Long ago, our sister banished us to the moon. Harmony returned to those who woke up to the rising sun. There they remained without fear of an eternal night. We made it our promise to return on the longest day of the thousandth year with the aid of the stars. Until then, we slept in our imprisonment. This impediment did nothing to stop our ability to enter the land of dreams. If we were to be denied an eternal night, we would deny a restful one to those unfortunate enough to receive our nightly visit. We made it our duty to happen upon every pony at least once in their lifetime. It quickly became known that, if one woke up in a cold sweat, Nightmare Moon had paid a visit.
Despite popular belief, we are not a cold-blooded monster. Yet, those that witness our arrival will only perceive what is on the outside. These are the seeds of our frustration and we do not intend to pass them along to loyal subjects of the night. Upon entering somepony's dream, we can sense their allegiance both in the dream's reality and the pony's personality. As said before, we do not aim to cause grief to all ponies but only ones that exclusively serve the sun. We wish for a day when the sun no longer waits for the moon to bid a final farewell before rising and vice versa. For when the moon says goodbye, all the ponies arise to give praise to the sun. This praise is never given to the moon but only by those loyal to the night albeit their numbers are not as many as those serving the sun. It is in their hooves that our desire for accompaniment is held that we will never be alone again.
We keep all our loyal subjects close to our heart. For it is in their dreams that the Princess of the Night will show her affection. We remember them as they do us including ponies of all ages and gender - sometimes those of a different species. However, there is one particular filly that struck a chord with us above all our loyal subjects. This filly was normal in all aspects of the word. The one thing that stood apart from the other ordinary traits that formed her personality was her loneliness. In most circumstances, this trait is what we see all the time, but the irony of similarity can tear down walls built up in a life filled with struggle. The Princess of the Night is not blind. We can see a shared interest or experience even in those too young to understand its full weight.
Crossing the borders of one dream to another, we emerged to see a darkened sky overseeing a grassy meadow. A lone tree stood in its middle with a solemn silence only broken with the sounds of tears hitting the ground. Underneath this tree, we saw what looked like a filly suffering some sort of grievance. We approached this filly to get a better look on what intrigued us.
"What is wrong, young one?" we asked. "Why dost thou cry underneath a beautiful night sky?"
"My parents are gone," the filly responded.
"We offer our condolences for your lost, young one. Dost not the full moon above fill your heart with comfort?"
"No, my parents are never coming back. A week ago, my sister and I played with them in this very same meadow. All day, we laughed and played with smiles on our faces. That memory is nothing but torture now. Even my sister ignores me as time goes on. Nopony wants to be my friend and I only have the moon as company. It is a friend that speaks no words and its light shines above with melancholy coldness."
"Rest assured, young one, the Princess of the Night will always be there for you. Your sister might have abandoned you but we will not." We turned to walk away as we had many others' dreams to enter but we were stopped by the filly's last words for this meeting.
"Are you leaving now without saying goodbye like everypony else?"
For a while after that meeting, we visited to watch as she grew up. We saw how she tried to hang out with her older sister only to be continually shunned. The older sister greeted the younger one only with simple formalities along with all those around them - but none ever hugged her, consoled her, or praised her. This continued for what seemed like an eternity. The more popular the older sister became, the opposite was reflected in the younger sister. It was seen by us privately that anger had begun to grow in the younger sister's feelings.
Every night, in her dreams, she visited the lone tree in the meadow underneath the full moon. It was at these times that we consoled her the best we could to no avail. The comfort of the night was not enough to accompany her suffering soul in a life filled with isolation and loneliness. It wasn't long before we witnessed a small shunned filly grow into a mare filled with hatred towards her sister.
Her dreams reflected her mood. When we first met this filly, her dreams consisted of a clear sky. Now that very same sky was filled with clouds likely as dark as her soul. We could do nothing but witness darkness consume the one we held closest to our heart. Her sister saw this change though she did nothing to prevent it. The sister stood by and let this happen all the while receiving continuous praise from those that served them both. We could clearly see that all the younger sister wanted was some of the same praise for every night she was completely alone and needed company.
In a dream wholly dark as a pitch black night, we approached the filly who was now a full grown mare. Even in the darkness of this foreboding dream, we could clearly see the mare and the full moon. Lightning struck all around us the closer we came to her revealing in its light a helmet upon her head. Within talking distance, she turned to us with eyes glowing white with inflamed hatred for her sister's praise.
With a voice unlike the filly's we had known, she spoke with an authoritative voice commanding the night sky.
Dream no longer, sister of the night. We shall take what is rightfully ours for, if it will not be readily given, we will take it by force. Our sister has turned her back on us for the last time. The moon will no longer bid its farewell for the sun. How much longer do we need to wait only to find that everyday begets its own nightmare whose only solace lies in dreams? Who needs nightmares in their sleep when their reality provides its own? Those loyal to the night need us to answer the call of these nightmares in their waking hours and provide much needed comfort. A dream's nightmare is held in sleep but a life's nightmare is held in all eternity.
Wake up for this is but a dream. Open your eyes on your bed of moonlight for this time night will last Forever!
We woke up and opened up our eyes to view Equestria from our place of banishment. We looked at the world beyond our view with emptiness of solitude as our only given comfort. All we wanted was for our sister and her subjects to love us much as our mother and father did long ago. Today would be the longest day of the thousandth year. Ponies will remember this day - and so will our sister - for the night will last forever!
Author's Note
For this short story, I was trying to point out a correlation between nightmares in dreams and nightmares that continue when one wakes up.
