Chapter one: Rise of the Nightmare

As the sun rose over the distant mountains, Celestia walked through the massive halls of the palace, contemplating the rest of her day. She had a meeting with the ministers of state, delegation over a land dispute between two parties from the border Equestria shared with the neighboring Republic of Zebrabwe, and was attending the wedding reception of her “nephew” Prince Blueblood (how he had convinced any mare to engage him was beyond her understanding, but she wished them well). Then she would try and meet with Luna to see how things were progressing regarding her work with the recently formed Peacekeeping Corps, and maybe get a bite to eat, all by 3 o’ clock, when she expected to receive her faithful student Twilight Sparkle. She was looking forward to seeing her now graduated disciple. It would be the first contact they had been able to make in nearly a month, and Celestia wanted to make sure she had some time to converse with her favorite purple unicorn. As she trotted past the stairs of the entrance hall, she lightly hummed to herself, and went out to the nearby balcony for a moment of fresh air before hours in a stuffy room with even stuffier ponies. It was yet another truly glorious day in the paradise she called her lands, and she relished every bit of it, soaking in the suns warm rays and letting the smell of flowers from the royal garden waft to her nostrils. Suddenly, she froze up, and slowly sniffed the air again. She had gotten a whiff of something, a smell she recognized, but couldn’t quite place. She shrugged, passing it off as her trying to give herself an excuse to avoid the meeting, and slowly cantered back inside.

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Meanwhile, in the maze portion of the palace garden, Luna was giving instruction and running early drills with some of her handpicked elites for the Peacekeeping Corps. As her sister was older and had had a thousand years’ worth of experience of running a government, Luna readily agreed to leave the day to day ruling to Celestia. She would be more or less free to do as she wished, and so, sensing a need for it, had taken up the role of defending Equestria from any given phenomena, enemy, or situation. However, while she felt incredible pride in her own abilities and success, the role she had chosen was another constant reminder of her fall. She had betrayed her sister, and in being banished, was released from the constraint of her jealousy, but the scars of a thousand years alone in the darkness and the knowledge of her betrayal remained heavy in her heart. So, to distract herself, she ran drills with her honor guard at least once a day, and personally saw to the training of the officers that would command beneath her. She had the complete trust and loyalty of each of her soldiers, as she wouldn’t put them through anything she was unwilling or unable to do herself. Ready to begin, Luna shouted to her second in command, “Stronghoof, gather the squad!” The gigantic stallion’s rugged face sparkled, his one curl of golden hair bobbed, and his eyes lit up.

“Of course, Princess Luna, at once! I shall gather them with a speed unrivaled by any, passed down through the generations of the Stronghoof line!” He quickly stood in the iconic pose of his cutie mark, kneeling and flexing one foreleg with the other pointed to the horizon, and was gone in a flash. Luna couldn’t help but smile at the Major’s trademarked statement/pose and overly dramatic personality.

As soon as the others had been called to attention, she announced the plan for the drill.“I have arranged for the 2nd platoon to gather on the far side of the maze and act as the aggressors in this little exercise. That means four squads against us, and they have ten to a squad. As well as superior numbers, they hold the high ground and have a base set up on the far side of the maze. We need to thin them out and capture the base, all by thirteen hundred hours. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Princess!” they shouted in unison.

“As you all are well aware, this will not be a live fire exercise. That said, they have been instructed to come at us with all they have, and those rubber bullets still sting like a manticore tail. We will be going in with limited weaponry, so if you need something, take it from one of the soldiers in the field. I am allowing the use of martial arts, but no killing, and preferably no broken bones or organs; these are still our own men after all. Stronghoof, you are to take Rocky and Archer with you, running interference on the left front, drawing their fire. Other orders are your own call.”

“Of course, Princess Luna!” Stronghoof shouted, turning to the others and meeting their eye: Rocky Mountain, a brown earth stallion, nearly as large as the Major himself, grinned and began to ready his explosives, and Archer Bodkin, a blue pegasus mare, the youngest of the group, but the best sniper in the Corps, nodded excitedly.

“While they draw the enemies’ attention, Starshade will lead a covert attack on their units in the maze, with Rain and Flicker.” Starshade, the matte black pegasus mare, simply nodded, and turned to look at her unit . Rain Dance, the green and blue unicorn mare smiled and popped another round into the clip for her assault rifle while Flicker Flash, a lean earth stallion, gray with a red streaked mane, stretched and grinned widely.

“While the two teams carry out their objectives, Steel and I will be assaulting the base. We attack fifteen minutes after Stronghoof’s team begins their operation, giving both teams time to work, and effectively emptying the base of all resistance.” Steel Thunder, a large steel colored pegasus stallion, grunted his affirmation.

Though a motley crew, they were the best at what they did, and had honed their cooperation with each and every other member of the group to a razors edge. They were the perfect team of soldiers, and were eager to begin their mission.

“After you have neutralized as many of the opposing forces as you can within the three hour mark, carefully make your way to the far base and meet up with us. I trust you will get this done with no trouble. NOW, GO!” Luna shouted with the Royal Equestrian Voice, commencing the operation and shaking up the soldiers on the far side of the field, who all heard it and trembled at the force behind it.

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“NOW, GO!” echoed throughout the halls and Celestia smirked at hearing the Royal Equestrian Voice. She for one had never cared for it, and had stopped using it before she took up rule, but Luna still found use for it.

