My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Return of Nightmare Moon Pt. 2

A/N: Happy Monday! Well, it's Martin Luther King Day actually, but I'm perkier then usual since I'm coming back from a great vacation that helped me recover from the hectic days I had at work during the holidays, and I'm now here to give you the next installment of My Little Pony series with part two. Will the ponies stop Nightmare Moon, or will she be successful in plunging all of Equestria into a never-ending night? On with the show!

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from My Little Pony: Magic is Friendship. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.


CHAPTER ONE: FACING CHALLENGES PART ONE

As Nightmare Moon laughed evilly from the balcony of the town hall, where the Summertime Celebration was supposed to held in order to celebrate the rising of the summer sun, it had turned into a time of terror with the return of Nightmare Moon, who hadn't been seen in thousand years since being sealed away by the now-missing Princess Celestia.

Mayor Mare managed to pull herself together and pointed a hoof at Nightmare Moon angrily. "Seize her!" she ordered. "Only she knows where the Princess is!" And the royal guard took flight, heading straight toward the threat.

"Stand back, you foals!" Nightmare Moon laughed evilly as lightning lanced out, knocking the guards to the floor while the ponies all fled, screaming. She then turned into a dark blue mist that flew out of the building.

"Ergh…" went Applejack as she finally let go of the blue pegasus' tail.

"Come back here!" Rainbow Dash shouted, flying after the mist, but when she got outside, it had disappeared, and she looked around frantically. "Nighttime? Forever? Where're they going?" she wondered when she saw Twilight Sparkle, with an unconscious Spike on her back, and Sunrise Blossom race out of the building and toward the library.


Reaching the library, Twilight Sparkle took the baby dragon upstairs and placed him in his basket, where he woke up briefly. "Uh… We gotta stop Nightmare!…" and then turned over and went back to sleep.

Twilight Sparkle smiled sadly as she placed a blanket over him. "You've been up all night, Spike. You are a baby dragon after all." She then went back downstairs, where her sister was waiting.

"I'm sorry that I didn't believe you about Nightmare Moon, Twilight," Sunrise Blossom apologized.

"I don't blame you for being skeptical, Sunny," Twilight Sparkle said kindly, "but right now we need to find anything about the Elements of Harmony." And they magically began searching the shelves. "Elements, elements, elements… Ugh! How can we stop Nightmare Moon without the Elements of Harmony?"

Just then Rainbow Dash flew into the library and confronted Twilight Sparkle. "And just what are the Elements of Harmony?" she demanded angrily. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy?" She then got yanked back. "Whoa!"

Applejack, who'd grabbed the blue pegasus tail with her teeth, let go. "Simmer down, Sally," she advised. "She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you, Twilight?" she asked as they were also joined by Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

"I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon," Twilight Sparkle explained. "Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them; I don't even know what they do!"

Pinkie Pie, who'd wandered over to one of the shelves, read aloud one of the titles. "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide."

Twilight Sparkle ran over and bumped her aside. "How did you find that?!" she asked, retrieving the book with her magic.

Pinkie Pie got up and went bouncing around, using her sing-song voice. "It was under "E"!"

"At least we have the right book," said Sunrise Blossom before giving Rainbow Dash a stern look. "And please don't accuse my sister of anything before you have the full facts." And the blue pegasus promised.

Twilight Sparkle opened the book and began searching the contents until she found what she was looking for and began reading, unaware that the mist form of Nightmare Moon was spying on them through one of the windows. "Oh. There are seven Elements of Harmony, but only six are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Knowledge, and Loyalty," she explained. "The seventh is a complete mystery. It is said, the last known location of the six elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now – the Everfree Forest!"


Leaving the library, the seven ponies raced out of the town, and headed for the forest, stopping short of the start of the path to take in the creepiness of the forest.

Pinkie Pie, however, was eager to go. "Whee! Let's go!" And she started forward.

"Not so fast," Twilight Sparkle ordered and the pink pony froze mid-step. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own."

"Twi, there is no way I'm going to let you go in there alone," Sunrise Blossom scolded her twin.

"No can do, sugarcube," Applejack agreed. "We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." And the others agreed as they headed into the forest.

