Author's Note

Hey there I'm Abyss and this is the first time I have posted on this platform so I hope you enjoy this book!

The Fallen Nightmare

A unicorn mare sat atop a hill overlooking Canterlot Castle, reading “Equestria’s Known Legends and Myths.” the page flipped by magic to show the story the mare was on,

-A thousand years ago, two regal sisters ruled Equestria together, the eldest of day and the younger of night. To maintain balance, the older sister raised the Sun while the younger brought out the Moon. Over time, the younger sister was shunned by most of the ponies they protected. Out of bitterness, she transformed into a wicked mare known as Nightmare Moon, blocked the Sun with the Moon, and vowed to plunge all of Equestria into an eternal night. The older sister tried to reason with the younger one, but the younger one was not so easily moved. The younger sister had fallen to her own Darkness, and to keep Equestria safe, the older sister had to use the most powerful artifacts in Equestria, the elements of harmony. With their powerful magic, the older sister banished the younger in the Moon for a thousand years. Since then, the older sister took on the younger sister’s role however, it is said that the stars shall aid in her escape on the thousandth Moon of the thousandth year.-

-Since time immemorial, rumors have circulated proposing the existence of an alicorn who guides the stars, cooperating with Princess Luna to commence the night. While the royal sisters never confirmed these rumors, they have implied more alicorns may exist elsewhere in the world. So there might be a third sister out there, one for the stars themselves.-

-Five thousand years ago, during the Era of Migration, from the oldest Equestrian records which are still decipherable, originates an ancient prophecy: In the distant future, a crisis shall arise in which two mares will deliberate a decision that shall decide the fate of Equestria. An ancient alicorn, older than the Sun and Moon sisters, will reappear and wreak havoc upon Equestria. Should the oath be said and the two killed in that order, the darkest days shall appear. The records of the time are still being deciphered but one thing stood out among the rest. A title, the Alicorn killer… from what we have deciphered that title was a constant among most of them.-

She closed the book because she was called by her mentor, so she made her way over to the castle’s throne room. As she stepped inside, “Princess Celestia, you wanted to see me?” The pony asked,

“Ah, Maroon, you’re here! Did you read that book I sent you?”

“I had just finished the stories you marked for me when you called.” Maroon said,

“I noticed that you never hung out with anypony here in Canterlot, so I'm sending you over to Ponyville to make friends and help with the Summer Sun celebration.” Celestia said, shocking her, but Maroon thought about it and smiled

‘Maybe I can get a fresh start there?’ she thought to herself and nodded.

“Your chariot leaves soon, so I recommend you head there after packing,” Celestia said as Maroon ran to her room, happy she was finally getting a fresh start. After packing and getting on the chariot for the way down, she got lost in her memories as what happened to her would have been companion replayed in her head.

It was back as a filly before she got into the school of gifted unicorns, when she was doing the entrance exam. She had made it to one of the final tests and it was the test where she met her little Terrar, thanks to a pony named Windigo. A test was designed explicitly for failure since he didn't take it well. She was about to give up and apologize for wasting their time when the Rainboom happened. The next thing she knew, she had a magic flair that caused her to hatch the egg, turn her parents into papers, lift the proctors, and suddenly grew the being that had just hatched to a giant size. However, she didn't have control over her magic which caused her an unending amount of pain from the magic entering her body at a rapid rate while having her exert enough to drain her completely yet she stayed alive enough to know what's going on. She would have died due to the overload in an explosive manner with the radius being from all of canterlot to the far edge of the everfree. Thankfully, princess Celestia got there just in time to stop her and undo everything she did except for hatching the egg. She then pointed at the cutie mark that now adorned Maroon’s flank, a constant reminder of how she failed her son not long after she took him home. Her parents killed him and set him up for dinner as punishment for being disobedient. It was a day she'd never forget for the rest of her life. She started to cry as she went down, but she had to stay strong for him. She only wished she could have saved him and seen him grow up. She knows that would never happen anyway.

She was about to spiral as she felt her chest tighten and her breath quicken. As her vision was going to blur the colors together, the chariot hit the ground, jolting her out of that downward spiral. She was shaky while getting off the carriage due to the sudden stop. She thanked the guards who flew her down after getting off the carriage. After she started walking towards the town, the guards flew back to Canterlot.

She went off to do her duties for the celebration while checking her list of what to do. As she walked into town, the first pony she encountered was a pink cotton candy maned and tailed earth pony mare. When she tried to talk to the mare, "Hello?" she said, but the pony just gasped and ran, which confused Maroon before shrugging it off and going to the Apple family farm.

