The Book of Darkness

[Castle Twilight.]

Twilight watched in horror at the sight of her comrade being taken over by the strange fire. She watched Luna's natural coat color turn a darker shade of blue. Her attire turning into silver maiden armor. Luna's teeth transformed into fangs, her eyes into slits, and her voice. Twilight recognized that roar. A shriek of a banshee she thought was forever dead. The fire roared with fury, as did the new pony inside of it. Soon, the rumbling roar died down and so did the fire. Twilight felt her spirit die as she saw the flowing starry night mane of a different alicorn standing in front of her. Twilight thought she was dreaming for a minute. Maybe she fell asleep with Dawn in the medical ward of the castle and the two of them were laying in a medical bed sleeping soundly. Twilight snapped her eyes shit and kept them closed for a second or two. She opened them again, and she was still there. The dark alicorn that had finally taken over Luna again. Nightmare Moon let out a long sign and stretched her arms above her head. The dark alicorn then looked around and saw the purple pony behind her. She growled snapped her body around to face her.

"Twilight Sparkle!? What's the meaning of this!?" she barked.

The purple alicorn sat herself on her knees and looked up at her mortal enemy. She wiped sweat from her forehead and looked at her with a tired expression. To her, it was over. A hulky monster was standing at the other end of the room while a vicious bloodshed driven alicorn was starring her down. She didn't want to give up, but her odds of surviving were little to none right now. A sudden gasp of breathe escaped Twilight as she felt a invisible hand go around her neck. She felt her hooves float off the ground and soon she was hovering. She struggled for air, she reached up to grasp around her neck. However Twilight was met with a magic spell chocking her. She heard the hoof steps of Nightmare Moon approaching her.

"I want an explanation as to why you summoned me!"

Twilight tried to speak but it only came out as choking noises. Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes and released the younger alicorn. She dropped to the floor onto her butt and coughed for a good five seconds. In the time Twilight took to prepare herself, Nightmare Moon noticed some things. She was an alicorn for one thing. But really caught her attention was where they were. She didn't recognize this place. Twilight eventually cleared her throat and looked up at, was at one time, her sworn enemy. She picked herself off the ground, dusting herself off. The two looked at each other hardened expressions.

"I...didn't summon you. YOU took over Princess Luna!" The dark alicorn looked at Twilight as if she was nuts. Not knowing what she was talking about.

"I have no memory of switching with Luna, I remember being in my quarters when a blinding light engulfed my vision. Next thing I know, I'm standing in front of you!" Nightmare Moon said with a puzzled look on her face. Twilight felt herself shrink. So was so confused and worried about what happened to Luna. Plus her evil counterpart didn't even commit it! She was out of ideas of what was going on. The two alicorns then heard a heavy sound of a throat being cleared. They turned and saw the monster standing their with its arms crossed and an even more crossed expression on its face. Nightmare Moon looked at the creature with a impressed look on her face.

"Sweet nightmare, what Tarturas spawned you?" she asked the monster.

The monster growled with irritation and Nightmare Moon's expression faded so a questionable one. It then began to growl, but it sounded as though it was trying to speak. Then, a it started talking in a unknown gibberish in a deep voice. Twilight thought she was loosing her mind by this point. Nightmare Moon didn't turn to Twilight but spoke, keeping her eyes on the creature.

"He wants to see the child." she said. Twilight looked at her with a confused look. The darker alicorn didn't need to turn around to feel the look she was giving her. She groaned. "The beast you imbecile! He wants the child!", then the gears started turning in Twilights head. Her daughter Dawn. She rocketed to her hooves and shouted at the creature. "Over my dead body!", she screamed; not realizing what she said until it was to late. The monster gave a sickish, toothy smile and muttered another sentence in its language. Nightmare Moon turned to Twilight with an expressionless look. "That can be arranged.", she translated. The monster unfolded its arms and let out a thunderous roar. Twilight gulped with fear but the other alicorn in front of her wasn't even fazed. Nightmare Moon cracked her knuckles and neck, giving a small grin.

"I'm not sure your ready for me." she said.

