The Dawn will never rise again… Part: 1

Intro Theme: Take me Higher

Night… The dark, calm, and restful night. Ponies slept peacefully in their homes, and Luna looked over her kingdom, from the balcony on her castle, but she did not face the city of Canterlot, but she kept her gaze up towards the Ivory sphere in the night sky. The white gleam in her eyes became the shape of a crescent moon as from within, she could feel bitterness grow. She had not felt such grief, such self-pity, and such, remorse in a thousand years… Though she had been purified by the Elements, there was always that small ember within her heart, within her soul that could not be doused. And tonight, however, there was a whole new feeling to it all. The Crickets were silent, the frogs in the ponds did not croak, nor did the Owls hoot. This eerie quiet was all across Equestria. On her balcony, Luna began to sing, closing her eyes, “Ask not the sun, why she sets… Why she shrouds, her light away… Or why she hides her glowing gaze, when night turns Crimson gold, to grey…”

The Princess of the night spread her wings, flying down from the castle and landing on the streets below, “For silent falls the guilty sun, as day to dark, does turn… One simple truth, she dare not speak, her light can only blind and burn…”

She flew back onto her Balcony, and made her way towards her bedroom, but she walked into a secret dungeon, one where not even her sister Celestia knew it existed. It was where she kept a dark blue head piece, the one she wore when her heart was bitter, and evil… “No mercy for the guilty, bring down their lying sun.. Blood to silver black by night,” slowly, she lowered the armor onto her head, and her eyes glowed white when it finally rested on her skull, “Upon their faces pale white…” The Mare of the moon was no longer the caring ruler of the night, but she was now the evil that still dwelled within her soul… Nightmare Moon.

“Cruel moon, bring the end… The dawn will never rise again…”

XXX

Cory sat up on his floor mattress, as if he had a severe bad dream. He wiped the sweat from his brow, taking in a few deep breathes as he got up from his bed. He looked at the bed where Twilight slept contently, “Mmm, Cory.” She said quietly, pulling the blankets up to her chin, and smiled as she dreamed. Despite it, he glanced out his window, realizing that there was something strange about the moon itself… He could see that the craters on it had come closer together, forming the image of some sort of, Mare, one that seemed similar to Celestia. This was different, and deep down inside, he knew that something was terribly wrong. Horribly, wrong.

Cory began to shake Twilight awake, “Twilight, Twilight wake up, you have to come look at this…”

The Purple Mare yawned, rubbing her eyes, “Cory, what is it?”

“You might want to come take a look at the moon…” the two of them made their way towards the window which Cory opened, pointing towards the Crater formation son the moon, “I woke up, and that’s what I saw… What does it mean? Is it an omen?” he received no reply, as Twilight had left the room. He followed her down the stairs to the library where she frantically ran in circles. She only stopped when he accidently stepped in front of her, and she collided full speed into the human. She stood off of him, pacing quickly throughout the library, “No, no no! How could this happen!? She, can’t possibly have…!”

“She, what, who?” Cory was extremely confused from her stuttering. She levitated a book to where he sat with a page titled, “Nightmare moon” there and ready for him to read. He skimmed over the first few sentences on the page, but it still was making little sense to him, “Twilight can you please relax and tell me what’s going on?”

“Nightmare moon, she’s back but, she can’t be, and, Cory, we have to get to Canterlot immediately, there isn’t any time to wake the others!” She tugged at Cory’s belt loop and pulled him to the door. He managed to grab a drying shirt off the towel rack near the door and catch up with Twilight, who was usually nowhere near this hyper about events involving a monster or other occurrence.

XXX

“So, care to tell me why you dragged me out of bed?” Cory asked, laying on his head on the head rest as he glanced over towards Twilight.

“Look, you noticed the shape in the moon right? Well, long ago, two years before you came here, well, it all really happened thousands of years ago. But Princess Luna, became bitter when she grew jealous of the Ponies sleeping during the night, and that they were awake and cheerful in the day. Her bitterness got the best of her, turning her into some sort of evil entity names NightMare Moon, which caused her to overthrow her sister, Celestia, and from then on the night would rule forever. But Celestia used the Elements of Harmony, and defeated her, banishing NightMare to the moon for a thousand years. But when she returned, me and the others defeated her with the Elements once more, purifying her of that hatred, but apparently, it remained inside of her…”

“I see…” Cory thought to himself, “Well, why can’t we have a showdown with NightMare?”

