Equestriabound- Return of the Nightmare

Chapter 1

In the darkness, Ponyville slept peacefully, not a single soul in town awake to the moonlight. The town was bordered by several small hills, and on one of these hills, a small, unattractive house sat on the edge of a cliff. Ponies who passed by would look over it in favor of the larger, more impressive mansion that shadowed over it, the home of eccentric millionaire Filthy Rich and his family. In the smaller house, resting through Luna's work, slept the Hooves family- Derpy Hooves; Her daughters, Dinky and Amethyst; and their family dog, Rover. It was a peaceful night, as quiet and monotonous as every night before it, or so it seemed. For a Legend cannot be interesting without a conflict- a ages-old battle between good and evil, light and dark, sun and moon. And so, as the town patiently awaits the morning sun, a small object appears in the sky, hurtling towards Earth.

Dinky awoke to a loud crash. Kicking off her covers, she crawled to the window and craned her neck around, barely glimpsing a bright light behind the Rich Mansion. Hearing other Lights kick on downstairs, she left her room and headed downstairs.

As she passed her mothers room, Derpy leaned out, anxiously watching her daughter with her head slightly bent to favor her left eye.

"Did the Meteor wake you up?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That was a meteor?"

"I'm guessing. Promise you'll stay inside, alright, Muffin?"

"Of course, Mom. Love you."

Dinky went downstairs, finding Amethyst looking out the window while Rover slept next to her. Upon hearing her sister come downstairs, she turned around and trotted up to her, seemingly very excited.

"The rumors were right! A meteor crashed down, on the highest peak, adjacent to the mansion!"

"Rumors?"
"Everypony in town talked about it! All the newspapers, all the gossip, either about the meteor or Trixie's return! C'mon, we gotta go see it!"

"I don't know.. Mom said I Shouldn't.."

"How about this- I'll cover for you. If we get caught, I'll say I pressured you into it, I get all the blame. Please, I just need a picture to show everypony in town. By tomorrow, The Royal Guard will have closed all the roads anyway. Please?!"

"Oh, fine. I have a small camera in my saddlebag, But it's your fault, remember."

After sneaking back to her room, grabbing her saddlebags and a muffin, Dinky slipped out the front door And dashed towards the meteor, running up the hill as fast as her little legs could carry her. Passing several fainted flower girls and A.K. yearlings house, she noticed a royal balloon, flanked by two Pegasi out of the corner of her eye. She continued to run faster, saddlebags bouncing, before turning the final Stretch to find she was too late- two unicorns in armor were setting up barriers on the hill.

Dinky was about to turn back, but as she trotted away, she heard a familiar nagging voice. Turning back, Dinky noticed Diamond Tiara complaining to one of the guards, despite his obvious irritation. Dinky sighed, all too familiar with Diamond's attitude, and trudged over. Spotting her, the guards face lit up and he trotted over to her.

"Dinky! Just the filly I wanted to see, how's school treating you? Listen, you're one of Tiaras friends right?"

"Um, not exactly.."

"But a classmate, right? C'mon, help me out here."

"I could try talking to her.."

"Great! Just try to get her out of here, we can't be bothered right now."

The tired pony shuffled over to her overbearing classmate, beginning to speak up. Before she could get a word out, DT noticed her and snidely commented.

"Oh, Dinky, the most adorable blank flank in school. Come to bask in my glory, just like your mother?"

"Tiara, Your dad must be worried sick-"

"Don't tell me how to have a father when you don't. Fly back home, and hope you're better at it then the rest of your family."

Sighing, Dinky gave up and walked back home, leaving her to nag the older Unicorns.

Back home, Amethyst warmly greeted her-

"You're back! Did you get a shot?"

"Sorry, sis, but I was too late. They already set up a roadblock."

"That's alright, I shouldn't have made you do that anyway. Get to bed, we can talk at breakfast."

She was happy to oblige, and left for her room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinky awoke to a loud Knocking. Kicking off her covers, she ran downstairs, passing a confused Amethyst and looking through the peephole to see her least favorite pony for the second time that night. D.T. seemed anxious, and impatiently tapped her hoof, glancing back at the mansion. When the door opened, her smug grin reappeared and she immediately started talking-

"Listen here, blank flank- Silver Spoon's gone. The guards had to head back to Canterlot and dragged me back home, but Spoon wasn't where I told her to stay, and now she's gone, and because You're just a useless blank flank, you have to help out the important ponies. Come ON."

Dinky sighed, and was about to refuse when she realized her mother was behind her.

"It's the right thing to do, Muffin."

"Fine.. let me get my saddlebags."

"You should take Rover with you too. It's dangerous out there."

After a few preparations, Dinky rounded up Rover and began hiking to the meteor crash site. Diamond Tiara walked behind her, loudly commenting on everything, and Rover took up the rear, still half-asleep.

True to Tiaras' word, the guards had left, leaving the path open. Running the rest of the way up the hill, Dinky skidded to a stop in front of a massive crater covering most of the hilltop. In the center, a large molten-hot rock sat, illuminating the surround area. Silver Spoon was sleeping behind a half-burnt bush, and she groggily awoke upon hearing Dinkys' hooves.

"Wha- Diamond Tiara? Your dad sent me, he was practically tearing his fur out-"

"Yeah, yeah, can it. Let's ditch the Blank Flank and head back-"

All sound seemed to cut out as a loud humming sound came from the meteor, as if a spell was being charged up. Suddenly, the sky was split open with light as a beam, bright as the sun, shot out of the space rock. For a minute nothing happened as the beacon lit up the entire hill- then, it vanished, as if nothing happened, and in its place flew the smallest Breezie Dinky had ever seen. Clearing its' throat, the insect let loose a royal voice that echoed through the lands-

"BEHOLD: THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!!!

