Absolute Nightmare

Once upon a time in the magical land of Equestria…

Chaos reigned.

The land of Equestria had been founded by the unification of the three pony tribes of Earth ponies, unicorns, and Pegasi. Soon after, the young alicorns Celestia and Luna were appointed as the rulers of the fledgling nation. Since they, as alicorns, possessed the defining qualities of all three tribes, they were not only considered the most impartial and trustworthy party, but also symbolically represented the new union.

When the sisters first discovered their ability to raise and lower the sun and moon, their authority and their role in Equestrian society were cemented. They were benevolent and peaceful leaders, presiding over a period of peace in uncertain and volatile times.

Everything changed when Discord attacked. On that day, ponykind received a grim reminder. Harmony was fragile, and the safety and peace they had become accustomed to was shattered the moment Discord arrived and turned the expanse of the San Palomino desert into rocky road ice cream.

Within weeks Discord had dethroned the princesses. He ruled a chaotic version of Equestria where the laws of physics no longer applied. Ponies would awaken to find their homes coats had changed colors or their homes had been turned into potatoes.

Amidst the chaos, Celestia and Luna worked hard to ensure hope was not lost. Everyday, despite all the madness going on, they would continue to raise and lower the sun and moon as they always had. Often, Discord would bring both celestial bodies out at once or send the sun spinning across the sky, but the sister would always set it right.

The draconequus' reign over the land lasted for a decade. Then, one night as Discord slept, hanging upside down in his surreal version of one of the royal castle bedchambers, he had an unusual dream.

It began just like one of Discord's usual dreams. He was skating across a ice rink of shaved ice. Adoring crowds of ponies cheered for him. They all had tie-dyed coats or giant bodies or three pairs of wings or any number of changes Discord felt more aesthetically pleasing. After his performance, three Discords raised up scorecards reading 10/6, ∞, and a doodle of a fish.

Then, as Discord was taking a bow, the crowds and the rink were blasted away with a roar of sound and a flash of searing heat and light.

Discord found himself standing on a black scorched mark on an endless white expanse. Looking up, he saw the two dethroned alicorns descending from the sky, six shining gemstones orbiting around them. The gems began to glow with a blindingly bright magical light. Discord tried to run but found himself unable to move his feet.

The alicorns fired an enormous blast of rainbow-colored magic at Discord, who could do nothing but raise his arms feebly in defense. He closed his eyes and waited for what came, but after a few moments of nothing, he opened his eyes to see himself in a new location.

He was standing in his twisted reimagining of the royal throne room in the Castle of the Two Sisters. The twin thrones had been melted together to form a cushioned recliner. The tapestries hanging from the walls depicted notable events in his life, from his takeover of the Crystal Empire to his invention of the gyro sandwich.

Sitting on his throne, idly reading a comic book, was a tiny black jackalope.

“Hello, Discord.”

“Er, hello, jackalope boy,” said Discord, still shaken up. “Did I imagine you or…”

The jackalope jumped from his seat and hopped toward the door. “Oh, I'm just a visitor. Let's take a walk.”

Discord stood confused for a moment, before grabbing the question mark that had appeared above his head and using it as a backscratcher as he followed the little critter out of the room.

The door lead to a spiral staircase made of xylophone keys, stretching up into oblivion. As the two headed upwards, their footsteps played famed composer Maestro Overture's “Requiem.”

The jackalope began, “What you just saw, Discord, wasn't a nightmare. I would know. That was a vision. The former princesses have found something that can end your reign over this land.”

“Those gaudy trinkets?” Discord asked incredulously, a candy necklace version of the gems he'd seen appearing in his claw.

“They're called the Elements of Harmony,” the little creature explained, speaking the last four words with a mix of disgust and unease.

“Ugh, harmony?” Discord said, covering his mouth as if he were about to vomit. “How could a few rocks stop the god of chaos?” He popped a candy Element into his mouth.

“They possess an incredible ancient magic. Enough to stop even you. However, I can help you.”

Discord let out a hearty laugh, rolling back down several keys. “How could a little fuzzball like you help me?”

The jackalope smiled. “Let me give you a preview.”

The staircase collapsed into a slide, sending the two speeding back down to the tune of “Flight of the Parasprite.”

They landed back in the white void, Discord standing several yards away from where he had been, seeing himself cowering before the alicorn's attack, the whole scene currently frozen in time.

The little jackalope ran up to the frozen Discord, then exploded into a cloud of black smoke, engulfing him. Time started moving again, and the magic from the Elements of Harmony was batted away by the rapidly growing and changing chaos god. Celestia and Luna were blasted back, and before they could react they were grabbed by the now huge and monstrous beast. He began to crush the life out of them, and after a few moments, the whole scene faded away, leaving the little jackalope sitting calmly on the ground.

Discord's jaw was literally on the floor. A crank appeared on his cheek and he quickly turned it, rolling his jaw back up. “…I'm willing to hear you out.”

The tiny creature hopped over to Discord and extended a paw. “Allow me into your mind, and you will have so much power that you'll look back on yourself as you are now as if all you knew were parlor tricks.”

“What's your name, little guy?” Discord said, bending down and putting his paw in the jackalope's.

“Oh, just call me Nightmare.”

The two shook on it, and Discord woke up the enormous beast he had just seen in his dream.

Discord's rule before that night had been by no means benevolent or harmless. Ponies were hurt and the overall state of chaos proved harmful to the mental states of many. A few ponies were actually driven to madness. However, Discord was nevertheless more of a trickster than anything. He made it rain blueberry pies and set of firework displays in quiet museums and duplicated ponies just for fun.

