The Nightmare Begins Again.

by rainbowdashinaway

Rating: teen
Tags: Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Zecora, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna, Original Character
Length: 3457

Luna must face a part of herself she hoped she forgot, all the while, a strange new force has been spotted in equastria. While the mane six fight this force, Luna will have to fight herself., while others must fight the force overcoming equestria.

A mysterious new force has appeared in Equastria, while Princess Luna is starting to have terrible hallucinations of a certain pony very familiar to her.

Zecora feels a mysterious and dark presence arriving in equestria, but finds herself struggling to fight it, and finds herself in a battle she can't win.

The changeling queen finds herself having to become a hero to her people as a force not unlike her own starts threatening her subjects.

What is this mysterious force, and what does it have to do to these three ponies who have nothing in common?

Image created by the-zuper-man
I did not create nor own any image or characters in the story, except an OC and the story itself.

Published 2013-02-20 20:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-20 18:07:36 UTC

Prologue: It begins

The night in Equastria was as beautiful as ever, it was the kind of night that reminded Luna just how much she loved her job. As she watched Equastria in the safety of Equastria, she kept her ears open for the pleasant sound of the owls song. Nothing was more comforting to her than the sounds of the night, and the sight of the wonderful night sky. She had memorized the entire night sky, all the stars and consolation. This is probably because the night sky was her only company during her banishment on the moon, her only friend during that dark time. She loved being surrounded by the beauty of the night, a pleasurable collection of sight and sound that not many had time to enjoy. They were all sleeping, everybody but her and a select few of royal guards, and the royal guards were too disgruntled by the fact they were working the night shift to enjoy the beautiful atmosphere.

She sat on the balcony, literally starry eyed. So many memories flashed through her mind, so many pleasant memories. Memories from before the war, the good ol' days. She remembered the days of frolicking through the Canterlot gardens with her older sister as a filly, while the sound of their laughter echoing through the warm summer air, the hot sun beating down on them, while a pleasant breeze blew through their manes. She remembered the time when they took over the thrown, after their triumph over Discord. She remembered the honor of being able to rule the wonderful land by her sister's side. She remembered the happiness of finally gaining her sisters forgiveness after that night. She hoped never to leave again. She put all that behind her. NIghtmare Moon wasn't truly her, it was another pony who took over her mind, over her body. She hoped never to see her again.

Little did Princess Luna know that, somewhere far away, a great evil was rising. Deep in the Everfree forest, Zecora was doing her thing, fixing up medicinal herbs for the upcoming Pony-Flu season. As she was mixing up herbs in her pot, she felt something, something sinister. As she looked closely at her pot, she saw something, something unusual. The ingredients formed a message, her name. Zecora looked shocked, she couldn't speak, not at all. Her entire shack shook, as the night got colder and darker, while thunder burst in the distance. Tons of glass bottles and masks fell to the floor, busting on impact. She soon found laughter echoing throughout the room. As she turned around, she saw shadows covering the walls of her shack, dancing, smiling. The laughter got louder. She soon saw that the shadows had glowing red eyes, eyes that she saw was staring at her.

"Evil spirit, in the room", she said, "How did you escape your tomb?" The laughter got even louder. Darkness started filling up the room. Zecora bolted to the door, trying to escape the shadows devouring the room. She busted out the door, running as fast as she could, bumping on the walls while doing so. But, to her dismay, she saw the shadows weren't just confined to her shack. She found the entire Everfree forest being engrossed into the darkness behind, all the creatures, all the trees, just disappearing. She began running, the rain beating down on her body,her hooves splashing in muddy puddles, her heart beating louder than Pinkie Pie playing the drums. She ran and ran, seeing the exit in the distance. As it got closer, hope started filling her body. She might escape this, she might survive.

Soon, though, she saw the shadows dancing again, this time, on the trees in front of her . The rest of the forest started collapsing as the laughter got louder, the trees falling down with a mighty thud in front of her. Soon, she heard the sounds of animals echoing throughout the forest behind her. As she turned back, she saw wild animals burst out of the darkness, their fur as black as night, so much so that all she could see of them were their bright, blood red eyes. They crept toward her along with the shadow. She tried to run, but smacked her face against a fallen tree. She ran to her right, taking a detour out of the forest.