Twilight shook her head, “From what happened to her, NightMare Moon must remain in her true form to slowly reheal, right now her magic and her powers must be very weak. The longer she stays that way, the stronger NightMare moon will get…”

“But how could this be Luna? From what I’ve always seen, she’s not once shown any hostility…” But then again, she was absent most of the time they were around.

Twilight looked out the Train Car window, right at the ivory sphere in the sky, “I know, but we have to get to Canterlot immediately before NightMare can interfere with the rising of the sun, I just hope that Celestia is alright….”

XXX

Celestia’s horn glowed bright, using it as a lantern as she searched through the halls of her castle. She sensed something, something evil in the vicinity, but she had no idea who and what it was. It could not have been Yapool, Bogal, Hipporit, or any other of Gatanozoa’s assistants, it was something different. Something far worse.

“My beloved sister, “Laughed the voice,” Allow me to do the honors of introducing my old self…”

Celestia broke out into a sweat as she recognized that devious tone, “Luna, where, where are you!?”

“Oh Celestia, I’m no longer your little sister, but you may refer to me as, Night, or NightMare.” Before the white Alicorn’s eyes, what appeared to be a cluster of dark, glittering smoke took form of an Alicorn, one just as large as she was. Celestia stomped her hoof and snorted, “NightMare Moon…”

“You remember, Celestia? Well then again, how could you not, considering the fact I am your ‘sister’ after all.” She chuckled.

“Luna, please, don’t let her bitterness get the better of you, you must-“

“Ha! Begging will do you no good. To think that I put up with you, to think that I went to Ponyville two years ago, to try and befriend the wielder of the elements!” Celestia could see a dark mist in the pupils of her sisters eyes, something, was much different than the last time she became Nightmare Moon.

“Luna, please, I don’t want to fight you, wake up! The Darkness has corrupted your!-“

“Quiet Celestia, no longer shall your sun glow in the sky, but only the Ivory glow of the moon shall shine upon Equestria, and you…” NightMares eyes glowed purple as they narrowed, “Will know how it feels, to be gone, for a thousand years…”

XXX

“Celestia!” shouted Twilight as she galloped up the stairs. Cory followed hot on her heels, or hooves, and they soon came to the top floor. Twilight used her magic to open up the thick wooden doors, but was shocked to see that her beloved Mentor was not in her throne room. Twilight felt her heart skip a beat as she observed the vacant room, “Oh no, Celestia…” Cory finally managed to catch up, “W-, Where’s Celestia?” The two of them glanced around the empty throne room, looking for any sign of Celestia or Luna.

“Ahaha, wouldn’t you two like to know…” mocked a malevolent, yet feminine tone. Twilight immediately recognized that voice, and she felt her blood run cold, “Oh no…”

On the throne, trails of Black, sparkling Smoke took form of a Midnight Dark Alicorn. She wore blue armor plates on parts of her body, such as her head and chest, as well as her front and back legs. Her eyes were blue and serpent like, and her teeth were sharp, and jagged, “Well well well, if it isn’t Celestia’s little pet, oh, and it seems she’s brought the Hairless ape with her as well. How cute…”

“Enough, Luna! Please, this isn’t like you, you’re not supposed to be full of hate; you’re supposed to rule Equestria peacefully alongside Celestia, “Twilight pleaded. Cory looked at the demonic Alicorn pensively, completely lost to the fact that this was Luna, the caring, Princess of the night.

“Ha! Please, rule peacefully beside someone as selfish as my ‘sister’, one who gave me the phase that Everypony slept through, the one they cared little about!” she gritted her teeth in anger, “For years, I put up with being isolated, being shunned by the night while my sister was worshipped for raising the sun… And what did I receive? Nothing but the snores of these Ponies!” tears began to stream down her face, “And to think, that I put up with it all twice, that I let my beautiful night be shunned by the sun, but now, the sun will never rise again, and there shall be no Celestia to raise it either!”