After he accepted Nightmare's deal, however, his sense of humor became notably more sinister and even lethal. He set flaming timberwolves loose in small towns, turned lakes and streams into oil, and created enormous tornadoes filled with carnivorous sea creatures.

The princesses soon returned, equipped with the Elements of Harmony. Their battles with Discord lasted several weeks until eventually they were able to seal him away in stone after a battle that melted the San Palomino dessert. His stone form was placed in the Canterlot statue gardens, and after a thousand years his terrible reign was forgotten by the common ponies.

However, while his stone prison froze his physical body for a millennium, he spent the entire time fully conscious. Nightmare, still in his mind, was trapped with the insane chaos god for the whole thousand years as well. He was still able to access the dreamscape that united all ponies in Equestria, however, and he soon began a plot to regain his freedom.

After one thousand years, in the early morning of the opening day of the Grand Equestria Pony Summit, his plan finally came to fruition.

While Nightmare's sinister plan played out in the castle gardens, high in the clouds above Spitfire and Soarin lay together on a small cumulus. They were both basking in their afterglows, their flight suits draped over their backs.

After a few minutes laying in content silence together, Soarin spoke up. “Well, I'm up for the day.”

Spitfire chuckled and gave Soarin a light shove. “I hope you've still got enough energy left for today's performance.”

She moved over to the edge of the cloud and looked over to stadium. She found herself going over the day's routine in her head, and promptly gave herself a mental kick. At that moment she had a bigger issue to think about, and she knew she was just trying to focus on anything but.

Soarin slid next to her and admired the view. After a few awkward minutes, he voiced what they were both thinking about.

“So, do we have something, or were you just looking for a little extra adrenaline?”

“Well… We have something, I suppose,” Spitfire said, not turning her head.

“But what?”

Spitfire hesitated, glancing around the Canterlot landscape, and then noticed the flash of lights coming from the statue gardens.

“What's that?” she asked quickly, pointing with her hoof.

“Spitfire…”

Spitfire hopped off the cloud, taking flight and speeding over to the lights, leaving a confused and somewhat irritated Soarin laying alone. He sighed and took off after her.

When he reached her, her expression was now one of panic. Soarin briefly worried that she had indeed only flown away to end the conversation, but as he looked down into the gardens he adopted a similar countenance.

Princess Celestia was ensnared in a strange spell circle. Around her standing in circular marks around the circle were six large ponies whose bodies appeared to be spewing out magic. The area was littered with guardsmen, unconscious save for two.

Soarin looked over to Spitfire for some instruction. She was pulling on the hood of her Wonderbolts uniform. She gave him one quick glance and then rocketed down. Soarin took in a quick, deep breath and then shot down after her, leaving his suit floating slowly down after him.

Before Spitfire could reach Princess Celestia, Twilight noticed her and struck her with a burst of magic, sending her careening off course into the labyrinth, getting stuck halfway through a hedge wall. Before she could then deflect Soarin, he sped by and crashed into Celestia.

The six ponies prepared attacks but were struck with a magic shockwave as Celestia was ripped from the spell circle. The tendrils holding her down strained for a moment, the blue light of the glyph growing in intensity, before they shattered, knocking Celestia out of the circle entirely. The circle exploded into a shower of blue embers, sending out a second, even stronger shockwave.

The Nightmare-enhanced ponies were blasted back, their hooves digging trenches in the dirt. Shining Armor and Cherry Fizzy were thrown back with enough force to lift them off the ground. Spitfire, having just pulled herself from the hedge wall, was immediately pushed back into it.

The smoke that had emerged from Discord's mouth, however, was completely unaffected, and continued forward to a new target. Soarin wasn't even able to recover from the crash before the black vapor forced itself down his throat. As it changed vessels, a funky, multicolored light shown through the smoke, and the strange magic emitted unusual noises as it travelled. The horror and tragedy of the moment was undercut by a chorus of bells and whistles, screams, explosions, animal sounds, and accordion music.

Soarin floated up into the air, unassisted by his wings. His eyes glowed with a pure white light.

Reality began to collapse around him. Spitfire tried to scream out Soarin's name, but instead the sound of a trumpet came from her mouth. A nearby statue turned into a pile of black pepper. The trees in the statue garden were draped in snake skins. Princess Celestia was transformed into a tiny figurine of herself, except for being eye searingly pink. Shining Armor tried to call out Celestia's name, but instead Spitfire's intended call came out.

The surge of chaos magic wasn't just felt in the gardens. All across Equestria bizarre things were happening. In Appleoosa, an apple fell from a tree and exploded like a grenade when it hit the ground, leaving the Appleoosans scrambling to stop the fire spreading through the orchard. The Rainbow Falls were turned to blood. In Vanhoover, all the clouds over the city became porcelain inscribed with dirty limericks written in a long dead language before plummeting to the ground. In San Flanksisco, all the window panes were turned to silk. In Ponyville, all the trees were draped in skinned snakes. On and on, across Equestria, chaos reigned once again.

Soarin floated back down as the surge slowed to a stop. His six lieutenants stared with anticipation. Shining, Cherry, and Spitfire stared with dread. Then, Soarin spoke.

“Hello, Equestria! Oh, it is good to be back!”

Spitfire shook off a dumbstruck look and stepped forward. “Soarin? Is that you?”