But she soon found that this route was not much better, in fact, what lay ahead for her was much worse. She soon found that the shadows were not laying on the trees, or walls, or whatever, they were standing, like real creatures, faint lights surrounding them so she could see them in the dark forest. She heard the growl of animals in the distance as she stood looking at the shadows red eyes. She then realized that the shadows looked familiar, like her.

But then the shadows fused together, and standing in front of her was a figure, a tall, lean figure. She knew what she saw. She had heard the legends from her mother long ago. She knew what she saw was not just a danger to her, but to the entire world. She ran the other way, forgetting about the animals, as they started surrounding her and the mysterious shadow.As she looked at the face of the creature she was trapped with, she saw him smiling, and laughing. His bright red eyes showed joy. The darkness started surrounding the zebra, as it got closer and closer, the happier it seemed the shadow got.

"Fiend, I cant see", She said as calmly as she could, "Why would you want me?"

"Simple", said the fiend,"You know too much." And with that, the shadows finally consumed Zecora. She screamed as the darkness covered her body. Only to smile as they pulled away from her. Her bright eyes shined as she headed back to her hut. And she laughed all the way there. And the beast did as well. Oh did he laugh.

Luna was still standing on the balcony as the sun rose up, as celestia came in to greet her. She stood, watching her sister with a smile. Luna was known for doing this sometimes. Celestia knew just how much her little sister loved the night. She gently walked up to her sister.

"Luna", she said, "It's time for my shift."

"Oh yes, sister", luna replied, "I was just lost in thought again.

"Your always lost in thought"

"I guess. It's tough not to be. I guess its time for me to be going"

"You know sister, your not banished anymore, you can stay down here."

"

That's okay sister, the moon is like a second home for me"

"Well that's your choice Luna"

"Goodbye dear sister, until tonight"

"Until tonight, Luna." And with that, Luna flew back up to her home, and fell asleep. And she slept, despite the laughter echoing very near to her.

Chapter 1: visions

Luna fell asleep the instant she landed on the moon. All the memories of a past once lived were still dancing around in her mind. All the good ones at least. She Kept all the memories of the dark times locked in the back of her mind. She knew she couldn't escape it, She knew she couldn't forget it altogether, but she tried to, anyway. Still, sometimes those memories crept into her dreams. She found it ironic that she couldn't alter her dreams, but she could others. Magic can have some strange rules sometimes. Still, those nightmares were rare. At least they were.

It seemed like they became more common as of late. It seemed like every other night she dreamed of a past best left forgotten. She dreamed of all of the pain she caused. She dreamed of all of the Lives she took. She dreamed of things she wished she forgot she had ever done. And sometimes, It felt Like reality. Sometimes, It felt like she was still Nightmare Moon. And this caused her great fear, more fear than anything else. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't forget.

When Luna woke up, she found that she was no longer on the moon, instead, she was back in The castle She found herself sitting on the throne, her loyal guards looking after her intensely. But something was different. The entire castle was dark except for some lit candles faintly lighting the entire building. As she looked around the room, she found that all of the
murals were gone, placed by nothing but wall. Luna had no idea of what was going on.

"Go!", She told her guards, "Leave me to myself, I don't feel well." The guards had no choice but to obey her orders. They left the princess to be by herself. She lifted herself off the throne, causing the floor to creak slightly and echo throughout the castle. She walked to the door out of the throne room, her hoof-steps echoing throughout the room as she did so. The door was larger than usual, and was painted black.

She opened it and entered the hall. The hall was as faintly lit as the throne room. All the murals were gone as well, replaced by nothing but wall. It seemed empty, As she walked through the hall, she heard laughter echoing throughout .The hall seemed to get darker, and longer, the further she went. She walked for about five minutes until she finally reached the end, greeted by another door, and when she opened it, she was greeted by another hall.

