Author's Note

This is my first fanfic ever so I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticism thrown my way.

Chapter One

Apple Bloom sat in a daze at her desk. She is bored out of her mind. For today was history class in Ms Cheerilee’s classroom. She was teaching recent events, something newly mandated by their esteemed princess of the night. But Apple Bloom mostly new these events already. She had lived them after all. Felt their loss, felt their change, and the cold of night they brought.

The room was dimmer than it used to be. A product of the eternal night that now griped Equestria. It was all consuming. The night fed off people’s joy. Fed off people’s happiness. And fed off people’s sleep cycle.

“Oh look, little miss Sleepy Bloom is at it again,” a snooty voice said from the other side of the room. It could only come from one other filly. Apple Bloom’s hated enemy, Diamond Tiara.

The rest of the class giggled at her outburst. Many of them might not like the pink pony but they would continue to try and get on her good side nonetheless.

“Diamond Tiara, no talking during class,” Ms Cheerilee chided. Her now angry gaze directed at the pink filly for a moment before swinging to face Apple Bloom as well.

“And Apple Bloom pay attention to the lesson. This will be important on this week’s quiz. Unless you don’t need to learn this material?.”

“No Ms Cheerilee, sorry. Ah will pay attention,” Apple Bloom forced herself to listen to the rest of the lesson. It was a recap of how Equestria’s new Princess, Nightmare Moon, “Liberated” them from they so called tyranny of the daylight. How the dark mare shared her gift of eternal night with the population of Equestria that were so long denied it.
This failed to work on everypony of course. Apple Bloom especially. All she knew and cared about was that Applejack along with five other ponies went off to confront Nightmare Moon when she emerged...and never returned. Celestia fell soon after. Apple Bloom almost let a tear drop just thinking about that terrible night.
It had never ended since.
A couple more hours passed before the school night ended. Apple Bloom was in the middle of packing up her Saddle Bag when her two friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, approached her. Eyes bright with passion despite the circumstances.

“Hey guys, what are you two so excited about?” Apple Bloom asked, trying to think of a reason the two of them would be like this.
“Did you forget Apple Bloom? It’s Nightmare Night tomorrow!” Scootaloo proclaimed.
“Ya, you remembered we were going out together for it right?” Sweetie Belle added.
“Honestly ah have been real busy with farm work lately and ah kinda forgot, sorry girls.” Apple Bloom apologized. It was only have the truth. The loss of her sister weighed heavily on Apple Bloom. It had forced her to grow up more then she should have. Apple Bloom was simply glad she had found friends like them to keep her sane. Then she heard that snarky voice again from behind her.

“Celebrating Nightmare Night? How childish. If I was Nightmare Moon I would have ended the practice.” Said Diamond Tiara trotting up towards them. Despite being her pompous self she did sort of have a point. Most in Equestria found it strange that Nightmare Moon had let Nightmare Night continue as normal. Perhaps it was because the holiday was about her and how terrifying she is.

“What is it to you? Nightmare Night is one of the only times of year we still get to have fun. So of course you want to ruin it,” Scootaloo replied at Diamond.

“Ya girls, let’s get out of here to where fun is still allowed,” Apple Bloom said as she started trotting away, her friends soon following her. As Apple Bloom exited the building she looked to the blackened sky and let out a quick sigh before continuing out of the school yard.

…

The three fillies trotted through town. The streets were mostly deserted except for a few ponies out shopping at the few stores that were still open all the time. The most common presence however were that of the Moonguard, Nightmare Moon’s soldiers that had flocked to her banner after she took over. As they went through the centre of Ponyville they saw a small patrol of them. They looked similar to the old Royal Guard but with pure black armor instead of white. A constant symbol of the new order they represented.

“Man those ponies freak me out,” Scootaloo said in a hushed tone so as to not let the Moonguard hear.

“Tell me about it,” Sweetie replied “They are always outside my house keeping an eye on my family.”

“Same with me,” Apple Bloom added “They even have a permanent guard outside the farm gate,” Apple Bloom suspected this was because her and Sweetie’s sisters were part of the group that tried to confront Nightmare Moon before her takeover.

“Definitely creepy,” Said Scootaloo.
The three remained silent before saying their goodbys for the day and split up.

“You will remember to bring a costume won’t you?” Sweetie Belle asked before departing.

“Of course ah will. Ah can throw something together real quick, you can count on that,” proclaimed Apple Bloom.

“I will keep you too that, see you later!” Sweetie Belle said as she was trotting away.
Apple Bloom made her way out of town and back towards Sweet Apple Acres. Despite it being dark out she had no reservations about making the trip. One benefit of having Moodguards everywhere is that even the Everfree forest is safe.
She kept going and soon enough she saw her home. Several Moodguards were outside keeping an eye on them. One of them glares at Apple Bloom as she approaches. She grimaces under his gaze but forces herself to walk through them. As she passes the fields she sees her brother Big Mac plowing them. And at that moment she is also glad Nightmare Moon had discovered a spell that allowed plants to grow under the light of the Moon. Otherwise Equestria would starve, and the dark mare could not have that.
Apple Bloom trots into the barn in silence.

The Barn is as unremarkable as ever. But it too has suffered under the endless night. Even with the ability to grow their livelihoods in darkness it was simply not the same without the presence of Applejack. Her second to none work ethic and dedication to her work were not something that could simply be replaced or forgotten. Through Apple Bloom tried.
Apple Bloom hangs her Saddle Bag in its place and prepares to do her daily work.
She then spies Granny Smith in her rocking chair. Knitting. That’s all the old pony did now. She has been too depressed since Applejack’s...disappearance to do anything else.

“Granny...uh, you eaten anything today?” Apple Bloom asked. Granny frequently went without eating for most of the day now. The old mare looked up from her knitting. Her eyes glazed over in depression, tear lines visible down the length of her aged face.

“I’ll eat when Applejack gets home my dear,” Granny says, her voice shaky. Apple Bloom sheds a tear herself before turning away.

“Applejack...won’t be home. ah’ll fix something for you Granny,” Apple Bloom says before going into the kitchen to slice some apples for her.

After giving them to Granny Apple Bloom proceeds to do her chores for the night. Since Applejack was gone the workload doubled. By the time Apple Bloom was done she was utterly exhausted. She went to sleep soundly that night.
In the years that followed she would look back on this moment before the storm with a sense of nostalgia. For as bad as things were now, they would have to get even worse before they got better...