“Majesty,” said the Chancellor, clearing his throat, “it would be best for all present if you would please return your full attention to the matters at hand…”

“Chancellor” Celestia responded quietly, “I appreciate what you mean, and understand that these matters are important, but in all honesty, I know they can be settled under local jurisdiction, and I grow weary of listening to every little detail of cases that can be solved easily and management that is better handled by the ponies that live there. Now, if you will please excuse me, I wish to lie down for a spell.” With that, she quietly stood and left the room with demure grace.

As she sauntered back towards her chambers, she once again smelled that same strange smell. This time however, she recalled what it was, and gasped in horror. Hearing the Royal Equestrian Voice, something from so long ago, had reminded her of her past, and so the smell fell right into place. It was that of the master she and Luna had shared as fillies, long since dead and gone, yet his scent was unmistakable and pungent, as though he was in the room with her. He had been their teacher, best friend, and general care taker since they could remember, and had died saving them from the same fate as the rest of the Alicorn race, falling before the legions of the Nightmare. His sacrifice had destroyed any chance the Nightmare had had at victory, but at the heavy cost of his life. There was simply no way he could be there.

She quickly fled back to the balcony she had first picked up the scent, and looked upward. The sky had become gray, the clouds moving erratically, and she could hear shouts from across the palace yard. “SISTER!!” shouted Luna, as she streaked to where Celestia stood “We have a problem!” Clearly, the drill had been interrupted.

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Celestia whispered “No….. No, it cannot be!” Before them, hovering in terrifying reality, was their old master, twisted and evil. His once shining golden coat and silver mane were dulled, waving with malevolent energy, and his eyes held no sign of their original kindness, but contempt and rage.

“Well, well, well…. If it isn’t my favorite students. My, how you’ve grown! Oh, I have truly missed you both. Being dead for a millennium or so is quite lonely, and clearly, we have much to catch up on!” The princesses were dumbstruck. “What is wrong, young ones? You look like you’ve seen a ghost! HA HA HA HA!” he laughed sinisterly.

“How? How could you possibly be here? We saw you die! You saved us from the Nightmare!” Celestia shouted.

“How? You want to know how I can be here?” he snorted. “I’ll tell you how. I am the Nightmare, reborn! This old fool sought to rescue you from a fate worse than death, but in doing so, sealed your fate with his own hooves! The irony is just delicious! He gave all his soul to the last attack that destroyed my army, and my body. I thought I would be successful at finally ridding myself of the two of you when I had control of your “dear sister”, but those cursed Elements of Harmony cast me out. It shan’t happen twice, for you both know not a force of this world can contest the strength of this form. Your master was the strongest alicorn ever, physically, mentally, and magically! And he felt the need to leave his body open and waiting for me, as soon as I was finished repairing it! How very kind of him, wouldn’t you say, Princesses?” Those words hung with venom, and the sisters realized they had to stop this abomination. But how?

Celestia thought quickly. “Luna, lend me your power!” she shouted, and began casting the most intricate spell she had ever conceived. One which bound the power of this creature in an alternate dimension until a certain condition was met. The possibility that the power could be restored was the only clause of the spell keeping it all in balance. Unfortunately, they had no way to permanently disable or destroy the vile creature that was before them, but Celestia had just bought them a chance.

“What…. What have you done to me?!?!?!?!?” The creature bellowed, its voice trembling with rage.

“We simply stripped you of your power,” Celestia said smugly, “until you meet a certain condition. You must face the best warriors our world has to offer, in a tournament. If, and only if, you win will you be restored. Should this happen, you know as well as we do that we will be unable to stop you, and you will have your way. The only thing keeping us from killing you now is the fact that if we attack you ourselves, your power will flow back to you when we make any form of contact. Therefore, it will fall to our subjects to defeat you. I have the utmost confidence in their abilities. Your reign of tyranny will be ended, and you will finally be destroyed, by the greatest we have seen in our many years!”

“What is to keep me from making said contact myself, and destroying the two of you in the process?” Nightmare asked, sneering.

“Part of the spell,” responded Celestia, “will shield us from any and all attacks using your own energy. While we cannot attack, defensive magic is far easier to bind, and so you cannot retrieve your magic by trying to destroy us. You would only succeed in further weakening yourself!” The sneer vanished, and was replaced by a look of pure hatred. “Do you agree to put yourself to our test? Or shall we have you shot down by the Peacekeeping Corps?”

“FINE!! I SHALL PARTICIPATE IN THIS FOOLISHNESS, BUT IT WILL NOT AVAIL YOU! I WILL STILL DESTROY YOU, AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AS RIGHTFUL RULER OF THIS WORLD!!! Perhaps I shall even have some fun, utterly destroying your precious subjects.” it spat.

“That is the other defensive part of the spell. None shall die under this tournament until the very end, in the fight between you and our greatest warriors. Our powers combine with yours to revive any hurt and killed as we see fit. Killing will not benefit you here.” The Nightmare snorted derisively,

“So be it. See you on the battle field, my students.” And with a bright flash, the Nightmare vanished.

“Sister?” Luna asked tentatively, “What are we going to do? You and I both know we have no way of participating, and none of our subjects could possibly be a match for that abomination! They’ll be slaughtered!”

“No, Luna,” Celestia responded calmly, “we have hope. The Nightmare agreed to our terms without specifying any rules or regulations. The spell is finalized, and it cannot go against its word. Its hubris will be its undoing. We need to stack this tournament in our favor as best we can, and strike as hard as possible. We have but one chance…. Call Twilight Sparkle, and the holders of the Elements of Harmony to me, as soon as you can. We have much to discuss with them."

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Major thanks to my friends for helping refine my writings here, as well as any and all readers, and the brony community in general. Peace!