My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Return of Nightmare Moon Pt. 1

A/N: Happy New Year! Yes, it is the start of a new year and I've decided to post today since I have back-to-back opening shifts at work once again. Although I expect that with school starting up again tomorrow, at least here in Utah, things will start to slow down a bit, and there will be less stress. Now this is the pilot episode of the series, but I named it Return of Nightmare Moon, and Twilight Sparkle and Sunrise Blossom will be reunited in this story, just not right away. So, enough rambling from me, and be sure to let me know what you think in the reviews.

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.


PROLOGUE: IS THE LEGEND TRUE?

`"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night.

`"One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon. She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both…sun and moon…and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since."`

Twilight Sparkle, who was sitting under a tree with her book-bags and a stack of book, paused in her reading since something about that last sentence had sounded familiar. "Hmm… Elements of Harmony. I know I've heard of those before… but where?" she wondered as she quickly packed up her books and hurried back toward Canterlot.


Reaching the campus of Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight Sparkle was running across a bridge when she nearly ran into three unicorns: Twinkleshine, who had light gold/gray skin, arctic blue eyes, and pale pink hair; Lemon Hearts, who had brilliant yellow skin, raspberry red eyes, and light blue hair; and Minuette, who had light blue skin, sapphire blue eyes, and dark blue hair with gray highlights.

"There you are, Twilight!" Twinkleshine exclaimed brightly while balancing three presents on her back. "Moon Dancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard. You wanna come?"

'I completely forgot about the party!' Twilight Sparkle thought, but she pushed her guilt aside. "Oh, sorry, girls…I've got a lot of studying to catch up on," she apologized before running off once again.

Twinkleshine watched her go and shook her head, sighing. "Does that pony do anything except study?" she wondered. "Ever since Sunrise Blossom moved to Ponyville, Twilight spends all her time with those book. I think she's more interested in books than friends." And her two friends agreed before continuing over the bridge to attend the party.


Meanwhile at the tower that she called home, Twilight Sparkle raced up the stairs and entered the library located on the top floor. "I know I've heard of the Elements of Harmony," she muttered as she magically slammed the door open, unaware that a certain baby dragon had been about to open it.

"Ow!" Spike yelped as he crashed onto the floor, damaging the present he'd been carrying.

"Spike!" Twilight Sparkle called out as she magically removed her book-bags and looked around for her assistant. "Spi-ike! Spike?" Hearing a groan, she spotted him sprawled on the floor. "There you are. Quick, find me that old copy of Predictions and Prophecies," she ordered and noticed the ruined present as the baby dragon got up to look for the book. "What's that for?" she inquired.

Spike picked up the present and sighed sadly. "Well, it was a gift for Moon Dancer, but…"

"Oh Spike, you know we don't have time for that sort of thing," Twilight Sparkle reminded him as she went to search the shelves for the book she needed.

"But we're on a break!" Spike exclaimed, shocked that she wasn't going to go to the party.

Twilight Sparkle ignored that as she searched the shelves, but she couldn't find the book. "No, no, no…no, no, no! Spike!"

Spike, who'd set aside the present and climbed up a ladder, found the book and pulled it off the shelf. "It's over here!" He then yelped when the female unicorn magically yanked the book out of his claws and he landed on the floor with a pained grunt.

Setting the book on the table, Twilight Sparkle magically flipped through the pages until she found the correct page. "Ah! Elements, Elements, E, E, E…" she muttered, scanning the page. "Aha! Elements of Harmony, see: Mare in the Moon?" she read, perplexed.

"Mare in the Moon?" Spike repeated skeptically as he got up and brushed his scales off. "But that's just an old ponies' tale."

Twilight Sparkle ignored him and flipped through the pages again until she found the right one. "Mare, mare…aha!" she exclaimed and began reading. "The Mare in the Moon, myth from olden pony times. A powerful pony who wanted to rule Equestria, defeated by the Elements of Harmony and imprisoned in the moon. Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!" She gasped, her eyes going wide with fear. "Spike! Do you know what this means?"

"No-" Spike began and grunted when the unicorn magically forced a piece of parchment and a quill into his claws, almost knocking him down again. "Whoa! Ow!"

"Take a note please, to the Princess," Twilight Sparkle requested as she began pacing.

Spike nodded. "Okie dokie."

"My dearest teacher," she began, "my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that we are on the precipice of disaster!"

Spike was writing the sentence and frowned, unsure of how to spell 'precipice'. "Hold on. Preci…preci…"

"Threshold," the unicorn suggested.

"Threh…" Spike mumbled, but he wasn't sure of how to spell that word either and looked at her questioning.

"Uh, brink? Ugh, that something really bad is about to happen!" Twilight Sparkle finally snapped and sighed while forcing herself to remain calm as her assistant resumed writing. "For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria, and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

"Twi…light Spar…kle," Spike repeated, writing her name with ease. "Got it!"

Twilight Sparkle was relieved. "Great! Send it."

"Now?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course!"

"Uh, I dunno, Twilight, Princess Celestia's a little busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration," Spike reminded her. "And it's like, the day after tomorrow."

Twilight Sparkle sighed and faced him. "That's just it, Spike. The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration!" she stated, making him jump. "It's imperative that the Princess is told right away!"

"Impera…impera…" Spike stammered.

"Important!" she shouted, exasperated.

Spike jumped and almost dropped the letter. "Whoa! Okay, okay!" He then inhaled and used his green dragon fire to burn the scroll and sent it on its' way. "There, it's on its way. But I wouldn't hold your breath…"

"Oh, I'm not worried, Spike," Twilight Sparkle said confidently. "The Princess trusts me completely. In all the years she's been my and Sunrise Blossom's mentor she's never once doubted me."

Just then, Spike belched out a burst of flame that quickly transformed into a scroll with Princess Celestia's seal on it.

"See?" said the unicorn smugly. "I knew she would want to take immediate action."

Rolling his eyes, Spike unsealed the scroll and cleared his throat before reading the reply. "My dearest, most faithful student, Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely."

Twilight Sparkle nodded, pleased. "Mm-hm!"

"…but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!" Spike exclaimed on the sentence and Twilight Sparkle gasped.

Princess Celestia was actually scolding her?! Why in all of Equestria was she being scolded for do so much research?!


A/N: And that's a wrap for the first part of this story. R&R everyone!