The Fifty Shades of Twilight

by Ecstatic

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Sad, Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Nightmare Moon, Romance, Original Character, Tragedy, Princess Celestia
Length: 5560

When Twilight Sparkle shares dreams with a mysterious stallion from the past, she catches glimpses of an Equestria in fear of Nightmare Moon, receives first-hoof knowledge of her beloved mentor, and isn't aware that she may change everything

Equestria was at war, the land was scarred as the Sun battled the Moon for dominance over all the beings that resided in it's borders, and one little pony struggled through the night, his life nothing but a blink in time for Twilight Sparkle, protégé of Celestia, Element of Harmony, heroine of the realm, friend and adoptive sister of the redeemed Princess Luna...

And a disaster waiting to happen, as Twilight Sparkle delves into her studies on dream magic, she connects with the mind of another unicorn from over a thousand years ago: at the height of the tyranny of Nightmare Moon. But does she influence him, or does he control her?

As events spiral out of her control, fate will be questioned, friendships neglected, and bonds of trust will be the least to be broken, for when our intellectual unicorn meddles in the past, what happened, may happen any other way, or more than one way at once, and will she ever notice the difference?

What is a Lesson in Friendship when all this, and more; when any mistake, no matter how slight, may end your own existence?

This is not related to the book/movie "50 Shades of Grey" at all.

Published 2013-09-24 16:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-04 21:18:15 UTC

Prologue (Ever Ever After)

The Fifty Shades of Twilight.
Chapter 1.

Once upon a time, 1,050 years ago to be precise, in the land of Equestria, a lone pony struggled against the biting winter of the Everfree to reach his destination: The freshly budding settlement of Ponyville... But in the present, a lone pony struggles against unexpected weather to reach her destination: The library she calls home.

-----------

Her name was Twilight Sparkle, and nearly everypony who was anypony knew her, she was the talk of the town. Star of the show as it were, but she wasn't feeling particularly useful at the moment, much less a star like Trixie claimed to be. That obstinate showmare Sparkle thought ruefully to herself, the unexpected downpour turning her thoughts increasingly dour, regardless of how apologetic a given mare could be.

"Rainbow Dash!" Sparkle shouted in frustration just as she stamped into the safety of her library home, knowing full well whose responsibility it was to inform ponies of the monthly storm schedule.

But Rainbow Dash was no where in sight, there was only Spike, too busy rummaging in the kitchen, Trying to find the ice cream, probably. noted the ever-rational part of her mind, to greet her properly, or at all.

Shaking off her mane, Sparkle stamped her hoof at the ground in frustration, "Spiiiiiiiiikeeee!" she finally let out, getting more to the point, "If it's raining, you could've set out a towel!" she finished, glaring at the baby dragon, so quick to present himself to face her wrath, all while trying: unsuccessfully, she noted, to hide a spoon dripping with ice cream behind his back.

"I'm sorry Twilight I just-" he began, only to be cut off.

"NO! I don't care! It is FREEZING out there, how can you possible be eating something frozen?" she panted out, feeling her coat already starting to dry.

"While, Twilight, it was RD's idea, not sure how she thought of it, but eventually you get so cold, you start to feel warm!" Spike replied with a thoughtful expression, scratching the scales beneath his chin, causing a rasp that would quickly get on Sparkle's nerves if she didn't put some distance between them.

"That's called hypothermia, Spike, it's dangerous! Now put the ice cream back where you found it and go to sleep.", she said these words in a level tone, backing slowly up the stairs before turning around to open the door to her room. "I'm going to be studying a book Luna sent me today, I'll see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning, Twi!" Spike pseudo-cheerfully called up after her, before turning with a sigh to stow his favorite treat away, and clean up the scattered puddles of melted ice cream and rainwater.

------

My dear Twilight Sparkle, I'm sorry to say that dealing with matters of court has left little time for our monthly get-together, I will be in Ponyville sometime next week to congratulate you all on representing the Crystal Empire so adequately.

I must cut this letter short, Blueblood has been making quite the ruckus in the Night Court as of late, and I feel as if my own nights are getting shorter, hah! To think I once wanted it to last forever, the sheer bore of uptight nobles would have dropped me dead in a week.

