Chapter 1: A Divergence in Time
One thousand years passed. A full one thousand years of relative peace. Now, that time was over. Peace was on the verge of crumbling with a lone lunatic. Nightmare Moon had returned and stole away the sun princess. The very world would have been lost without just one single studious pony. This pony named Twilight Sparkle, a vividly shaded purple unicorn, had known the possibility of Nightmare's return. In turn, she knew just where their hoped lie.
In a mad gambit, Twilight and five other uniquely colored ponies put their lives on the line to stop the mad Alicorn. With their numerous acts of bravery, their new bond quickly became tempered steel. They found true trust in one another, something even the best of friends have trouble finding, all within a span of a single night. With their wills united, they found and faced the evil of the world. Life, however, isn't a fairytale. Sometimes it's cruel; sometimes it sets you up to fail no matter how much you try.
"It can't be." Nightmare Moon had stood tall against the hodgepodge of adolescent ponies. They were untrained, young, impulsive, and naïve. Nightmare Moon knew she couldn't be defeated by these wannabe heroines. The fastest of them couldn't match her on her slowest day. The strongest of them were comparable to an ant to an elephant. The most magically adept had nothing on her centuries of wisdom. Nothing should had made her take a step away from these ponies. But, she had. All because of six detestable, vial artifacts she believed were lost. These six ponies not only managed to find them, but they actually harnessed their magics, not once, but twice. She knew what happened; she had broken the rocks herself. To see them reform, to watch the hideous magic take form, she knew she had to do something.
"This is the power of our friendship Nightmare Moon!" Twilight Sparkle had boldly declared as the rainbow helix flowed into her. Her once violet eyes shone with a vivid rainbow before the magic seemingly capped. With on concussive blast of magic, a rainbow torrent of power descended upon Nightmare Moon, threatening to end her reign early once more.
"Not again you vial usurpers!" Anger surged through the Alicorn. Memories of her rightful throne being stolen from her; one thousand years away from her rightful kingdom. She refused to yield again. As time seemingly stood still for the dark queen, she called upon her deepest reserves of magic. For those living in ignorant bliss, if they were watching the stars, they would had noticed the dots fade away. Only one large celestial body radiated light nearly equal to the sun itself.
For the second time, she had called upon the aid of her stars to save her. They gave their magic for the queen just as time resumed. Nightmare threw everything she had at the consuming rainbow light. Titanic power met titanic power; the powers blasting out the sides of the castle walls as they collided. The clash was as if two trains crashed into one another. To any ghostly spectators watching, it would have looked as if Nightmare was moments away from being vaporized. The rainbow magics were nipping at the tip of her horn; her hazy dark blue torrent of magic managing to stop it in time. As the seconds passed, the rainbow light never made it closer to the night queen. Looking to the six hovering heroines, fatigue was quickly wearing on their bodies. The magic light emitting from their eyes were beginning to dim and even flicker. With each fluctuation, Nightmare gained traction. Further the heroine's magic became as the Alicorn struggled forward. It was a battle of wills, a battle Nightmare would never lose.
"AHHH!" It was her final push, an opening slightly larger than any before by not even a second. She took it and pushed with all her might. The rainbow helix of power surged backward by Nightmare's dark blue magic. The heroines had nothing left. The Elements had used every ounce of their magic reserves. The light from their eyes faded as they dropped in a heap on the floor. Each had just enough time to look and watch a torrent of evil magic rush to consume them. The Elements were useless; the ponies couldn't move. They gave everything they had.
But for some, that's still not enough. Some like Twilight Sparkle. She had found others she could call friends. Even if it was only for a single night, it didn't matter. These ponies had followed her knowing this could happen. They stood beside her until the end; that kind of loyalty deserved recognition. Twilight knew that. Her body was numb, but that was okay. She didn't need to stand. At the last second, she called a simple barrier spell. A spell that in all right should have just crumpled under Nightmare's magic. It didn't however. It came to a great cost, something Twilight understood before ever trying to cast the spell. The pain that engulfed her body, head, and most of all, her horn, forced shrieks from the deepest parts of her throat. Her hooves spasmed, digging into the castle floors to the point of bleeding.
It became a subconscious effort on Twilight's part to keep the shield up until the end of Nightmare's display of power. Once it was over, the roof and walls were peeled away, revealing the night sky. Nightmare Moon huffed at the surge of magic and adrenaline that destroyed a huge chunk of the castle and forest. If by some miracle, the very floor they stood on, be it deeply scarred, remained in one piece. Despite the carnage, however, only one thing had the lunar queen's eye: the six ponies who were indeed not ash in the wind. It was unbelievable. Still, it was amusing to watch the biggest thorn in her side lay unmoving.
