hoped that it could be sorted out by the time he got back.

I stood before my new servant as she stayed in the same defeated position. For this… thing to have, or had, a throne was beyond me. She obviously had some magical prowess, but as soon as I instilled fear into her, she was done for.

Still, she blasted me through solid rock, so that was something.

Now that I had a servant, who I knew couldn’t risk betraying me till later, I then needed a base of operations. Since this was my servant’s old castle, I figured that it was a good place to start.

It was isolated, and looked to be abandoned for a while. The gorge outside provided a perfect barrier on one side, and it gave me an easier access to below ground. That would be where I breed my army.

Speaking of which, I needed to know who I would be eventually dealing with and what forces I could create. So, I turned back to my servant to ask her a few questions.

“I have need of you,” I said as I pointed at my new minion. She was still weak from the poison, but I didn’t need her to move. All I needed were answers.

When she didn’t answer I picked her up by her mane. She needed to learn respect. But before I could do anything, I discovered that she was unconscious. That was just great.

The poison must have taken a lot out of her. There was nothing I could do to wake her without injuring her further. I didn’t need her to be any weaker in case something happened. So I had to find something to take up my time till she woke up.

I left the main room to explore the rest of the castle. It looked like it was built out of a child’s storybook: all of the bricks were square, all the hallways held artwork and every hallway looked the same.

It was definitely not my style of fortress, but I might draw attention if I altered it any. No, all my work would have to be underground in order for me to remain unnoticed.

The lower I went, the darker the castle got. For just anyone, they would have had to light a torch in order to see. However, my body was made to work in the dark. Even in total darkness, I could see clearly.

Clearly enough to see that there was a lot of work to do.

New passageways would have to be built to burrow further into the earth. The only problem with that was I had no one to do the grunt work. I doubted that my only follower would be good at any digging, let alone the vast amounts of digging she would have to do.

No, I needed more servants, ones that could fight and do the grunt work I needed.

I finished with my brief tour and walked back to the throne room. Fortunately for me, the horse was starting to wake up as I reached the throne.

“Ugh, my head...” my servant groaned as she wobbled up onto her hooves, rubbing her head. When she stood all the way up, she clutched her side. “Ahh! What is this!?” she said as she ran her hoof over the wound I gave her.

Apparently she was trying to remember what happened before she passed out. I elected to sit and watch to see if she could remember on her own. I didn’t like to have to repeat myself.

“I was waiting for my clone to return to me and then-” The shock in her eyes told me she recalled our fight. Good. But what was that about her clone? Before I could ask, she looked up at me with eyes full of fear. “It… it wasn’t a dream?” I didn’t answer. Instead, I chose to stare at her.

At that moment, a whispy blue cloud flew into the window and attached itself to her mane. I guess that answered my question about her clone. She seemed to forget about me and looked at the door.

“They’re here? Already?” she gasped.

At this point, I was tired of having my questions left unanswered. I stood up from my seat and grabbed the root of her mane. Then, I lifted her to my eye level.

“I have had enough of these riddles. You will answer me.”

Her face was not as full of fear as I hoped. It was… troubling to say the least. She seemed more concerned with something else.

“Look at me.” I pulled a bit more on her mane, causing her to wince a bit.

“Let go of me!” She tried to take a swing at my face, but she missed.

I wasn't about to let my subordinate try and undermine my authority. With most of my might, I threw her back into the hole she make with me earlier. She ended up tumbling through a couple more walls before finally stopping by a large window. Her body wasn’t that hurt, just a few scratches here and there. However, I didn’t care for her state of being. As I said before, she needed to learn respect. I picked her up and made her look at me with her strained eyes.

“You will learn your place!” I threw her against another wall. This time, she was embedded in the wall. Her horn was cracked and she had cuts all over her body. She was such a frail thing, not being able to take much punishment. Still, she was mine, and her weakness was my weakness. And I refuse to show any kind of weakness, either for my own pride, or for fear of my master.

Oh yes, he was always in the back of my mind. That great eye was and would forever be burned into my brain. I trembled at that thought of what he would do to me if I should fail.

I pulled the pony off the wall and let her fall to the ground. I would have done worse, but I didn’t know how much more she could take. She was very lucky to be my only link to this world. As I moved my boot towards her throat, she pointed back to the throne room. Looking through the newly made holes, I saw a small purple unicorn. I really hoped that wasn’t the only species I would find. That would prove troublesome when I start to breed my army.

I turned back to my injured servant. She would be better equipped to deal with this other unicorn. For all I knew, that unicorn could have been her servant. Dragging my unicorn to the hole in the wall, I made her look at the purple horse.

“If she is not your’s, you will rid her of this place.” Normally I would handle it myself. However, more might come to look for her, and if she escaped, there is no telling who she could have brought back. It was better for me to stick to the shadows. My servant coughed when she stood up. Maybe she wasn’t as weak as I thought.