Don't tell 'Tia I said that, she loves all her little ponies so much, but I would banish a few to the moon for a week if given the option.

Enclosed is a book I think you'll find particularly interesting: A Study in Dream Magic: What it is, and how to use it.

With love, your 'sister' Luna.

Sparkle re-read the note with a smile on her face, Luna wasn't the most social pony, and you could tell from her letters. But they loved each other like the sisters they claimed to be, in private of course. Blueblood was just one example of a pony who only wanted to degrade her dear princesses, even through a claim of kinship.

Readjusting herself, she levitated the book open on her pillow in front of her, and started to read...

------

Blinking her eyes open rapidly, the sudden flood of light didn't make Twilight Sparkle wince in the slightest, and in a manner similar to returning to awareness after waking up, she remembered why.

This was a dream, she'd studied late into the night and cast her very first spell from the book Luna had given her. It wasn't The Birds and the Bees: A study of the effects of Harmony on inter-species rivalry., written by, who else? she thought, Star Swirl the Bearded...

But in some ways? It was better, Sparkle loved Celestia dearly, but learning from Luna's own writing was incredible of it's own accord, the difference between night and day, if she wanted to be dreadfully unoriginal.

Taking in her surroundings, Sparkle noticed she was standing on a field far as the eye could see, the grass was fresh and untrodden, unlike what was caused by the storm taking place in the waking world.

Fascinating, she thought to herself, changing a piece of the terrain with an undue amount of mental concentration, a cliff now standing before her, and she jumped as she heard a voice addressing her, saying: "Where does it end, do you wonder?"

Taking a moment to bring her heart rate down, and reminding herself ever so fervently that this was her dream, even if on the off-chance she connected to somepony on her first try, she was in charge here!

Taking in the pony standing next to herself, the odd silver mane, his coat, a deep indigo - almost black, and the fashion crisis her mind supplied helpfully - sounding exactly like Rarity, of the combination of both colors in his horn, a unicorn like herself. It would be a unicorn, Sparkle realized, They have the most potent magic of the three pony races, but still, he must be very adapt.

Finally finding her tongue, or the mental projection of her physical body, she ventured a reply. "I don't know, sometimes it's all so bleak, to contrast your high points and your low ones... I have great friends, but I always want more."

The pony next to her blinked as if deep in thought, Sparkle recognized that from her own reflection. When you bother to even brush your mane in front of the mirror, dear.

Sparkle narrowed her eyes at her subconscious, dredging up memories of things the dressmaker so frequently said, just as her attention was yanked back to the intruder in her dreamspace asking something, something about whether she was real? Why wouldn't she be real? This was her dream, didn't he know?

Arching her eyebrow, an impressive feat, a small part of her brain noticed, Sparkle laughed with a tone that sounded dull to her own ears, "Of course I'm real, silly!" she chastised him with a grin. "This is my dream, everything you see here..." with a brief wave of her hoof she continued, "everything you see here is my invention, I studied so hard to get the dream spell just right too."

This was said with a pout, however, she had failed hadn't she? Here he was, proof written like the stars that adorned her flank, though oddly missing in this dream world; written across the sky then, Sparkle observed.

A slight cough from the other pony's direction pulled her out of her thoughts as he started to talk ramble again.

"But this is my dream, I have a life! As miserable as it's been right now, with the traitor Luna attempting to bring eternal nig-" he started to say, and Sparkle's brain just kicked into autopilot at the insult to Luna, the one pony equal to Celestia in her heart.

She leaped at him, a silly notion, she didn't have to move to hurt him, not here.

But logic or not, there she was, trying to pound his face in with her front hooves, all while regaling him with how wonderful and reformed Luna was, before being tossed off onto her back, the shock drowning out more of his ramblings, did he just ask if he had a mental illness? He's certainly insane. Sparkle's brain inserted helpfully, again.

And she was actually getting used to it, the voice was slightly more independent than she'd prefer, but that's what sleeping does to a pony, Sparkle rationalized, correctly according to everything she'd read so far.