The human stepped closer to the Alicorn, “Luna, do you remember me?” The dark Alicorn only narrowed her eyes, “Remember the night at the Gala? Well, do you?” he received no verbal reply, only the heavy breathing from her, “Do you remember, when I said that I adored the night? That I thought it was just a beautiful as the day? Do you?”

NightMare shook her head, covering it with her hooves as she groaned in pain, “You and me star gazed the night sky, and we looked at the moon. The beautiful moon, which belonged to the Princess of the night, Luna. Not some evil entity, torn apart by her jealousy.. That’s not the Luna I knew. Wake up Luna! This isn’t you!”

She gripped her head as she screamed in pain, “Cory!” shouted the Princess within the demonic Alicorn. Screaming in anger and pain, she fired an energy blast from her horn at the human, which he quickly blocked using a light barrier with his hands, much to Twilights amazement.

“Damn you, you will all see what the wrath of the night will bring, all of you will!” she laughed, disappearing in a blinding flash. Twilight stared in shock where the Alicorn was just moments before, but her attention was broke when she felt Cory’s hand tap her head, “It looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us now… It’s going to be sunrise within an hour, Ponies will start panicking by then without any sign of the sun…”

“But, what about.. Celestia?” Twilight asked herself, “Oh no, Cory, this isn’t good!” Twilight dashed over to the window, “NightMare must have banished Celestia to the moon!”

“But how? Isn’t Celestia supposed to be superior to Luna?”

“This isn’t Luna who were dealing with, it’s not even the first NightMare Moon I knew… There was something strange about her, when you started talking about how you cared for the night, it seemed that something was fighting her from the inside, it’s strange…” Twilight kept her eyes on the moon.

Cory made his way to the doorway, “All I know is that we’re gonna have to get the others, it’ll take all 7 of us, and Tiga to take her down.”

“She won’t fight you directly.” Twilight made her way towards him, and they walked down the deserted hallway, “She knows very well that in her state, that Tiga has the power to beat her on a one on one fight. She’ll most likely use illusions to intimidate you, or something worse…”

“What do you mean worse?”

XXX

“There you go Mr. Mole. Now, be sure to not use that front paw now, you wouldn’t want any more accidents with it now will you?” asked Fluttershy as she finished up the small bandage. She had spent most of the night taking care of the mammals wound he received from a snake, so she was very well tired. She yawned and smiled as she let the small creature out the front door. He nodded to her and finally made his way back into the woods nearby.

Nearby, the mist of NightMare Moon traveled along the ground like a serpent, out a victim. Not something to fight or kill, something to possess, to take control of and gain strength from. She needed a body, something’s life force to grow off of in order to gain back her powers. Sure, she was able to defeat her sister, but what about Tiga who still stood in her way. And then after him, she would deal with the full might of the Six Ultra Brothers if she prevailed against him. She needed more time, days if that’s what she needed to regain her strength. Oh, what did she have here? A Mole crawling on the ground. It was the only creature that was awake and out in the open, and he’d do just fine, for now that is. Making a mad Dash for the rodent, the Mist swarmed around him, making the small woodland creature shriek and squeal as he thrashed about. He could feel agonizing transformations go on inside his body, and his fur shrink back into the pores.

His teeth became sharper, and jagged, and his ears elongated, and bore several holes in the extended lobes. His black beady eyes grew yellow, and his mode grew, strong, muscular, and Powerful. No longer did he squeal in pain, but now he bellowed out low, and guttural roars. His body grew to a size taller than the trees, one that towered over most of them at least. Raising his head, King Molerat released a roar towards the moon that echoed through the forest for miles. Now, from within, NightMare moon thought it would be appropriate to give the element of Honesty, at Sweet Apple Acres a small visit.

XXX

Rarity gasped, “What on earth do you mean that, NightMare moon has returned!”