“That’s what I was,” she gave another cough, “I was trying to tell you.” I didn’t respond as I hid in the shadow of a column. She gave a sigh, turned into that purplish cloud and silently floated into the throne room. Thinking she could handle a single unicorn, I opted to look through that book in case things turned sour. I skimmed through till I found a good escape tactic. It had me use most of my spirit to travel to another area and the rest of me would be pulled to it. This would be an alright strategy if I wanted to plan an escape ahead of time.

As I read more into it, a burst of wind almost made me lose my place. With a thumb holding my page number I looked behind the column to see my servant and the new horse land on the ground. I was furious that she would bring that thing so close to me. She would be punished severely once the newcomer was dealt with. For some reason, she was also holding five stone orbs with her mane and tail. If I cared, I would ask about them later, but I had more pressing matters to attend to. Concentrating on my wraith spirit, I began to feel myself tear apart.

“Plas!” Immediately after I said that word, I felt my spirit crack in two. Most of my strength left my body and formed into a second wraith. It looked just like me, only without any robes to hide its true form. Once it was complete, I pointed out a window.

“Parpara.” With no other word, my spirit surged forth into the wild, with only the will to move forward. I had my way out in case things turned sour. The best part about using just a wraith is that no one but me could see it.

Once it jumped out the window, I looked back at my servant, to only see her be blasted by a rainbow from six pastel horses. I had no time to react when the rainbow swallowed her up in a tornado like movement. The only choice I had was to wait to see the outcome. The rainbow spun faster and faster until it erupted in a bright flash. I had to pull my head around the column not to be blinded by it. Even though I avoided the physical blast, I could feel the magic still hit me. To my shock, it weakened me. Not just a little either. I felt significantly drained, like my life force was being sucked through a straw. Whatever that blast was, I definitely couldn’t let it hit me.

By the time I turned around, all the horses were getting up and talking about their necklaces. They were completely unaware of my presence and I wasn’t about to change that. Especially after that blast.

Hiding back behind the column, I prepared to merge with my clone. Right when I was about to travel to my clone’s location, I felt my magic still pulsing where I thought my servant evaporated. Risking another peek, I looked back to where my servant once stood. Laying in the same spot was a smaller blue horse. It was like she was a younger form of herself. However, my poison was still flowing in her blood. I focused on my magic harder until I realized what those horses really did. They didn’t destroy my servant. They just sealed her away, and seals can be broken.

I began to reach out with my power, testing the limits of the seal. It was strong, but that was because it was fresh. However, the newer the seal, the more mistakes it would have. All I needed to do was find one of those mistakes and she would be mine again. While searching for a flaw, I felt myself getting weaker and weaker. Looking around, I also saw that it was getting light out. Was it daybreak already? While I could operate in daylight, my strength was in the shadows, and they were fading fast.

By the time I found the flaw in the seal, the power of the light almost drained me completely. I was lucky to be sitting in the shadow of the column. I had to make my move, or I wouldn’t even have the power to teleport away from there. The only problem was that I needed to physically touch the blue unicorn in order to rip my servant from her body, and there was a lot of solar energy weakening me every moment. I gathered my strength and stepped out of the column’s shadow. There was now a large white horse walking to my servant. Just by looking at her, I knew where the solar magic was coming from. This was not going to be easy.

“It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister.” All the equines were so focused on the two, that they hadn’t seen me step out. The blue horse was about to leap up to the white one when I reached out with my magic.

I grabbed onto the new unicorn's throat and pulled her to me. All the horses gasped when my servant’s body reached my grip. The gasps quickly turned into angry glares. The worst one came from the large solar horse.

“Let go of her you monster!” The largest horse lit up her horn in anger. There was no way I could stand up to against any spell she would send my way. I needed to buy some time.

Princess Celestia watched in horror as her sister was pulled into some monster’s grip. The form of the being reminded her of a minotaur, only smaller in size. It draped itself in a black cloak with armor sticking out. It was obvious that this thing was prone to violence due to the sword handle sticking out of, what appeared to be, a belt loop. However, that wasn’t what was on her mind.

She had just been reunited with her long lost sister. After thousands of years, planning her sister’s rehabilitation with the elements of harmony and the dream of living together were torn from her grip. To say she was furious was an understatement. So, she charged her horn in a threatening manner.

“Let go of her you monster!” Her voice was dripping with venom. Celestia wouldn’t normally lash out at anything directly, even her enemies. She has had years of training to hold her emotions in check, but this was her sister. Her emotions were bubbling over even before she arrived at the castle.

Celesta couldn’t risk shooting off a spell in Luna’s state, but the monster couldn’t possibly know that. The two just stared at one another, analyzing for weaknesses. Celestia had encountered many monsters and foes in her reign, but none such as this. This thing was oozing with dark magic and fear, more so than Nightmare could ever have dreamed of. Just standing in it’s presence was weakening her. The two stayed locked in that same position. until the monster did something that Celestia dreaded.

It screamed.