"Especially if there's candy apples in there," Pinkie Pie added as she followed while earning a strange look from Twilight Sparkle. "What? Those things are good."

Twilight Sparkle sighed and she followed them into the Everfree forest.


As they traveled through the forest, Twilight Sparkle noticed how nervous the ponies were, including her own sister. "So, none of you have been in here before?" she inquired.

"Not after we went to rescue the fillies that Shadow Star abducted," Sunrise Blossom answered, shivering at the memories.

Rarity nodded. "Ugh, heavens no! Just look at it – it's dreadful."

"And it ain't natural," Applejack added, unaware that Nightmare Moon, still in mist form, had just slipped inside the rock foundation of the cliff they were traveling along. "Folks say it don't work the same as Equestria."

Twilight Sparkle didn't know what that meant. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nopony knows,"Rainbow Dash said in a spooky voice as she landed and moved creepily around her friends. "You know why?"

"Rainbow, quit it," Applejack snapped.

Rainbow Dash ignored her and crept toward Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. "'cause everypony who's ever come in has never come out!" she shouted, making them jump, and the ground beneath their hoofs suddenly collapsed and, with the except of her and Fluttershy, the other ponies went sliding down the former cliff, screaming. "Fluttershy! Quick!" And she shot after them.

"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness," Fluttershy gasped, flying after her.

Flying quickly, Rainbow Dash scooped up both Pinkie Pie and Sunrise Blossom, who was draped over her back, and Fluttershy rescued Rarity by clamping her tail in her mouth.


Applejack and Twilight Sparkle were still sliding down toward a drop off when the orange pony managed to grab a root with her teeth, but the unicorn was still heading for the drop off and she was screaming.

'Twilight!' Applejack let go of the root and flipped forward as she slid after the unicorn. "Hold on! I'm a-comin'!" she shouted and managed to grab her front hoofs with her own while hooking one of her hind-legs around another root. "Gotcha!"

Twilight Sparkle, who was hanging halfway over the drop off was panicking. "Applejack!" she yelped. "What do I do?"

Applejack hesitated for a moment since she wasn't sure, and then she saw something that gave her hope. "Let go."

"Are you crazy?" Twilight Sparkle demanded.

"No I ain't," Applejack assured her. "I promise you'll be safe."

"That's not true!" Twilight Sparkle protested.

"Now listen here," Applejack said seriously. "What I'm sayin' to you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe."

Twilight Sparkle stared at her for a long moment before nodding and letting go. "Yaaah!" she screamed, heading for the ground far below when she suddenly stopped. She opened her eyes, which had been shut, and saw that she'd been caught by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. "Phew-wah!" she yelped a little when she was almost dropped by the yellow pegasus, and then sighed in relief when they set her on the ground while Applejack jumped from ledge to ledge to get to the ground.

"Twilight! You made it!" Sunrise Blossom exclaimed as she gave her twin sister a hug, which was gladly returned.

"Sorry girls," Fluttershy apologized in her soft voice. "I'm not used to holding anything more than a bunny or two."

While the seven ponies were regrouping to resume their mission, the mist form of Nightmare Moon traveled ahead, searching for something to stop them, and then it came upon a solution and pounced, resulting in a loud, angry, and pain-filled animal roar.


Once the ponies were certain that they were all ok, they found the path and resumed their mission to find the castle and the Elements of Harmony. Of course, they were a bit hampered by the fact that Rainbow Dash couldn't stop gapping about saving Twilight Sparkle earlier, and it was starting to get on their nerves.

"And once Pinkie, Sunrise Blossom, and Rarity were saved, whoosh… Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time," the blue pegasus said for the up-teen time as she flew around the group.

"Yes, Rainbow, I was there," Twilight Sparkled grumbled, "and I'm very grateful, but we gotta-" she stopped and gasped when she saw directly ahead a lion-like creature with batwings, bat ears, and a scorpion tail, roaring and charging in their direction. "A manticore! We've gotta get past him!"

The manticore took a swipe at Rarity, who managed to duck, and she used her hind legs to kick him in the face. "Take that, you ruffian!" she declared and then grimaced when he roared at her, exposing her to his breath, and she was horrified to find that her mane was now a fuzzy mess. "My hair!" she wailed and then ran when he tried to swipe at her again. "Woop!"