He had started to pace, Sparkle realized, as she'd been laying on her back on what she realized was now barren rock, getting to her hooves, she pressed her snout as close as she dared to his and prodded him with a fore-hoof.

"You're not from Ponyville," Sparkle said dramatically, "In fact! I know everypony in Ponyville, explain how you can possibly be here when YOU'RE NOT REAL!" she snapped, feeling an odd sensation as her mane shifted against her neck and her eyes readjusted to focus on the offensive pony standing before her, blocking out almost the entirety of the dreamscape behind him.

She watched him sit back, supported by his hind legs, and weave a tale from the history books she held so dearly...

-----------

His name was Twilight Shade, and as he gazed with deep indigo eyes at the village, only a few hundred yards from the scant cover at the edge of this... this dratted forest.. Shade thought vehemently in his mind, pulling his thready brown cloak tighter against his silver mane, both of these clashing unpleasantly against the darkest shade of purple, almost black, that made up his coat.

Shaking off the cold as he exhaled steam through his nostrils, Shade trotted into the warmth emanating from the town, Neigh flashed briefly in his cold-ridden mind, emanating from the camp. This correction was swiftly proven true as he felt something blunt collide with his side, sending him sprawling in the snow.

"Halt in the name of the Guard!" an imposing voice resonated like thunder a short distance from where Twilight Shade lay, gasping for breath as a commotion arose from the nearby barracks. Ponyville was the frontier, not for exploration or residence, but for war.

The Empire of Stars, led by the formal Princess, Luna, had stretched a hoof across Equestria, making the winter snow pale in comparison. As if thinking of the ruthless leader was enough to cause her manifestation, Shade saw a pale outline stride forth from behind the watch-fires. Just as he was hefted from the ground unceremoniously, his hood fell back to reveal the horn of a unicorn that bore both the swirling colors of his mane and coat, and he saw not Luna, but her sister, the Heir to her father's throne, Princess of the Sun, Celestia.

Shade's breath caught in his throat at the beauty that seemed to wash away the exhaustion that ran from his tail to his hooves, as if the Alicorn princess reflected the warmth of the Sun that she raised each day. Never would he have imagined such a thing, and he doubted anypony would ever compare, not if he looked for a thousand years.

With these thoughts and the brief rejuvenation fading, he barely registered the guard demanding to know his business, Shade's ears flicked a few times, dislodging a dusting of snow to flutter to the ground, and fell asleep for the first time in days.

------

Shade awoke gradually, if waking could describe the surreal experience of his dreams, for he glided across fields free of the ice that had plagued the land for the better part of a year, at his side was another unicorn, a mare. Her coat was a paler, more pleasing shade of lavender than his own, matching her horn and complimenting her violet striped mane.

This was decidedly unusual, the thought of his dreams being entered by a pony other than Luna, she who delighted in torturing the dreams of ponies at random. Shaking these thoughts off, Shade mused to himself, a habit to distract from the freezing nights in the waking world.

"Where does it end, do you wonder?" he said, brushing aside a few flowers as they stopped at the edge of a cliff, and almost jumped off in shock when the mare beside him replied, "I don't know, sometimes it's all so bleak, to contrast your high points and your low ones... I have great friends, but I always want more."

Blinking to himself, Shade turned to look closer at the seeming-imposter and managed to find his voice "What?" he said, before realizing he must look like an idiot, gaping in the middle of a dreamscape, Never mind earlier, this is ridiculous, ponies can't enter dreams. Not. Scientifically. Possible. he thought before hastily tacking on a few extra words, "Isn't this just a dream, are you real?".

Arching her eyebrow, an impressive feat, a small part of his brain noticed, she laughed with a delightfully stupefying melody. "Of course I'm real, silly!" she chastised him with a grin. "This is my dream, everything you see here..." with a brief wave of her hoof she continued, "everything you see here is my invention, I studied so hard to get the dream spell just right too."

With this she pouted, and it couldn't help but entrance him as he stared, before coughing slightly and pointing his own hoof at her and replying, "But this is my dream, I have a life! As miserable as it's been right now, with the traitor Luna attempting to bring eternal nig-" for the second time that day, Shade was forced to the ground, but this time he had an angry mare trying to bash his snout with her hooves.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT LUNA?!" the crazed unicorn screamed at the top of her lungs, bringing an instant headache to the stallion underneath her, and warping the dreamscape until it was nothing but jagged rocks.

