Prologue: Rise of a Nightmare
Nightmare Moon. To this very day the name strikes fear and awe into the hearts of ponies across Equestria. The story of this legendary Alicorn is well known to all ponyfolk. There are facts of this tale, however, that have been lost. Even to the memories of the Royal Sisters who lived through the dark time.
From time to time through the history of Equestria Princess Celestia has taken gifted unicorns on as her personal students. Few know that Princess Luna also once did this. It was true even as Luna began her dark conversion to Nightmare Moon. Her student at the time tried, as Celestia did, to talk Luna down. But the twisted princess violently refused. She attacked her student and almost stuck him down when she realized something. Her student knew the ways of the night better than almost anypony. He knew her. He knew the ways of her dark magic.
Luna savagely invaded his mind and twisted it. The same jealousy warping the princess warped him. Her student became Nightmare Moon’s right hand. Her knife in the dark. Her key to rising. If he had been remembered, perhaps the War could have been avoided. Perhaps many would still be alive. Her student’s name was, and is, Indigo Sky...
1,000 years ago
Indigo walked with swift steps down the darkened castle corridor. Each hooffall reverberated loudly and Indigo winced. It was damned near impossible to walk silently in this infernal castle. He eventually arrived at moderate set of double doors with a golden sun inlaid on them. Two pegasi guards stood at stoic attention in front of the doors and watched Indigo as he approached. The dark colored unicorn smiled as he looked between the guards, stopping a few paces away. “Greetings, fellows. Is Sunny in?”
“Yes she is. I believe she is reading by the fire. Would you like me to tell you are here sir?”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,”
The two guards gasped and leveled their pikes as Indigo quickly shot a beam of magic toward each of them. The first guard collapsed wordlessly to the ground as the purple-blue bolt impacted his chest. The second guard narrowly blocked the bolt with his pike and quickly jabbed at Indigo. The unicorn jumped out of the way as the long spear impacted the floor with a clang. He quickly picked up the fallen guards pike and drove it forward with lightning speed. With a satisfying crunch the pike drove smoothly into the pegasus just above his collar bone. The guards eyes bulged out as fell sideways and lay on the floor, gasping and coughing up blood. Only when the guard finally stilled did Indigo turn and open the door.
Sunny Sky sat in a large armchair with it’s back to the door. A fire crackled warmly in a large fireplace a few feet away, casting a soft glow across most of the room. Sunny’s large four poster bed sat to the right of the door, and a large mirror and dresser sat on the far let wall. Apart from this the dark yellow room was mostly bare, save for and intricately woven rug depicting a sun in the likeness of Celestia’s cutie mark. Sunny was intently reading a book levitating before her and did not notice Indigo quietly slip into the room.
For a moment Indigo was content to sit in the narrow band of flickering shadows near the door as he watched her. After a few seconds he stepped into the soft light. “Hello Sunny,” The yellow unicorn jumped and dropped her book to the floor with a thud. She whipped her head around and breathed a sigh of relief, putting her hoof to her beating heart. “Oh, it’s just you brother. You really must stop scaring me like that,” she said with a chuckle as she picked up her book again with her magic. Indigo smiled and walked to the armchair opposite Sunny’s. “I did not intend to frighten you,” the unicorn said as he looked into the fire. “I just needed to ask you a few things,” Sunny raised her eyebrow quizzically but did not look up from her book.
“You’re Celestia’s student,” The way Indigo said it was more like he was talking to himself than Sunny.
“Of course I am, and you’re Luna’s,” Sunny said with a confused look.
“You would do anything Celestia asked of you?”
“To a degree. She is both my mentor and princess, but I must listen to my own conscience,”
Indigo sighed and stared into the fire. “That’s what I thought,”
“Hey,” Sunny said with a concerned expression “What’s wrong?”
He looked into his sister’s concerned, sincere face and sighed again. “I’m sorry,” but his face did not look sorry. It looked a bit like he was throwing away an old book he didn't need anymore. A little wistful, but by no stretch of the imagination sorry. He even looked like he pitied her.
Sunny began to ask what he was sorry about when he shot her in the chest with a bolt of magic. Sunny’s heart stopped immediately, but she lay gasping in a terrified panic for several moments afterward as Indigo looked blankly at her. Her face showed an expression of suck despair, betrayal, and terror that he frowned and looked away. As Sunny stilled and slipped into blackness, her last thought was: why?