Soarin vanished and instantly reappeared beside her, a leg draped over her. “Naw, toots. I'm a little fella called Nightmare. Remember that name! It's gonna be big.”

Spitfire swatted Soaring's leg away and scrambled backwards. “What did you do to him?”

Nightmare flipped over, floating upside down, but his face remained as if he hadn't moved. “Welp, being an entity made from all of the negativity of every dream of every pony ever certainly has its perks, but sadly corporeality isn't one of them. So, I tend to borrow.”

He disappeared again, his smile remaining for a moment, then reappeared before his appointed six ponies. He adopted a serious, regal attitude, and a crown materialized on his head. “Well, my loyal subjects, you have served me well. You have worked hard to free your king, and I thank you.”

The crown turned into a propeller hat and he flew over to Sombra, greeting him with a friendly noogie. “Especially my main man right here. Waited a thousand years for this day!” He gave the black stallion an exaggerated, cartoony kiss.

He then flew upward, now wearing a general's uniform. “Now go! Spread chaos! Destroy order! Get freaky!”

Lightning Dust flew away into the night sky. Sombra turned to shadows and did the same. The four remaining unicorns teleported away in bright flashes, revealing that the colors of their magic had all changed.

Nightmare turned his attention back to Cherry, Shining, and Spitfire. “Now, where were we?”

Shining Armor angrily stomped the ground. “What did you do to Twilight?”

Nightmare chuckled. “Well, you see, I needed six ponies to reverse the spell cast by the Elements of Harmony.” Noting Shining's confusion, he sighed. “Jeez, do you ponies not study history or something? Elements of Harmony? Fine, well let's just say I needed six ponies. Twiley was of a rare breed, somepony able to be my Element of Dark Magic. I know, I know, it's two words, but after finding a decent word for anti-loyalty I was done with it.”

Shining couldn't be more lost.

“Anyway! I needed myself a villain but she was pretty solidly in the good guy camp, so I did the logical thing. I engineered some childhood trauma, a little pushing from my star student Sunset, and she was putty in my hands.” At this he melted into putty and fell into a puddle on the ground with a plop.

Immediately reconstituting, he shook Shining's hoof vigorously enough that Shining's entire body was shaken up and down. “Of course, I've got to thank you for your help. I'd never have gotten away with it if you weren't so unbelievably oblivious!”

Shining angrily fired a beam of magic, but Nightmare was already gone and standing before Cherry.

“Any input from the red shirt?”

Cherry thought for a moment and then inquired, “Wait. If you were trapped in that statue all this time, how did you interact with Twilight and Sunset and those other ponies?”

“Give the stallion a prize!” Cherry was suddenly equipped with a mortarboard and diploma. Nightmare continued in the same tone that parents used to explain the birds and bees to their colts and fillies. “You see, the minds of all creatures, from ponies to draconequui, are connected through the dreamscape. Even imprisoned in stone, I was able to traverse the dreamscape to interact with the minds of other ponies in their sleep. And, well, a little inception goes a long way.”

“…What?” asked Cherry, officially more confused than Shining.

“I'm gonna level with you. I only get like half the references I'm making.” Nightmare popped over to the giant stone Discord, reclining on his giant snout. “Now that I think about it, sharing a brain with this bozo for a thousand years might have had a bigger effect on me that I thought,” Nightmare said, wearing a big rainbow wig and spinning a noise maker in his hoof.

Nightmare flew back down toward the three ponies, looking at them like a predator looks at his prey. “I'm afraid the Q&A is over, sadly. We've got lovely parting gifts though.”

Shining fired another spell, but Nightmare casually swatted it away.

“I'm sorry, but conversion is mandatory,” he said, stifling laughter.

A blast of gold magic fired from one of the castle towers, striking Nightmare and sending him crashing into one of the snake skin-covered trees.

He rose out of the tree, a ball of energy charging around his hoof, laughing wildly. “Well, well, well. And here I thought today couldn't get any better!” He fired an energy beam toward the tower, blowing it to pieces and sending chunks of stone falling downward.

Nightmare flew toward the tower, and Spitfire took off after him only to be telekinetically grabbed by Shining Armor.

“I have to go save Soarin!”

Shining dropped her onto the ground. “There's nothing you can do now. We have to go get the princesses. They'll know what to do.”

Shining and Cherry ran into the castle and Spitfire, after a moment of deliberation, reluctantly followed them.

The trio was galloping through a hallway headed for Princess Luna's room when the floor opened up under them. Shining and Cherry fell into a heap on the dusty floor underneath. Looking up, they saw Spitfire simply flying above the hole. Shining had never been jealous of Pegasi before that point, but there was a first time for everything.

An orange hoof reached out to help them up.

“Flash Sentry?”

After their defeat of Discord, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia worked hard to reunite the shattered nation. Discord's imprisonment had reversed his influence on the landscape, but not on the ponies themselves. Having their homes and cities returned to normal did nothing for those who had lost loved ones or were driven insane by the mad king.

There was a population boom soon after Equestria was freed, as young couples celebrated their survival of the darkest time in written history. Therapy cutie marks were incredibly common in those years. Great feats in science and exploration came about, and the discovery of new lands led to a surge in trade.

The Crystal Empire began a movement to expand its territories, having been swiftly overtaken by Discord due do its small size. The wise Princess Amore refused to encroach upon the nearby yak territories, but just years after the Discord conflict ended, she was killed under mysterious circumstances.

