A/N: Another chapter done! Yeah, I know it's a bit short, but it all leads up to the action that awaits in the next chapter! Also, Happy July the 1st! It's Canada Day to all the canadian fanfiction readers out there reading this! Another thing I forgot to do in the last chapter was point out the song name. For those who didn't know what the song was, it was "You'll Be Happy (Just Say Yes)" from The Secret of NIMH 2. In this chapter, it's a little something from a band I listen to called Avantasia. But now, onto the review responses! (I already responded to Owldusk, so it's all good.)

Tison Valane: Thank you for the two reviews, you wanted a new chapter: You have a new chapter! :)

I start to feel my conscious start to kick back in awakening, with the message coming across to tell me to wake up. My eyes are still closed, but the environment starts to come back audible again. The many voices of the innocent start to fade in, talking around me. But the sound of their voices… it sounded like something definitely was wrong.

I let out a bit of a groan and begin moving my closed eyes, getting the attention of the many ponies surrounding me. My sense of feel comes back and I could feel myself lying on the grass by the feeling of its soft-cut. Did I actually make a soft landing, or did somepony catch me as I fell? "He's waking up! Notify Princess Twilight!" I could hear a voice cry out.

I groan loudly as I slowly start to move my eyelids open. Everything seems to be blurred with various colours and the darkened sky above them. Everypony continues to sound like they are concerned and worried about me. One of those colours I could recognize was Lyra Heartstrings herself, I couldn't see her face yet… but I could tell she was probably tearing up about the condition I was in. "Don't worry Brayden," The soft, alarmed voice of Fluttershy said to me while touching my left hand with her hoof. "Everything's going to be okay."

The vision in my eyes starts to clear up and I could tell by Fluttershy's face that she was deeply worried about me and if I was hurt by the long fall. Her gentle and soft hoof begins to gently pull me up by my hand, to put me in a sitting position. I manage to pull in a little strength to help in balancing me from falling backwards back towards the ground. Fluttershy places her left front hoof onto my right shoulder and gently rubs it to comfort me from what has happened.

"Rainbow Dash found you falling from the sky and unconscious. Thank goodness that she caught you just in time," Fluttershy says, looking at Rainbow Dash who I suspected was behind me. "If you fell all the way to the ground, you would've been hurt. But seeing all the cuts on you, It looks like you are hurt."

"Excuse me please!" I heard in the group of the ponies, coming through and moving. It was my marefriend Twilight all by herself. I did kind of figure that Spike was asleep because the night had come so early again. Upon seeing me in that harmed condition, she gasped when she noticed the cuts, including the one across my eye. "Brayden, are you alright?!" She says in the tone that could tell that she was worried and concerned about how bad my injuries were.

I look up into her eyes, but then look down at the ground at my bare feet. I'm slowly shaking my head and sigh sadly. "No… I'm not alright," I said to everypony who was there to support and care for me. "Nightmare Moon has returned and is holding the princesses, Coco, Rarity and most likely, her younger sister hostage." The only response I get in return from everypony was loud gasps and worried looks on their faces, which I did suspect would happen if I told them everything in a nutshell.

"Is that why the moon has blocked out the sun? Wouldn't Princess Celestia and Luna be able to just move it out of the way?" Fluttershy asked, sounding a little bit confused and scared at the same time.

I sigh sadly and gently place my hand on Fluttershy's shoulder to comfort the scared mare. "It's not possible… Nightmare Moon I suspect must have jammed their magic and now she holds onto that magic." The result of my telling causes a few of the townsponies to gasp and faint. "Then it must be true now… Nightmare Moon has returned to bring everlasting night."

Rainbow Dash trots towards me and places her hoof onto my right hand. "But this can't be happening! Without the sun, no plants will grow and nor will any apples. What about the cider!" She said to me in a worried and panicked voice. I already knew that Rainbow Dash really loved Apple Cider.

"I'm not sure about it Dash," I said to her. "If nopony can stand up to the now-Queen of Equestria… then it looks like she's already won."

"Don't say such a thing!" Fluttershy said to me, gently taking my hand with her hooves. "We all know that you can talk Nightmare out of this. Even without the elements, our friendship can help to take the evil out of her.

I could hear the sound of clapping right behind me. Fluttershy, Dash and the rest of my friends were honestly looking in that direction. I slowly turn around and upon seeing who was clapping at the sight; I just roll my eyes in annoyance. It's only Discord, probably trying to pull some antics to try and fool around with all of us.