Her and Pumpkinhead charged each other with vast speed. In seconds they collided and the demon was sent flying backward. He flipped and landed on its feet, sliding against the floor. He looked up and saw the other alicorn was smiling and putting out her hand and folding the fingers in as a mocking to him. He punched the floor, getting on all fours and raced toward Nightmare Moon with fury in its white eyes. The alicorn it was charging grinned. She stood her ground and waited for the beast instead of fleeing. Twilight took off into the air to avoid the conflict. The monster expected to head-butt the alicorn's body but instead he went through a cloud of black smoke, a small cackle following it. Pumpkinhead couldn't stop himself in time before slamming head first into a wall. The cackle of the alicorn swarming inside his head. He snarled and searched for her but he couldn't see or smell her. Impossible, the demon thought. He could smell the other flying pony above him, she was no threat however. Pumpkinhead heard the cackle again, turning in every direction to find where it was coming from. A faint tap to his shoulder caught the demons attention, he turned and saw the armored alicorn hovering next to him. She waved for a second before bringing her arm back and punching the demon in his face.

Pumpkinhead fell onto his back and groaned. It hurt him. That one punch actually hurt him. He raised his nose and felt a warm liquid leaking from his nose. He snarled in anger and kicked up to his feet. The demon unleashed a mighty roar and sprinted toward the dark alicorn. Who still had her smirk. Pumpkinhead lashed out with his claws, each thrust of his arms strong enough to slash a human in two. However this pony was quick, with each swing of his claw, she dodged with incredible speed. Pumpkinhead was growing tired of her, he was thinking of sparing her at first, now he was keen on ripping her to pieces. Using his tail, the demon lashed out with it and for the first time connected with her body. Though it didn't go right through her, it did send her hurtling into a wall and leaving a deep crater. She grabbed her head and groaned. Pumpkinhead gave a toothy smile and charged the pony like a rhino. He ducked his head down and went into a full sprint, intended on ramming her through the wall again.

"To late." he heard her whisper.

The alicorn disappeared into smoke and Pumpkinhead went through the wall with full strength put into it. Nightmare Moon teleported outside the hole in the wall and crossed her arms. Twilight landed right beside her and looked in amazement, something she thought she would never do. They couldn't hear anything inside. The creature must have knocked itself out. The dark alicorn started to laugh in victory.

"I told him I was much more powerful." she said in a cocky tone.

Twilight rolled her eyes. She was ready to call the guards to come and imprison the beast and go see her daughter. However a sudden slam of a door hitting the wall got both the alicorn's attention. They looked and saw Twilight's friends with horrified looks and breathing heavily from running it seemed. They saw her and quickly dashed toward her. Twilight was about to warn Nightmare Moon but found she was already gone. The sound of her friends yelling for her made the alicorn look in worry for her friends. "What's wrong?", she asked them. Fluttershy flew over the rest of them and showed the heavily injured body of Dawn in her arms. Twilight felt her heart sink when she saw her daughter in such a state. She quickly grabbed her. "Sweet Celestia, what happened!?" she yelled. Rainbow Dash stood forward, wiping sweat from her brow. "She just started flipping out for no reason! One minute we were sitting together and all of a sudden she starts screaming every few minutes and getting injured when no pony was touching her!" Twilight looked down at her unconscious daughter, tears of stress and sadness swelling her soul. Dawn suddenly couched, Twilight gripping her closer. "Dawn!? Dawn sweetie are you okay!?" she said shakily. The filly opened her eyes and looked around. She looked confused and worried about where she was. "W-where am I?" she asked. The ponies looked at her, their turn to look confused.

"Ya mean...you don't know what happened?" Applejack asked her.

Dawn sniffled, tasting the sour taste of blood at the end of her throat. Her head hurt, feeling as she rammed it through a wall. She could feel a small burn on her stomach as well. She looked at the adults around her. All starring down at her with worried and surprised expressions. "N-no. I remember I was hurting and then nothing." All the ponies looked at each other. The situation was suspicious to say the least. A sudden deep growl came from behind the group, everyone froze and slowly looked behind them. Pumpkinhead was walking out of the hole in the wall rubbing his head. Dawn rubber her head, feeling a massive headache emerge from nowhere. Twilight looked at her daughter and back at the creature and a sudden horrifying realization came to her mind. The creature opened its pitch white eyes and him and Dawn locked. He starred at the ponies before roaring at the sky and stomping toward them. He was through playing around. He wanted his summoner even if it killed him! One of the flying ponies came from out of nowhere and kicked the demon in its jaw. The creature groaned and rubbed its mouth. Dawn suddenly let out a cry and grabbed her chin. The ponies looked at her in shock.

"She wasn't even touched!" Rainbow Dash said.

