Daylight's End

The Nightmare Begins

Every night you sleep, you have an average of three to five dreams a night...You also have an average of one to three nightmares a month...soon, that average will rise.  Quickly, and surely.

Luna stood silently on the balcony outside of her personal chamber, gazing upon Canterlot and the countryside that lied in the distance as her sister brought the sun below the horizon.  The gentle breeze made a hollow sound as it flowed across the tops of the castle.  Luna remained silent as she closed her eyes, and meditated.  Slowly, she breathed in her nose, and out her mouth.  Through the undisturbed silence, she could hear screaming coming from her conscious...the noises of cries for help and despair made her shiver...

*Knock Knock*

The screams suddenly vanished as Luna's mind returned to a normal.  She turned to face her chamber doors, awaiting another knock to be sure she wasn't hearing things.

*Knock Knock Knock*

She heard.  "Princess Luna, are you in there?"A familiar voice called from the other side of the door.  The Princess of the Night quickly went to the door, and opened it for her visitor.  On the other side of the opened door, Twilight Sparkle stood awaiting the answer that had been given.

"Twilight!"Luna said, reaching for a hug.  "It's so good to see you."Twilight returned the hug as Luna smiled.  They released, and Luna invited Twilight in with a wave of the hoof.  "Do please come in.  What brings you here?"Luna asked.

"I'm in Canterlot for the weekend visiting family, so I thought I might stop by to catch up."Twilight explained.

"That's very thoughtful Twilight.  How is your family?"Luna asked as she returned to the balcony with Twilight beside her.

"They're doing great.  Another reason why I wanted to stop by is because I have some news..."Twilight said.  "My brother said that...well...I'm going to be an auntie very soon."Twilight said.

and Shining Armor are having a foal?"Luna asked.

"That's right.  At first I was a little shocked, even nervous, but I made sure to congratulated them."

"You'll be sure to give them my congratulations as well the next time you see them?"Luna asked.

"Of course.  So what else has been happening lately?"Twilight asked.

"Not much to tell I'm afraid.  It's been very calm lately, in fact...I'd say it's starting to get rather boring.  It's months away until our next holiday, and the entire city is growing quiet."Luna explained.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear about that.  Maybe you can plan some events for the near future, you know, to get the city back together.  Maybe we can have a parade going through the main roads, or a festival of some kind."

"It seems like a good idea but, I don't think we have the bits in the budget for that at the moment.  Celestia has signed permission to expand Canterlot on land that we bought a while back.  We've also been researching much more."

"Researching what?"Twilight asked.

"The future...new spells, new machines, technology...some engineers have even begun developing weapons unlike any other.  Just recently, we made a tremendous breakthrough with the help of the Wonderbolts.  After hundreds of testing, and observing the Wonderbolts, we've managed to make ponies fly without the use of wings, or spells."Luna explained.  Twilight's eyes widened, imagining the device that can allow ponies to fly without the aide of spells or wings.

"Incredible."Was the only word Twilight could think of.  The moon slowly rose above the opposite horizon from the sun.  Luna's horn glowed as it went higher, and stars begun to appear in the night sky.  In the matter of seconds, the sky was dark, and the land became even quieter.  "I hate to leave so soon, but I must return for dinner."Twilight turned for the door.

"No problem.  I enjoyed this time with you Twilight.  Until next time."Luna waved at her friend, who waved back as she closed the chamber door slowly.  Luna turned back towards the balcony, and saw the same purple unicorn standing there with a blank expression.  "AAH!"Luna jumped.  Putting her hoof on her chest, she calmed down and spoke.  "Twilight...what on earth are you doing, scaring me like that?"Luna asked.

Twilight only stood, staring directly into Luna's eyes.  She showed no emotion, no sign of life...she just stared past Luna's eyes, deep into her mind.  "Twilight stop it...you're scaring me."Luna tried to get her to move, waving her hoof in her eyes.  "Twilight...?"

Suddenly, Twilights eyes flashed green for a split second.  Luna gasped as her head begun pounding.  "Twilight...what...are you doing, stop!"Luna quickly collapsed to the floor, holding her temples tightly.  The agonizing pain made her shiver, and tremble as she felt her mind going blank.  Luna looked up at Twilight, who still stared at her.  A wicked smile slowly spread across Twilight's muzzle as her eyes flashed green again.

"No..."Luna said.  "It can't be."Luna's eyes flashed green as her skull felt as if it caved in, and collapsed.  Her head and body fell limp to the floor.  Her eyes slowly closed as she saw a third flash of green.

A green eyed black figure stood tall above the Princess of the Night as she slowly drifted out of consciousness...