Nightmare Rarity (story arc)

The untitled second arc of the comic series, dubbed by fans as the NightMares Arc, is Issues 5-8 of the comics. It features an original villain, as well as the return of Nightmare Moon. They are written by Heather Nuhfer, drawn by Amy Mebberson, and colored by Heather Breckel.

Issue 5 was released on Marcy 27th, 2013. Issue 6 was released on April 24th, Issue 7 was released on May 16th, and Issue 8 will be released on June 19th.

Issue 5
Twilight Sparkle has been having nightmares several days in a row. As she tries to find a way to get rid of the nightmares, two ponies resembling Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter can be seen in the background. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and, presumably, Pinkie Pie have also been having nightmares. Pinkie Pie hosts a slumber party that night.

When the Mane 6 go to sleep, they have more nightmares caused by dark smoke. Rarity's nightmare is about the other ponies rejecting her for Maybelle (a pony resembling Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls), and the dark smoke appears and takes her to the moon. Rainbow Dash goes after them but the smoke fights her off and disappears with Rarity.

The ponies realize that the black smoke was the cause of the nightmares, and decide to tell Princess Luna, as she is the protector of dreams. At that moment, Luna appears with Princess Celestia and says that Rarity has been taken to the nightmare dreamscape. She tells them that when she was trapped as Nightmare Moon, she wanted the ponies to fear her, and the evil forces, called the Nightmare Forces, knew what to say to her, giving her their energy and hate (hinting at them being the ones to turn her into Nightmare Moon) in return for a powerful kingdom of their own. She thought they would wither and die when she was released by the Elements of Harmony, but legend says they will be granted one more chance by gathering energy through the cycle of the new moon.

As Luna, Spike, and the Mane 5 decide to go to the moon to save Rarity, planning to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat the Nightmare Forces, Rarity tries to fight off the Nightmare Forces, resembling dark ghostly creatures, on the moon.

Issue 6
Celestia wraps a lasso around the moon, and she, Luna, Spike, and the other ponies pull it closer to Earth. Celestia goes to prepare Ponyville for battle with the Nightmare Forces while the others walk across the rope (Luna, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy flying) to get to the moon. Luna warns them that the Nightmare Forces will confront them with their greatest fears. However, Spike accidentally causes the rope to break, but Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Luna save Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Spike, with Twilight using her magic to keep a fire ruby Spike intended to give to Rarity from falling.

Upon arriving at the moon, Luna says that when the Nightmare Forces came back to life, they needed a form to take and put the peaceful inhabitants of the moon under their spell.

On the moon, Rarity is confronted by the Nightmare Forces' leader, Larry, who prefers to be called Shadowfright. Shadowfright and his sidekick tell Rarity that she can help them, and they'd never reject her as they say her friends will, and use their dark powers on her.

Luna, Spike, Twilight, and the others run into the Nightmare Forces, who subject them to their worst nightmares. In Twilight's nightmare, Celestia dismisses her (similar to The Crystal Empire) and says the magic of friendship is dead because of her, until Spike and Luna tell her it is just a nightmare, and she fights it off. In Rainbow Dash's nightmare, Ponyville is in need of her help and she can't fly, until Twilight, Spike, and Luna snap her out of it. In Pinkie Pie's nightmare, crowds she tries to entertain throw tomatoes at her, but is quickly snapped out of it by the others. In Fluttershy's nightmare, the animals attack her, but the others snap her out of it, and Applejack's nightmare has Sweet Apple Acres closed down without any apples, until the others snap her out of it.

As Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Luna face the Nightmare Forces, Shadowfright and his sidekick tell Luna to become Nightmare Moon again in exchange for sparing her friends. Twilight and the others stand by her side and she declines. The Nightmare Forces move aside to reveal their new queen - Nightmare Rarity.

Issue 7
Rarity has been turned into the new Nightmare Moon by the Nightmare Forces. The others try to get through to her, but even Spike is unsuccessful. The ponies fight the Nightmare Forces. Rainbow Dash defeats Shadowfright, but his sidekick sends Spike flying into the distance. As the Nightmare Forces capture the ponies, Shadowfright wraps around Luna but Twilight blasts him with a magic beam and tells Luna to go back to Ponyville, which she does.

Nightmare Rarity has the five ponies imprisoned in the dungeon. Applejack and Rainbow Dash wish that Daring Do was here to help them, while Twilight says that without Rarity, they can't use the Elements of Harmony to defeat the Nightmare Forces, and they put a spell on the castle preventing her magic from working. As Fluttershy becomes friends with a Nightmare Forces rabbit, the others presume Spike dead.

Spike has survived his fall, however. He gets back up and goes to the Nightmare Forces' castle, using small sluglike creatures as camouflage to enter. Nightmare Rarity plans an attack on Ponyville, and tells Shadowfright she chose Rarity to be her vessel because she had a deep, dark secret which made it easier to possess her (hinting at her being Luna's original evil side). Nightmare Rarity says they could lock the ponies up and throw away the key once they conquer Ponyville, but Shadowfright's sidekick misplaced the key, and an angry Shadowfright sends him to find it while Spike looks for the dungeon.

Spike eventually finds himself in a throne room where Rarity appears and asks him to be her king. When she says to forget the past, he realizes that it isn't really her. The dream fades away, created by Nightmare Rarity. Spike tries to tell Rarity he loves her, but Nightmare Rarity says it's too late for Rarity. Shadowfright and his sidekick trap Spike with their tails. He says he'll never help the Nightmare Forces, but Nightmare Rarity says there's nothing he could help her with, and the nightmare has only just begun.

Issue 8
To be added