Now ruled by council, the Empire moved to incorporate lands considered sacred by the Yakyakistanis. The Crystal ponies argued that the lands were officially unclaimed, whilst the yaks argued that the lands were incredibly culturally significant to their population. Before long, war had broken out.

The news of war so soon after Discord's reign had a disastrous effect on the morale of the ponies of Equestria, and soon the Royal Sisters became involved, hoping to end the conflict both quickly and peacefully. It was their young student Radiant Hope, however, that ultimately brought the war to an end with a display of unprecedented levels of healing magic.

For the first time in Equestria's history, a pony had ascended to alicornhood, rather than merely being born as one like the princesses had been. Radiant Hope was made princess of the Crystal Empire, where she would rule alone for centuries until a young Pegasus named Cadance became the second pony to ascend to alicornhood.

In the meantime, not all was well with the Royal Sisters in Equestria. Princess Luna had begun to harbor some insecurities. She felt inferior to her older sister. Celestia even had a holiday celebrating her, the Summer Sun Celebration.

As her jealousy began to overtake her, she had an odd dream.

She dreamed of soaring across the night sky, pulling the moon into place behind her. Below her, crowds of ponies watched with eager eyes. Luna placed the moon high in the sky, covering the land with soft, beautiful moonlight.

The herds below cheered and applauded, bringing a proud smile to her face. She looked down at her grateful subjects, only to realize that not one of them was looking at her. She turned to find Celestia bearing down upon her, the blazing sun flying behind her.

Before Luna could react, she was cast down from the sky, burning and blinded, her moon turned to ashes. As she plummeted from the heavens, she heard a roaring ovation from the ponies below her, calling out Celestia's name.

Luna awoke in a cold sweat. That dream came to her often from that day on.

“Canterlot castle is full of secret passages like these,” explained Flash, leading the group through the dark halls.

“Princess Luna once told me these were her doing,” added Shining.

“I saw what was happening through a window, so I came to get you. I figured that using these passages will keep us out of sight of that thing,” Flash said, ducking under a low beam.

“So, what is the plan?” asked Cherry.

“We need to warn the princesses, and there is something in Twilight's tower we need to get,” said Shining. “Spitfire, you and Flash need to go warn Princess Luna. Flash knows where her room is. Cherry and I are going to go to Twilight's tower. We need to hurry; the sunrise display is starting soon, and who knows what Nightmare will do there.”

Meanwhile, in the clouds over the stadium, the Wonderbolts were arriving. Soarin was waiting there to greet them.

“Where is Spitfire?” asked a Wonderbolt named Blaze.

“Oh, she'll be joining us,” answered Soarin.

The clouds grabbed the Wonderbolts' feet and pulled them in knee deep.

Nightmare chuckled. “There's been a few last minute alterations to the show.”

“Spike? Are you in here?”

Shining ran into Twilight's tower, calling for the little dragon. Cherry entered seconds later, and almost immediately tripped over a stray pile of books.

They found Spike snoozing away in a little basket by Twilight's bed. Shining gave him an urgent nudge and before the little guy had even wiped the sleep from his eyes he was lifted onto Shining's back.

“What's going on?” Spike said, yawning a small puff of green fire.

Shining grabbed a quill and a pile of parchments on the way out and threw them into Spike's lap. “There's been an emergency. We need you to send a message to the Crystal Princesses.”

“What happened?”

“…Something has happened to Princess Celestia. She's okay, but she's unable to do the show.” Shining didn't want to worry the baby dragon.

Spike began writing. “What should I say happened to her?”

“Just say she was…incapacitated. And say 'Nightmare has returned.'”

“Nightmare?” Spike gulped. “That doesn't sounds good. What's Nightmare?”

“Nothing to worry about,” Shining lied, now galloping toward the stadium. His heart dropped when he saw it was already filling with ponies, and long lines were still being ushered in. He shared a worried look with Cherry. “The princesses will understand.”

Spike finished the letter and then burned it away with his breath, sending it to Princess Hope. He then stated making a copy for Princess Cadenza. “What's all this about? And where's Twilight?”

“Oh, Twilight is fine. She's… busy with the summit. And Spike? You can stop writing.”

Shining had seen the small green of Spike's letter being delivered. The two Crystal Princesses were sitting together in the stadium.

“Shining Armor! Cherry!” Spitfire called out, flying over to them, followed closely Flash Sentry.

“Did you find Princess Luna?” asked Cherry. “Where is she?”

“She wasn't in her room,” answered Flash. “We couldn't find her anywhere and we saw the stadium was filling up. If Nightmare is going to strike anywhere, it'll be there.”

“Spike, finish that letter after all, but send it to Princess Luna instead,” instructed Shining. “C'mon, we have to get over there.”

As the four ponies made their way over, the Wonderbolts flew into the stadium to thunderous applause. The crowds were surprised to see, however, that instead of performing complex aerial maneuvers, the Wonderbolts instead flew over the grandstands, showering them in candies, fruits, and small toys. The foals happily adapted to the unexpected development, and quite a few adult ponies also found themselves enjoying a fruit or a little candy.

Pony Joe caught a pear and took a big bite. His hungry smile immediately left his face, though, at the taste of it. He spat it out in disgust when he looked down to find the inside of the pear was completely rotten. He smacked an apple out of his young colt's hoof, and recoiled in horror when the apple splattered, revealing a number of razorblades.