"Come on partner. Wake up." Applejack, the firm, orange earth pony shook. Despite her hard exterior, she acted with delicacy. In any other situation, no one would had believed seeing the farmer like this. Fluttershy, the butter yellow pegasus tried her best to look after her friends bleeding hooves. Pinkie Pie, the most jovial of the bunch had the sails taken right out of her. Her once pink and fluffy cotton candy-like mane was deflated as she hugged her unmoving friend. Rarity, a pristine white unicorn who had a heavy disdain for anything dirty didn't hold any reservation turning her attention to the blood seeping from Twilight's horn. She knew what this was; she had heard of it in foals tales. To see it actually happen to her newest friend was a cold, unbearable truth.
Rainbow Dash, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, had turned her attention to Twilight's prone form. Instead of crowding in further, she had turned her attention to Nightmare Moon. She had faith in her friends to take care of Twilight, but somepony had to stop Nightmare Moon. Shakily, she found her hooves. She gave her wings a test flap, pleased she had enough strength to at least distract the Alicorn.
"Alright girls, new plan," Rainbow Dash quietly voiced. The other's turned to see a fierce determination. "Get Twilight out of here. I'll distract big and ugly." The four obviously had severe reservations.
"Yer not doin' this alone." Applejack stated with finality. She was the second of the group to find the strength to stand.
"Yeah Dashie. We're–We're a team." Pinkie was conflicted between trying to stand up or just continue hugging her unconscious friend.
"It's not safe darling." Rarity voiced, her head resting against Twilight's. The blood was staining her coat, but this was the only thing she could do to help. That's if those fouls tales held any truth. Still, it was the only reference she had.
"We can run away together." Fluttershy didn't sound too confident, but she didn't want to see another one of her friends get hurt again. If Rainbow did stay behind, she didn't want to imagine what would happen to her.
"Girls, you have to go." Rainbow Dash didn't leave any room for negotiation. "The quicker you get out of here, the quicker I can make my great escape too. So go. I'm, tired and ready for a nap." She finished with a smirk to her friends before jetting to surprise the night queen. Applejack hated with everything she had to leave her friend behind, but she was the only one physically able to carry Twilight. The other's looked lucky to even carry themselves.
"Give 'er Tartarus girl." With a resolute huff, she hauled Twilight onto her back. Pinkie and Rarity aided Fluttershy to her hooves as they made their way down the crumbling tower.
Nightmare Moon was feeling good after her rush. Sure, she was more drained than she planned to be, but she had done it. She had defeated those accursed stones. She had punished the one who tried to imprisoner her back on the moon. It wasn't quite enough, but it was a start. For now, she'd wait for Twilight to recover before breaking her again. Hence why she was letting the other lesser ponies talk. It would have been foals play to just vaporize them, but that wouldn't had been punishment. No, that would have merely been relief. Besides, every moment those ponies took to talk, she got to recover. Each second she could feel her waning power return thanks to her moon. This was the true strength of an Alicorn.
So she's finally ready to play. Nightmare knew just from the stance of the small blue pony what they were planning. No matter what they decided, it was a futile resistance, but it was amusing. Nightmare honestly couldn't decide what to do. Should she end this pony quickly in hopes of breaking the others? Maybe she should play with the blue one and make her her personal plaything? The hilarity of seeing their faces again as their own friend tried to kill them, that was a delightful thought. But no, a simple route was in order. The quickest way to gain obedience: mutilation. She'd drag the ragged remains of this pony back to town and demand their allegiance or meet the same fate. That would be her plan.
A plan she could begin to enact now as the blue one flew right at her. Nightmare Moon was honestly impressed with her display of speed. Not because it matched her, no, she was leagues ahead of this pony. The fact she could even fly at all after being drained by the Elements spoke volumes of this ponies magical reserves. With a simple thought of back-hoofing this mortal pony, she quickly discarded it to teleport away. She didn't want to end this too early after all.
Buck! She's playing with me! This was at the forethought of Rainbow Dash as her right hoof soared for the night queen's temple. It would had been a devastating blow, but she seemingly waited to teleport at the last second just to mock her.