When Maroon got to the apple farm, she saw a mare with an orange coat, blond mane and tail, green eyes, three apples for her cutie mark, and wearing a Stetson. The mare was right there as she walked to the farm gate. “Uhh, hello?”

“Well, howdy there, what's your name? Mine’s Applejack,” she said

“Oh, my name is Maroon Ripple, and I’m here to check in on the food for the celebration,” Maroon said with a smile,

“Well, you're also just in time for the reunion!”

“Reunion?” she asked, confused.

“Yeah, we’re going to build a bigger barn! Do you want to taste-test the food while you’re here?’

“Sure, why not? I did forget to eat breakfast this morning,” Maroon said with a shrug.

“Soups on everypony!” she said as the family showed up for brunch. She said the names of her family that showed up “Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Caramel Apple, Apple Strudel, Apple Tart, Baked Apples, Apple Brioche, Apple Cinnamon Crisp, Big MacIntosh, Applebloom, Granny Smith, Apple Cider, Apple Cobbler, Apple Honey, Apple Munchies, Gala Appleby, Jonagold, Lavender Fritter, Peachy Sweet, and Perfect Pie.” After sitting down at the table, all of the food was put on it and she ate enough that she overstuffed herself. As she walked away, she walked to find the weather manager as she regretted having too much pie for brunch.

Maroon decided to check on the weather next. “Watch out below!” a pony said from above, spooking Maroon to do a quick teleport out of the way only to be covered in mud from the cyan pegasus hitting a mud puddle for the cushion. Now that Maroon had a closer look at the mare, she saw a light-blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, her cutie mark was a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt and that she had magenta eyes. “Heh, sorry ‘bout that.” she said as Maroon looked at her with an expression that was to say ‘really?’ while the other rubbed the back of her head with her hoof, chuckling as Maroon sighed.

“I’m Maroon. I’ve come to check on the preparations for the summer sun celebration. What’s your name?”

“The name is Rainbow Dash, and I am the fastest flier in all of Equestria!” she said confidently.

“And you aren’t bursting the clouds... Why?”

“The ponies at Cloudsdale want them to stay an hour longer, so in the meantime, I’m practicing my skills for the Wonderbolts!”

“You mean the best flyers in all of Equestria?”

“That’s them!”

“Alright, but I’ll believe it when I see it,” Maroon said

“Oh, let me help you clean up,” she said before Maroon could have time to process what was happening. Rainbow flew off and grabbed a raincloud to put above Maroon. As she was going to say,

“That's not necessary-” she was drenched, then surrounded by a rainbow tornado, causing her mane to be wild like Dash’s, she sighed as it was already over.

“How do you like that?”

“I was going to say that it was unnecessary and that I could clean myself, but thank you for the help,” Maroon said as she used her magic to fix her mane and tail.

“Sorry?” Rainbow said while confused and ashamed at the same time.

“Apology accepted. Also, if I was pregnant, you could have killed a foal with how much force you came with on your way down.” Maroon said, shocking Rainbow Dash. This helped her understand her situation of why maroon was being snippy with her. Maroon left Rainbow to think about what was said as she went to the town hall.

At the town hall, she saw a white unicorn mare with a curled purple mane and tail trying to decide what ribbon to use. “Uh, hello?”

“Sorry, I’m in the zone, as other ponies would say,” the mare said.

“Oh, that’s fine. I’m just here to check on the preparations for tomorrow’s celebration,” catching the mare's attention.

“Oh, you must be…” the mare said while turning around before looking like she saw the most horrendous thing imaginable. “what happened to your mane!?!” Before Maroon could respond, the mare brought her to her shop which was conveniently nearby.

“It’s fine, miss… what is your name?” Maroon asked her as she was taken to the back, where she was set down on the stage.

“Oh, sorry for being rude. My name is Rarity Belle. What is yours?” she said while getting her measurements to make her a dress.

“My name is Maroon Ripple,” she said while looking at the mirrors. She saw a unicorn mare with a maroon coat, magenta eyes, and a bluish-silver mane and tail, and tuning herself to the side, she saw her cutie mark, which is a silver clock with a reddish-purple star pointing at six points of time on it. Suddenly, Rarity tried to put on and tighten a corset around Maroon’s midsection, which nearly killed her as she couldn't breathe due to how tight it was. “I came all the way from Canterlot to see the progress for the summer sun celebration,” Maroon choked out, which caused Rarity to stop and fall on her back.

“Canterlot!” she said, surprised, before running off somewhere in the building as she was going to grab something, Maroon guessed there would be a lot of gifts like the nobility, which made her spiral into a panic attack.