All around the stands, ponies were panicking. The fruits were all rotten or wax or hard as stones or were filled with blood and meat. The candies tasted like sand or dirt, or glued the mouths of the ponies who chewed them shut, or popped violently when bitten. The toys were just as bad. There were noisemakers that made terrifying screams or ear-splitting whistles. Yo-yos wrapped around ponies legs, water guns sprayed all manner of toxic or disgusting fluids, and bouncy balls exploded at random, sending out little chunks of rubber shrapnel.

As the herd of ponies stampeded toward the exits in a panic, the Wonderbolts created the curtain of smoke that they had practiced so many times before. The Crystal princesses took off toward them, intent on stopping the menaces, only to be thrown back as a large Pegasus exploded through the smoke.

Lightning Dust tore across the field, a trail of electricity trailing behind her. A lightning-based alternative to the Sonic Rainboom cleared the smoke in an instant, sending thunderbolts crashing into the protective spells cast on the stands. The shield shimmered for a brief moment before shattering, sending blacked chunks of wood flying, and causing large sections of seats to collapse.

Soarin's body was waiting in the Royal Sisters' place of honor. He flew upward, wings extended just like the princesses did for every public sunrise or sunset display. The moon rocketed out of sight past the horizon, and the sun, glowing a very unpleasant looking crimson red, took its place.

Soarin and the rest of the Wonderbolts called out to the crowd, all with identical inflections.

“The princesses are gone! Long live the king!”

After being crowned princess of Equestria and having the sun itself made her domain, Princess Celestia had come to relish the praise and adoration she received from her subjects. The ponies had placed her high upon a pedestal, and though she would never admit it, she had come to see herself as such. She remained the benevolent and caring ruler she had always been, but in her mind she was on a level above all of the common ponies.

After a decade of seclusion after Discord's takeover, Princess Celestia was severely craving attention. When she finally regained her lofty position, she reveled in her regained veneration. She even established a holiday in her own honor, the Summer Sun Celebration.

Unfortunately, the problem with being placed on a pedestal is that it separates you from everypony else. Bathing in the love and worship of the Equestrians, Princess Celestia was completely unaware of the inner conflict plaguing her little sister.

Meanwhile, Princess Radiant Hope was having a hard time adjusting to her new role. Her situation was essentially a complete reverse of Celestia's.

Whereas Celestia was accustomed to the admiration of her subjects, Radiant Hope had lived a very solitary lifestyle up to that point. She had been a lonely child. She had played with fairies and other creatures nopony else could see. She had only ever managed to make one real friend, and even then she had lost touch with him over time. Her time as the princesses' student hadn't done anything to break her out of her shell either. Now she was the beloved ruler of a constantly growing empire. She was very much out of her comfort zone.

Whereas Celestia was born into her role, an alicorn since birth, Hope had earned her wings. Before she had been a simple, if talented, unicorn. Now she was one of three ponies in the known world with the collective powers of all three tribes, thrust into an exceedingly important and challenging position.

It didn't help that her time as a princess began when she ended a war. How would she ever follow that up? Would the other ponies expect her to continue to do amazing feats like that? She didn't raise the moon or sun or anything impressive like that. She simply had healing powers. Those didn't seem particularly helpful when it came to princess duties.

There was, however, one advantage that came from her humble origins. She was more perceptive of other ponies' feelings than most. It was for this reason that she became aware of Luna's growing darkness when her own sister didn't.

It was for this reason that Hope invited Celestia to the Crystal Center, the new name for the original settlement where the Crystal Empire began. Radiant Hope was still a simple pony at heart, and her choice of venue was a small fast food restaurant.

The two ordered a few crystal hayburgers, and then Hope got to business.

“Hello, Princess. Do you know why I asked you here today?”

“I assumed you wished to show me how the Empire was flourishing under your rule. How are you taking to your new role as princess?” said Celestia.

“Well, it's certainly a drastic change to get used to,” admitted Hope. “I like to think I'm handling my new responsibilities well, though.”

Celestia smiled, looking out at the bustling streets. “The Empire is definitely thriving. I knew since you began your studies with Luna and I that you were destined for amazing things.”

“Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” said Hope.

“The Empire?”

“No, no.” Hope grimaced. “I meant Princess Luna.”

“Luna? What about Luna?” Celestia thought back to see if her sister had alerted her to any problems, but then realized it had been several weeks since they had last talked.

“I think something is really troubling her. I write with her often, and lately she seems troubled. I think she feels her role as princess isn't as respected as yours.”

Celestia seemed genuinely shocked by this. “What? Why would she think that?”

Hope sighed. “You don't see what might make her feel that way? You do seem to garner more attention than her. I mean, there's even a holiday for what you do. Where's the Moon Celebration?”

Celestia's face adopted a crimson tint. "I hadn't meant any offense. I didn't establish that holiday, the citizens did. I never intended to outshine my sister in the ponies' eyes."

"You didn't mean to upset her, I know, but she is. She doesn't need an apology, Princess. She just needs her sister's support and to feel appreciated."

“I… I hadn't even realized. I can't believe it. I'm ashamed. How could I not realize this was happening to my own sister?”

Hope placed her hoof on Celestia's. “It's okay, Princess. We'll make this right.”

Hours later, in the princesses' new ruling city of Canterlot, Luna was having a new nightmare.

It began the same as all the ones before. The ponies cheering as Celestia interrupted Luna's display. The sun burning away the moon and casting Luna out of the sky. Luna, binded and ablaze, crashing to the ground.

This time, however, Luna did not wake up at that point. Realizing she hadn't hit the ground, she cautiously opened her eyes to see she'd moved to a new location. She appeared to lying on the surface of the moon itself.