Dinky stood, flabbergasted, as the Breezie flew closer. Eventually, it spoke again-

"I come from the future, with a grave prophecy: In ten years time on this day, All is devastation. The Nightmare which once held me in its' grasp has returned. I was no longer weak to its' power, but it seized another- The Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle. With her corruption, The elements power was severed- my sister and I were defeated, and I used the last of my power to assume the form of a creature literally noone cared about so I would go unnoticed, and return here. You are Dinky Hooves, daughter of Derpy Hooves, are you not?"

"Y-yes..?"

"Very well then. You must take me to Twilight. From there we can assemble The Elements and attempt to wipe out The Nightmare. Help me, and you will be a hero to the ponies of this land."

Dinky stood still, absorbing information. Looking closer at the Breezie, She could tell it was indeed Princess Luna. It was a deep shade of blue and had a white crescent moon mark, but she still could not believe the rest of the story- The Nightmare, which had plagued a mentally weak Luna for 1000 years before being defeated by the elements which she claimed had been severed with Twilights' corruption, was a being of pure evil- if there was the slightest chance her story was true, chances must not be taken. Dinky took a deep breath, then held her head high and lifted a hoof.

"We will take you to Twilight."

"Very well then, we haven't a moment to lose. Thank you, from all of Equestria."

"Wait wait wait, don't I get a say in this?"

The nearly-forgotten Diamond Tiara stepped forward, glaring at her classmate.

"I am Diamond Tiara. I should be the one to help the Princess!"

"Young filly, we must-"

"Don't even try, Luna. It's best if we just try to ignore her."

And so, the five began trekking back down the hill, away from the now-cooled meteor. Thousands of thoughts went through Dinky's head as they walked, most prominently "how did I get roped into this?" She was a mailmare's daughter, not some epic hero. Regardless, if what Luna said was true, the future depended on her escorting The Princess of the Night. At the very least she had a relatively easy job.

However, Fate is a cruel mistress and just as they reached the bottom of the hill, the sky split open once more, and from the blinding lightshow emerged a single Crystal Unicorn. The purple maned pony tried to run from the group, but had barely taken a step before being dragged forward by some unseen magical force. Choking back sobs, the slave looked up at Luna, unwillingly preparing a magic attack.

"I-I'm sorry... please forgive me... Sombra-"

A blue shield spread around them just in time to catch a fiery beam shooting out at them. Dinky, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon were knocked backwards by the force of the attack, but the shield held as Luna fired a counterattack, stunning the controlled pony. Her paralyzed body struggled furiously as Luna's aura enveloped her, shrunk to fit the object, and then forcefully teleported her away- all this happened in the time it took Dinky to get back up and brace herself for a fight. The group took a minute to recover from the shock, and eventually Luna spoke up.

"That Pony was a slave of King Sombra. When The Nightmare took over Twilight, it used its power to call to all creatures with a vendetta against Equestria. We must make haste- I do not wish to see you get hurt."

They ran the rest of the way to the Rich Manor, bursting in through the doors to see Filthy and Spoiled awaiting their arrival. Tiara's father rushed up and hugged his daughter, talking furiously while his wife simply sneered at their arrival.

"I, I didn't know where you had gone, and they were closing roads, and what with Trixie returning I thought- um, Diamond Tiara, you know better than to run off like that. Go to your room."

Tiara lowered her head and left the room, not making eye contact with anyone. Her mother followed her, and as Filthy Rich talked, Dinky could hear sharp slapping noises coming from behind the closed door.

"Thank you so much, you two. Silver Spoon, you should run home. How's your mother doing, Dinky? Still fluttering along?"

"I guess so."

"That's good, she really works hard. See you tomorrow."

As the Colt and Filly parted ways, Luna flew up from behind Dinky, believing the coast to be clear. It wasn't. They heard a scream, and whipped around to see Spoiled had returned, and was galloping across the room towards them.

"There's a Breezie! Vile, unloved creature!"

"Wait, Mrs Rich-!"

The mare slapped Luna out of the air with one hoof, and Dinky could see her fragile body twisting at an angle before collapsing. Muttering to herself, Spoiled once again left as Dinky crouched next to the frail body, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Sparks flew from the fallen princess's antennae as she weakly tried to cast a spell.

"Nonononono, Luna! What do I do?"

"There's nothing left for me to do but accept my fate. Don't fret- we can change this! Dinky... You must be the one to assemble The Elements!"

"M-me?"

"Listen closely, I don't have much time- talk to Twilight- see if she can round up everyone, they hid the elements throughout Equestria so they wouldn't all be in one place. Get my sister, too. And take this..."

Luna once again tried to cast a spell, using all of her strength on a microscopic object nestled between her wings. It grew in size, and Dinky grabbed it just before it crushed Luna. It was a purple, star shaped gem- The Element of Magic.

"When the Nightmare consumed Twilight, her connection to the element was severed. If you can connect this to the other five, you may be able to restrengthen it with someone skilled in this element. It's your only..."

"I- Luna, I'm not... A Hero."

Dinky's parting words were heard by none, as the once powerful Princess of the Night succumbed to the might of one pony. Dinky sat there for a moment, the only sound a faint sobbing from outside the room. Finally regaining her strength, the small filly, who had never had an adventure, or even witnessed a monster attack, drew herself up and marched out the door, deciding to try and get some sleep.

It was the last good rest she had for a long time.