The Night Will Last Forever 1

The Night Will Last Forever

Chapter 1: Creation and Destruction

"Hello again…" A voice broke the silence, "I know that you have been suffering for quite some time." A soft but unmoving voice spoke.

"But it's all going to be okay...I know that you will continue to plead with me, and that you will refuse to let me go, but I must do what I must do, for your sake." The voice continued, getting no response from her audience.

"Don't worry about me, I'm going to be alright…you all will…"

Only grey, empty silence answered her, no one was there to reassure her and say 'don't go, please, we love you'.

She didn't care.

She had stopped caring years ago.

Not about those that did not respond, but about the fact that they were not there in the first place. She had almost forgotten what caring for others felt like, and she couldn't take it anymore.

She got up on her hooves from her lonely slump in the grass, her face a mixture of determination and sadness.

No matter how many times she walked through this pitiful landscape, this disgusting tangled mess of land good for nothing but standing on, she always gave that same sigh.

A sigh of deep sadness, one of turmoil, one of pain. But it lacked something that most ponies would be flooded with.

Hate

Anger

Bitterness

Rage

Vengeance

Things that nopony would think twice about feeling. She felt sickened as she recalled the last time she let hate flow through her mind. It had gotten her nowhere, only given her a sickening feeling of regret. She refused to feel these feelings anymore. She felt if love wasn't the answer, then there was no answer.

She started to slowly clop forward, each step crushing the grey, pitiful, useless grass. It couldn't even be used as food anymore. There wasn't anypony alive to try anyway.

The memories of the faded land made her cringe for what seemed the hundredth time today, but of course there were no days here, not in 1000 years. This could not go on anymore…

No, it couldn't, nothing could go on anymore…everything was gone…except the two of them.

As she was slowly bringing her way through the grass she saw the entrance to a horrible forest; an epitome of the destruction that was upon everything around her. There was absolutely nothing alive in this place. Even the worn out trees surrounding the forest had leaves with the same depressing grey color as the grass and the sky.

One couldn't call it a forest anymore, there needs to be life for a forest to exist. But the withered trees and dried up plants continued to grow, as if their poor existences were prolonged only so that they may suffer longer.

The plants grew, but there was no life in them.

A castle loomed overhead as she made her way through the disgusting forest, it was a place she knew quite well. She had come here often, she came here when she was looking for something, and she always found it here. Or more specifically, someone.

"Ah! You have finally arrived, I knew you would be here sooner or later, I'm surprised it took you this long to pull yourself together." A shrill voice said, smiling to herself.

Her voice struck the Mare's body like ice, or it would have, if she had feared the figure standing in front of her.

"SHUT UP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

But she didn't say it out loud, she couldn't, never again.

"Hello." She instead calmly said to the large Black Figure in front of her.

"Good to see you. Come to end your suffering, I admire that." The voice spoke back.

"Not mine, everyone's." The Mare had seen enough of this, this suffering, this pain. She was going to end it all the only way she could. She did not want to, oh how she did not want to, but she knew that it was the only way for the world to be right again.

The Mare nodded, and then five white orbs floated around her enveloping her in pure magic. Magic unlike anything the Black Figure had ever felt before.

"What are you doing?!" She franticly shouted at the glowing mare, now floating several inches in the air.

"I'm sorry you became so lost. I'm sorry all of this happened the way it did."

The mare began to focus on the spell she was trying desperately to cast. It was the hardest spell she had ever cast, almost as powerful as the magic that had created Equestria and the rest of the known world so long ago. The pain from trying to perform the spell powerful enough to create worlds grew; then she began to feel a different kind of pain.

It was not her own pain; it was the pain of every pony that had lived since the Return.

She could feel the sorrows and misery of every pony from history and as she felt their pains, she took them. She took their pain from them, and as she did, she felt it replaced with pure emotions.

Happiness

Confidence

Hope

Love

Understanding

As she took pain and felt it replaced with these wonderful emotions that she so desperately wanted to feel again, all the pain in the universe came together into her body.