A tall figure approached. It was a black coated alicorn, wearing several pieces of bright blue armor. Its mane resembled a shifting cloud of the night sky, stars sparkling within the blue mist. Its cutie mark was nearly identical to Luna's own, only being a different color.

“Hello, Luna. My name is Nightmare.”

“Nightmare?” questioned Luna. “That's not really the most assuring name.”

The alicorn looked offended. “Really? You would judge me by my name?”

Luna stood up, eyeing Nightmare warily. “My judgement may have been premature, but I am not one to so naively place trust in complete strangers, especially alicorns.”

Nightmare chuckled. “Oh, dear Luna, you know this is a dream. I'm merely taking the form that I feel will most effectively get my message across.”

“And what message is that?”

Nightmare turned, giving a better view of his body. “Why, that this is what you can be, if you are willing to let me help you.”

Luna raised up. “Help me? Why would I need your help for anything?”

Nightmare looked out toward the sun. “It seems you are feeling inferior to your sister. However, I believe we both know that you are the more powerful and more wise.”

Luna's indignation melted away, leaving behind uncertainty. “Celie surely didn't intend to—“

Nightmare gently placed a hoof on Luna's cheek. “Don't lie to yourself. She has actively sought to usurp your authority. If she continues to have her way unopposed, you will be left as nothing but a hoofnote in history.”

Luna looked up into Nightmare's eyes, tears welling in her own. “How can you help me?”

Nightmare smiled warmly. “I can give you the power you need to make yourself known. Just let me in, and nopony will ever be able to ignore you.”

Luna awoke with a start.

Celestia was shaking her. “Luna! Wake up, sister!”

Luna, still dazed, stood up on wobbling legs. “What in the world? What are you—”

She stopped dead when she saw the black smoke leaving her body and escaping out the window. She stumbled back and fired a spell into the cloud, to little effect.

“Sister, what was that?” gasped Luna.

“I do not know,” Celestia answered, embracing her younger sibling. “I had come to tell you the good news, but when I entered—“

“Good news?” asked the suddenly very awake Luna.

“Oh, yes. I just established a new Equestrian holiday: the Winter Lunar Festival.”

In spite of everything that had just transpired, a huge smile appeared on Luna's face. She reciprocated her sister's hug, squeezing her so hard that Celestia let out a small, sharp gasp.

“Celie, I love you.”

“I love you too, Luna.”

After journeying all the way to Canterlot after Starlight and having a personal audience with the Royal Sisters, Double Diamond just wanted a calm morning. He'd just made his way out of his hotel, planning on relaxing in a coffee shop, when the sound thunder and screams hit the air.

The crowds lining the streets panicked with no idea what was happening. Double Diamond was buffeted by the mobs of ponies as they galloped for shelter into buildings or for the city entrance.

Suddenly the ponies were given a reason for their hysteria. A Wonderbolt rocketed down the street, followed by a shockwave that shattered every window. Instead of littering the road with glass, however, the shards froze in place in the air for a moment, then rocketed for the opposite side of the street, threatening to cut dozens of ponies to ribbons.

Unicorns telekinetically grabbed at all they could manage, and those that could teleport or manifest shields did so; Pegasi took off into the sky, or joined the Earth ponies hiding behind cover or unicorns' shields.

Despite their best efforts, unfortunately, a lot of ponies suffered some deep cuts. A shard of glass struck a dark gray Pegasus in the eye, causing him to collapse, screaming, onto the ground. Double Diamond ran to help, putting a leg over him and helping him to stand. A light gold Earth pony in a Stetson ran to help as well, supporting his other side. A tiny gray colt called over to them from under a nearby archway, crying hysterically. The two Earth ponies lead the Pegasus over to him.

When they reached him, the little colt immediately ran to the Pegasus' side. “Thunderlane!”

Thunderlane forced a smile through the pain. “Don't worry, Rumble. I'm okay.”

The pony in the Stetson spoke up. “We need to get out of the city now! The train station is close. I think we can get Thunderlane there fairly quickly, but we need to move!”

“Yeah, we should definitely hurry,” said Double Diamond, looking out into the street.

The situation outside was deteriorating quickly. In the multitude of clothing stores, dresses and jackets were coming to life and attacking the patrons. The road leading to the entrance to the city had heated to molten rock. Pegasi trying to fly away were knocked out of the sky by cloudless lightning strikes or were sent plummeting to the ground when their wings vanished. The waterfalls around the city were boiling, which was bad news for the ponies who had, in desperation, tried to escape by riding them down the mountain.

Sweetie Drops and Daring Do had been in their hotel room when their window exploded. Looking out over the chaos, there was only one thought on Sweetie's mind.

Lyra.

“Daring, you have to get us out of here. We have to get to Ponyville!” She stomped so hard that the floorboards splintered.

“Ponyville?” asked Daring incredulously. “Why the hay do we need to go there?”

Sweetie grabbed her suitcase of spy gear out from under their bed. “Lyra is there!”

“Don't you think there are more pressing matters at hand?” As if to illustrate her point, a pair of Wonderbolts flew past the window, carrying a net full of foals.

“We have to get out of the city either way. This way we at least have an objective.”

Daring relented, grabbing Sweetie and flying out the broken window frame. She turned sharply into an alleyway and dropped her passenger onto the ground. The two made their way to the city wall by way of alleyways and smaller side roads.

“There!” Sweetie pointed to a small opening in the wall.

