The Nightmare Verse

1. The Cult and the Scroll

Look! Look! The sky is enveloped!
Look! Look! The beast breaks free!
Look! Look! The ground is as blood!
Look! Look! Damnation has come!
Behold! Behold! Our king has returned!

A record of the first days of the end.

As a Unicorn of great power, he was well versed in many arcane tomes and tales. He prided himself in his knowledge of the great beasts of Equestria, and the deep magics of the oldest of the great wizards.

He, however, knew that a single verse was beyond his grasp. He unfurled the old scroll, and read aloud the ancient words within.

"The sister wrote but a single verse in her short time, and it was abysmal. The writhing of eternity would be beheld within the eyes of any who drank in this dark perversion of creation. The beautiful and maddening words of this blasphemous curse have been placed in the darkest of pits known to us, as ordered by the radiant Celestia herself. The verse is never to be read, and never to be spoken. The Nightmare Verse is to be forgotten, lest our world fall into a darkness that none could pierce. Until a way is discovered to destroy the accursed scroll is found, it must never be beheld."

And he was glad. Oh he was glad at the words within, for he know that his time was near.

For 40 years he searched. In the shadows he slithered and slank, and, as creatures like him are known to do, he gathered filth as he crawled.

They came from all over Equestria. Those who had fallen from the highest highs, and had crept from the deepest of despairs. He knew the type who would help in his unholy quest, and his tongue was sharp, and he was sly in his speech. He was able to draw these maggots to himself, and soon they numbered in the hundreds.

They were only vaguely known to even the highest ranking scholar within the walls of Canterlot, and even Celestia herself had only heard whispers of the cult that had bubbled forth from the wretched depths of Tartarus.

But they could feel them.

They could feel the evil, and the dark words they spoke.

And Celestia was gripped by nightmares these past weeks, and deep within herself she knew that the dark time was at hand. They were getting close to the deepest of evils known to Equestria.

The Nightmare Verse!

The Nightmare Verse had gripped her dreams!

For 1000 years the words burrowed and festered in her frail mind!

And yet she was alone in her terror, for Celestia would not allow any mention of the dark verse, and her shame gripped her.

Luna had clear memories of the writing, yet felt that she had no connection to the dark scroll. "T'was the nightmare, not I!" she told herself, and for 1000 years and more she would lie to herself.

The dreams!

Oh the damndable dreams!

Luna could never forgive herself for creating the verse! The cursed song! The end of the world itself!

She had only lived for mere hours, yet Nightmare Moon created all that would ever be feared. Nothing could compare.

Yes, yes, the world itself was in the grip of the verse. It could never be spoken aloud, lest he hear the words, and he would return, yes, the great prophecy of the deepest dark.

Neglorik!
Oh the great Neglorik!
The bane of light and magics themselves!
The deepest dark, and the end of all that is known!
Neglorik, the putrid singularity of oblivion's birth!

The Unicorn had gathered all who had survived the great trek, and they stood atop a pillar of stone and bronze. The ground shook as they spoke the only word which could guide them to the prize they so coveted!

"Neglorik!" they cried!

"NEGLORIK!" they bellowed!

"DEEPEST DARK UNFURLED! BEHOLD THE EYES OF NEGLORIK!"

The spire began to lower.

The journey was long, and the losses of life were great, but they drew near to the great Verse!

The deepest pit.

The deepest pit in Equestria.

The cult had found the ancient pathway to Tartarus itself, and they threw themselves into the abyss with glee!

The beating overtook them. The sound of a beating heart. For they had searched, and they had found the heart of Tartarus. The old torn scroll was sitting in utter blackness in a room of gold. No one had built this room, yet it grew from nothing to protect the scroll. The walls were covered in words lost to them. These were the names of the creatures who would bring the deepest dark. No Pony could read them, yet one name invaded their minds like a cancer.

"NEGLORIK!" they cried in unison, as if compelled by some outside force.

"Neglorik, behold, the Nightmare Verse is in my grasp," the old Unicorn declared.

And what of the name of this old Unicorn, the one who would bring about this darkness?

He is of no real importance, and would go as a footnote to history, for he would not survive this day!

The Unicorn gripped the scroll in his magic, and began to read.

And Celestia was paused! Her blood ran cold as all of reality was altered around her! And dear Princess, oh dear Princess, she knew that she was powerless before him!

Luna! Oh dear Luna! Luna fell to the ground in pain, and she felt the darkness envelop her, and she knew she was returning, and that HE was returning, and that darkness would fall forever upon her subjects!

Neglorik's eye was opened! Oh Damndable Neglorik, for his reign would bring about the deepest darkness!

He spoke, oh how he spoke, and the names he spoke were alien to him, but he knew what he was speaking would change the world forever, and he smiled deeply as he read!

"Neglorik, Tephliotisies, Gorpondret, Prarr, Neplohidratite, who is now known as Nightmare Moon, Gredvan, Hepted, Rel, NEGLORIK, NEGLORIK, SPARE ME A GLIMPSE OF YOUR MIGHT! NEGLORIK! NEGLORIK! BESTOW ME THE POWER OF ETERNAL NIGHT!"

The door was opened. The 8 were awakened, and all in the room of gold turned to dust, and the scroll fell to the ground, and an aura of black surrounded it, and one of them stepped through, and he was the lesser of the 8, but would bring about eternal sorrow, and his name was Gredvan, and he would open the path to the rest, and he was happy, and he would die, and he knew that he would die, and yet he smiled. Smiled and smiled, for Neglorik would soon be upon them.

The first day had come.

Sorrow! Sorrow and weep, for the deepest dark is at hand!