Author's Note

Light doesn't destroy Dark they only dance around each other for eternity

Shadow Over The Sun

Today is no ordinary day for the ponies of Ponyville. Today is the summer sun celebration. Many of ponyville's party coordinators work within a frenzy preparing for the arrival of the princesses. Twilight Sparkle the princess of friendship flies about the town making sure that everything down to the tiniest of details is perfect for her mentor princess Celestia. This year was going to be something special as Twilight will actually be the one to perform the opening ceremony. Something to which she takes great pride in. As news of this spreads throughout Equestria ponies from all corners make a pilgrimage to Ponyville to witness the ceremony. As it was now Ponyville was full to bursting as ponies from every city pack into every inn, hotel, and campsite. Although Twilight liked making new friends, and this was no exception, but with the streets crowded the preparations have slowed down to a crawl. However the tourists respectfully get out of the way as much as possible making it so that everything was set just hours prior to the celebration. Twilight lands in the designated area where she, Celestia, and Luna would be standing during the celebration. As soon as she catches her breath an elderly unicorn stallion makes his way over to her holding some kind of book in his hoof. He is a slender thing with a scraggly salt and pepper beard, and mane showing his age. He bows to her before he speaks.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle please forgive the intrusion I know that you must be tired, but I am well...ponies call me Crypt Keeper because of my age. I am the librarian of Neightre Dame, and I believe that I have discovered something of up most importance that you must take a look at," Crypt Keeper levitates the book over to Twilight showing her a specific page.

Twilight's eye begin to dilate to the extreme as she rereads the page over before she takes the book, and rushes towards her castle. " Sorry but I need to borrow this for a little bit ok. I'll return it to once I am done with it promise," Crypt Keeper sighs as Twilight gallops towards the castle.

"I am never going to see that book again am I?" Crypt Keeper turns around making his way back to his campsite.

Twilight rushes through the main doors of her castle, and towards her library. She grabs book after book placing them on a table. With the book she was given in the center of the pile she begins to cross reference between all of the books. A look of worry deepens in her face as continues to read, and reread the book. She slams the book shut rushing towards the throne room. The instant she reaches her throne she sends a bolt of magic into the crystal map. Six cutie marks begin to flash on the map one of which was hers summoning her friends to the castle.

Twilight paces nervously as she waits for her friends to show up. The double doors open up Twilight turns her head ;it was Spike with latex gloves, and an apron on. She returns to her pacing silently mumbling to herself.

"Ah, Twilight what's going on? Why are you in here?" Spike asks as he takes off the gloves, and apron.

"Spike we are in big, big trouble! I found out something that is really bad," Twilight is on the verge of having a nervous breakdown.

"What some pony use the wrong color on the banners, or something?" Spike chuckles as he teases her.

"If only. I found something out about Nightmare Moon. I will explain once every pony gets here," Twilight stops her pacing, and starts to perform the breathing exercise Cadance taught her. Spike's eyes go wide as he heard that name mentioned. He sits down in his throne joining Twilight in her waiting.

A few passing moments later the double doors open up and the rest of them walk into the room. They each take a seat in their respective thrones. Their cutie marks glow as they sit down. The six wait patiently for Twilight to settle down, and take her seat. After one last deep breathe she finally settles down taking her seat.

"Ok, Twilight we are here. What's the emergency?" asks Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah sugarcube it's not like you to summon us if it wasn't something important," Applejack answers.

" As you girls know Ponyville has received an influx of tourism as the summer sun celebration draws near. One of said tourists approached me not too long ago. He brought something of grave importance to my attention regarding the summer sun celebration," Twilight closes her eyes as she brings out the book placing it in the center of the map.

"What is it darling? You can tell us," Rarity says as she tries to console Twilight.

They all hold their breathe as they wait for Twilight to continue. " It seems that when we defeated Nightmare Moon all those years ago we didn't truly defeat her. Or should I say we didn't truly defeat it,"

"It? What do you mean by it?" Fluttershy asks as she ducks her head under her pink mane.

" It seems that Luna was nothing more than a host for the nightmare nothing more. This creature feeds off of it's host's psyche, and corrupts their natural abilities. When we used the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon we didn't reform Luna. Rather all we did was remove the parasite," Twilight says as she points to a depiction of the nightmare within the book.

"Wait so are you saying that it is still out there?" asks Fluttershy.

"Afraid so," Twilight crosses her hooves as she leans forward.

