From Darkness to Pandemonium
“Times have changed, Luna.” Princess Luna reflected on the words of her older sister as she walked the streets of Canterlot. A few years had passed since the Elements of Harmony defeated Nightmare Moon and restored Luna to her normal self. Now she was wandering around the city, enjoying a nighttime stroll. “Many of our subjects devote part of their nights to leisure and recreation. They no longer shun the night,” Celestia said. “They still sleep through most of it, but everypony must rest.”
Luna noticed four ponies walking toward her from the other end of the street. Two of them were mares, two were stallions, and all four were at least tipsy. One of the mares leaned against one of the stallions as they walked, and the other two ponies were telling jokes along the way. Their jokes weren’t particularly funny, but the two of them laughed anyway, ‘They must really be drunk,’ Luna thought as she smiled at the scene. The ponies finally saw her and each showed some degree of deference. “Wonderful evening to go out, wouldn’t thou say?”
“Yes, um absolutely, Princess Luna,” one of the stallions said.
“Oh, we didn’t wish to praise ourselves,” Luna said. “Please, continue on thine way.” She watched them travel in the other direction before going on her way. She could see a formal gathering being held on the other side of the city, but she wasn’t interested in it. ‘Celestia was right. After so many centuries, the ponies don’t fear the night anymore. They actually enjoy it now.’
‘They enjoy it by dulling their senses and drinking themselves into stupidity. The night is something to behold! How dare those drunken imbeciles squander it when they are supposed to love and respect it!’ Luna noticed the abrupt shift in her thoughts, and her shock pulled her out of her bitter thoughts. ‘Where did that come from? I should return to the castle. Perhaps I’m not feeling well.’
Luna turned and started toward the castle, but stopped when she heard a scream coming from a nearby alleyway. She ran into the alleyway and found two ponies being robbed. The mugger, a unicorn, was holding them at hornpoint. Luna flew in between him and his victims and eyed him angrily. “How darest thou attack our subjects!” Luna thundered. Her eyes turned white and lightning filled the sky above as she yelled at the thief. “And on our night, no less!” The mugger trembled in fear and backed away as the enraged princess approached. However, Luna’s fury was cut short when she heard hoof beats behind her. She turned around and saw the other two ponies running away, apparently terrified by their protector. “Wait! We- I am here to help you!”
The ponies didn’t stop, and before long, Luna had lost sight of them. The mugger had already taken the opportunity to escape, and when Luna turned around, she found that was alone in the alley. Once again, she had frightened her subjects away by coming on too strong, and she hung her head down at the realization. “They do not love us as they should.”
Luna was startled by the voice she had heard. “Who was that?! Show yourself!” She searched around her for the source of the voice, only to realize that where it really came from, inside her head. “No, it can’t be! Twilight Sparkle used the Elements of Harmony! She and her friends defeated you!”
“The Elements of Harmony? When have they ever been more than a temporary fix? I am a part of you, Luna, and I’m here to help you.”
“Help me?!” Luna shouted. “I spent a thousand years all alone because you tainted my mind! The ponies fear me because of you!”
“We can change that,” Nightmare Moon said. “We can make the ponies love us and our night. All we have to do is get rid of our sister and take what’s ours.”
“I’ve spent so many months reversing the damage you caused,” Luna said. “The ponies are already beginning to accept me. You should see them during Nightmare Night.”
“Maybe, but they will never love us like they love Celestia,” Nightmare Moon said. “Do you think that street thug would have dared attempt a robbery like that during her day?”
“No, I refuse to let you take control again.”
“That’s just it, Luna. I’m not giving you a choice.” Luna screamed as her body erupted in black flames. Her body darkened as the transformation took place, and a few pieces of armor formed over her head and chest. By the time the transformation was complete, Luna’s scream was replaced by a maniacal laughter that echoed through the alleyway.
* * * * * * * * * *
Celestia walked out of her bedchamber and onto a balcony overlooking all of Canterlot. She normally woke up shortly before the sun rose, mainly because she was the one who made the sun rise. One of the few exceptions she made was the Summer Sun Celebration, when everypony stayed awake the night before, but today was just a typical day, and Celestia was about to raise the sun after having just woke up.