‘Is she going to get me gifts because I’m Celestia’s student?’ her breathing started to become more and more shallow. ‘Could they find me here? No, I don’t want them to find me!’ She began to run as her body felt colder and her chest was tighter, the colors of the room blended together as she started to run out of the place. She didn't know or care about where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get away from there.

After a while of running, she was brought out of her panic when she heard music. She followed the song to find it came from a flock of various different birds singing a harmonious melody. She checked the list that she had on her to see that this was where she needed to be for the music. She watched from afar as a beautiful butter-yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane and tail was practicing the song that would be used for the celebration with the birds, which impressed Maroon immensely. She also respected the mare before her and Checked off the list while listening. Maroon then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote.

-Hello Miss, my name is Maroon. If you look down the trail, you’ll see what I look like. I am very impressed with what you've done with the birds. They sound beautiful, almost like you.-

She then floated it over to the mare, who started to read it. Hence, the pegasus landed “Hello?”

“Hello, miss. May I ask such a beautiful mare her name?” Maroon flirted.

“M-my n-n-name i-is Fluttershy,” she said, growing red as she remembered what Rainbow Dash told her while her heart sped up…

“Yo Flutters, you know, with a voice like yours you could pick up any stallion or mare with how soothing it is” Rainbow Dash said while flying next to Fluttershy after moving to Ponyville.

“I-I d-don’t think I-I would be able to t-talk to anypony like th-that,” she said, stuttering and blushing hard.

“Heh don’t rile yourself up Flutters, you would make a great wife to that special somepony someday and you will know if you want to spend the rest of your life with that one pony, or who knows, you could have multiple of either or both!” Rainbow said, causing Fluttershy to pass out.

“Well, Fluttershy, I believe the animals can agree that you have one soothing voice.” She looked at the birds and asked, “Right?” The birds agreed by chirping excitedly while flying around their caretaker as Fluttershy couldn't help but get redder and redder as soon as she was almost as red as one of Applejack’s apples before Maroon left. She turned her head to Fluttershy and winked at her, saying, “I’ll be in the library if you need me,” and she was there.

After walking a ways away, Maroon realized what had just happened and blushed so hard she almost lit up like a light bulb. She was embarrassed, but she had a smile on her face. After a while her smile fell when she remembered what her birth parents told her if she were to get with a mare, and she got worried about what would happen if they found out. She wanted to be finally happy, to have that fresh start to be herself. Still, that single memory she had on the way over to Ponyville flashed in her mind and caused her eyes to glaze over as if she were remembering something while her breathing slowed to it being barely there. Still, it was the same scenario only; instead of her son, it was Fluttershy who was killed and cooked by her birth parents. It was close to the end of the sunset's golden hour when she got to the library, which would be her temporary home, or so she Thought. Still, Maroon wished it was her actual home. Once she opened the door, the pink mare from earlier suddenly popped up, surprising her. When she looked behind the pony, she saw a whole party just for welcoming her to town, but that confused her to a significant extent cause it's only been a few hours 'how did this pony get all these ponies into the Library without me noticing on the way back?' She wondered. 'Then again, it is the hour of Twilight, so it couldn't have been that long that I was out.' She thought, perplexed.

“Were you surprised?” the pink mare asked exited,

“I certainly was but what's your name?” Maroon asked,

“My name is Pinkie Pie,” she said before bounding off somewhere. As Maroon looked around she saw some familiar faces in the crowd. She decided to chat with them while looking at the books so that if she did stay down here or away from her birth parents and their controlling nature somewhere, she could run as the librarian. That thought of her being a librarian far away from her birth parents made her smile, and the ponies around her noticed, so Pinky bounded over with a drink on her hoof and set it down right in front of the lucky pony, which just so happened to be her so she looked down and saw the drink before deciding, 'eh why not' and lifted it up to her lips, right as the liquid hit her mouth she started chugging hard and fast, finishing the glass and letting out a good sigh of satisfaction. At the same time, the rest chanted "CHUG!!!" and cheered when she was done.

She found a book on the elements of harmony in the legends section and decided to take a read just in case it would be handy later on. She kept conversing with others while reading before accidentally tuning everypony out.

Before the Sun was about to come up for the celebration of the longest day, all of the ponies funneled into the mayor's building, where the celebration would take place. Maroon started looking around and hoping that her mentor was right and that it was a foal's tale when she looked up at the Moon and noticed that the four stars to aid in Nightmare Moon's Escape were getting ever so closer to the Moon, which confused her.