"If it's still out there then why hasn't it shown it face yet? You sure that this isn't some kind of sick joke or something?" asks Rainbow dash.

" It's not some kind of joke I wish that it was though. All of my books confirm what is in this book. Apparently it takes time for it to manifest within it's host. Some pony out there is carrying one of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria, and doesn't even know it," silence fills the room as they all contemplate the dire situation.

"Question! What does this nightmare have to do with the summer sun celebration?" Pinkie Pie asks as she raises her hoof up into the air.

"It's not that it is connected to the celebration itself, but rather to the day that it was defeated. As I said it takes time for it to manifest within it's host. Which means it has been growing in power ever since we defeated it during the summer sun celebration. However because it was on the summer sun celebration something else also comes into factor," Twilight lets out a long worrysome sigh.

"Wh...what would that be darling?" Rarity asks as she glances over to Twilight's tired expression.

" There are actually three things that come into factor. First is the fact that it was feeding off of an alicorn. The second is that not only was it's former host an alicorn, but that it was feeding off of her for over a thousand years which means that it has been gorging itself on her magic, and emotions. Last is the fact that during the summer sun celebration there is a small window where light magic as in Celestia's magic is at it's weakest. Meaning that within seconds the nightmare could over power her and everyone else before they could even blink," Twilight closes the book.

"So what are we going to do then Twilight?" Spike asks as he breaks the silence.

Twilight lifts her head up" We have two options neither of which will be easy. Either we find it while it is dormant and crush it, or we use the other type of magic and try our luck,"

"You don't mean?" asks AppleJack

"Yeah, we use dark magic because while light magic is at it's weakest dark magic will be much more powerful for that brief period in time," Twilight looks up at her friends in the eyes.

"That is not an option Twilight! Both You and Rarity know better than any pony that dark magic corrupts the user!" Rainbow Dash yells as she slams her hoof on the crystal map.

"I don't know Dashie!? If we play ours cards right we should be able to handle the outcome. Besides we will have both Luna, and Celestia to help with the outcome," replies Pinkie Pie.

"It is not an option to take lightly, but dark magic has it's uses darlings," Rarity tells them.

"Rarity is right dark magic can be used for good if used properly, but it is still a calculated risk," Twilight tells them.

Silence fills the room as they all think about their options. Spike speaks up " How hard is it to find it Twilight?"

"That is the main problem Spike. Because it lies dormant in a pony we can't find it until it reveals itself. The only other way would be if the host knew that they were infected. Which would be highly unlikely," silence fills the room again.

"I got a another question. When we first used the Elements of Harmony did any pony see it flee?" asks Pinkie Pie.

They all gasped in realization. "No we didn't! Which means that most likely it is one of us!" proclaims Twilight.

" So now that we've got that part figured out. What now?" Rainbow Dash asks.

" Best bet would to go through the process of elimination. Who would like to volunteer?" answers Twilight.

Being always the most daring Rainbow Dash raises her hoof. "I will go first," the others look at her with admiration for her bravery.

Rainbow Dash stands between them waiting for Twilight to do whatever it was that she was going to do. Twilight goes about the book looking for the proper spell. The girl start to show signs of worry as they hear the rushing of pages over, and over again.

"What's wrong sugarcube?" asks AppleJack looking over to Twilight.

"There isn't a spell in here telling us how to beat it while it is dormant! All that is in here is about it when it has taken over!" Twilight glances over to her friends signs of worry on all of their faces.

"Well that makes sense you just said it was difficult to find it while it lies dormant. Ofcourse no pony would know how to beat it if they can't find it," replies Spike.

"What should we do then Twilight?" asks Fluttershy.

"We'll have to figure something out," answers Twilight.

" What if we were to summon it then destroy it when it arrives?" asks Spike.

Hearing that Twilight jolts up right an idea popping in her head. She levitates several books, and supplies into the room. A piece of chalk draws a circle, and several glyphs within it. Twilight places four candles perpendicular to each other around the sealing circle. Twilight scans through a book one last time before she closes it and beams with pride.

"Ah Twi?" asks AppleJack.

"It's elementary we step into the circle one by one. When said pony steps into it they will activate the seal. Showing us if they are infected. If they are it will pull out the nightmare and eject the pony from the circle. Once it has no host to feed off of all we have to do is cast a banishment spell sending it away to some far off place where there are no living creatures for it to feed off of," Twilight swells up her chest as she pats herself on the back.

"We'd better hurry up then the summer sun celebration is supposed to start any minute," proclaims Rainbow Dash.