Twilight flipped through more pages on the book she read about the legend, before she even met her friends in Ponyville, “Apparently she has. Cory and I saw her with our own eyes, but what I don’t understand is that how could she possibly still have such hatred. She was cleansed by the elements when we first met, I think that something else might be influencing this…”

AppleJack adjusted her Stetson and cleared her throat, “Well, yah see, when you have enough anger to go against your own sister, then there is always a possibility that those feelins can’t be left behind.”

“Maybe we could throw her a party if Luna’s just having a bad night! Heheh get it, night?” joked Pinkie. The others rolled their eyes at her bare ignorance. Twilight glanced out her window, there was nothing but a few stars, and the great, eerie moon in the sky. She let out a deep sigh, hoping that her mentor, Celestia, would be able to return to Equestria. It was, morning, mid-morning, and yet the moon still hung in the sky by Luna’s will.

Rarity sipped from her tea and sighed, “We all can’t give up yet, we need to stick together and get through this, with or without the elements.”

“Yes, and as long as we have Tiga, we’ll just leave that moody mare to him…”From out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash placed on a pair of sunglasses.

AppleJack rolled her eyes and made her way to the door, “Well, ya’ll, its best that I get back to the barn, even though its night, I still have my duties at the farm. And I believe that a certain pony and a human promised to help me out.” She turned her head and beckoned with her hoof two Twilight and Cory.

The eight of them exited the library, “Alright, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy, try to keep the towns ponies calm, we’ll be back as soon as we can. You too, Spike.”

XXX

“Watch your heads.” Cory shouted as he tossed down a bail of straw. AppleJack barely side stepped in time to miss the bundled grasses as Cory tossed it from the loft. He clambered down the ladder, and carried the bale down to the Pig house. Winona stayed close to him as her beaming eyes watched his movements. Back when Cory fought Discord when he was still a malevolent being, Winona became a living, breathing animal after she was renewed by Gardi’s remaining life force. As Cory began spreading the straw around the shed floor where a few of the hogs slept, Winona began to growl, somewhere off towards the Appletrees. Cory at first paid no attention to her, thinking that she was most likely growling at an animal. But that was until he felt his Spark lens pulsate, and the inevitable occurred to him.

“Winona, what is it?” she kept her sights in the orchard, barring her teeth, barking violently. AppleJack approached Cory from behind and tried patting Winona who continued to bark violently, “Winona, what’s gotten into yah?” asked her owner.

In the barn where Twilight and Big Mac carted in Apple Crates, Big Mac noticed that the wooden beams in the bran began to creak, and the glass rattled in the window panes. He stopped dead in his tracks, putting his ear towards the ground. Twilight noticed his strange behavior, unhooking her cart and walking over to his side, “Macintosh, you alright?”

He lifted his head slowly, taking in a few deep breathes of the air through his nostrils, “Something’s wrong.”

As AppleJack tried to comfort her howling dog, the ground began to shake as what appeared to be the head of a monster rose up in the orchard. King molerat bellowed as he pushed his way out from the earth, casting his yellow eyes at the Human, dog, and Pony that stood not too far from him. Winona whimpered and backed away as AppleJack and Cory made a mad Dash for the bar, “Big Mac! Quickly, get to the farm house! There’s a monster!”

As Twilight heard AppleJack and saw the monster roaming towards the farmhouse from the Apple fields, she knew who was responsible for the creature’s appearance, “NightMare Moon… She has to be responsible for this!”

Cory woke up AppleBloom from her nap on top of one of the hay bales, “AppleBloom, wake up, come on!” she groggily woke up and yawned, “C-Cory? Whats everypony yelling about?”

Cory placed her on the barn floor, “Theres no time to explain, go outside alright? Applejac and Big Macintosh need you, now!”

“But-“

“GO!”

While the young filly ran from the barn, she could see the four legged beast loom over the pig and goat pins. In horror, she watched as MoleRat buried his teeth into one of her beloved pet pigs, swallowing the creature whole and diving his head back down for another. AppleBloom ran from the pin, tears clouded her vision as she called out for her sister, “AppleJack! Please, where are you!?”