Indigo slowly closed the door behind him as he slipped back into the corridor outside Sunny’s room. For the time being he had laid Sunny to rest in her bed. He would come and give her a proper burial later. Not for any emotional reasons, but simply for the sake of respect. He kicked one of the guards bodies away without a second glance as he strode back down the hall. A dark shape sat in front of a window a few paces away, looking out over the sleeping village around the castle. Indigo bowed to princess Luna as she turned and looked down to him. “Is Sunny disposed of?” she inquired, as if asking what time it was. “Yes she is Mistress. I tried to thin out the ranks of the guards as much as I could on my way, but I unfortunately did not run into many,” Indigo said as he followed Luna, who was walking down a side passageway toward the throne room. The princess sniffed but continued to walk. “No matter. I go to confront Celestia now, and no prattling guards will stand in my way,”
“Do you wish me to accompany you?” Indigo asked as they reached the doors to the throne room.
“No. Stay outside the doors and insure nopony enters,” as she opened the door and stepped through.
“Yes, princess,” even though she was gone.
Indigo turned and planted himself firmly, scanning the dark passage for any sign of movement. From within the chamber Indigo heard muffled voices, then a loud crack and a low boom. Immediatly after a low cackling reverberated through the castle. Indigo smiled wickedly and whispered to himself. “Destroy her, mistress, and the night will last eternal,”
A series of loud blasts followed, and small bits of rubble fell from the ceiling above Indigo. Soon the blasts grew more distant, as if the princesses were flying away, then... silence. Indigo shifted uncertaintly and glanced toward the door. Should he go in and see if the princess had won, or stay put? He decided to stay put and planted his hooves wider apart, though his ears were focused on the throne room. Indigo heard a sound like sliding stone and then the grinding of gears. He frowned and shifted again. A moment later there was the unmistakable sound of a powerful magical discharge. Indigo finally turned and threw open the doors as Nighmare Moon bellowed “NOOOOOOO!”
Indigo watched slack jawed as his mentor, mistress, and friend was carried to the moon by the powerful magic. Anger first, then fury, bubbled within him as he looked to Celestia, floating above the destroyed ceiling. With a furious roar Indigo poured all the magical energy he could into a single blast, which connected with the Princess as she turned to look at him. One more explosion shook the castle as Indigo collapsed on the floor from the drain of the magic. Slowly, he dragged himself to his hooves and shook his head. Was she gone? Was that vile wretched excuse for a pony gone?
The unicorn’s heart dropped to Tartarus as the dust cleared to reveal Celastia’s steely but tear stricken face as the protective shield created by the elements faded. “Indigo Sky. I expected better of you,” Even in his suddenly exhausted and foggy minded state, Indigo managed to smirk. “I suppose it’s the gallows for me then,”
“No,”
Indigo looked up at the princess in surprise, and suddenly a little hopeful. That hope quickly faded as the elements spun faster.
“If you so blindly wish to follow Luna, you will share her fate,” Celestia said coldly. Indigo was now truly scared. He had never seen Celestia like this, and it was utterly terrifying. Yet another huge beam of magic was sent forth from the elements, enveloping Indigo. The unicorn screamed at the top of his lungs. This was by far the worst pain he had ever experienced in his entire life. It felt as if a white-hot knife was being driven into his very being. Indigo’s soul was shredded into tiny shreds before being thrown out of the castle and into the Everfree forest. Pain was the last thing Indigo Sky felt before the darkness of 1,000 years enveloped him.
Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening
Present day:
The noonday sun shone gently down across the Everfree forest, casting away the shadows that clung on wherever the could. In a small clearing deep within the forest, a large crystal spire rose into the air. The pale blue crystal gleamed with the light of the sun. But something dark was swirling within. Twisted veins of blackness began to expand from the crystals heart, converging again near the base. A soft black light emanated from the point where the veins converged. The black light, or anti-light rather, began to grow in intensity. As the light expanded there was a loud snap as the crystal cracked. Several loud pops and bangs reverberated through the still woods as more and more fissures raced up the crystal spire. Finally, with a loud bang the spire shattered into several hundred pieces, which blew out across the clearing.
A smaller dome of crystal sat where the large spire once lay. The once white crystal had turned a dark purple, and it too was cracking. Considerably less spectacular than the spire, the crystal dome slowly disintegrated.
An indigo colored colt lay unconscious where the crystals had been. The unicorn breathed at a steady pace and simply lay still for several moments. The stallion grimaced, still unconscious, as his coat began to softly glow. A semi-liquid mass seemed to seep from within the unicorn as his horn began to glow as well. As more of the dark magic left, the unicorn underwent a noticeable physical change.