"Right step into the circle Dash," replies Twilight as she points to the seal.

Rainbow Dash glides into the seal, and lands in the center. She waits for a few seconds making sure that she wasn't infected. When it doesn't respond Rainbow lets out a soft sigh of relief.

"Right it's not Dash. Who's next?" asks Twilight.

"I guess I'll go next sugarcube," answers AppleJack as she makes her way over to the seal.

AppleJack steps into the center of the circle. Waiting for a few seconds to see if she was it. She sighs in relief as it doesn't go off.

"Next," Twilight commands.

"That would be me darling," Rarity puffs her mane as she makes her way over to the seal.

Like those before her the seal doesn't react to Rarity stepping into it's epicenter. Fluttershy then gingerly tiptoes into the circle closing her eyes as if she was expecting it to react to her. When it doesn't she bolts out of it. Spike is next to step into the seal. He waits there longer than those prior making absolutely sure that he wasn't the one.

"Right so that just leaves me, and Pinkie," Twilight takes a long deep inhale as she puffs out her chest, and makes her way to the seal. Nothing happens.

They all look over to Pinkie Pie who is now looking slightly depressed. Pinkie lifts her head up, and makes her way over to the seal. She closes her eyes as she steps into the center of the circle. Nothing happens. They all sigh.

"What now Twilight?" asks Pinkie who is still in the circle.

"I wish I knew," answers Twilight as she droops her head.

As Pinkie Pie begins to exit the circle a wall of light blocks her, and the four candles explode into large tongues of flame. Every pony covers their ears as a high pitched wail begins to resonate throughout the crystal palace. Pinkie Pie screams in pain as something happens to her. Every pony looks over to Pinkie only to be horrified. The seal was beginning to split; there were three forms beginning to show within the seal. The high pitched wailing stops, and the walls slowly stop vibrating. The ponies look over to Pinkie Pie. There were now three seals next to each other. In each seal was a different pony. On the right was a version of Pinkie Pie, but it's hair was straight, and it's coat seemed much duller. In it's eyes was a combination of sorrow, and madness. In the middle was Pinkie Pie herself she seemed very weak. On the left however was no pony but a shadow of a pony. Looking into it's glowing eyes brought a sense of horror, and dread. Fluttershy starts screaming as she looks into it's eyes.

Twilight begins to channel a large amount of magic into her horn ready to banish the nightmare to a barren wasteland. However as she charges the spell the room begins to grow dark. Every pony looks up out of a sky window. There was the sun turning a blood red. They had missed their window of opportunity. The shadow laughs as the seal begins to flicker out. The instant the seal breaks the three ponies merge into a single entity. Screams come from Pinkie as she is engulfed in shadowy light.

A black mist fills the room up to the ponies knees as a sphere of dark purple light glows from where Pinkie was standing. When the light dims a figure slowly begins to take shape. There standing before them was a mare as tall as Nightmare Moon. Her coat was a dark maroon. Her mane was pitch black twisting into a swarm of slithering snake like tendrils. At the end of each tendril was a wicked smile showing off pointed teeth. They sing out in perverse laughter like a massive choir. There is a long vertical line gong down the center of her forehead. She opens her eyes as she does the line opens up as well revealing a third eye. All three of the eyes glow with a dark blue light as the pupils narrow into slits. She laughs into the air making the walls shake. Her mouth has a pair of long sharp fangs that glisten like moonlight. At the bottom of her hooves black mist radiates. Her cutie mark is no longer three colorful balloons, but an open fanged smile.

The girls look at her in terror as they witness it's grotesque form. Twilight fires the charged spell at her. The air vibrates as the large bolt of magic surges towards the nightmare. A tendril opens up a pocket of space, and enters it. Just as the magic bolt is about to hit the nightmare a massive tendril as thick as an elephant leaps out of the floor, and in front of her opening up it's mouth it eats the spell. It looks at the mares with it's massive smiling teeth giggling at their failed attempt. It's laughter is so low, and deep that everything vibrates. It retracts through the pocket of space returning to it's original place within the slithering nest of it's brothers. The nightmare laughs as it rears back onto it's hind legs. As it does the black mist begins to crawl up the walls, and the girls. Spike lets loose a powerful breathe of green flame, but is unable to stop, or even slow the mists approach. Six circles of dark maroon light surround each pony, and dragon. With a flash they all vanish all the while the nightmare laughs as mist wraps around the castle.