As she continued to scream about the kindness and nobility of her "dear princess", Shade almost vomited in disgust and kicked her off to regain his feet and yelled right back. "Reformed?! That monster is... Why I am arguing with you? Why I am stuck having this stupid dream? Did I finally make it to Ponyville just to develop mental illness? Hypothermia?"

Biting his tongue as he paced, or trying to, his body seemed to be phasing out, Shade came muzzle-to-muzzle with the mare and jerked backwards as she prodded him, somehow managing to make contact.

"You're not from Ponyville," she said dramatically, "In fact! I know everypony in Ponyville, explain how you can possibly be here when YOU'RE NOT REAL!" she snapped, her mane going frizzy and her eyes taking on a dangerous gleam.

Sitting back on his haunches, his presence in the dreamscape tied to her interest, it seemed, he spoke very slowly, as if to a wild animal, "I'm going to start from the beginning..." casting back in his memories, he recited a tale that every foal knew...

----------

"...And so Luna fled from Canterlot after many days of siege." Shade continued, no longer calling her "traitor" after the unruly mare threatened him with all sorts of unrealistic fates, if not for this being a dream... "And ever since then, we have been at war, she haunts us in our sleep and Celestia herself has led the effort to capture her wayward sister, though to what intent, I am unaware."

This ended the majority of his tale, and the mare across from him pursed her lips, "You say Ponyville is a war-camp? That was over a thousand years ago!" the simple realization of those words struck her. "Oh my goodness! You're ancient, you're like a ghost! You're from the past!"

Shade just rolled his eyes as she started monologuing again, the urgency of his situation, past or present, was not to be trifled with by this obstinate showmare! He huffed in frustration and cut her short, "Look, whoever you are-" he started to say before being interrupted.

"Twilight Sparkle." she said.

Looking askance at her, Shade pulled himself up to his full height, "Interesting, my name is Twilight Shade, I suspect this will be a last-name basis relationship for us, Sparkle." Remembering his earlier train of thought, he continued, "I must go, now, if you truly hold this dream, I have messages to deliver to Celestia and I-"

Shade was caught off again as a shadow stole across the still barren landscape, and a dark chuckle resonated as Nightmare Moon, Luna! Sparkle reminded herself, landed in their midst, striking down Shade and forcing him to wakefulness, before turning to Sparkle herself.

"How delightful!" boomed the Royal Canterlot Voice over her head, yet tinged with a darker side that continued, "A mere Unicorn infringes on the realm of dreams? Our Realm! Thou shalt pay for thou arrogance, we shall see thou in agony!" the personification of evil Luna screamed, before Twilight woke up in a cold sweat, safe in her library in Ponyville.

She glanced around, her mane tangled in knots and the sheets cutting off her circulation, too terrified to use her magic with any dexterity, Sparkle's horn flared as she ripped the sheets into shreds, and quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

----------

Over a thousand years in the past, Shade awoke in a warm bed, the feathered wing tucked closely around his body lulled him into a sense of peace that he thought could last forever, and he too, fell into a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note

This is not related to the book/movie "50 Shades of Grey" at all!

For anyone expressing concerns over Twilight Shade or OC Shipping in general (Especially those who don't read the comments.)
1: An OC character was required to fit certain pre-existing plot elements, his very name, his location in the timestream, and his first meeting with Twilight Sparkle; He is not developed yet, and in fact, this story involves alteration of who and what he is, Shade is shaped by his experiences with (and through) Sparkle and her new-found connection to his past, and his development will be a part of upcoming chapters.

2: The focus of this story is Twilight Sparkle, this is her tragedy, her experience, this story is about she is ultimately affected by her actions and the actions of those around her; Twilight Shade is just one more pony caught in the wave. He is important, but he will largely be viewed through her eyes.

3: This is not a Shipping story, the Romance tag is there because Romantic Feelings will exist in the story; they are not the focus point.