She didn't care. She had given herself up to her own choice.

She felt the pain of the Voice that had come from the Black Figure, and tried to take their pain too. She tried harder then she had for anything else in the entire world, just to take their pain from them.

But she could not take it. Then she did something she had not done in hundreds of years.

She cried.

Not from physical pain, but from the sheer suffering that had befallen those whose pain she took.

A lone tear flowed from her eye, trailing down her flaring body down onto the cold dark stone underneath her.

Her tear hit the floor with a small splash, inside were the reflections of thousands of ponies, all happy and smiling amongst each other. They were dead but the Mare gave them a second chance, a new world with a new chance for peace.

White streaks of light shot from the ground and into the sky. Powerful magic seeped out of the earth and converged on the Mare.

The five orbs shook with raw power, but the Mare struggled to keep their strength in check. All she had to do is complete the spell and everything would be all right.

The Black Figure could only stand shocked at the incredible magic being performed in front of her, she could do nothing to stop what was happening. She tried to shield herself from the bright light using her wing.

The pain was unbearable, the Mare felt as if her horn would split open, along with the rest of her body.

But she knew that this was the last thing she could do to help anyone.

The last thing she could do to help anyone in the world.

The last thing she could ever do with her life.

She put her entire being into the spell, the spell that would shape everything that would ever happen after this moment. Her teeth began to crack as she gritted her jaws against the suffering, she felt as if she would burst from the sheer amount of pain. She felt like she was going to die.

NO! She thought to herself, she couldn't die, everything she had ever done would have gone to waste, and she wasn't about to let 10,000 years be lost to this horrid fate.

Then, suddenly, it was all gone, all replaced with white as far as she could see.

She felt…happy…at peace… She almost forgot what she was just doing….maybe the spell had worked…maybe it hadn't. Maybe she had failed and nothing could be done to save that world.

She opened her eyes, and could see a dark blue figure fading away from her. When she did her thoughts froze as she then knew the answer to her own question.

The blue figure started floating far away from her, and she reached out to touch its hooves.

But she could not move, only watch and listen as the dark blue pony turned to her and looked her straight in the eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

"Thank you. Let's do things right this time."

The light blinded them both and everything faded to a pure white. But then from the whiteness came a spark, a small dot which grew and grew until it flared different colors.

The spark grew until it covered everything in a bright white light

====================

"TWILIGHT!"

A young mare fell out of her bed, flailing around in a mess of blankets on the floor. She quickly managed to untangle herself from the sheets to look at the source of her abrupt waking.

"Geez Twilight, I've been trying to get you up for hours!" Came a familiar voice.

Twilight shook her head and looked groggily at her assistant Spike. She grumbled for a few moments, trying to collect her thoughts.

Twilight Sparkle

"I thought you'd never get up!" Spike complained, putting his hands on his hips.

"Me neither," the violet-maned pony confessed, "I had that dream again, the one with the big black alicorn."

"I think you just had a bad apple during dinner" Spike replied, skeptical.

"Again? Maybe once or twice, considering the food poisoning that went around a few weeks ago, but now? It doesn't make sense! I shouldn't still be having the same dream over and over again!" She stomped her hoof on the ground to emphasis her point.

Spike shrugged his shoulders, if something was truly bothering her, then he wanted to help. It's just that he didn't quite see the importance of a reoccurring dream.

"Really Twilight, you're overreacting! Sounds to me like it's just some kind of filly tale or something." Spike said.

"Wait, that's it! Spike you're a genius!" She practically screamed, her eyes widening.

"You bet I am! What would you do without me here to help you with my massive brainpow – wait, I am?" Spike said, confused by what he just heard.

"Yes!" Twilight was practically floating with excitement, "The old mare's tale; The Mare in the Moon! I thought it was just a bunch of ponyfeathers, but it seems so similar to the dream, maybe it has some sort of truth to it!"