The Kaiju made his way through the barn yard, crushing the trees underneath his claws , igniting the others with bolts that he fired from his ears. Tears flowed from the Country Ponies eyes as she looked at the flames that licked the tree tops, “Oh no,” was all she managed to gasp as the Apple families life work was slowly eaten away by the inferno. Not only that, the beast was making its way towards the Apple Barn. King MoleRats ears cackled with energy as he fired even more bolts at the farm house, splintering and charring the wood in seconds. What was left was quickly devoured by the roaring flames. , “Big Macintosh, the barn!”

“Cory!” Twilight screamed, realizing that he was still inside the barn.

Big Macintosh, who usually had a bored expression on his face, was now in complete terror and sorrow as he watched his home, the one he lived in since he was a foal, burn and crumble from this monster. AppleJack carried Granny Smith as the old Mare begged to be put down and to die with her home. King Molerat swatted the grain tower with his front paw, igniting its remains with its ear bolts as he roared with glee. From inside, Cory was still alive, barely. His Spark lens was just a foot out of reach from his arm, and he desperately stretched for his relic, “Come on, just a little bit more, Agh!” his fingertips just barely brushed against the warm metal.

Applejack desperately tried to pull away Granny Smith, but the old Pony desperately tried to make her way back to the farm, pushing her weight against her granddaughter as she outstretched her hoof, “AppleBloom! We forgot about AppleBloom!” she cried. Applejack’s heart dropped into her stomach as she realized her sister’s absence, looking back towards the farm, she could see the small filly trying to catch up with the three of them. AppleJack made a mad dash for the small pony as King Molerat closed in on her as well. Applejack wrapped her forehoofs around AppleBloom around the shaken filly, but that was before she realized that King Molerat loomed over them, staring down with his burning yellow eyes. He opened his maw and darted his head down to devour the two of them. AppleJack held her younger sister in one last, tight embrace as she awaited her fate, but, nothing happened.

Slowly, the two of them opened their eyes, noticing a silver and purple arm firmly locked around the neck of King Molerat, restraining him in a tight headlock. AppleJack was first to smile as Ultraman held back the quadruped beast in his arm, lifting the monster from the ground and tossing him a good distance away. AppleBloom finally unburied her face from the Apple bucker’s chest as her eyes widened with joy, “AppleJack! Look! Tiga’s here!”

The orange Pony sat her back on the ground, “He sure is, now come on, let’s get away from here. Looks like we’ve got a rodeo on our hooves.”

As King Molerat shook the dust from his back, Tiga raised up his arms, and thrusted them back down, dousing the fire with his sheer will. Angered, King molerats eyes perked up even more, and his talons elongated. To match this transformation, Tiga switched to his power Mode, sending a cascade of red down his now bulky and muscular figure. Tiga was first to act this time, grabbing hold of King Molerats and holding the beast firmly underneath his arm. He began to swing around the Rodent like a rag doll, tossing him over his head that sent him crashing into the ground. MoleRat roared furiously, firing more energy bolts at Tiga when he regained his senses, but found them easily blocked by a quick light barrier.

From a small distance away, Twilight and the others watched as Tiga laid down a brutal beating on the possessed rodent, “Now that’s how yah do it Tiga! Whooohhwe!” AppleJack tossed her Stetson into the air that then landed on AppleBlooms head. Even Big Macintosh smiled, “Now this is entertainment.”

Twilight smiled as well, “I knew he he’d save us…”

Tiga grabbed hold of Molerats ears, lifting the front of his body high enough to deliver a knee to the monsters throat, and then a second to his chest with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Molerat swiped his claws across Tiga’s chest with enough force that sparks shot from the injured area. The armor resisted the attack, but Tiga was taken aback by the sheer force, even in his power Mode. The others watched with a bit of nervousness, “”Come on Cory, you can do this…” thought Twilight as she bit her lip.

Tiga held onto Molerat’s neck once more, but his grip was broke as he felt the talons lash his armor like skin, drawing sparks and injuring the back on his right leg. As Tiga’s grip loosened, he felt the front teeth his adversary bury themselves deep into his forearm. Tiga yelped in pain, showering the side of Molerat’s face his earth shattering punches. His face bled and bruised, but Molerat did not loosen his grip. Using all his strength, Tiga managed to pull his bleeding forearm from the beast’s mouth, but the enlarged the wound in the process. In a fit of rage, Molerat fired more bolts from his ears, sending jolts of agony from Tiga as they struck his chest.