"What a story Fluttershy," Discord praises, clapping his eagle claw and lion arm together. "That does remind me of when I was still in stone, watching as she returned."

"Discord!" Twilight said with her tone of voice sounding really annoyed by the presence of the draconequus. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was just sitting by the wonderful view of the lake during the day just minding my own business when the moon blocked the sun," Discord confessed, raising both of his arms in a surrender like position. "A few minutes after, I noticed a shape beginning to fall from the sky and realized that it was Brayden. I planned on making a huge bunch of pillows for him to land on safely… but seeing how Rainbow Dash has already saved him first, I decided to come along and see if my 'friend' here is alright and safe."

"Well, you already know what is happening!" I shouted at Discord, standing up slowly on the ground. "Look around you Discord! It's the dark eternal night! Don't you see that?"

"Oh I was trying to help you first," Discord said, crossing his arms and giving me a firm pout on his face. "Seems that you don't believe me though."

"Look Discord," Rainbow Dash said, flying towards Discord and going eye-to-eye with him. "I saw him first and figured he would get hurt. He should thank me."

I begin to notice the dark clouds above start to gather in the sky, covering the mountain and the view of Canterlot. No heavy winds seem to blow just like a storm; it seemed rather calm and blissful. I begin to witness the amounts of falling snowflakes slowly drift down towards the ground, everypony around me seems to be very silent. Surprisingly, it had also stopped Rainbow Dash and Discord from getting into another pointless argument of who did who. By the look of the snowy weather, Nightmare Moon was already starting to control the fate and directions of the weather.

"Nightmare's starting to control the weather!" I said to the townsponies. "If I were you, I would get indoors and keep yourselves warm. By the look of it, it's going to get a lot colder."

"But Brayden, you just fell from Canterlot and nearly got hurt," Twilight said in a worried tone. She gently takes my left hand with right front hoof. "What are you planning to do?"

I gently hold her cooling and soft hoof and look into her eyes. "I'm going back to Canterlot. I have to stop Nightmare Moon from freezing Equestria." I tell her, bringing more worry to her.

"No, don't do it," Twilight says to me in a tone that almost sounded like she was begging. "You'll only get hurt more if you try to take her on without the elements. We had to give them to the Tree of Harmony to save Equestria."

"But what about the Sword of Unity?" I asked her, starting to notice that the chill was starting to come in through the town. "Isn't there something like that in one of your books?"

"I might be able to look up how it works." Twilight said, gently rubbing my hand with her hoof. "We just have to get to the library to find where it is and how it can help-"

"Found it!" I could hear Pinkie Pie shout out with a book at the tip of her nose, trying to balance it just right. She finally tosses it to Twilight, who caught the descending book with her own magic. She brings the brown covered book closer to her and opens it up, beginning to flip through the paper pages. She scans for a few moments to look for the page that could bring up anything on the Sword. What seemed like only a few seconds became a minute and she finally found the page I was looking for.

"According to this history book," Twilight stated as she was reading the book out loud. I joined her by her side to see the text of the book and if there were any images of the sword itself. "It says that it wasn't always called the Sword of Unity. An old unicorn elder called it the 'Song of Order'. The blade can only be wielded by only one different from us: A singer with a golden soul."

"I can sing well, but how can one wield it when we don't know where it is?" I asked, sounding a bit desperate to know where the sword was.

Twilight continues "I'm afraid that this book claims that not even the greatest pony of all can find the sword either. It's resting place… is unknown."

"I knew it…" I said, sounding very sad. "And because of me, I ended up helping to bring Nightmare Moon back."

"Brayden," I could hear Fluttershy's soft voice say to me. She gently places her hoof onto the top of my hand. "It wasn't your fault. I ended up experiencing those nightmares as well."

"I know, but…" I said, knowing that it was still my fault for letting Nightmare recharge into power from my own emotions. I slowly begin to tear up. "I helped her get through emotions of mine, they allowed her to get stronger… and now she's holding the princesses and my three friends. It's my fault."

The tears continue to stream down my face, with my eyes curved in a sad puppy-like state. I turn towards the plains of Equestria and begin to run for my life. I couldn't see everypony's faces, but I could tell that they were shocked by what I told them and confessed.

"Brayden, wait!" Twilight called out behind me.