Daring sighed, picked her up a second time, and flew her out of the city, hoping sincerely that carrying ponies wasn't going to become a regular thing.

Meanwhile, Double Diamond and the other Earth pony, Braeburn, had miraculously managed to get the Pegasus brothers onto a train without incident. Braeburn had also ripped up his jacket to make some makeshift bandages for Thunderlane's eye.

“Thanks for your help,” said Thunderlane. “Who knows what would have happened if I had been stuck out in the open like that.”

“Do we have a plan? Where are we going?” asked Double Diamond.

Braeburn laid his hat beside him and tried to relax as the train made its way down the mountain. “Well, this train goes past Ponyville, then to Appleoosa. That's where I'm going. It's a tiny little town, and hopefully I can wait it out while the Princesses handle whatever that was.”

“That's as good a plan as any,” said Double Diamond. “I think we'll need to stop in Ponyville to get Thunderlane some medical attention though.”

Whatever Thunderlane was going to say was drowned out when the train behind theirs exploded.

Twilight's love of magic began at a young age. As a filly, she was transfixed when she first witnessed the Royal Sisters perform the sunrise at a Summer Sun Celebration. It was at that moment she dedicated her life to the study of magic. By the time she was of age to attend the Royal Sisters' School for Gifted Unicorns she had read more books than most ponies read in a lifetime.

However, ever since she was very young, she was plagued by constant nightmares. She dreamed of horrific disasters and sinister monsters. She dreamed of rejection, abuse, and hatred. Mostly, she dreamed of the end of the world.

Her nightmares drove her to avoid sleep, and books were the perfect way to achieve that. She'd stay up for days, and then when she inevitably succumbed to sleep, the nightmares would terrorize her until she jolted awake. Her life became a blur, a confusing, tiring trudge through the years.

In spite of that, however, her studies went well, and soon she was granted an opportunity to apply to the School for Gifted Unicorns. She merely had to pass an entrance exam. She studied hard in preparation, but sadly she missed her chance when she crashed from exhaustion. Remarkably, she slept peacefully, a long, relaxing, dreamless sleep. Unfortunately, she slept right through her entrance exam.

Her parents were able to convince the school to reschedule her exam to a later date. The nightmares seemed to have stopped, and Twilight felt better than she ever had before.

On the day of the exam, just minutes before it was to begin, she met a young orange filly, just a little older than she was. She introduced herself as Sunset Shimmer.

“You look a little anxious, small fry,” said Sunset.

Twilight looked down nervously at her hooves. “This is just such an important day. My whole future will be decided by what happens in there.”

Sunset leaned down and whispered, “Wanna know what you'll be doing?”

Little Twilight gasped. “But, but, it's supposed to be a surprise!”

“Oh, I can tell you're ready for this school. Besides, I'm the personal protégé of the Royal Sisters, so you can trust me.” Sunset winked.

Twilight's eyes grew wide. “Whoa! Really?”

“Oh yeah. I know them better than anyone,” Sunset said, voice full of pride. “Now, all you'll need to do is hatch a dragon egg. You can do that right?”

“Hatch a dragon egg?” Twilight's eyes somehow got even wider.

Sunset laughed. “You can do that right?”

“I… I think so.”

“Well, now that you know what you'll be doing, there shouldn't be any reason to be nervous.” With that, Sunset left.

Minutes later, Twilight was standing before a dragon egg, eagerly watched by her parents and a trio of teachers acting as judges. She breathed in and out deeply a few times, stepped forward, and aimed her horn.

Outside the classroom, Princess Celestia was waiting expectantly. Feeling a powerful surge of magic, she entered the room, and immediately realized her high expectations had actually been a little low.

Twilight was floating in midair, surrounded by a shining aura of pure magic. She'd lifted the teachers into the air and turned her parents into houseplants. She'd also managed to not only hatch the dragon egg, but caused the newborn reptile to grow to giant size, his head sticking out of a newly formed hole in the ceiling.

Princess Celestia calmly stepped forward and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. Twilight snapped out of her magical trance and looked up to the princess embarrassed as her parents turned back to normal, the teachers were released, and the dragon shrank back to his natural size.

“Twilight Sparkle?” began Princess Celestia. “That was one of the most impressive feats of magic I've ever seen. You are clearly an immensely talented unicorn. If you'd like, my sister and I would love to personally help you train your abilities.”

Twilight looked like she might faint. “You want me to be your personal student? But, I thought Sunset was already your student.”

Twilight couldn't quite read the princess's expression upon hearing this, but it wasn't wholly positive. “You've met Sunset Shimmer? I see. Well, Princess Luna and I can certainly handle two students. Would you like that?”

Twilight affirmation was both instantaneous and incredibly high pitched.

Chuckling, Princess Celestia pointed down at Twilight's flank. “Oh, and Twilight?”

Twilight looked down, and squealed with joy as she saw her brand new cutie mark. It was a pink six-pointed star, surrounded by five smaller shooting stars, all flying toward the larger center one.

Her joy at being made a personal protégé of the Royal Sisters was short lived however. That night her nightmares returned. They somehow seemed even worse than before. She'd surely have been forced to drop out had it not been for Sunset's support.

Eventually, Twilight decided to tell Sunset about her nightmares. Sunset's response wasn't what she had expected.

“What do you think it means?”

“Er, what?” Twilight stammered. “They're nightmares. I don't think they mean anything.”