This time it was not even lit, so only Luna could see what was inside. This time, all the murals were replaced by statues. They weren't statues of anypony famous, they seemed just to be generic statues of normal ponies. There was a ton of them, and many seemed to be broken. Some were missing legs, others their head. Luna could tell there was something off about them, but she didn't know what. As she finally got to the door, she opened it to be greeted by another hall.

This time, Instead of statues, there were paintings. They seemed rather peaceful, and all took place at night. One was depicting two ponies, most likely lovers, laying beneath the stars, watching the night as they snuggled close together. Another depicted a mare running through a field of flowers at night, looking as free as ever. But as she walked further, each painting got more and more disturbing. One depicting two ponies laying down on barren ground, as a young filly lay crying, as if they were his parents, and that they were.....dead. The very last painting she saw was that of the young filly from the other painting laying down next the others. As she opened the door, she entered yet another hall.

The laughing came back, as this hall, was different from the rest. It was filled with the work of a taxidermist. As she began the room, it was just simply bunnies, bears, tigers, etc. But as she walked further, she saw animals that could actually be citizens. She saw a cow, she saw donkeys, and she even saw a griffin. But that wasn't what disturbed her. She then saw ponies, their faces frozen into permanent looks of terrors. And she went even further, she saw some ponies that she was very familiar with.

She saw a pink pony, and it was the only one with a smile left on its face. There was a rainbow colored Pegasus, with its wings spread out, and it's body suspended by wires. There was a white unicorn, which was the only one wearing a dress, and it had a sewing needle glued into it's screaming mouth. There was a a yellow Pegasus, which was also suspended in the air, but much lower than the other one, and was covering its face with its hooves. Then there was an orange pony, a hat covering its face, and its right leg suspended in the air. Then, to make it even, was a small, purple dragon, and his face was the one that was filled with the most pure terror, and a single frozen tear suspended a few inches from his right eye. And standing in front of each side of the door, were two Alicorns, one white, the other purple. They were her friends, and sister.

She burst through the door, frightened, and ended up in one large room. This time, there was a mural, one large one of nightmare moon, Celestia and the elements lying dead at her feet. In that room, stood Nightmare Moon, looking directly at Luna. She had a wide smile on her face, and her laughter filled the air.

"Welcome home", Said Nightmare Moon

"W...what do you want with me?", asked a frightened luna

"I want you to except me, to let me free once again."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"For the power. Don't act like you're all reformed, miss princess. You know that our dear sister is still the one only ruler. We still get no credit. In fact, some people are still frightened of you. Instead of trying to fix that, why not embrace it."

"Look, I know you're not real, I know this is all just a dream."

"Oh I AM real, And this is not just a dream, it's a vision. A vision of what might, no, what WILL happen. You can try to act like it isn't, but it is. Oh, it is."

"I am not you, nor will I ever be again"

"You keep telling yourself that Luna, all you are doing is lying to yourself." Suddenly, nightmare moon's tone shifted, as if, she didn't like what she was doing, herself, " I'm sorry", is all she said, before going back to her usual tone. " Don't ignore who you truly are, Who WE truly are."

"I will never be you, NEVER AGAIN", yelled Luna as she sent a blast of magic from her horn, unto Nightmare moon, Causing her to disappear completely. Upon that, Luna woke up, drenched in sweat, and she began to cry in fear. Was what she saw really visions of the future. She hoped to Celestia they were not.

Author's Note

I want feedback! I will edit any and all chapters if you find a problem with it. Pacing, and whatnot.

Chapter 2: Beyond Everfree

Zecora opened her eyes, the wind blowing against her face, as she struggled to get up from the tall bushy grass, tickling her legs as she slowly descended. Off into the distance, she saw what looked like her homeland, as Peaceful as ever, she felt the urge to run to it, but he legs were too weak, she already a tough of enough time walking. She decided to slowly and carefully trot to the village in the distance. The playful echoes of the laughing fillies in the village got louder and louder the closer she got to the village. As she walked, the entirety of the village unfolded itself to her.