Fluttershy, who'd taken the sky upon seeing the manticore, landed and tried to get her friends' attention. "Wait."

Still roaring, the manticore tried to go after Rarity, but stopped when he felt something land on his back - and sure enough, Applejack had jumped onto him.

"YEE-HAW!" she crowed as he tried to buck her off. "Git along, little dogie!" And she was so focused she didn't hear Fluttershy's request to wait, and when the manticore managed to buck her off, she was sent flying past Rainbow Dash. "Whoa! All yours, partner."

Rainbow Dash grinned. "I'm on it." And she flew past Fluttershy, who was now shouting at her to wait, and she went zooming around the manticore, transforming into a rainbow twister. After two minutes of this, the manticore, who was starting to get dizzy, lashed out with his tail, and he sent Rainbow Dash flying.

Screaming, Rainbow Dash hurtled through the air and crashed in front of her friends. "Ow…"

"Rainbow!" Twilight Sparkle gasped, alarmed. She then became angry and, along with Sunrise Blossom, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, they pawed the ground with their hoofs before charging toward the manticore, who was charging toward them-

"WAIT!" Fluttershy screamed, getting between them and forcing them all to stop. She turned to the manticore, who roared when she approached him. "Shhh… It's okay," she said kindly and the manticore began to calm down and he held out one paw, which had a large thorn embedded in it. "Oh, you poor, poor little baby," she cooed.

Rainbow Dash exchanged perplexed looks with her friends. "Little?"

Fluttershy moved closer. "Now this might hurt for just a second," she said, extracted the thorn, resulting in the manticore roaring and he grabbed her into his paws.

"Fluttershy!" the ponies yelped and then their jaws dropped in amazement when they saw that the manticore was licking their friend and purring like a kitty.

Fluttershy giggled. "Aw you're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you?" she asked as he set her down while the others walked passed. "Yes you are, yes you are."

Twilight Sparkle waited for Fluttershy, whose mane was standing up straight from being licked repeatedly. "How did you know about the thorn?" she asked as they went to catch up with their friends.

"I didn't," Fluttershy admitted with a happy smile as she let Rarity restore her mane to its' natural state. "Sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness." And even Twilight Sparkle had to admit that she had a good point.


While the ponies followed the path, the mist-form of Nightmare Moon flew through the trees, and passed over a clump of familiar-looking and slightly glowing red-orange mushrooms. As she passed over, she used her dark magic to dust them so that they looked blue instead before flying onward.


"I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry," Applejack complained, wishing that they'd packed some food earlier.

"Same here," Twilight Sparkle agreed, her own stomach was grumbling from the lack of food, and she wished she'd eaten some of the food at the party last night. She looked at either side of the path to see if there was anything edible and noticed the 'blue' mushrooms through some bushes. "Hey, mushrooms." She pushed through the bushes, enabling the others to see the steams, which were red-orange, and she went to take a bite-

"No!"

Twilight Sparkle grunted as she was tackled by Applejack and Pinkie Pie. "Hey, what gives?!"

"Don't eat those mushrooms, you'll regret it," Applejack warned her.

"Applejack, they're just mushrooms," Twilight Sparkle pointed out.

"No they're not, Twilight," said Sunrise Blossom, walking up and she blew on the mushrooms, making the blue dust disappear and revealing their real color. "Those are Dusk-bloom mushrooms, and had you eaten even a single bite…"

Twilight Sparkle swallowed. "Oh, if I had, I would be asleep by now. Thanks for stopping me."

"No problem, sugar cube," said Applejack as they got up. "Pinkie almost made the same mistake last time, but Sunny was able to warn her before it was too late."

"Smart thinking, Sunny," Twilight Sparkle complimented.

Sunrise Blossom smiled and blushed a little. "What can I say? If you have knowledge, you might as well share it." And Twilight Sparkle agreed, and they resumed walking along the path.


A/N: Three challenges down, more to go in the next installment. And for those wondering about the Elements of Harmony, I invented the Element of Knowledge for Sunrise Blossom, and you'll find out more about that particular element when the time is right. R&R everyone!