This is my first MLP fanfiction, it is not the first fictional piece (I use the term loosely.) I have written, but it is the first story I have written an entire chapter of: As well as the first fictional piece I have published. Please be understanding of this.

I realized that my first draft of this chapter was EXTREMELY rushed, and did not contain the content, points-of-view, or feel that I desired of it. After thinking on it, I decided to delete the entire story and republish it, after re-writing the first chapter. My apologies to anyone who read, voted, or commented on the story previously. (I believe this new version is amazing and contains much of what I envisioned.)

Feedback or criticism is welcomed (and desired!), but I would prefer constructive criticism (If you have a problem, why not provide what you think is a solution?) Should you post any Grammar or Spelling corrections, please do so via private messages, if you're going to down-vote the story, I would also appreciate a comment on why you down-voted, civilly if you wouldn't mind. (comments containing profanity will be deleted.)

For purposes of canon: This story takes place after Episode 64: Games Ponies Play. But before Episode 65: Magical Mystery Cure. I do not intend to write Episode 65.

The writing style may change as the story goes on, since I am essentially writing from two points of view, and I need to get a feel for it. I may re-write chapters in the future, but I will not delete the entire story again. Moreover, I do have an idea of where this story will go.

Regarding Ponies

Twilight Sparkle woke, her mind blissfully empty of the events of the night before...

Sitting up and rubbing her bleary eyes with her front hooves, her subconscious took an inventory of the things she had noticed; I smell breakfast downstairs, oatmeal and cinnamon, but I don't hear Spike... And my bedsheet is missing.

This last thought was excessively puzzling to Sparkle, as she self-consciously adjusted to a more appropriate posture and glanced downwards.

this is a mess! Ran frantically through Sparkle's mind, until the events of the night before caused her to drop the scraps of fabric she had been gathering in her hooves.

Nightmare Moon.

The intensity of those words made Sparkle shiver in the now-sunny Summer heat, her mane standing on end in the long-remembered fright of her first day in Ponyville, all those years ago.

Reaching up a hoof in a vain attempt to soothe the nervous tick that threatened to cascade into an emotional melt-down, Sparkle poured her concentration into the simple task of knitting her sheet back together with a simple spell that Rarity had shown her once for minor fabric mishaps. This application of knowledge calmed her into the mindless placidity that she always felt after the nervous high of being given a test that she knew she would ace.

Looking up with a determined glint in her violet eyes, Sparkle slid off the mattress as her barely-ruffled linens fell back into place and forwent the stairs, instead teleporting directly onto the first floor, she would eat her breakfast; hoofidly kept warm in a bowl of her design, enchanted to keep the food inside in it's original state for long durations.

Thank Spike later, check! her mind provided helpfully, and as she pulled up a chair and levitated a spoon over to her breakfast, she finished the thought...

And then I'll study that dream spell, I must have cast it wrong! Oooh, what would Luna think? What would anypony think?! I might have broken the past! she almost dropped her now-empty bowl before it reached the sink, a nervous ball of energy as she danced from one hoof to the other into the main library.

Collapsing into the chair with a thump, she pulled nearly a dozen books from the shelves into a neat stack on the desk before her, and with her horn still glowing, flipped open the book Luna had sent her to the correct page.

"I'll fix this, even if it takes all day!" she muttered to herself, not noticing Spike's letter finish falling to the floor in the midst of the breeze her levitation had kicked up, but Sparkle was right; he was at Rarity's.

Her last thought before losing herself in the pages was that she'd study all night too, if it came to that.

------

Snapping to alertness, Sparkle raised her head, barely noticing the unfamiliarity of her location as her eyes were drawn to the midnight Alicorn standing before her.

Nightmare Moon! her mind shrieked for the second time that day, Am I sleeping? How could I be sleeping, the last thing I remember...

Was being tired, a dragging sensation as her head drooped towards the desk, words becoming blurry as she fell into this abyss.

For an abyss it seemed, a ghastly fog rolled across the bare rock, towering walls of glimmering obsidian rose to the sky, casting a dark shadow over the narrow space between them... And in the middle of it all, the nightmarish countenance of a corrupted Luna strode towards her.