“Strange, the moon isn’t setting over the horizon,” Celestia said. “We weren’t planning an eclipse tonight.” She shrugged it off, thinking that her sister was just a little late in lowering the moon, and gathered her magical energy. However, when she tried to raise the sun, she felt a powerful force resisting her. She wondered what could possibly be resisting her magic. After all, the last time this happened was when her sister became Nightmare Moon. As soon as she remembered that day, the epiphany hit her like a ton of bricks. “Luna… no, not again.”
* * * * * * * * * *
It was 5:03 A.M., and Twilight Sparkle was in her room above her library. She and Spike were both sound asleep tonight, something that they were both pleased about. Every so often, Twilight would pull an all-nighter over some task. Maybe she was trying to research dragons, or maybe she was reading a book that she couldn’t put down. Maybe she had to spend an entire night working some task into her monthly schedule, though one wonders why she couldn’t have done that particular task during that night. Despite her preference for the rational, Twilight Sparkle was not the most rational pony in the world, but that wasn’t important right now. Right now, Twilight and Spike were asleep, and even though Twilight’s all-nighters weren’t too frequent, if you asked them, they’d tell you how much they appreciated a good night’s sleep, except that they’d both be cranky because you woke them up in the middle of the night to ask how much they liked sleeping… this is the last time I let Pinkie Pie narrate for me.
Suddenly, in the middle of his snoring, Spike belched out a scroll and some green flames. “What the? What’s going on?” Spike said as he jumped up. He looked at the floor in front of him and saw the letter that had woken him.
“Spike, whatever you’re doing, could you at least do it downstairs or outside?” Twilight said. The burst of green flames during the scroll’s delivery had interrupted her sleep as well.
“It wasn’t me, Twilight,” Spike said. “The princess just sent you a letter. It’s probably urgent, or she wouldn’t have sent it this late.”
Using her magic, Twilight illuminated the room and took the letter out of Spike’s hand. “Twilight,” she read aloud, “The unthinkable has happened, and Luna has been taken over by Nightmare Moon. You and your friends must retrieve the Elements of Harmony and save my sister at once. Oh no.”
“I guess that’s why it’s still dark out,” Spike said. “It’s past five, so the sun should’ve started rising by now.”
“Yeah, I know,” Twilight said. She concentrated her magic to cast a spell on herself. A magenta glow briefly surrounded her before lingering around her hooves. “Look, I have to go out right now, but you can go back to sleep.” She teleported out of the library, leaving Spike alone in the room.
“Sure. Whatever, Twilight,” Spike yawned. He crawled back into his basket and quickly fell asleep again.
Meanwhile, Twilight appeared at the entrance to Rainbow Dash’s cloud house. Her hooves landed firmly on the clouds thanks to the cloudwalking spell she had cast earlier. She opened the door to Rainbow’s house and quickly made her way to her room. Rainbow Dash was sleeping in her own bed. She had a Daring Do book open in her hooves, and a content smile was spread across her face. Twilight briefly smiled at the thought of her friend having fallen asleep after reading a book, but then she remembered why she came here. “Rainbow Dash?” she said while nudging her friend. “Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow grunted and opened her eyes. “Twilight?” she said groggily.
“Sorry to wake you up this early, but we have an emergency,” Twilight said. “Nightmare Moon is back, and the princess needs us to use the Elements.”
“Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow said. “I thought we kicked her flank into the next millennium.”
“Well she’s back again, and I need you to help wake everypony up to fight her,” Twilight said. “Head into town and get Pinkie Pie and Rarity. We’ll rendezvous at Sugarcube Corner.”
“I’m on it, but you’d better meet us all at Rarity’s place instead.” Rainbow Dash jumped off her bed, spread her wings, and flew out a nearby window.”
“That took less time than I thought,” Twilight said to herself. She was originally expecting to take much longer to pull a stubborn Rainbow Dash out of bed, but knew that she could round up everypony in half the time with Rainbow’s flight speed.
Twilight teleported to Fluttershy’s cottage next. She was about to walk in, but had an idea when she noticed the chicken coop nearby. Using her magic, she grabbed one of the chickens and pulled it out of the coop. The chicken crowed loudly when Twilight grabbed it, and after a few seconds, Fluttershy flew out of her window. Fluttershy looked down and saw one of her roosters hovering above the ground with Twilight right next to it.