"Uh…that's not what I meant Twi…" Spike tried to interrupt, but Twilight was already a flurry of activity, pulling out books from every shelf in her room at Canterlot University.

Spike sighed, he had just arranged those.

She threw seemingly random books in front of her with her magic, then evidently not liking what she saw, tossed them somewhere random in the room.

Spike began to count down on his fingers.

4

3

Twilight frantically rushed around the room, pulling books out of their carefully organized spaces as Spike continued to count down on his fingers

2

1

"SPIIIIIKE!" Twilight shouted from across the room.

"Yeeeees?" He responded in a sarcastic tone, a slight smirk on his face.

"I can't find the book anywhere! Stop standing around and help me look for it!" Twilight commanded with a hint of annoyance.

"But we don't have a copy of it! You're better off with that Predictions and Prophecies hooey." Spike tried to reason with her.

"You're right! That might have something related to The Mare in the Moon! I don't remember seeing one here, but I'm sure the royal library has a copy!" Twilight exclaimed as she rushed to the door.

"But-"

"I'll be back soon Spike!" Twilight turned her head as she ran out the door, "And clean up this mess, I can't study about this weird dream with all these books scattered everywhere!"

Spike crossed his arms, turning to look at the mess he had cleaned up just an hour ago.

"Sheesh Twilight, did you have to check every shelf?" He grumbled to himself. He was just about to get back to his nap too.

-One Hour Later-

Twilight walked out of the Canterlot library, her saddlebag now containing a new gold-colored book. Even though the library was supposed to be a quiet place, a group of fillies and young colts had started to excitedly talk about something. She think she overheard them talking about a party that Moondancer was holding at the courtyard in a few hours. She thought that if she stuck around they might want to even ask her to the party.

She didn't have time for things like parties right now. She had to figure out everything she could these dreams she was having, even if it meant studying through her break. The dream just felt too important to ignore.

Besides, going to a party was not what she wanted to be doing. Even though she knew Moondancer meant well, she thought a party would just be a waste of time.

She hoped no one would recognize her as she made her way out of the library.

Fortunately, she found that one of the surrounding gardens was mostly devoid of anyone to bother her. Maybe now with some peace and quiet she could get some reading done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"-and banished her permanently into the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both the sun and moon. And harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since." Twilight finished reading the last line of the old text in front of her.

She sat underneath a tree with scraggly branches, barely casting any shadow on the book she had just finished reading over.

"Hmmmm….the Elements of Harmony," She mused to herself, "I know I've heard of those before, but where?"

She closed the book and got up off the grass that neared the edge of the lake behind her. She began to trot back to her book-filled living quarters. She knew that this was important, it had to be, it just had to!

As she crossed a bridge she saw three of her classmates walking in her direction. They stopped when they noticed her and called out to her.

"There you are Twilight!" The middle filly called out to her, "Moondancer is having a little get together at the West-Castle Courtyard, wanna come?"

All three of the fillies leaned forward with a look of pleading in their smiles. Twilight knew they just wanted Twilight to have a good time by relaxing for once, but she had more important things to do right now! She thought for a moment before answering.

"Ohhh, sorry girls, I got uh, lot of studying to catch up on," she desperately fed them an awkward smile, somehow she thought it didn't work.

Before they could protest she bolted away as fast as she could.

The fillies watched her gallop away before one sighed to herself and said to the others, "Doesn't that pony do anything except study?"

"I think she's more interested in books then friends." Another horned filly answered.

They watched her gallop away as fast as her legs could take her.

Twilight felt a little bad for rejecting their invitation in such a rough manner, but she had to get back to her room and learn more about the Elements of Harmony and hopefully, that dream she kept having!

Obviously, she would have to inform Princess Celestia if she found anything, she had to be warned of any possible danger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't believe this!" A frustrated Twilight stomped angrily around the room, "How could Celestia not take this seriously? Equestria is in peril and she brushes it off like it's no big deal!"