I was too upset by my own guilt and betrayal to these ponies. I needed to be alone and have my own privacy for a while. And I know where I needed to go to just cry my eyes out for a while.

Nightmare Moon's POV

I peek out over the large window and slowly observe the dark and cold clouds rolling on into Ponyville down below. Sure I couldn't see what was happening through the fluffs of weather clouds… but knew that my plan was already starting to work. I make a bone-chilling laugh and step back while the rest of my conjured Royal Guards begin to clean up the mess I made to get rid of that pathetic human Brayden. I turn around towards the rest of my new throne room.

The carpet in the throne room was now fresh with a new colour… the blessed colour of my night. Each royal guard stood by the double doors to wait for any hostile intruder who would dare to attack me and try to rid my night. There was no possible way that I'll ever give the ponies of Equestria back their precious day and night balance. The night was way too beautiful for me… I want it to be eternal. The night must last forever!

I finally trot towards the two princesses in a magical bubble prison that I had the pleasure to place them in. After all, didn't want them to run out crying for help as damsels in distress. It's always the most boring cliché. How do I know about clichés? Well, I looked through Brayden's memories while recharging and found out what they were.

"You will not prevail." Princess Celestia says to me in a very firm tone of voice while she looked upon me with a fixed glare. "Leave my subjects alone."

"Whatever." I scoff at her, not believing a single word she said and her warning. "They are all my subjects now and they shall hear what I need them to hear. Your endless debates against evil and the eternal night, they've all come to an end now."

"Twilight and her friends will stop you." Celestia argues back at me, sounding almost like a mother punishing her son or daughter. But at least she doesn't sound like a screaming goat when she yells. "And they will do everything in their path to make sure you don't freeze all of Equestria. Look at what you're doing now Nightmare! You're going to hurt everypony with the cold!"

I was like 'pffft' and laughed when she told me that Equestria was going to freeze if I didn't stop. I'm just thankful they didn't mention my banishment to the moon a thousand years ago. Celestia was a fool to have me banished to the moon, while in possession of Princess Luna and her jealousy. "That's why I have plans for the both of you later in the months ahead." I tell them, glaring with a smile.

Celestia gasped when she thought what I happened to be thinking at the same time. She charged up to the side of the bubble. "You won't hurt us yourself!" She says in the angriest voice I may have ever heard come out of Celestia's mouth which both surprised and amused me at the same time. "You wouldn't dare to hurt us in front of our subjects! They'll send their attacks towards you!"

"Oh they wouldn't dare try." I said to her, smiling at her angry face. "That's why I have my personal royal guards to defend me. One single beam towards me, they will have that single pony executed."

"You monster!" Princess Luna shouts at me, grabbing my complete and full attention. I just laugh and trot to Luna's side of the dark bubble and look into the eyes of the fake Princess of the Night. Only I can be the true Queen of the Night.

"Ah, so the fraud speaks." I say to her, my voice almost sounding like as much as a scorn. "How does it feel now Princess Luna? How does it feel, not being able to control the moon?"

"I already know that Brayden will return. I saved him before, but he'll save me and my sister this time in return of favor!" Luna says to me, only getting a laugh out of me in response.

"Brayden is dead!" I said to her, staring deep into Luna's angered eyes. "There is no other possible way that he would have survived that fall. If crashing waves of water and sharp rocks didn't kill him, the long fall finished him once and for all."

"He may not be as much a fighter," Luna said, placing her head against the bubble as if trying to ram through and break free to attack. "But he definitely has a soul of gold and a loving heart!"

"I've already told you… HE. IS. DEAD." I said, arousing my anger even more. "There is no other way that he would survive."

"He will!" I could hear that Canterlot sound like voice saying from across the room. I growled at first, but smiled when I saw who it was. Rarity… the element of Generosity. She was being held in another magical bubble with her sister and friend Coco Pommel.

"Ah Rarity." I said, trotting closer towards her cage. "It's such a disappointment that you really could not appreciate the beauty of my eternal night. I would have used your help to create my own personal bath robes and for you to be my personal dress maker."

"Me, your personal dress-maker?" Rarity says, gasping. Her frightened face turns into such a glare. "I would never make any dress for anypony wicked and evil as you!"

I just roll my eyes as she complained that how evil and wicked I was, it's your typical Rarity being a drama queen as ever before. She's always been quite the drama queen and always will be before my own eyes. Nothing changes for her.