It screamed like a banshee fresh out of a grave. The high pitches rang in her ears, causing her to falter in her stance. Fear gripped her heart as the magic from her horn dissipated. The elements of harmony weren’t doing any better. To say they were afraid was a gross understatement. The element of kindness passed out due to the sheer amount of fear she was being subjected to. Luna however, had to endure being that close to the creature while hearing that horrific screech.

“Now I will take what’s mine.” The monster spoke in a wispy voice. With one of it’s clawed hands, it gripped onto Luna’s head. All the ponies watched in horror as it began to extract something from Luna. It didn’t take Celestia long to determine what it was pulling out. The blue spirit has caused her grief for a little more than 1000 years. The monster was pulling Nightmare out of the her sister’s body.

Celestia could do nothing but watch as the monster tore out the dreaded spirit from her sister. Luna cried out in pain as part of her being was ripped from her very soul. Rarity and Fluttershy have long since passed out, leaving the rest of the elements to watch the horrors of the monster. With one final cry from Luna, Nightmare was ripped out of her body and she promptly passed out due to the pain.

The creature then absorbed Nightmare’s essence into its palm and threw down Luna’s unconscious body. Celestia saw her opening and charged her horn. However, she wanted some questions to be answered first.

“What do you plan on doing with Nightmare Moon?!” Celestia lowered her horn, hoping to frighten the creature. It obviously didn’t work when it clenched it’s fist.

“Your world will burn.” Celestia didn’t want to take any more chances, but before she could fire her spell the monster spoke up again.

“Ranaz!” With that word spoken, the creature’s form warped as if it’s essence was being pulled away from the castle. The princess fired off her spell, hoping to hit the creature. Her spell didn’t make it halfway across the room before the monster vanished.

The hall fell silent after Celestia’s spell dissipated. Luna laid prone on the floor, her energy spent. The solar ruler carefully crept forward to her sleeping sister. Her plans that were a millennia in the making, gone, just with the appearance of this strange creature. She reached down with her face and nuzzled her sister. A faint breath could be heard coming out of Luna’s mouth. Tears then pooled in Celestia’s eyes.

“You’re going to be alright now. I won’t let anything hurt you again,” she whispered in Luna’s ear. Celestia laid down next to her sister and pulled her into her forelegs. She then began to pet Luna’s mane as a mother would do with her foal.

The rest of the elements were still frozen in their places. They have never encountered anything so frightening in their lives. The road to the castle was a cakewalk compared to what they just witnessed. Pinkie and Applejack were able to shake off what happened enough to go help their friends, but Rainbow and Twilight stared at the empty space where the monster once stood.

“W-what was that Twilight?” Rainbow Dash moved next to Twilight. Her voice was shaky, but Twilight couldn't blame her.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it, and by the look of the princess, I doubt she has either.” Twilight turned around to see how her new friends were doing. Rarity was coming to but Fluttershy was still out cold. Twilight guessed that that scream earlier was to induce fear into its victims. Poor Fluttershy was already timid as it was, then to have it forced upon her was just too much.

“I… I’m going to go check on Fluttershy.” Rainbow wouldn't admit it if anypony asked her, but she was scared out of her mind. Her bravo was quick to disappear when they looked at the faceless assailant.

Twilight managed to shuffle her hooves toward Celestia, who was still caring for her sister. This was the first time Twilight had ever seen her mentor like this. It almost scared her as much as the monster did.

“Princess? Are… are you alright?” The princess’s ear turned towards Twilight before she moved her head. Celestia’s eyes were red, due to her crying. Her mane had stopped flowing and remained still. Even with the pain still fresh in her mind, she managed a small smile.

“Yes, my faithful student. I will be alright.” Celestia lifted her sister onto her back. “I need to take Luna back to Canterlot. I want you to take everypony back to Ponyville. Do not speak a word of what happened here to anypony. I don’t want to cause an unnecessary panic” Celestia lit her horn, only to be stopped by Twilight.

“Wait! What about that thing? It’s still out there!” Twilight was on the edge of physically shaking just with the thought of facing the creature again. Celestia offered a hoof on her shoulder.

“I do not believe it will attack in daylight. It most likely retreated to some cave. I don’t want you trying to pursue that creature either. I know that you might feel a duty towards defending Equestria now that you and your friends wield the Elements of Harmony, but I would rather that you leave this to me.” Twilight nodded her head while listening to her teacher. Not another word was uttered until Celestia teleported out of the castle, leaving Twilight and her friends behind.

Twilight rounded up her friends and headed down on the path to Ponyville. Applejack ended up carrying Fluttershy on her back while Rarity leaned on Rainbow Dash in order to walk straight. Nopony said anything during their walk home. They didn’t know what they could say. They still had the shape of that creature burned into their heads. Twilight, was different. She still had that creature in mind, but her thoughts were different than her friends.

“I will find this thing and I will defeat it.”

Author's Note

Murry Christmas. Here is my present to you! Unfortunately it was only partially edited so point out the mistakes pls.