“Twilight, what are you doing with the chickens?” Fluttershy asked calmly.
“Sorry about that, but I need your help,” Twilight said. “Nightmare Moon is back, and we need to use the Elements of Harmony again.”
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy gasped. “Um, could you put down that rooster? You’re really scaring him.”
“Oh right, sorry,” Twilight said. She carefully returned the rooster to its place in the coop and released it from her telekinetic grip. “We still have to get everypony else. I’ll take us to Sweet Apple Acres so we can wake up Applejack.” Fluttershy flew down close enough for Twilight to teleport both of them. Within seconds, they found themselves in Applejack’s room.
Normally Applejack would be awake at the crack of dawn, but due to Nightmare Moon’s interference, neither the sun nor Applejack had risen yet. Fluttershy walked up to Applejack’s bed and gently tried to wake her. A little too gently. Her pleas for Applejack to wake up were as muted as ever, and even if Applejack was awake, she would have barely felt Fluttershy’s nudging.
After a few seconds, Twilight rolled her eyes and channeled her magic. The tip of her horn started glowing and illuminated the room with a harsh magenta light. “What in tarnation?” Applejack said while shielding her eyes with her hooves. “Ah don’t remember the sun bein’ so bright, or this purple.” Twilight cancelled her spell and the room went dark again. Applejack opened her eyes and rubbed them as she looked around in the darkness. “Now where’d the sun go?”
* * * * * * * * * *
Rainbow Dash rapidly descended toward Ponyville shortly after flying out of her window. Her first stop was at Sugarcube Corner to pick up Pinkie Pie. She figured that Rarity would scold and whine over being woken up in the middle of the night, so she decided to go after Pinkie first. She rapidly approached Sugarcube Corner, expecting to slow down as she reached an open window, only to find that Pinkie was already waiting for her. As Rainbow Dash flew by, Pinkie Pie jumped out of her window and landed on Rainbow’s back.
“What are you doing up this late?” Rainbow asked. “And why are you shaking like that?”
“Pinkie Sense,” she said. “Whatever it is, it’s a doozy!”
“Nightmare Moon is back, and Twilight’s getting us all together to kick her flank again.”
“Nightmare Moon?” Pinkie said. “Wow that is a doozy!”
“You’re telling me.” Rainbow Dash reached the Carousel Boutique and flew toward the door without slowing down. With hooves extended, she crashed through the door and slid on her hooves to come to a stop. Pinkie Pie jumped off of her, and the two of them climbed up the stairs to Rarity’s room. They reached her room and opened the door, only to find Rarity scowling at them.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?!” Rarity shouted.
“Do you?” Rainbow said. “Because the sun should’ve been up by now.”
“That’s no reason to crash into my home and ruin my beauty sleep!”
“First of all, I usually only crash whenever I’m trying to pull off a new trick,” Rainbow said. “And second-”
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called from the lower level. “Did you get Pinkie Pie and Rarity yet?”
“I got Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow shouted back. “But Miss Sunshine’s got her saddle in a bunch, as usual.”
“Excuse me, but I’m not the one who always causes a ruckus by colliding with every tree, house or pony in a five-mile radius,” Rarity said.
Twilight teleported into Rarity’s room along with Applejack and Fluttershy. “Rarity, you can get your beauty rest later,” Twilight said. “Right now, we have to go to Canterlot and stop Nightmare Moon.”
“Wait a minute, Nightmare Moon?”
“Haven’t you noticed that the sun should’ve risen by now?”
“Do you see why I went after Pinkie Pie first?” Rainbow Dash said. “It was already taking forever to stop her melodramatic scolding and tell her what’s happening.”
“You didn’t say anything about Nightmare Moon,” Rarity said.
“What do you think I was trying to do?”
“Both of you settle down,” Twilight said, getting in between them. “The sooner we take care of this, the sooner we can get back to our beauty sleep, morning chores, weather patrol, animal care, or whatever Pinkie Pie does at six in the morning.” She then used her magic to teleport the six of them to Canterlot Tower.