Twilight fumed as she recalled the words her teacher had written to her: ...you know that I value your diligence, and trust you completely, but you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!

Did the princess think she was crazy? Maybe she did, but deep down Twilight knew there was a reason for Celestia to tell her off in such a manner.

"Look, maybe the princess is right, you have been a little obsessed over a little filly story. The princess knows you mean well, but bringing up nursery rhymes seems a little excessive." Spike desperately tried to calm Twilight down, he wasn't doing a very good job.

In fact, she seemed to get even more frustrated.

She was annoyed that the princess had brushed off her warning like that, but she was even more annoyed at what the rest of the letter said.

It said that she had to go to the town of Ponyville to check on the preparations for the Celebration, and even worse, Celestia had given her other orders as well:

…make some friends!

She understood her task to supervise the preparations, being that she had become something of a master of organization, but her second duty was downright sickening!

Friends? What on Equestria would she need to do that for?

"Look at it this way Twilight, I bet the princess is trying to give you a break from your break. You've been cooped up in here for weeks, I don't blame her for thinking you might be going a little...strange." Spike said.

Twilight sighed. "I guess you're right, some fresh air will help clear my head. Let's just hurry up and get this over with so I can speak with her personally. I really need to see her again."

She sighed to herself as she prepared to leave for the chariot that was outside waiting to take her to Ponyville. The golden helmets of the Royal Guards that drove the chariot shone in the gorgeous morning sun, but she paid no attention, as she had seen the Royal Guard hundreds of times during her stay in Canterlot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After what seemed like hours, she managed to get some time alone in her new living quarters in Ponyville. Although it could hardly be considered quiet, on account of the massive party a pony named Pinkie Pie had decided to throw for her.

She lay awake on her new bed, if she couldn't study about the Elements of Harmony, she could at least get some sleep.

Or TRY to get some sleep…

Twilight sighed and recollected the odd day she had had…

She had meet Pinkie Pie earlier today, but the only thing the pink pony had done was jump into the air and make a sound that sounded like she was gasping for air. She later discovered that she only did that because she had the idea of throwing Twilight the party that was now ruining her sleep.

Next she meet Applejack, who seemed nice enough, but all she could remember from the meeting was a flurry of names all with the word 'apple' in them and the massive pile of food thrown in front of her.

Later as she was trying to walk off her now bulging belly, a rainbow-colored blur crashed into her from somewhere in the sky. Rainbow Dash, as she discovered her name to be, seemed to be a bit full of herself. But she was a skilled Pegasus; she cleared the sky of clouds in ten seconds right in front of her eyes.

As Spike was playing with Twilight's now poofy mane, she came across a white-coated unicorn with a deep purple mane masterfully curled into swirls that appeared to defy gravity.

Her name was Rarity, and before Twilight could protest, the unicorn had outfitted her with almost a dozen different saddles and dresses. She managed to sneak out before she had to spend her whole day trapped in that boutique.

A mysterious melody had come within earshot as she left the boutique, she hid in some nearby bushes and peeked out at a yellow Pegasus leading a group of birds to the most beautiful song she had heard in a long while.

The Pegasus was named Fluttershy, and much to her name, barely responded to Twilight's questions. She only spoke up when she saw Spike, and had been chatting with him all the way back to the Library.

They had all seemed different then the ponies she was used to growing up with.

Sure the ponies in Canterlot were nice, but these ponies were showing her more of themselves then anyone at her old school did.

They simply radiated love and affection, she could even feel the positive emotions coming out of the citizens of Ponyville.

Argh! Why did all these ponies want to be her friend so bad?

She didn't come here to make friends, the Summer Sun Celebration was about to begin, and she hadn't learned a thing about the Elements of Harmony.

All she wanted to do was speak to Celestia right now.

"This is not going to be good…" Twilight thought herself as she pulled the pillow over her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all ran out of the Everfree Forest and crossed the broken old bridge leading to a dark gloomy castle. It looked like it had been abandoned for years.