"Welcome..."

Sparkle felt a brief invasion in her mind, like a mental equivalent of the Ponyville nurse checking her pulse as Nightmare Moon intoned those words.

"Twilight Sparkle," the voice came again, chipping away at her very essence before continuing; "That is thou name, is it not? Thou hast caused Us great trouble this Night, thou were exceedingly difficult to locate..."

Sparkle, ears pressed backwards to her skull, backed up until she hit a wall as the Nightmare came ever closer.

"Thou doth need not worry, Sparkle." Nightmare Moon said as she picked up the terrified unicorn in a almost gentle embrace and nuzzled their horns together, her voice losing it's Canterlot pattern and becoming almost seductive, as the Nightmare whispered in her ear.

"We only want to know how you came to enter our realm, just a few hours ago, we want to know who gave you the forbidden knowledge of dreams." The voice lulled Twilight Sparkle into a daze, what harm could ever come to her here? Or so her mind insisted with all the fervor of a child...

As Sparkle opened her mouth, the words right on her tongue, to tell her beloved sister everything, she felt herself falling again, and heard an blood-chilling scream of rage as she fell from the elaborate dream-world into wakefulness...

------

Her eyes clenched shut.

An uncomfortably hard surface pressing into her back.

The smell of lavender and mint pressed against her fur.

Hooves shaking her fiercely.

...And a welcome voice, her brain flooded with adrenaline and her eyes snapped open to see the concerned expression of Luna quickly melt into a relieved smile.

Without thinking, Sparkle threw herself into Luna's embrace and sobbed into her mane, all the horrors, the manipulations, wiping from her soul like a tidal wave.

After some time, she heard Luna ask if she were okay...

And are you okay? she asked herself, the answer being decidedly No.

She wasn't okay, Nightmare Moon had tried to take everything from her, the demon that had claimed the Princess she now clung to, the Princess still struggling from those thousand years.

Who had ravaged an entire country in search for dominion over the Sun?

Who would never willingly have released Luna from it's grasp?

Sparkle smirked into the glossy midnight coat she was currently pressed tight against.

No, everything isn't okay, she thought....

But I'll make it okay, I'm Twilight Sparkle, I'm the Element of Magic, friend, sister, confident, student. I'll do anything to save those I love. her eyes narrowed with inspiration as a thought occured to her, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I can speak to the past, I know! I'll do it, I'll make him banish the Nightmare to the moon, just like it's all supposed to be! And I'll still have saved her then, it'll all be okay Twilight...

Lifting her head and smiling, a light in her eyes that Luna couldn't quite decipher, she stood up from where she was sitting and tried to relax the muscles in her sore back.

"I'm okay, Luna, really. It was just a nightmare, maybe I studied too hard, hah hah." she said with a smirk and a laugh, and rushed forward to grab one of Luna's front hooves. "What about you? What are you doing here? Is everypony okay, is Celestia okay, is it about Blueblood, did he do something? I thought you wouldn't be here for days!" Sparkle gushed in a Pinkie Pie-esque fashion, not quite realizing that the pink Earth Pony was poking her head every so gradually out of the toaster...

Then again, Luna didn't notice either, and the pair trotted out the door to the library, talking about all manner of things to spend the day together with all of Sparkle's other friends...

And by the time the door closed, leaving the library in a state of darkness? Pinkie Pie was left with the amusement of rubbing off on Sparkle, not that anypony ever truly leaves Pinkie Pie behind, in fact, Pinkie Pie was already far ahead of her two friends.

And while this would easily cause Sparkle to be frustrated, she was calmer than ever, for she viewed the coming night with a satisfied finality, if only it were that easy.

------------

Twilight Shade moved through the clearing in the middle of the camp designated Ponyville, marvelling at the absence of snow.

It's as if just being in Princess Celestia's presence imparts some of the warmth of the Sun...

He groaned softly, remembering the warmth that remained in the very room she slept in. Or any room she stayed in even briefly, his mind steadfastly refusing to dwell on the almost shameful awkwardness of being so close to Equestria's sole beacon in the darkness.