She could see the little cots standing peacefully in a luscious field of grass, as the little fillies of the village chased each other, laughung all the while. The adults were hard at work, harvesting the crops for the next month. Zecora could see some work-free adults playing with the fillies, laughing just as hard as the little ones. She could see some of the older fillies getting inducted into adulthood, with the mares getting tribal piercings, and the colts going on their first hunt. Overall, the image of the village made her feel at piece.

But when Zecora finally made it to the village, all was not calm. The laughing stopped as soon as she made it to the village, and it was replaced by stone-cold silence. The sun disappeared into oblivion as darkness took its place. The ponies in the village stopped in thier tracks, as zecora noticed a look on their face, a look of fear. The villagers tried to move, but they couldn't. They struggled, as the motionless fillies were reduced to tears. Soon, there was laughter in the air again. But it was not from the fillies, it was HIS laughter.

Zecora watched as each of the villagers were swallowed whole by the darkness, each returning as a minion of the legendary god of darkness, the shadow. Each of the villagers eyes went red as they turned to Zecora, wicked smiles on there faces, as there laughter got louder and louder, almost turning the herbalists eardrums to mush. She tried to run, but as soon as she tried, she fell straight on the ground, and found that as hard as she could, she couldn't stand up. As they surrounded her, she tried to scream but she couldn't. Her voice was gone. They took it. Why, she didn't know.

Soon, she found herself surrounded in nothing but darkness, as the laughter filled the air, physically hurting her, with her not being able to do anything about it. Tears filled her eyes, as she was aware that her situation had not stopped getting worse. Soon, she started to see visions, visions of seperate ponies getting killed, tortuled and rape. All the visions happened all at once, and they wouldn't stop. Soon, she found that she was feeling each and every ponies pain for herself, and she was stuck, unable to move. She couldn't scream for help, she couldn't do anything but take her torture, silently wishing for it to stop. She lay their, crying, silently wishing for help, and losing all hope for escape. And then, a voice penetrated the air, even louder than the laughs that were there just to torture here. The voice said one thing and only, and it was enough to make things much worse.

"Welcome to hell"

Author's Note

Kind of short, yes. If there is any suggestions, give them to me. Otherwise, enjoy.

Chapter 3: visions part 2

Luna woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily, her heart beating as fast as ever. The last time she had a nightmare like this, well, you can guess what happened. Luna kept on trying to tell herself it was just a dream, just a nightmare, but deep down she knew what was happening. Something big was going to happen soon, something she would have no control over, and she was scared. She was scared, not only for herself, but for twilight, the kingdom, and most of all, her dear sister, Princess Celestia.

Luna tried to fall asleep again, but couldn't, whenever she closed her eyes, all she could see was visions of what she once was, and what she could be again. Whenever she closed her eyes, all she could see was visions of a morbid past, and a terrifying and gory future. When she closed her eyes, all she could smell was the rotten flesh of the ponies she had murdered. When she closed her eyes, all she could her was the piercing laughter of a maniac, "HER" laughter. Why was this happening to her? Why her, why her, why her.

Fear pierced through her heart like dagger. She had no idea what to do, her ears ringing with the growing laughter, as it got louder and louder, never stopping, only growing. Luna tried to ignore it, but it would never stop. SHe found she could not ignore it, but she couldn't embrace it. She couldn't let "HER" loose. Not again. Never again. All she could do was lay there crying, faintly yelling, "Help me'.

But nobody heard her. She could only lie there screaming for help, help that would never come. Then she saw the vision, the vision that drew her over the edge. The vision was that of a dead princess celestia, laying there in a puddle of her own blood. Her legs cut off and stuffed own the throat of a now dead twilight sparkle. standing over the two corpses was princess luna, her face variated between fear, and utter glee.

The entire city of canterlot was just a ruin in lunas vision. The entire city was now infested by flames as laughter roared through the air. the laughter though, would soon be drowned out by the screams of canterlot citizens. SO the laughter just grew. And luna just stood there, crying and laughing and the same time. Her face variating between hers, and HERS. Luna would just stand there screaming, as SHE would begin to take over. every inch by every inch, Luna would slowly be turning insane, for the second time.

Author's Note

another short chapter. oh well.