"Your highness," One of my royal guards says to me, turning my head towards the guard in a patient fast-paced manner. "The skies are building up over the bottom of the land and the wind chills are starting to gradually pick up. It won't be long until ponies start to catch colds from the snowy weather."

"Thank you for informing me this." I say to my guard and my eyes turn to the princesses' prison. They seem to be rather angrier about this. They wouldn't dare try to break out and banish me again to the moon, even if they tried to break out, the magic of their bubble prison will electrocute them for a brief moment. I didn't want them killed. I wanted them to see what I could do as the Queen of Equestria.

I trot back towards the throne that ruled all of Equestria with an iron hoof and sat down, watching all of the royal guards at work and my own personal prisoners in their prisons giving me their best glares which really amused me. I slowly stand up from my throne and prepare my loudest Royal Canterlot Voice to all of Canterlot as a warning to all who were unaware that I had returned.

I clear my throat and then shout "To all of Equestria who wonders why the night had returned so fast! It is I, Nightmare Moon who has returned in a whole new form of body! No longer do I possess your precious Princess Luna. But you shall all appreciate my night and every single one of its beauties… the night… will last… FOREVER!"

Brayden's POV

I walk slowly through the plains of Equestria, looking down in shame for what I done. The plants on the ground start to slowly catch the gentle snowfall that was brought high up in the clouds. The lake in the distance begins to slowly form in some ice over-top of its watery surface. What if passing animals need something to drink in the cold?

"Oh Celestia… how could I have done this?" I said, in a gentle and sad voice as the last of my tears froze up on my face and dropped towards the ground where all the snow lay. "Why do I try to make peace and not fight with them? Why couldn't I fight Nightmare Moon?"

The snowflakes start to fall with a gentle drift into my hair, and the wind was starting to grow colder than ever before. I can feel a little bit of myself starting to shiver a bit, because I'm not as furred as the other ponies in Equestria. Everything sounds peaceful and quiet out here in the plains, with only the accompaniment of wind begin heard in the night. But that wasn't the only sound by that; I could hear the sound of hooves travelling closer towards me from behind. I turn around to see who it was trying to approach me. I recognized that color when I saw it. It was only Twilight herself, surprising me that she didn't use her wings to fly over as fast as she could.

"Wait!" She says, slowing down to a stop near me and begins to take breaths after all that galloping through the snow. "Don't go."

"But what else am I to do Twilight?" I say to her, looking into her beautiful eyes. "I was the one who started this. The one who let Nightmare Moon return. I should be responsible for it."

Twilight gently took my left hand with her two hooves and said "Brayden, please listen to me. It wasn't your whole doing. I also happened to be a part of the nightmares that she was placing into my head. Somehow that also helped her to come back."

"So it was only me, Fluttershy and you that suffered?" I asked, gently holding onto her soft hoof. "Didn't she try to pick our other friends?"

"Believe me when I say this, but Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity also suffered from nightmares as well." Twilight said, getting much closer to me while giving me a bit of comfort. "They all came to me to tell me all about them. I'm just thankful that Princess Luna came into our dreams to help stop Nightmare Moon… but the damage already came by."

I sighed and looked up to the cloudy skies. A small hole in the clouds revealed the large white full moon to both me and Twilight. None of us moved an inch, we just kept our eyes on the celestial body that lay high in the sky among the stars. The moon's light bathed both me and her in the silence. I finally take a deep breath and begin to sing.

Wandering barefoot into nowhere

Just another winter's night

And I don't feel gravity anymore

You'd never lie, never cry

Never talk me out of dreams

And a dream is what remains

I could feel Princess Luna's presence near me. I'm surprised when I can see her spirit in front of the both of us. Even though she is far in Canterlot and captured, I could feel her close by. I can see her spirit begin to sing to me.

Tell me don't you see what ain't there

When you look in the mirror

You're starving away like a candle burning down

Miles away, miles away

You've been cutting off the rope

Letting go and losing ground

The spirit of Princess Luna trots closer to me, leaving no hoof-prints in the snow below. She joins me in the moonlight, looking at each together in a way of trust. Both of us begin to sing in harmony together.

And I...

Wonder who's to blame

As I...

Sleepwalk in the rain

It's my, my silent victory over gravity

And I...