* * * * * * * * * *
Celestia’s body smashed through one of the castle walls and fell toward the ground. She was initially dazed by the impact, but managed to reorient herself in midair and open her wings. Using her wings, she slowed down her fall and landed safely in the sculpture garden.
“You’re making this all too easy,” Nightmare Moon said as she flew down to meet Celestia. “Don’t tell me you’re holding back.” She fired a beam of magical energy at her opponent.
“I refuse to hurt my little sister,” Celestia said. “How dare you use her to fight me, you coward?” She created a barrier around her to block Nightmare Moon’s attack. The barrier barely held on against the magical beam, and she was pushed back a few feet.
“No, Celestia, I’m not using your sister,” Nightmare Moon said. “I am your sister.” She fired several blasts of energy, but this time Celestia used her magic to deflect them. The energy blasts rebounded off of Celestia’s barrier and destroyed several nearby sculptures. Nightmare Moon aimed her horn and fired one more beam. Celestia ducked to avoid it, but the beam shot past her and collided with one particular statue behind her.
Celestia turned around and watched in horror as cracks formed across the statue of a draconequus. “Oh no,” she murmured.
Within seconds, the statue crumbled revealing a real draconequus underneath. Now free, the creature extended its limbs outward and stretched parts of its body, some at impossible angles and rotations. “Ah, it feels so good to stretch after spending all those months trapped in stone,” Discord said. “It feels much better after a thousand years, but honestly, who can wait that long? Oh, that reminds me.” He snapped his left talons, causing six young mares to instantly appear in the middle of the sculpture garden.
The six ponies looked around and, to their dread, noticed where they were and who was around them. “Nightmare Moon and Discord?!” Pinkie Pie gasped. “I knew my Pinkie Sense was picking up a doozy, but this is the dooziest of doozies.”
“You think that’s shocking?” Discord said. “We’d all like to know what you were doing snooping around Canterlot Tower.” The Elements of Harmony materialized in front of him. “Probably looking for these.”
Rainbow Dash’s wings flared out, and she flew at Discord in order to retrieve the Elements. Discord noticed her and waved his paw, causing the Elements to vanish. Rainbow was stunned, but rather than come to a stop, she maintained her speed and slightly changed course. Taking Discord by surprise, she slammed into his jaw with hooves extended. The impact was strong enough to knock him to the ground and smash his head into another sculpture. Discord got back up and rubbed his head just as Rainbow Dash was turning around to attack him again. Seeing her coming back for him, Discord produced an oversized fly swatter and struck her with it. Rainbow Dash fell toward the ground, but Twilight caught her in her magical grip just in time.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight said. “Are you alright?”
“I just got hit by a fly swatter,” Rainbow groaned. “What do you think?”
“You know, that really hurt,” Discord said, clutching his jaw. “I think you might have broken something.” He twisted his head and jaws around using his arms, making several audible cracking sounds in the process. “There, all better.”
Twilight tried to use her magic again, but found that something was suppressing it. “We have them right where we want them, Discord,” Nightmare Moon said, using her magic to restrain Twilight and her friends. “If we kill them now, nothing will stand in our way of ruling this land.”
“No, why would I do that?” Discord said smugly. “These little ponies are six of my favorite playthings. And what good is a toy if it’s broken?”
“You-you’re kidding, right?” Nightmare Moon said incredulously.
“Of course not,” he said. “In fact, I might have to keep them past their natural lifespan to get the most out of them. But you are an entirely different story. After all…” Discord snapped his talons, and Nightmare Moon’s body exploded into a spray of blood, bits of flesh and bone fragments.
“Luna!” Celestia cried out. Bits of Nightmare Moon’s remains scattered across the ground and pieces of her horn bounced harmlessly off of Discord. A blood-red mist hung over the spot where Nightmare Moon once stood; those droplets now falling and settling on the ground.
"... I don't like it when somepony breaks my toys," Discord finished. Twilight and her friends looked on, still horrified, as Nightmare Moon’s remains littered the gardens and hung in the air. Meanwhile, Discord looked up at the sky and stared at the moon. Within seconds, the moon fell beyond the horizon and daylight returned to Equestria as the sun rose. “That wasn’t so hard, was it, Celestia? Now that that’s out of the way…” Discord was interrupted when a black fog rushed toward him and surrounded his right arm. As the fog spread over his arm, parts of it turned black and crumbled away. Discord’s dead flesh peeled away quickly enough to reveal his bones underneath. He placed his talons over his right shoulder and pulled his entire right arm out of its socket. He tossed his gangrenous limb away and watched as even the bones rotted away. He turned his attention away back to his body and gritted his teeth as a new right arm, complete with lion’s paw, emerged bloodlessly from the stump that remained from his old one. “Ah, much better.”