Everypony else was excited and couldn't wait for the Sun to rise as the mayor gave the speech for Celestia to raise the Sun. The music was about to start as the curtains opened only for no one to be there at first, then there was Blue Smoke. It confused everypony until it became a mare for Maroon to recognize who the pony was. It was Nightmare Moon, and there was only one way to defeat her. She needed to find the elements of harmony. The book she read at the party stated that they were in the castle of the two sisters, in the Everfree forest. Nightmare Moon declared, "The night shall not be shunned anymore, for it shall remain eternal!" Panic would rise in everypony, and they started to run outside. Maroon ran over to the Everfree when the mares she met joined her and asked her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She told them, "There is only one way to stop Nightmare Moon. We need to find the Elements of Harmony. That is our only chance to stop the nightmare." The five nod and join her, and the trials that come with the first adventure are passed with flying colors. Still, Maroon had gotten the spark wrong at first, and that caused a spell battle. Maroon was surprised at herself for keeping up with an alicorn in magic and speed. The first fight ended when Nightmare Moon summoned two pony-like creatures who introduced themselves as Fallen Ember and Midnight Nova to both there as Maroon took in what they looked like.

Fallen Ember looked like a mare with a red coat, flame-like mane, and tail, phoenix Wings sprouting out of her back, eyes were slit and green, and embers were falling from most of her body, including her mane and tail. Her frame was a power-thin type of pony, and she was pretty fit.

Midnight Nova looked vastly different. Her coat was dark purple, and her mane and tail were on fire. The flame was a teal-ish green, and so were her eyes, wings, and most of her body, which seemed covered in runes. Her frame was very alluring and showed she would be tough to fight.

Maroon fired a shot at Nightmare Moon while running past the two newcomers, not wanting to scuffle with them. They most likely disappeared after the fight as it started back up for round two. After another spell-slinging match, her friends showed up. Nightmare Moon smashed the elements on the ground but the elements formed into their gem selves on the necklaces when Maroon realized she wasn't trying to extend her hoof out to them like they did for her. Meanwhile, something saw this happen and tried to jump into the middle one's body, which sadly was Maroon's. The dark figure got injured along the way and missed landing on the ground, thanks to the two hidden in the shadows with no pony knowing where they were. They bonded to the six elements, sending the Rainbow through them. Then something from dark magic flew out of the shadows and hit the elements, forcing whatever it was that tried to jump into Maroon away. That didn't mean it didn't leave after-effects.

The Rainbow hit Nightmare Moon, and in a flash of light, in her place was another alicorn covered in the shell of what was Nightmare Moon; her mane looked like the night sky, and her body was sleek and graceful like the fantastic night breeze. Still, this one was not much bigger than them. Celestia entered through the window and said, "I'm proud of you, my student, and I know, now, I have some unfinished business to deal with." She turned to the other Alicorn before kneeling, saying, "sister, we were never meant to rule alone." The other Alicorn was Celestia's sister, and it shocked them.

The other Alicorn says, "I'm so sorry, sister." It was odd when Maroon heard the ponies talking about Princess Luna, as her name was now revealed to them. Maroon felt something was off with herself but didn't know what it was now.
They left the forest and into Ponyville when Celestia asked, "Maroon, do you want to return to Canterlot with Luna and I?"

Maroon shook her head and said, “I’m perfectly fine here. Though I don't think my birth parents would let me stay down here if they still had custody over me. They have no control over me now as I'd like to study the magic of friendship more. I need space from them, though I know the restraining order won't stop them till I'm back with them under their ideals. I know they will come for me someday, but something bad might happen if I don't stay here with my new friends, and I want to be with them when it happens." This confused everypony except Celestia, who smiled and accepted it, knowing what it's like to be under something else's control. Hence, she left with Luna to get her reacquainted while warning her about the nobility. Without a word, Maroon asked Luna who Midnight Nova and Fallen Ember were.

Luna said, "The nightmare summoned them to aid her? Then, thou must be something special. We do not know much about them, as everything we heard was through a friend, but we did learn that they are part of a myth. However, not everything is the absolute truth. Be wary of that, as we learned it the hard way."

On the way back with the princesses, Luna said, "sister, I think it's time for the Shadowbolts to come into play."

"And how do you plan to accomplish this?" Celestia asked, curious about what her sister's plans were.

"With your help, I was thinking they could be under us and not the Wonderbolt council you put into effect, not to mention we would need a captain and a squad," Luna said, shocking Celestia, who smiled.

"Alright, Luna, maybe some candidates will show up in the Young Flyers competition, that is coming up?" Luna was shocked before she smiled and thanked her sister.