The morning sun shone bright through the fading clouds and illuminated the ruins. Twilight’s eyes fluttered opened as she found herself lying on the wet grass. Slowly, she climbed to her hooves and looked around her, seeing the other mares and Spike asleep.

She then looked back to the ruins. Everything was destroyed, including the altar, pillars, and footpath. Shattered remains of weapons and debris littered the area. The only thing that wasn’t destroyed, surprisingly, was the podium before the altar.

“Ow…” Pinkie Pie moaned upon awakening. “What happened?”

“I feel like there’s a hole in my spine,” Applejack groaned as she stretched her body.

A small pop was heard from her back, soon followed by a sigh of relief.

Eventually, the other mares woke up, all unaware of what happened.

Spike then shot up from her resting place and quickly asked, “Did we beat him?!”

Twilight slowly trotted to him and comforted the shaken dragon beneath her wing. The memories soon returned to her, and Twilight recounted their battle with Sanctus Nightmare. Glancing around her, she didn’t see any sign of him. Everything was peaceful once more, and a new sense of relief was rife in her mind.

“Yes,” Twilight answered with confidence. “We got Sanctus.”

“Girls!” A worried voice called out to them.

The mares and Spike snapped their heads to the forest edge. Without any warning, a large, armoured chariot charged towards them. It was being pulled by two robotic Discords quickly across the clearing.

The seven took a step back as the chariot swerved to a stop, and Discord, dressed in a military doctor’s uniform, jumped from the vehicle. He then pulled out a pop gun and aimed it in front of him, cocking the wooden device.

“Where is he?!” He demanded.

Fluttershy quickly flew to Discord’s head and patted it gently.

“Don’t worry, he’s been taken care of.” She explained.

Discord breathed a sigh of relief and rested the popgun across his shoulders.

He breathed, “Phew, good. At least you’re alright, Fluttershy… and friends. …Wait a minute, how did you beat him?”

“We…” Fluttershy begun, but soon turned to Twilight and asked, “How did we do it?”

“Well,” Twilight begun, but soon realized that her hooves were empty.

Rapidly, Twilight searched the ground for Margáil Le Bás, only to find the dirt and plants at her hooves.

“Well…?” Discord probed.

“Well,” Twilight resumed. “I grabbed one of Sanctus’s swords, and stabbed that eye thing in the sky, the projecting source of those nightmare worlds he put us in. Now, where is it…?”

“Hey Twilight, you might want to look at this.” Applejack called out, staring at something in the dirt.

Twilight galloped to her side and looked down. At her hooves was a thin groove cut into the dirt. It snaked out of the ruins, through the clearing, towards the Everfree Forest.

Heavy panting escaped his chest as Sanctus Nightmare crawled through the forest. With Margáil Le Bás in one hoof, and another over his left eye, he had only two hooves to push him forward. The dark alicorn’s large, black body silently drove across the terrain. His mangled, purple mane and tail quietly collected up loose branches and leaves as he moved.

A snap echoed behind him.

Sanctus looked back, and was met with Twilight and the others, all will a rather unhappy look on their faces.

Lightheartedly, Sanctus asked them, “You want to go back? I still have this eye.”

Twilight marched right in front of his face and stared into his one eye.

“Try me.” She dared him.

Sanctus gave a light chuckle in response and turned his back to them.

“After eons in the Void, and I come back to lose the one thing that can’t regenerate.” Sanctus said. “Sounds like a sick joke I would tell.”

“…Sanctus-”

“An eye full of broken shards, sounds excruciating, doesn’t it? Of course, that’s what you did to me, you monster.”

“Enough of that, Sanctus, the battle’s over. Your threats and insults do nothing to me now.”

“So what then? Are you going to try and get me to join your little band of ‘traitors’?”

Sanctus cackled to himself, which grew louder as he saw Twilight’s face tighten.

“Look,” he continued. “I’ve been needing to do something that was due centuries ago, an agenda of sorts. You and your group rest now, because this is only the beginning. I will be back, and I will complete my mission. As long as there’s a shadow in this world, bet all of your money that I’ll be there.”

“Why though?” Pinkie asked him.

“What?” The dark alicorn looked back.

“Why do you want everypony to be unhappy?”

“He-he. If not me, then who? Perhaps Twilight. And besides, it gives me a grand old time, torturing everypony!”

Sanctus’s sword began to shiver and dissolve. In a few seconds, Margáil Le Bás faded into dust and merged into the wind flowing through the forest. Soon, Sanctus’s body also began to dissolve. His flesh rippled as it broke apart and fragmented into black and purple wisps of the wind.

“Oh, and one more thing,” His disembodied head added. “Remember, nightmares may not be that real, but they can leave a nice impression on your soul…”

With that said, Sanctus burst into a cloud of ash and faded from sight, with the last speck of his body to be seen was a single, red dot. A faint maniacal laugh echoed before fading out like the rest of the nightmare.

Silence returned to the area as the sunlight parted the clouds and bathed the area.

“Do you think he’ll be back?” Fluttershy asked.

“If he does,” Twilight firmly answered. “We’ll be ready.”