With Tiga down for the count, Molerat turned his attention to the Apple family and Twilight. He salivated as he made his way towards them, however, he felt Tiga wrap his good arm around him, pulling him off the ground and high into the air. Using all of his might, Tiga tossed away King Molerat yet again. Switching back to his Omni mode, Tiga immediately charged up for his Zepellion Ray as King Molerat advanced towards him once more.

“Tiga, don’t do it!” shouted Twilight, running and stopping just twenty meters from where Tiga stood. Tiga halted his weapon, gazing down at Twilight with confusion, “Don’t kill it, its possessed by NightMare Moon, don’t kill it…”

Cory nodded in response, focusing the energy into a beam that slowly streamed from his hand. When the energy made contact with MoleRat, the beasts ears slowly flopped down, and his talons and front teeth retracted. From inside, NightMare moon screamed as she could feel the hatred in her heart and soul being cleansed as well. Quickly, she abandoned the monster for her own sake, making his body shrink down to normal size. The small creature shook its head, seemingly having no remembrance of the current events. As fast as he could, he eagerly dug his way into the dirt before a predator caught sight of him.

Twilight’s mouth hung open in awe, “Impossible, he can’t possibly cleanse it like that, no pony, not even Alicorns are capable of that…”

“But this ain’t no Alicorn.” said Big Mac.

“This,” Twilight slowly sat down, “Is the work of a, a god…”

Tiga, now lacking the energy to even fly away, slowly dissolved into particles of light that rose towards the stars above. One stray particle landed behind the ruined farmhouse that formed into Tiga’s host. The exhausted human managed to make his way back with the others who looked on with sadness in their eyes.

AppleJack choked back a sob, “It’s, it’s all gone, ya’ll… Our life’s work,” she plopped down on her behind, “It’s all ruined…”

“How is it all ruined?” asked the human.

AppleJack shot him an anger filled look, “The farmhouse is gone, the barn is destroyed, and the apple trees, all that we’ve lived off of and made, it’s gone…”

Cory knelt down next to her, “Look, over at the orchard one more time.”

AppleJack wiped her eyes, and she noticed that not all of their trees were gone. There were some left, but there wasn’t a whole lot, “Not all of its gone… You have those trees, and right now, I can see you, me, Big Mac, Twilight and the others propping up that new barn. Even when hope seems lost, if you just look for it, you will possibly find more than enough.”

AppleJack got up on all fours and nodded, “Your right Sugar cube, it’s gonna take more than just a monster to take down the pride of the Apple Family. It’s gonna be a rough road, but we’ve always managed to get through even the worst of times.”

Big Macintosh nodded in agreement, “Eeyup.”

XXX

She crept along the rocks, yet again searching for yet another host. She had regained some of her powers, despite nearly being cleansed from Tiga. Growing off of these creatures life energy, and simply being in her NightMare Moon form was all she needed in order to grow even stronger. It would not be long before she will be able to take on Tiga, but she still needed more energy. Simple rodents will not due, they had proved themselves useless against Tiga’s sheer power. But that did not mean, reptiles were out of the question.

Next to a cool spring, a Monitor Lizard patrolled around the rim of the water. He was in search of a muskrat, a frog, or some smaller animal to eat. His keen eyes did not leave the surface of the crystal clear water as he saw something dark, and foggy move throughout the water. As the Monitor Lizard took a closer look, the fog sprung from the water, seeping into the reptiles pores as he squirmed in pain. On his back, small spines began to form that jutted from his back, and his tail became slightly longer, forming what appeared to be a small club like end. His skin became a Dark Gray and his eyes turned a dark Purple. His skin also became thick, and armor like, while a horn jutted out from the back of his head. NightMare Moon was glad with this transformation, and made the reptile, now a monster; grow to a size of 60 meters. This new monster reared his head back, and Garula bellowed towards the Moonlit heavens above.