"Where are you looking my little pony?" Rainbow couldn't even react before she felt her tail tugged, throwing her backward toward Nightmare. Rainbow's eyes trembled at seeing what the evil Alicorn was trying to do. Her head was leveled, trying to impale her onto the Alicorn's horn. She had just enough time to finesse herself to avoid the large appendage. Her hooves landed roughly on the ground behind Nightmare, catching herself from tripping and taking back to the air. She kept her flight pattern unpredictable as she turned back to face the evil queen, finding her just smirking confidently.
Nightmare stood watching the pegasus fly like a drunken bird. She laughed to herself, knowing the pegasus thought she was being smart. If she had wanted too, she could have finished this in seconds. Why rush though? She had waited a thousand years, what was another few hours? Minutes? She hadn't fully decided how long her patience ran. Oh, she's finally turning back around? As the pegasus rushed back toward her, cocking her hoof back again, Nightmare let out a snort. All she did was twitch her wing and she was gone from the cyan mare's view. It didn't matter how fast a mortal pegasus was, they didn't compare to an Alicorn of any age.
Rainbow was ready to give one strong haymaker, but she was gone before her hoof could connect. Unlike last time, there was no accompanying flash of magic. Maybe her eyes just didn't catch it, but something in her gut told her how bad the situation escalated.
"What's wrong? Lose me again?" Rainbow whirled around just in time to block a heavy blow to her face. The force from her single hoof crashing into her double hoof guard left her vision blurry. She swore her left hoof was fractured. Using the momentum, she made some distance. She had to remember she wasn't trying to win, just stall. A feat more difficult for her than she cared to admit. Tack on the fact she might be faster than her made her blood rage. Or maybe that was just the adrenaline?
"Oh, you have some training after all." Rainbow snarled at the obvious jab. "Tell me little pony, what do you hope to accomplish? The Elements are gone, your solar whorse is gone, your friend's magic is gone, so, why isn't your hope?" Rainbow Dash didn't respond. She already knew something bad happened with the Elements. They weren't around their necks any more. It was as if they weren't even there to begin with. Princess Celestia, she was sure Nightmare did something to her, but she knew she wasn't gone. They could save her. Now Twilight, she didn't expect that. Her ears nearly bled at her shrieking, but losing her magic, that wasn't possible, was it?
"So what?" Rainbow finally settled on. "Who cares if the Elements didn't work? We'll still kick your flank!" The triumphant smirk of Nightmare finally took a shift. In a way, Rainbow considered that a victory in and of itself. Though what replaced it was a nasty, hateful scowl. Maybe it wasn't so much a victory after all.
So that's what she thinks? Nightmare growled to herself. Okay pony, I'm done playing. All it took was a single flick from each of her wings to get right inside Rainbow's guard. Rainbow Dash didn't even have time to ready herself before she found spittle flying out her mouth, her body laying prone over her hoof. With a flick of magic, Nightmare grabbed the pegasus by the tail, flinging her into the awaiting castle floor. Not wasting a second, she descended upon her, hooves stomping mercilessly into the smaller mare. Blood and spit came from her mouth as the floor crumpled from the blow, sending both to the first floor.
Rainbow Dash didn't know what was happening. One second she was in the air, the next she was barely conscious back inside the castle. She scraped at the floor to find her hooves and look for her assailant. "Impressive." There was no snappy response from the cyan pegasus this time. Her movements were sluggish at best. Her body hurt too badly. Flying wasn't an option, both wings felt like they were lying over a searing stove. "So what to you plan on doing now?" She finally found Nightmare looking down on her from a collapsed staircase. What could she say? She hadn't hurt this bad since, well, ever. Maybe that one time she flew into a cactus was a close second.
"What do you think? I'm going to kick your flank." It was that bloody, confidant smirk that irked Nightmare Moon more than anything. She had literally stomped the air from this small pegasus, took away her only means to fight, and she was still resisting her. Enough was enough. This pony would be a prime example for the others. Once she dragged her corpse back to that backwater town, they'd all bow before her.
"Then suffer a warrior's death." Rainbow Dash didn't have a second to prepare as she felt her body being pulled in a way she didn't want. She found herself hurled across the room, through the exterior wall and back outside. It was only stubbornness that she was even awake right now. Any pony less and Rainbow believed they wouldn't even be alive right now. She thanked her parents for her hardy body, but at this rate, she wouldn't make it. She had to find a way to get away. Luckily, as dense as the Everfree was, she could make a getaway. Assuming, of course, nothing got too hungry in there.
"Don't even think about it pony." Just making it to her hooves, she couldn't do anything as she seen a dense ball of magic hovering just above Nightmare's horn. "I said suffer a warrior's death." The last thing Rainbow felt was a searing pain.