The eight stared into the forest, each silently thinking about the events that have taken place.

“Hey, Pinkie,” Twilight said.

“What?” Pinkie asked.

“Remember what you said to Sanctus in the nightmare world?”

“Yeah,”

Twilight turned to face Pinkie and smiled.

“I heard from the outside. Thanks for having my back.”

Twilight then turned to everypony else.

“To all of you as well,” She declared. “Thanks for being with me, even when I was… insane. I’m so sorry for treating you all like dirt. You especially, Discord.”

“Quite,” Discord huffed.

“Oh, don’t beat yourself up about it,” Applejack replied. “It was that demon using the book to possess you.”

Twilight responded, “But I wasn’t possessed, I-”

“Hey,” Dash interrupted. “What happened to ‘Sanctus not getting to you’?”

Twilight snickered and continued with her speech, “Next time, when any my friends says there’s something wrong, or that something fishy is going down that I might not be aware of. I’m going to listen. Even if it hurts, I know that above the pain, it’s our friendship and love.”

“Looks like it’s time to write a letter to Princess Celestia and tell her what you learned this week.” Spike replied.

“No!” Twilight softly barked. “No more writing, no more reading, I just need a break from words for the day.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So… what did I miss?”

Rainbow Dash quickly answered, “I finished the newest Daring Do book and-oh, right. No books… Oops.”

The eight suddenly burst in laughter. Twilight rested a hoof on Dash as the two chuckled the most. Eventually, the group began to make their way back to Ponyville through the forest.

Spike cleared his throat, pulled himself together, and told Twilight. “Well, we got that event at the Universe Museum in Canterlot to go to in two months. Remember? They’re opening the new wing about our adventures and how we and other heroes saved Equestria and the world multiple times.”

“Oh, right.” Twilight nodded.

“That reminds me, I need to begin pack.” Rarity added.

“Sounds a bit soon, Rarity,” Applejack remarked.

“Wait, how long will we be in Canterlot?” Fluttershy asked.

“We’ll be staying in a hotel a week prior and after the ceremony.” Spike answered.

“I can’t wait to be there,” Dash exclaimed. “I heard that there’s an interactive exhibit where your fight a bunch of Morks! Remember those guys?!”

“I’ve overhead some rumours that they’re building a life-size replica of The Perfection.” Rarity said.

“Captain Korsan’s giant pirate ship?” Applejack asked.

Rarity nodded. “Correct.”

Pinkie added, “Oh! And don’t forget about the theatre being made! Every week, there’ll be a live performance of ‘The Tragedy of Queen Chrysalis’. I’ve heard the food’s great!”

“Will there be an exhibit on me?” Discord asked.

“Fancy, I might add.” Rarity furthered.

“Will there be an exhibit on me?” Discord asked.

Fluttershy hesitantly replied, “You mean…”

“When I saved Equestria from a second Changeling evasion!” He proclaimed. “Why else would I be there?”

“…”

“See Twilight,” Spike told Twilight. “All these times, you’ve put your life on the line to save others. Doesn’t that say more about you than some stallion that has spent who-knows-how-long in some white space between worlds?”

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “You have a point.”

A light billow of dust rushed through the library as Spike placed Owlowiscious’s massive book collection onto the sorting table. Some of the dust entered his nose, and he instantly sneezed.

“Achoo!” He yelped.

Owlowiscious hooted in surprise from his perch atop one of the bookshelves. Spike looked up towards him and gave a warm smile.

“Hey, buddy,” Spike told the owl. “Thanks for your work here. Who knows what would’ve gone down two days ago if you weren’t around?”

“Who?” The owl spoke in a questioning tone.

“Oh, she is totally still asleep. Ever since she got home, Twilight has been sleeping all throughout the night and day. The sun’s probably setting now.”

“Who,”

“Her friends have forgiven her, but she is going to need to do a few solids for them. I’m drafting the list right now. That battle with Sanctus Nightmare was an absolute… well, nightmare.”

“Who…”

“No, nothing yet. Princess Celestia has sent search squadrons patrolling everywhere in and around the Everfree Forest. The only thing that could be found of him was a blood sample in the ruins. Well, if you can call it blood, they said it was more like some product of a science experiment gone horribly wrong.”

“Who,”

“Don’t worry Owlowiscious. I’ve learned my lesson. When Twilight begins acting weird, I’ll be there to snap her out of it, no matter how much it hurts-”

“It’s only a ‘nightmare’, you can say,” A scraggly voice snuck up behind him.

Spike jumped in fright and turned to see the origin of the voice. It was Twilight, having just recently woken up. Much like her voice, Twilight fur and mane were in absolute disarray. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, but were still vibrant in life.

“What’s up Spike?” Twilight weakly joked. “You look like you just saw a zombie.”

“Are you sure I’m not looking at one right now?” He cracked.

Twilight gave a weak chuckle, her throat incredibly dry from all of that sleeping.

“What time is it?” She asked.

“Bedtime,”

“Bu-bu-bu,” she tiredly stammered. “I, I wanna do it now. Yeah, I wanna now.”

“Do what?”

“The letter, I wanna do the letter.”

