Chapter 1: The discovery

Many know the story of the element bearers, of the six mares who stood to protect our world against many different evils for many
many years.

I flick through the pages of the old textbook I had been reading. The pages were old and brown from many years of use, from being
carried around through many differing hooves, paws and claws 'The theoretical and practical studies of friendship and its many uses By
Twilight Sparkle' a very very old book at this point my grandmother, Queen Skydancer, gave me this book when I turned five and since then I have read this book approximately 157 times.

I turn to the final chapter as the sound of quiet paw pads fills the room
"Your highness?" my assistant mumbled, she is a small brown earth pony mare who easily shy's away from most other ponies even as she talks to me a piece of her curly dark brown mane falls onto her face and over her cool blue eyes hiding her away from me "Madam Celestia has asked for your presence a-at once,"

"Thank you Tender Touch I'll head there right away," I smile softly at her as she jumps at the sound of my voice. Getting up from my spot I had been laying on I walk up to Tender "Thank you for telling me," She smiles faintly up at me before scurrying away back through the castle hallways.

Celestia is the oldest pony in Equestria matched in age only by her sister Luna. Few ponies have ever seen Celestia in her true form fewer
still know that she has altered her form over the years as ponies had evolved to the point where she no longer resembled them, she is one of our gods and every pony looks up to her and aspires to shine as brightly as she does even the royal family.
I stop just outside her chambers knocking briefly on the giant door

"Celestia? you asked for me?" The doors began to open revealing a glowing white mare with a shimmering golden mane as bright as the sun, she towered over me looking down at me with warm pink eyes

"Ah little prince I am glad to see you." She smiled warmly and greeted me by wrapping a large wing around my much smaller frame "I have some important news for you."

"What is it ma'am? Is everything alright?" I try to look up at her but her enlarged wings and fluffed out feathers covered my view "Are you and your sister well?"

"Luna and myself are perfectly healthy. No what I have to tell you a much more worrying." She begins gently leading me into her chambers and towards one of the grand windows that lit up the room "We have received some troublesome reports from the dragonlands." "Dragonlands? Dragons don't usually tell us anything," Celestia nodded and raised up a scroll to my face

It read:
Dear meagre ponies
I Lord DreadFang The Great require your assistance with something of great importance. We dragons have been facing some troubles in our lands and as much as we would normally rather drink lava than associate with you ponies however this particular problem requires your assistance.

A Nightmare has fallen onto our land and is slowly eating up our homes!
You ponies with your previous knowledge of nightmare monsters must help us

LORD DREADFANG

I read over the note for a moment. Then again. And again
"The dragon lord is very descriptive in his letters," I note whilst rereading the note for a final time "A 'Nightmare has fallen'? what could he mean?" I look up to Celestia who was staring off into the distance

"I don't know but whatever it is it cannot be good. I need you to travel to the Dragonlands and find out."
I doubletake jumping away from the god-like being who didn't move from her spot

"Ma'am I..." I can't do this. I haven't even left the castle since before I had my cutie-mark "I couldn't possibly..."

"You must do this, the dragon are unlikely to be willing to help us unless we send our strongest and most powerful." she seems to finally bore of looking out of the window and instead turns to me, eyes warm but still seemingly far away. "Besides you could make a new friend and I know how much you enjoy reading Twilight Sparkles books on friendship." She grins mischievously an immaturity creeping into her eyes that I have never seen before

"But friendship and the study of friendship based on a book that is centuries out of date is completely different! I cant go out talking to other ponies like they're from the dark ages!"

"Twilight Sparkle discovered some interesting and eternally useful facts about friendship, you'd be surprised how in detail she managed to study friendship based on her own friendships and those around her," Celestia raised a glowing white paw and motioned towards the grand door we hand entered through "Now hurry off and see why the dragons have been needing our help."

"How could she think I can do this?! I don't know how to talk to ponies!" I storm around my chambers throwing random papers and writing utensils into my luggage bag "She could have asked anypony else!? There are hundreds of other ponies who are good at magic!"

"But you are Equestria's best wizard," Tender counters as she tidies up my luggage bag as best as she can with more items being thrown onto the pile every second.

"There are ponies better at socialising than me!"

"But no other pony has studied friendship to the extent you have,"

"That's because no other pony studies friendship! I don't just study friendship! I just do that because my ancestor was THE Twilight Sparkle! how could I not look at the thing she spent most of her life studying it!" I stomp my paw down and a pile of books in the corner of the room jumps with it. Tender looks up from her work and tuts at the mess I'd made

"I'm not cleaning that up," she mumbles catching a book as I threw it towards my luggage, 'A brief history of Equestrian life By Golden Quill' I'd need that one. Also one more book where'd I put it?

"Celestia could go herself or she could send Luna, nopony is stopping them!" I know I put it in this pile over here somewhere

"But they're needed to keep the sun and moon in the sky aren't they? Besides Celestia is historically known to give her pupils these kinds of tasks right?" I snort and keep digging through the book pile I was currently excavating "Maybe this is what you need to do to be a better ruler when you're older?"

Ah! there it is! found it 'Dragons and all we know of them By Spike' an oldie but a goodie and really all we ponies have left on information about dragons

"Ha! to be a good ruler you just need to understand politics. What's best for the populace and all that.." Tender Touch just gave me a 'Really?' look and continued on with her work "Well that's the jist of it anyway." I huff throwing the book at her "I'll go and find out what's happening to the dragonlands then advise my mother and Celestia on what the best course of action is,"

"Like a good little prince," Tender hums avoiding the book as it flew past her head "Now hurry up and head out." She brought over my luggage and dumped it next to me before scampering away out of my room.

I seal up my luggage and do as I was told.

Turns out Tender was joining me for my trip to the dragonlands by special request of my mother 'To improve your speaking skills' she had said.

On our way there we discussed what this 'nightmare' could be

"I think I-I read somewhere that Lady Luna was once the nightmare this D-DreadFang talked about," Tender said as she eyed our escorts cautiously

"Luna isn't a 'nightmare'." I dismiss her comment looking out the window of our carriage, we had been traveling for hours now. "Luna is one of our goddesses remember?"

"O-Ofcourse I remember! I was just saying that one of your old books talked about a 'Nightmare Moon' corrupting an alicorn that fits Lady Lunas description," she pouts absentmindedly playing with her mane "There's a good chance it could be,"

I look at the strange shapes in the clouds as we sped by them trying to recall the book she was talking about. Luna had taught me many things over the years, doting over my love of late night studying and taking me on as a sort of apprentice and giving me special night classes. She has become over the years more like an eccentric aunt so the very thought of her being any form of nightmarish creature was odd and rubbed me the wrong way yet also the book Tender's speaking of sounds familiar perhaps another Alicorn princess was turned into a nightmare eons ago?

"Your highness we'll be arriving in the dragonlands in a couple hours." The gruff voice of one of my escorts informs me. I nod barely listening as my thoughts swirl about in the clouds. I'll have to ask Luna about this 'Nightmare Moon' when we get back. One more reason to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Author's Note

ok first chapter done :)
this is the first mlp fanfiction I've ever actually posted for others to read so I gotta admit I'm a bit nervous haha hope you enjoy and I'll have the next chapter up as soon as.