The colts coat became a slightly lighter shade as the black tinge of it disappeared. His mane and tail softened in both their feel and color, and his teeth lost their sharpness The most noticeable change was his eyes, even though they were currently closed. His eyes before had been like that of a dragon. Or Nightmare Moon. The unicorns pupil reverted back to it’s oval shape, the whites of his eyes returned, and his irises went from a pale turquoise to their natural navy blue color. After a while the glow faded and the unicorn resumed his peaceful semi-sleep.
Indigo woke with a groan and shakily got to his hooves. Where in the name of Celestia was he? He looked up at the sky and judged it to be around noon. God his head ached. Indigo brought a hoof to his forehead and shook his head, trying to clear away the fogginess. How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was conversing with Luna about something. Though what that something was escaped him. With a jolt Indigo realized his memories had been altered. He could tell from the blurriness of most of his recent memories and the fact that they just felt...wrong. Indigo frowned and closed his eyes as he focused. His horn glowed with a dark purple light as he cast a spell to restore his memory. The spell fell disgustingly short. Indigo gasped as his legs wobbled and almost gave out underneath him. Who, or what, ever had manipulated his mind had been very thorough. He was sure that none of the spells he could do would be sufficient. He needed to find somepony with magic stronger than his to perform the spell. Problem was he had no idea where he was or how he got here. Or how to get out. A loud snap caused Indigo’s ears to shoot up as he whipped his head around. In the pushes several meters away was a pair of glowing eyes. Without hesitation Indigo shot a blast of magic into the bush and took off in the other direction. Oh this would not be fun at all.
Twilight Sparkle emerged from the Everfree, humming to herself as went through the contents of her saddlebags. It was very nice of Zecora to let Twilight borrow some of her potions. The purple unicorn was interested in their chemical makeup and scientific properties. She could hardly wait to get back home and start her tests. As Twilight replaced the potions in her saddlebags, she heard a faint rustling in the pushes a few yards off the path.
The mare froze mid step and slowly turned to face the direction of the rustling. “Hello?” Twilight asked cautiously. “Is anypony there?” as she finished speaking there was a loud crash as something barreled out of the forest. Twilight leapt out of the way as something large and dark flew past her. She saw it was in fact two things, struggling back and forth. The two disengaged and sized each other up. One of them was a Lupus Major, a hulking constellation beast in the form of a giant wolf the size of Princess Celestia. The other combatant was a dark purple colored pony with a disheveled black mane. His horn glowed intensely bright and his eyes shined a deep blue. An aura of magical protection surrounded the ponies body, crackling white and fizzling with energy. The stallion seemed unsteady on his feet and was breathing very heavily as he and the Lupus circled each other. Before Twilight or the unicorn could do anything, the Lupus roared and pounced forward.
The stallion yelled and sidestepped, but wasn’t quite fast enough. The Lupus’ dagger like claws raked along his side and created a very high clang as they impacted his shield. The force of the impact sent the unicorn flying back several meters before he rolled across the ground. Without breaking stride, the Lupus lunged again. Suddenly the constellation beast felt the wind knocked out of it as a powerful magic blast hit it in the ribs. It rolled across the ground much the same way the unicorn had done. It rose to it’s feet and quickly shook it’s head, turning to face the new threat. Twilight stood in front of the other unicorn, hooves planted hard and horn flaring. The stallion rose behind her and stood at her side. He gave her a small nod before they began to circle the Lupus. Although not intelligent in traditional equestrian terms, Lupus Majors possessed amazing powers of intuition. He, for it was a male, quickly judged his previous opponent to have more combat experience than this new adversary. The Lupus whipped around and took a quick swipe at Twilight. The mare ducked out of the way and shot a blast of magic toward the creature. The Lupus stumbled back as the magic hit it under the chin and jerked it’s head backward. It was then hit from the other direction and jumped backward to avoid anymore hits. The Lupus warily watched the two unicorns as they stood firm, horns flaring painfully bright and steely gazes fixed on it. The Lupus knew it could not win. With a final growl the monster turned and retreated back into the forest.