Sleepwalk in the rain

The spirit of Princess Luna grows sad and softly fades off into the night. I lower my head in sadness, but hear Twilight's hooves crunching in the snow towards me. She takes my hand with her hoof and joins me in the moonlight together, singing.

Winter sky far and wide

Caving in one you and me

Like a brittle wall of the emerald room:

The hall of fame and dying dreams

The love we'd die for: Petrified

I wanna know: Does a frozen river flow?

Twilight finally grabs a hold of me and begins to flap her wings with snow rising below us in the activity. She moves forward towards the frozen lake down below on the ground with the bits of snow swirling in peace around us.

And I...

Wonder who's to blame

As I...

Sleepwalk in the rain

It's my, my silent victory over gravity

And I...

Sleepwalk in the rain

Twilight holds me closer to make sure I don't fall down again. I look up at her into her eyes and she lets out a small smile at me with a wink from her eyes. She slowly lowers down to the ground again near the peaceful town of Ponyville. The snow that had swirled around us falls to the ground once again to join with the freezing grass. Twilight eventually sets down on the ground with her four hooves and sings with me again.

And I...

Wonder who's to blame

As I...

Sleepwalk in the rain

It's my, my silent victory over gravity

And I...

Sleepwalk in the rain

When the both of us had finished singing, Twilight placed her two front hooves around me, bringing me into a comforting romantic hug. I wrap my arms around the back of my special somepony and shared the hug with her, gently nuzzling her left cheek with my own.

"I'm so sorry I put my doubts in myself and blamed my faults on me." I said, apologizing to her for the mistake I made.

"Don't be sorry." Twilight says, gently releasing the hug a bit and using her soft hoof. "Remember how brave you are. You can help to deal with this situation."

A freezing chill came past the both of us and I begin to shiver like crazy. Twilight gasps in worry and uses one of her wings to curl around me. "You're starting to get cold Brayden. Without fur like us, you'll freeze." She says to me, worried. "It must be that without sunlight, anypony will be frozen solid."

I feel a little warmer by Twilight's wing, but it isn't enough though. If the sun doesn't come out in the next few days, pretty much everypony here including me is dead. My eyes open up when I realize that a vision has come to me again. This image was completely different though… it was me battling Nightmare Moon in the throne room of Canterlot with a giant two-handed sword called claymores. But I was unable to get a clear description of what the claymore looked like. Somehow though, I knew that it had to be the Song of Order.

I begin to look firm and tall. "We have to stop Nightmare Moon. Gather our friends together, we need to have the magic of friendship in order to help me fight her." I said to Twilight, placing my hands on both of her shoulders.

"But Brayden," Twilight said sounding really worried. "You nearly died from that fall. Don't you think you should take some rest for a bit?"

"Every second we waste, the land is going to get a lot colder down here." I tell her, sounding very honest. "Even with your fur to protect, the chill will eventually break through and freeze you to death. You have to trust me on this Twilight."

Twilight sighed sadly and said "I'm really worried about your condition though, and judging by the weather… the cold will freeze your open cuts. It could kill you."

"Canterlot seems to be the safest place then. It's above the clouds and it shouldn't be a problem." I tell her, continuing to shiver.

Twilight ignites the magic on her horn, and powers it to create a warm blanket for me. She wraps it around me to keep me warm for as long as it can. She moves her wing off of me. "I hope you're right Brayden. Please be safe."

"I will Twilight." I say to her, gently moving my hand to her mane and gently stroking it softly. "I pinkie promise." I move my head towards her and press my lips onto hers, sharing a kiss with her momentarily.

I finally turn towards the train station. "Get our friends over to the train station where I'll be. We're catching the next train to Canterlot." I shout to her over the calm and gentle wind.

Twilight nods in understanding and flaps her wings, flying off to Sweet Apple Acres. I watch as she went off to tell Applejack of my supposed plan. This was it though. No turning back once we get on the train boarding for Canterlot.

Nightmare Moon had to be stopped once and for all before ponies started to die from the cold. But somewhere inside my heart, something was telling me a different kind of message. I had a different feeling that I didn't want to hurt Nightmare Moon. I feel like I wanted to help her at the same time.

Only the Song of Order could help, but I had no idea what it did… so I had to think of something to help Nightmare Moon. I enjoyed the day and night balance, but something felt different when Nightmare Moon came into my thoughts… as much I wanted to help protect everypony and my special somepony from harm, I wanted to also protect Nightmare Moon.

I had a decision to make.