“If you've had nightmares of some terrible event ever since you were little, you don't think that means anything? Did you know the princesses can have visions of the future in their sleep? What if this is something like that?”

Twilight was speechless.

That night, her dream was different. It began the same, with Canterlot on fire. A huge evil beast was ravaging the city. The four princesses fought with the beast, and as with every time before, one by one, they were defeated, their bodies falling from the sky.

Then, for the first time, the beast noticed her. It slowly approached her, the world shaking with each of the monster's steps. Twilight tried to flee, but her legs wouldn't move. She closed her eyes and braced herself as the beast raised an immense foot, prepared to crush her.

The impact never came however. Twilight felt a hoof gently caress her cheek. She opened her eyes to see a tall, regal looking, black alicorn.

“Hello, dear child.”

“Who are you?” asked Twilight.

“I am a harbinger of doom and of hope.”

Twilight looked uneasy. “Um…”

The alicorn laughed a soft, pleasant laugh. “I'm here to warn you that what you have seen will come to pass. I'm also here to tell you that you can stop it.”

“Me? How could I…”

The alicorn gently shushed Twilight. “You have more power than you know. With my help, you can unlock that power and save the world from that evil.”

Twilight actually smiled. After a lifetime of suffering, she had a reason for all of it, and she would be the one to prevent all of the terrible things that had plagued her mind for years. “What do I need to do?”

“I have been imprisoned so that I cannot help you. I will need you, with the help of my other followers, to set me free, so that I may empower you to defeat the Beast. There is one catch, however.”

Twilight smile faded a little. “A catch?”

The alicorn looked down at her sadly. “I wish it could be another way, but in order to save Equestria, to save your family, you will have to make a sacrifice. Princess Celestia will not survive the conflict.”

After they recovered from the Sonic Thunderclap, the Crystal Princesses flew into action.

Princess Cadenza attacked the rogue Wonderbolts, shooting them out of the sky with powerful magical blasts. Princess Radiant Hope flew to aid the ponies being attacked in the streets.

Princess Cadenza brought her attention to Lightning Dust. Lightning was triumphantly doing laps around the field. Princess Cadenza struck her with a spell, sending her crashing into a castle wall. She prepared a second attack, but Lightning Dust turned into actual lightning and shot straight through her before she could do anything. The blackened pink princess fell, unconscious, onto the field.

Princess Hope cast down healing spells onto the screaming populace fleeing the city. Ponies found their wounds and burns healed instantly. She flew across the city, treating every injury she saw, until she found herself suddenly trapped in a transparent bubble.

The source of the trap was a passing Nightmare-possessed Wonderbolt. The white-maned Pegasus landed atop the bubble and looked down sinisterly. The bubble began to shrink, but Radiant Hope, looking sadly down at the suffering ponies, charged a spell and vanished in a flash of blue light.

Meanwhile, Shining Armor and his companions were making a beeline for the train station.

“What's happening? What was that? Where are we going?” Spike had asked about thirty panicked questions in the past minute.

Shining chose to answer the last one. “We're evacuating.”

“Uh, we've got a problem,” said Spitfire, rolling out of the way of a flying cart. She pointed toward the train station, and the five watched as the last train departed.

“Spitfire, fly in close to me. I've got an idea.” Shining strained, magic radiating from his horn, and then they all vanished in a flare of pink.

They appeared in one of the cars of the train. Shining stumbled over to a seat, looking like he might throw up.

“Whoa, you can teleport multiple ponies?” Spitfire asked, impressed and a little disoriented.

“Yeah, but it takes a lot out of me,” Shining said, dazed.

“Shining!” Spike called out.

The ponies looked out the window in time to see the train ahead of theirs go up in flames.

Shining jumped into action. He was the captain of the royal guard, and that meant that even as drained as he was, he was prepared to respond to a crisis. He telekinetically grabbed everypony in reach and pulled them in close. He surrounded everypony with a magical shield, and then he blasted out the side of the train car and leapt out, carrying everypony with him.

A layer of overglow appeared over his horn, and his falling shield began to slow, carrying the group down to a forested area at the bottom of the mountain.

Several ponies screamed in alarm and Shining looked up just in time to see a flaming train car crash into the top of his shield. It began to crack, but with a second layer of overglow he managed to hold it together until they hit the treeline. About ten feet above the ground he collapsed and blacked out as his shield broke and his cargo fell to the forest floor around him.

Shining woke up lying in front of a crackling fireplace.

Yawning, he stood up and began to inspect his surroundings. He was in a pleasant-looking living room. As far as furniture went, there was a couch, an old rocking chair, and coffee table covered in photo albums. The walls were covered in dozens of picture frames. Looking into the hallway, it seemed that was the case with every wall in the house.

Inspecting the pictures, he was shocked to see they were all of him. His time in basic training, his childhood, the O&O games he played with his friends at Canterlot Academy… Most of the scenes were times he hadn't taken any photos at all.

“What the hay…”

“Oh, hello there.”

The voice came from an older unicorn. In the back of his mind, Shining noted that aside from his black color, the newcomer looked identical to his father.

“Where am I?”

The unicorn sat on the couch and invited Shining to do the same. “Oh, this is your mind.”

Shining sat beside him. “…I'm in my own mind?”

The stranger chuckled. “Well, it's better than being out of it. Trust me.”

Shining's eyes grew wide with a realization. “You're Nightmare.”

Nightmare smiled an unsettling grin. “That's me. Now, we have a lot of work to do.”

The room erupted in flames around them.

“Let's get to it.”