Instantly the pairs magic faded as Twilight let out her breath. That was scary. Twilight yelped a little as the other unicorn collapsed against her. He was panting very heavily and his legs were shaking like leaves. “Oh gosh,” Twilight said worriedly as the other unicorn limply draped his foreleg over her shoulder. “We need to get you to the hospital!” she said as she struggled to walk and keep the stallion up at the same time. “I...” with that single letter he fell unconscious, collapsing with a thud on the ground. Twilight started to panic and picked him up with her magic. She could tell that he needed help right away. Whatever that Lupus had done in the forest was clearly magical, and not friendly. The stallion’s coat and even his black mane were becoming more and more pale. He even looked a little thiner. It seemed like all the vitality was being drained from his body. Oh, the hospital was on the other side of town! By the time she got there he might be...no, that was not not going to happen. Wait...Zecora! Twilight gasped and spun back around toward the forest, running as fast as she could back toward the zebra’s house. He was not going to die, he was not going to die, he was not going to die!
* * *
Indigo groaned as he woke and tried to open his eyes. His head throbbed and he was incredibly sore, but alive as far as he could tell. Indigo slowly sat up and shook his head. Finally he managed to open his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was laying in a bed in a darkened building. Shelves and shelves of potions lined the dark tree bark colored walls and many decorative masks hung next to them. In the center of the one room house was a large cauldron that gave off a soft green light and sent pale green smoke toward the ceiling. Two mares sat before the cauldron with their backs to him, talking to each other in hushed voices. One was a zebra, with bright gold rings around her right foreleg and neck, and large gold earrings. The other was a light purple unicorn with a darker purple mane with lighter streaks running through it. He recognized her as the pony who had helped him against the Lupus.
“Where...where am I?” Indigo asked the ponies by the cauldron. The purple one jumped a little and turned around. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that he was awake and okay. She walked over to him, trailed by the zebra, who had a small smile on her face. “You’re in Zecora’s hut,” said the purple unicorn as she put a hoof to his forehead. He waved her away and sat up further as he looked back and forth between them. Twilight saw the worry in his eyes and chuckled a little. “Hey, you’re okay. I’m Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to formally meat you,” she said and put out her hoof.
Indigo climbed out of the bed and bowed deeply. Twilight pulled her hoof back, confused. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Indigo Sky, captain of her majesties first infantry division: Gold Brigade,” Everything about those sentences caused Twilight’s head to spin. The first infantry hadn’t been in service for more than four hundred years. And even before the first was dissolved, Gold Brigade had been obliterated in the battle of Tijuan Heights not long after Nightmare Moon’s fall. That was more than 1,000 years ago. Twilight looked to Zecora and saw she was just as confused as Twilight. Indigo stood and raised an eyebrow at the surrounding hut, apparently unphased by the mares’ confusion. “And where, pray tell, am I exactly?” Another weird thing. His speech was very formal and sounded almost archaic. “Umm...In the Everfree forest,” Twilight said hesitantly. She was surprised to see that he simply shrugged off the information. To even be near the forest would have terrified most ponies out of their skin. Well, then again, he was the one who had rolled out fighting a Lupus Major. “Are we anywhere near the castle?” he asked curiously. Twilight grew even more confused. “No, not really. It’s deeper in the forest,”
Indigo furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. “Why are you speaking in such a manner? Your speech seems most strange,”
“Me? You’re the one speaking like you came out of some old storybook,”
“What do you mean?” Indigo seemed as confused as Twilight.
“If I may interject,” said Zecora as she stepped forward. “We have not yet used my potions to their full affect,” she walked past the bubbling cauldron to the far wall, carefully taking down a small flask. “What is it that afflicts your mind? The right brew here you will certainly find,” she said with a wink and smile. Indigo stared open mouthed. Damn she was good at picking up on things. “To me it appears that I have fallen victim to a memory charm. And a very powerful one for me not to be able to undo it,” Indigo said as he walked to Zecora with Twilight following close behind. “I do believe this potion will do,” Zecora said as she replaced the small flask and grabbed a larger vial. “It will certainly help with that which ails you,”
Indigo carefully took the potion with his magic and uncorked the flask. He looked back at Twilight, but she was staring at him with furrowed eyebrows and a frown, like she was still extremely confused by him. Finally Indigo shrugged and took a swig of the potion. Instantly an intense burning agony shot through his head and he dropped the potion to the floor with a clatter. Indigo made a sound somewhere between a groan and a scream as he swayed unsteadily. Indigo dropped to his haunches when a second wave of agony hit and put his hooves to his head. The last thing he saw was Twilight and Zecora coming over before the ground rushed up to meet him.