Possibly even thousands of years.

Each pony thought back on the events that had rapidly taken place over the past hour.

Celestia was missing, Nightmare Moon had returned just as the prophecy stated, Pinkie Pie had somehow found the book that told them what the Elements of Harmony were, and now they were on their way to the castle to use them to stop Nightmare Moon before she enveloped the land in terrible darkness for all eternity.

It seemed odd that there were six ponies headed to the castle if the book only spoke of five Elements…

As they had begun their journey to the castle they now were looking up at in wonder, they thought they might never make it, but each pony had proven herself indispensable in getting here.

Applejack gave Twilight an Honest answer that helped save her from slipping off the cliff.

Fluttershy had calmed the Manticore by showing it Kindness.

Pinkie Pie had chased away the haunted trees by showing everyone the joy of Laughter.

Rarity expressed Generosity to help the dragon with his problems.

And Rainbow Dash showed Loyalty by not abandoning her friends after being tempted by Nightmare Moon.

But Twilight hadn't done anything to help along their adventure, in fact she had done absolutely nothing to help get past any of the obstacles. She felt slightly ashamed that she had not been able to do anything to help these ponies that had done so much to help her.

That was fine though, she didn't need them to stop Nightmare Moon. All she needed was that white alicorn to come from the Elements, then she could fix everything.

The group reached the imposing doors on both sides of the entrance and stepped inside as a line.

Each felt a sudden strong bond to one another, like they had to be there for each other no matter what the cost might be.

They felt power in being with each other, in going through something treacherous together, they had already felt an obligation to help the other ponies in need, but now it felt like a conviction.

Twilight shrugged the sensation off.

"Wow…" Applejack awed at the destroyed ceiling one hundred feet above her, "Come on Twilight, isn't this what you've been waitin' for?"

Twilight stepped up to the imposing structure; this was it, all she had to do was use a spark to activate the five stone orbs lying on the floor in front of her.

The spark was all she needed to activate the Elements of Harmony and stop Nightmare Moon.

At Applejack's urging, the rest of the group moved just outside the mossy castle to give Twilight room to focus.

Twilight closed her eyes and began to concentrate, her horn began to softly glow and small bits of magic spilled out of the tip.

She could feel a slight Spark inside of her, she concentrated all her magic on reaching the tiny Spark. No matter how hard she tried however, she could not reach it, she pushed and pushed, but the power she needed to activate the Spark got farther away as she got closer.

As she desperately tried to reach the Spark, her thoughts drifted to her friends.

She thought of how much they had done for her, she felt grateful to have such wonderful ponies around to help her.

As she thought of her friends, the Spark began to get closer, she wasn't even trying to reach it anymore, the only thoughts going through her head was that of the other five ponies standing outside.

"Focus!" She thought to herself, she shook of the thoughts of her friends out of her head and focused all her energy on activating the Spark.

As her thoughts shifted from her friends, the Spark started to fade, Twilight felt it getting farther and farther away.

"NO! I can't let it get away!" Twilight thought, redoubling her efforts to reach the Spark. "I can't let it get away!"

As she thought these words, the spark faded even faster then before, it was only a matter of time before she would lose it.

She began to sweat as she put every bit of magic she had into activating the Spark. But it continued to fade…

And fade…

And fade…

Until it was gone completely.

Twilight didn't feel anything. Another few attempts at reaching it resulted in nothing but failure. She let out a heavy sigh as she relaxed her muscles.

Was that it? She contemplated, she couldn't activate the Spark, which means they now had no way of stopping Nightmare Moon. Their mission was over, she had failed. She felt absolutely terrible about the fact that even when everypony else had almost given their lives to save her, she couldn't do single thing.

She begrudgingly got up and turned to tell the party the bad news. But as she turned she saw the five ponies outside the castle.

She saw Pinkie Pie playing in the gnarled grass.

She saw Applejack talking to herself worriedly.

She saw Rainbow Dash practicing a low-speed somersault in the air.