Pumpkinhead snarled and gave the ponies an angered look. He then saw Dawn rubbing her chin like he was. The demon felt a part of his soul leave his body. He was afraid of that. Now he really needed the girl. Pumpkinhead roared and charged the ponies full force. They screamed, a few stood forward to fight but Pumpkinhead didn't need these ponies falling on top of his summoner. He jumped and used his tail, wrapping around Dawn carefully to grab her out of the arms of the cream coated pony. A heavy landing on the other side of them. He reached behind and put the filly in one of its claws. They looked at each other for a few seconds. A sudden magic blast hit the creature in its side, causing both him and Dawn to shriek in pain. Pumpkinhead went flying and slid across the ground. He looked up and saw a another alicorn with glowing yellow eyes and horn. Her white coat blending with her magic. She stood strong in front of the creature, a magic powered scowl on her face. Pumpkinhead narrowed his eyes. This could get dangerous. The demon grabbed the child in its claw, opening a door next to him and placing her inside. He motioned her to stay put and slammed the door. A thunderous voice rang through the hallway then.

"SO YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS ATTACKING THE CASTLE? YOU WILL REGRET THAT!"

The demon let out a small groan of annoyance. Now that he knew he was tied to his summoner, any injury he sustained she would as well. Pumpkinhead cracked its knuckles at the white alicorn. Watching as she started to lift herself off the ground using her massive angle like wings. The white alicorn blasted him again, Pumpkinhead moved out the way and the blast impacted the ground. Bits of debris flying up and then raining back down. She sent another blast but Pumpkinhead wasn't paying attention this time. The golden stream hit him in the chest. Pumpkinhead moaned in pain, the golden blast burning his chest. He thought of his summoner and how she was feeling. She must have been a lot of pain right now. Pumpkinhead tried to hear for her but the buzzing sound of the golden stream was making him unable to hear. The burning of his chest was unbearable by this point. But just as the demon was about to collapse, the beam stopped and the white alicorn floated down in front of him. She landed and Pumpkinhead didn't need to look up. Both their eyes met, fueled with anger and vengeance. Pumpkinhead expected his vision to fade ay any moment, waiting to wake up and find his summoner dead and him back in his realm.

However, it never came. The voice of the purple pony came in front of him.

"Princess wait! If you kill it...you'll kill Dawn as well!" she yelled.

The white alicorn halted her assault. She stared at her pupil with confusion. "What ever do you mean Twilight?" she asks, the purple alicorn glides over to the door the creature that out her daughter inside and screams. "Dawn!? Can you hear me!? Wake up!" the group of ponies quickly runs over to her, leaving Pumpkinhead battered and bruised behind them. The child wasn't moving, her breathing was faint, a large scorch mark on her dress. While Twilight and her friends looked over Dawn, Celestia turned around and noticed something. Behind the monster was her sister Luna, laying on the floor. She quickly flies over to her. "Luna?" she says quietly. The princess of the night groans, picking herself up and looking at her sister in confusion. "Celestia? Why are you here?" The lunar princess found herself being stared at by multiple eyes behind her sister. One that stood out from the rest, was the creatures eyes. Those blank, expressionless eyes, staring at her. Luna got to her hooves and marched toward the injured creature. She recognized the wounds on it, her sisters doing.

"Lets try this again." she began, "Who or what you, and why are you looking for Dawn?" The creature snarled at first and looked away from the ponies, trying to stand on its feet. Applejack gave a cocky look toward the creature. She walked toward him and spoke in a mocking tone. "Oh no you don't ya varmint!" she said. Pumpkinhead scowled, grabbing the ponies and leg, which she tried to kick him with, and sent a powerful punch to her abdomen. The orange pony flew back into her friends arms and coughed violently. Pumpkinhead gave a demonic chuckle. Luna, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack were growing restless. Celestia put a wing in front of the creature, blocking him from the rest of the group. The ponies were about to protest when she stomped her hoof and gave them a serious look and tone of voice. "Listen to me all of you! You will not go near this creature as long as its alive, or at least until we figure out a way to separate it from Dawn." Celestia looked at the creature, it gave her a deep look of anger. She used her magic to engulf the monster in a magic barrier. "Me and Luna will take it to the dungeon, it will stay there until we found a solution." The ponies didn't have any valid arguments. Their was no other solution besides to wait. Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, she then remembered something.

"Hey wait a minute, where's Rarity?" she asked. Twilight answered her almost on cue. "I sent Spike to check on her, she hasn't come out of her home in a while. I hope she's okay."