Suddenly, Discord was impaled through the chest by a long black horn. Behind him was Nightmare Moon, her body completely intact. Using her magic, she sent a powerful surge of energy through her horn and into her foe. Discord was paralyzed by her assault, but eventually managed to break her horn off with his right arm. Nightmare Moon recoiled back, allowing Discord to backhand her with his left arm. Despite the attack, Nightmare Moon managed to stand back up and face Discord, whose chest wound had completely closed up. A black glow hovered over the stub of her horn, and a new horn quickly grew out of it. Discord looked back at the broken-off horn in his paw and casually tossed it away.
Meanwhile, the ponies were watching the ongoing battle in awe. The only exception was Celestia, who used her magic to teleport the seven of them away. The seven of them found themselves in front of the library in Ponyville. “Princess Celestia?” Twilight said. “What happened back there? One minute they almost had us, and the next they started attacking each other.”
“Despite being our enemies, Nightmare Moon and Discord have different motivations and goals,” Celestia said. “Since they couldn’t reconcile their competing ambitions, those two are fighting each other instead.”
A thunderous crack echoed from Canterlot. The seven of them looked up and saw two small figures rise above the city, one of them black and the other yellow and snakelike. “Those two could tear Equestria to pieces the way they’re fighting,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Which is exactly why you are not to engage them, Rainbow Dash,” Celestia said. “If you go anywhere near them, there might not be anything left of you to put in a casket.”
“Then what are we supposed to do, order a pizza?” Rainbow Dash said.
“No, even though the circumstances are dire, our hooves are not tied. We have an opportunity here. Let’s use this chaos to our advantage.” The six of them listened more intently to Celestia. “If they spend enough time and energy fighting each other, they won’t pay any attention to you. You may have enough time to find the Elements of Harmony scattered by Discord. Once we find them, we can put an end to both of them.”
“But Discord coulda hidden ‘em anywhere in Equestria,” Applejack said. “How’re we s’posed to find ‘em?”
“I’ve got it covered,” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and focused her magic. Magenta light surrounded the six of them, and when Twilight opened her eyes again, they started glowing bright white. After a while, the magenta light dissipated from each of them, and Twilight’s eyes returned to their normal color. “I know where they are.”
“How’d yah do that?” Applejack said.
“When we used the Elements of Harmony, some of their residual magic was left with us,” Twilight said. “I used that residue as part of a tracking spell to find the Elements. Discord split them up into three groups when he hid them, so we’ll have to split up to find them all. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie will go to Cloudsdale. Applejack and Rarity will search the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy, you’re coming with me back to Canterlot.”
“C-Canterlot?” Fluttershy stuttered. “I-isn’t that where…”
“Not to worry, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “I’ll accompany the two of you in Canterlot. I’ll also send Philomena to go with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.”
“Cain’t yah be a little more specific, Twi?” Applejack said. “The Everfree Forest is a mighty big place.”
“Not to mention dark, dreary and dangerous,” Rarity added.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t narrow it down any further than that,” Twilight said. “If it’ll help, you can ask Zecora to guide you through the forest.”
“All of you must be extremely careful,” Celestia said. “It’s too dangerous to approach Nightmare Moon and Discord, and there’s no telling where their fighting will bring them. Stay as far away from them as possible.”
“We will, Princess,” Rainbow Dash saluted.
“One more thing,” she said. “Luna’s life is in jeopardy for every second that those two clash, so please, find the Elements as quickly as possible.” Despite Celestia’s reserved tone, they could all hear the plea behind what she said. The six young mares nodded and set out on their mission. Pinkie jumped onto Rainbow’s back and held on tightly as her pegasus friend took flight. Applejack and Rarity galloped toward the Everfree Forest, and Twilight teleported herself, Fluttershy, and Celestia back to Canterlot.