He felt like a filly, clumsy and uncoordinated... He'd trudged through weeks of snow to deliver a hoof-full of messages to Celestia herself, and here he remained, just waiting to be sent off to freeze his tail off for the sake of the same ponies that bask in the comfort of Canterlot...

He kicked a stone morosely as a Royal Guard passed in front of him, That should be me, I can't believe. Nopony should fly in this weather, they told me. And sent me packing for this frozen wasteland to do who knows what. he thought, and threw a glance at the time-piece fastened just above his hoof, "Dr. Whooves incorporated." was stamped into the gold rimming the watch-face... "Hah," Shade remarked cynically, "At least one industry managed to prosper from the irregular schedule of daylight..."

Moving back to his assigned bunk, the day having gone by in a blur, and the winter chill making nights longer for everypony just to have a restful sleep, he passed by a room littered with maps there was the Princess, imposing over her generals as they chattered away, they seemed to get closer to Nightmare Moon daily...

But he barely dwelled on it as he passed by, hardly noticing the look that Celestia threw his way, and fell into his bed, letting sleep claim him.

------------

It'd been a full day for Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash again, Pinkie Pie. And Spike, naturally. Luna? Luna was there the entire time, they'd managed to get their gossip out of the way before Rarity found out, and Sparkle could just imagine that now.

"Hi Rarity! I'm-throwing-a-party-for-Luna-who-just-showed-up-even-though-she-wasn't-supposed-to-be-here-for-days-and-I-heard-she-sure-showed-that-meany-pants-Blueblood-up-and-she's-with-Twilight-now-and-it's-going-to-be-AWESOME! With cupcakes and streamers and streamer decorated cupcakes and cupcake decorated streamers! OOO! Streamer punch, streamer balloons? Streamer presents?!" her mind intoned in an almost perfect imitation of Pinkie Pie's voice, but it felt like reciting from a textbook, it had to, Sparkle couldn't handle actually thinking about Pinkie Pie thinking...

That thought led Sparkle to shudder as she remember the Hydra incident, before her mind blanked out rational thought completely from the wonderful sensation of collapsing into her bed. "Mmm." she moaned into the sheets as she head the front door to the library open below her and Spike called up to her.

"Twilight!!! Luna is-" Looking up she saw Luna standing bemused beside her bed.

"Flying, I know, Spike, get to sleep!" she shouted back, before turning to the Princess of the Night and scooted back off the mattress, gleefully accepting a hug, the pair exchanged a few regretfully quick goodbye's and promises to write each other soon, before Luna took off again, making way for Canterlot and her own much-needed sleep, having stayed awake through-out the day just to spend time in Ponyville.

Sinking back into her pillow with a contented smile, Sparkle weaved the dream spell in her mind, feeling the now-familiar effort as she traveled backwards in time, the equally familiar stallion standing out in her mind's eye... And it occurred to her that this was why the Nightmare couldn't harm her, not directly, a thousand years is a long time to project your influence through.

And perhaps she couldn't harm the Nightmare either, but she wouldn't have to. All she had to do was influence Celestia to do it for her.

Author's Note

Finally! This chapter was Tardy, partially due to College, my own bad influence, and the need to decide which ideas would make it into this chapter, how they would make it, and so forth. I'm afraid this leaves us on a bit of a Cliffhanger, this chapter was going to originally contain another dream scene between Sparkle and Shade, but I really wanted this chapter to be about Sparkle.

As always, comments are appreciated.

Now for a quick background on Twilight Shade.
Name: Twilight Lee Shade.

Appearance: [color=16022E]Shade has a deep purple, almost black, coat. [color=1F0939]His eyes are almost the same color of indigo. And his mane is silver. His Cutie Mark is similar to Twilight's, except it's harder to discern against the color of his coat.

I will attempt to write his biography later, for some extra information however:
1) He is 27 years old when he meets Twilight Sparkle.
2) He used to be a working class Pony, his education is largely from governmental programs.
3) He was conscripted into the war effort.
4) Neither of his parents were a Unicorn, I am unsure of the rarity of this considering that the Cake's have both a Pegasus and Unicorn child.
5) He has a respectable amount of latent magical talent.