She saw Fluttershy nervously brushing the ground with her hoof.

And she saw Rarity trying to fashion her now short tail.

She saw five friends outside, all willing to rush to her aid at a moment's notice, all willing to give Twilight a shoulder to cry on if she needed it, all willing to do anything they could to help her in her time of need.

When she looked at the figures outside the large doors, she didn't see five ponies, she saw five friends…

The word hit her like a crushing boulder.

Friends.

She had friends…

The word kept repeating itself over and over again as she watched those ponies that were now so important to her.

As she did she felt a Spark, but a different kind of Spark. One that came from her heart instead of just her horn. She focused her new found energy towards activating the precious Spark.

She did not feel nervous, she felt confident, she kept her thoughts on her friends. She couldn't believe she did not notice it earlier. The Spark hadn't worked because she tried to do it herself. But know she knew she had friends that would help her. She didn't have to try it alone.

The Spark began to get closer as she felt the new bonds to her friends grow. It got closer and closer as her thoughts about her friends grew.

It was so close now, she was surprised at how easy it was to get it this time.

It was now just out of her grasp, all she had to do was take it. She took one last breathful of air and reached out to activate the Spark.

Almost….almost….almost….

Then with the last bit of energy she had left, she reached as far as she could, and felt a sharp warm sensation rush over her. She had it…

But just as quickly as it happened, it vanished, throwing Twilight back on her hind hooves. She screamed at the shock of what just happened.

Her friends heard her scream in surprise and rushed back into the ruined castle.

Twilight laid on her back as she recoiled from the blast. And as she looked towards the Elements of Harmony, she saw a violet shadow moving over the Elements of Harmony, hiding them in a purple and blue mist.

The five ponies rushed up to Twilight, asking her if she was alright.

"Hey! You okay?" Rainbow Dash flew to her side.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but look!" She answered and pointed with her hoof to the wave of shadow that was now manifesting over the Elements that lay on the ground.

The shadow swirled around and around until it was forming into a dark shape. The shadow dissipated, revealing a tall, black alicorn standing in the middle of the Elements.

Nightmare Moon.

"Ahahaha! Oh you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment!" The sinister alicorn threw her head up and laughed. "I have anxiously awaited for this day to come!"

Twilight sat staring up at her, too shocked to move.

"We aren't scared of you you big meany head!" Pinkie Pie yelled with all the strength she could muster, sticking her tongue out at Nightmare Moon. "You think you're all big and tough, but you're just a big bully!"

"Yeah! We can take you!" Rainbow Dash shouted in her usual brash tone.

"Come on girls, let's show this pony who's in charge 'round here!" Applejack lowered her body, preparing to charge. Four of the others followed suit, lowering themselves to charge at Nightmare Moon.

"You're kidding, you're kidding right?" Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow as she looked at them skeptically.

They all charged at once, with Rainbow Dash launching in the air to attack from above. They ran down the long hallway as fast as they could.

The Elements around Nightmare Moon began to glow a deep purple color and turn grey as they floated up around her.

Rainbow Dash was the first to meet her, Rainbow Dash turned in midair and prepared to kick her square in the head. Nightmare Moon simply moved her head to the side at the last minute and summoned a column of stone up from the ground behind her.

Rainbow Dash tried to move as she missed Nightmare Moon, but the column came up underneath her and struck her in the stomach, launching her up in the air.

The others froze at the terrifying blow, watching Rainbow Dash fall down and skid to the wall at the back of the room. The column receded back into the ground next to her now limp body.

"RAINBOW DASH!" They all cried in unison.

"Ya'll pay for what you just did!" Applejack shouted angrily.

"I agree! We shall not simply stand here and let you ruin our perfectly good world with your absolutely garish darkness!" Rarity shouted as well.

"Come on girls, she can't hit us from different angles!" Twilight encouraged them. "Rarity, you charge from the left, Pinkie Pie, you from the right. Applejack, you go straight up the middle! I'll keep her distracted!"