Spike hesitated before agreeing and pulled up a quill and fresh paper.

“Ready?”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Alright…” Twilight took a second and cleared her groggy throat. “Alright…”

“…You-”

“I’m ready!”

“Okay.”

“Dear Princess Luna,”

“Celestia,”

“Celestia, yeah, that’s what I said…”

Spike rolled his eyes as he wrote down the letter. He kept a sentence behind what Twilight was saying in case she begun going off track in her tired state. Owlowiscious watched from above as the two went back and forth in how this letter was to be written.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Two days ago, I learned an important lesson. Sometimes in life, even when things seem to be going alright, it’s good to have friends to give a second opinion. Even though I thought I was doing the right thing, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Sanctus Nightmare’s influence, rather, my unhealthy addictions, nearly lead me to ultimate destruction.

However, with the help from my friends, I remain strong. Even when I pushed away, they stayed loyal. They loved me so much, that they would hurt me to save me. Thanks to them, Sanctus Nightmare is gone, at least we hope so.

Speaking of which, has any sign of Sanctus been found? He seemed pretty confident in his return before fading into dust. Just remember, don’t make direct eye contact with him at all costs.

Princess, one more thing to add. Recently, I’ve been thinking about something. Like, am I really worthy of, this? After what happened recently, and the pain my friends went through to help me, it’s like, I don’t know. Ace and her friends are gone. I couldn’t do anything. My head hurts. Did one of my friends hit me on the head? Did you go through anything similar-(Ignore this paragraph, Twilight’s tired and isn’t thinking straight.)

In the end, Twilight-I-mean-I have learned a very valuable lesson, and can’t wait to come up to Canterlot to go the museum reopening.

Your loyal student,

Princess Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, Twilight. If only you knew-”

“Captain Palad, what is it?”

“We’ve received sightings of the vigilante, the Black Paladin, nearby the Crystal Empire.”

“Can’t that wait? This Sanctus pony has not yet been confirmed dead or alive, and the press is getting closer and closer to finding out what had happened those two days ago. If they spread word of this, nightmare being possibly running around, everypony will go into a panic.”

“Well, fortunately, I think-”

“-Fortunately?”

“We may have found a correlation between the Black Paladin and Sanctus Nightmare.”

“What?”

“Yes, Princess. Yesterday morning, several citizens of the empire complained of a black and purple haze throughout the area. At first, we as well as they simply brushed this aside as some sort of magical rupture below ground. Then however, there came an increase of paranormal activity in the area.”

“Like?”

“Ponies suddenly getting bad daydreams, foals randomly crying collectively, and an immediate sense of dread were some of the bigger cases.”

“Hmm…”

“Then, this morning, the Black Paladin came passing through. He appeared to be going to the mountains at the north, the last area where the paranormal activity was reported.”

“So, he’s following it?”

“It seems so. If it weren’t for the sightings of him passing through the Crystal Empire, we would have never gotten a closer look at the paranormal activity and connected it to Sanctus.”

“You clever stallion, you lead us to him…”

“What’s the plan now, Princess Celestia?”

“Rex, set up a border patrol at the mountains. Keep an eye out for both him and Sanctus Nightmare. Detain on sight.”

“Yes, ma’am. Anything else?”

“Increase security for the reopening ceremony at the museum in two months.”

“Sure…? Mind if I ask why?”

“I just have a feeling.”

“The Black Paladin left you a hint?”

“Come on Rex, we’re alone, you could use his real name.”

“Yeah, I could, Tia.”

“Oh, you. Get moving, why don’t you.”

“As you please.”

“…I’m ready for you.”

The warm glow of a lit candle illuminated the library as Twilight and Spike sat at the work table side by side. Amidst the cold of the night, the two were fully awake, and wanted to do something. Before Spike was a blank book, quickly being filled with the ink of a freshly inked pen. Twilight watched at his side, giving out pointers of what to write.

At one point, Spike lifted the quill and kept it lifted. He was contemplating something.

He turned to Twilight and asked, “What’s the title going to be?”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin and thought. Her eyes looked up to the dark ceiling, examining the individual stones while thinking of ideas.

Spike began listing suggestions, “Perhaps… ‘The Five Heroes’? ‘Tales of Wisteria: Hope’? ‘The Friendship After the Nightmare’? Hmm… how about, ‘Quest for the Blade’?”

An idea immediately came to Twilight.

Turning to Spike, she said, “How about, just, ‘The Adventures of Arcega Minn Remastered’?”

“Nice.”

“I might not be able to change the past, but I can avenge them, and finally give them a happy ending.”

“So, Brother, looks like you left behind a few trinkets of your own to counter mine. The Elements of Harmony were sort of a dead ringer. I mean, who else knows of the inner workings of my nightmare magic and how to exploit them other than you of course? Only you do, wherever you are now. And I have to give it to you, reforming Sanctus Chaos to join their alliance is impressive. But, ho, ho, ho, I’ve returned to the world and I’m coming back stronger than ever. With my new army, I am going to destroy it all, Brother. Everything you have done will have been worthless by the time I’m finished.

You will come back, won’t you? I’m hoping on it.”