They nodded and ran towards Nightmare Moon from three different spots in the room.

"Fluttershy, you go make sure Rainbow Dash is all right!" She shouted to the yellow Pegasus.

"I…um…ok." She was almost too scared to move.

Twilight focused her magic on a fallen pillar behind them. It started to levitate. With every ounce of magic she had left, she threw it at Nightmare Moon.

She stood there, watching the six-ton rock fly towards her at breakneck speeds. She closed her eyes when the pillar was getting closer.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie where almost to Nightmare Moon when she opened her eyes again.

As she did, a huge crack instantaneously split down the middle horizontally. The pillar split in two as fast as it approached, half flew up to the ceiling and the other half shot into the ground in front of her.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie reached her as the pillar split and each jumped towards her and bucked with all their might.

Without batting an eye, Nightmare Moon spread her wings as far as she could, each one creating a powerful gust of wind that launched Rarity and Pinkie Pie backwards against the walls.

Applejack continued to charge towards Nightmare Moon; her determined eyes not seeing Rarity and Pinkie Pie fly away from her.

The pillar split in front of her, and she instinctively jumped up on the half that had been flung into the ground, using it as a ramp to reach Nightmare Moon's head.

She jumped off of the still falling pillar with every single ounce of strength she could muster, the pillar cracked as she jumped off it towards her target with her mighty hind legs, turning to buck Nightmare Moon with her entire being.

Nightmare Moon was still closing her wings as she looked up and saw a crazed orange earth pony kick with the force of one hundred ponies.

The kick landed square on the side of her face, generating a crack in her armored helm as she recoiled from the blow, stumbling back a few paces.

Applejack slumped to the ground, exhausted from the kick.

"AACK! You foolish pony! I will make you pay for daring to strike me!" Nightmare Moon shouted in a blood-fueled craze. Her eyes shot wide open and a drop of red flowed down her face.

Twilight managed to regain consciousness from her intense spell to see an infuriated Nightmare Moon standing over the barely awake Applejack.

"A…pple…jack…" Twilight stumbled to her hooves, trying to get enough magic for a spell to teleport Applejack out of the castle. She couldn't…

"You think you can defeat me?" Nightmare Moon screamed down at Applejack, "I will make sure you never make that mistake again!"

Nightmare Moon shot Applejack with a beam of magic and glowing restraints tethered Applejack to the floor.

Her horn glowed a slight purple, and a chunk of rock tore itself out of the ground. She hovered it over the orange earth pony. Applejack could only look up at the enraged figure above her, and the large boulder hovering next to her.

"Applejack!" Twilight screamed in desperation.

Nightmare Moon smiled and looked down at the writhing figure on the ground. "Never again!"

She brought down the rock with full force onto Applejack's hind legs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!!" Applejack screamed as the boulder crushed  her legs. She felt the intense weight of the boulder crushing her, she could do nothing but scream at the excruciating pain. She flailed her free limbs in panic.

She was trapped, trapped under the object that was crushing the very life out of her.

Trapped under Nightmare Moon's rage.

After what felt like hours, the boulder was lifted, and Applejack's legs were released. She took one look at them and regretted it instantly. Sheer panic filled her body, and she could think of nothing except pain.

Fluttershy had watched from the back of the room next to the unconscious Rainbow Dash. She couldn't even move, only stare at the wicked horror standing over her suffering friend.

Twilight said nothing as she watched her friend suffer for her failure.

Nightmare Moon threw back her head and laughed, "Do you ponies see now? Do you see what happens when you try to defy ME? I am unstoppable, and now that I have the Elements of Harmony," The five orbs flew over to her, they were now pure black with violet symbols on them, "I can rule the entire land. Everyone will bend to my will and then they will finally see that I am their true leader!"

Twilight could do nothing as she and her defeated friends struggled to stay awake, they only stayed conscious because of the massive fear that encased them.

"And the night, will last, FOREVER!"