The forest was dark tonight. The pale light of a crescent moon barely penetrated the ceiling of densely packed pines, leaving the forest floor cloaked in an oppressive gloom. The silence was equally thick, filling the cool air with a heaviness that that felt almost tangible. For most, to walk here would be wander aimlessly, uncertain of their direction, growing ever more uneasy at the unnatural hush but afraid to break it, lest they draw attention from whatever it was that enforced such absolute silence. For the filly now picking delicately through the solemn trees, however, this was simply a peaceful place where she spent her resting hours.
The adolescent unicorn couldn't recall precisely when the dreams had first started. She only knew that for as far back as she could remember, she had walked these woods at least once a week, and she had long since lost her fear of their stark stillness. Indeed, for nearly four years now she had welcomed it. Ever since she'd been chosen, almost every day had been a cacophony of new challenges with which she'd barely been able to keep up. Levitation puzzles that required every iota of her concentration, spells that even adult unicorns had trouble with, and questions upon questions upon questions. Questions of natural law, questions of logic, questions of philosophy, questions of ethics, even questions about the nature of magic itself! As much as she relished the challenges set forth by her teacher, she longed also to catch her breath now and again, and so she cherished the quiet solitude that her somber dream place granted.
Now she stepped carefully through slumbering trees, moonlight shining on her silvery-blue mane and indigo coat, breathing deeply the perpetual scent of fog and autumn that permeated this place. She sighed contently, stepping gingerly over a fallen log as she carefully made her way toward the clearing she came to whenever she found herself here. It was an excellent place where she could simply lay down and let her mind wander. She'd spent many a night doing nothing but gazing at the stars and letting her thoughts tumble about and land where they may as she waited for the sun to rise. While she almost never remembered her contemplations when she awoke, she still felt mentally refreshed after dreaming of the forest, and for somepony in her position, that in itself was valuable beyond measure.
She never took any particular route to get to the clearing, but she never really needed to. Experience had taught her that, in order to get there, all she had to do was turn tail toward the moon and keep walking. She wasn't entirely sure if it was significant, given who her teacher was, but she had her theories.
It wasn't as though she didn't appreciate the moon. It managed the tides in the real world, and in this one it told her where she needed to go. The fact that it was away from the moon didn't change that. Even so, the moon was cold. The moon was distant and unfeeling. At times the moon almost seemed spiteful, refusing to give more than a dim glow to light her way through the trees. The moon had it purposes, it was true, but the filly's favorite part of her dream wood was always watching the sunrise from her bed of ferns in the clearing.
She loved the slow, soft brightening of the world as the sun approached the horizon. She loved the steady mellowing of darker colors, and the way the wood's atmosphere went from somber to peacefully secluded. She especially loved the moment that the sun finally peaked over the distant hills, bathing her in gentle warmth that so reminded her of the embrace of her mentor. It just made sense to her. She was a student, some would even say a ward, of the sun, and the love she held for it reflected that.
Still, she thought with a smile, sunrise is a long way off, and there is plenty of thinking that can be done before it arrives. That thought in mind, she picked up her pace slightly, the moon at her back, knowing that somewhere ahead, her special clearing was waiting for her.
***
A shadow glided silently through the darkness beneath the trees, visible only as it passed between them. Though it carried itself with elegance and poise, every step was as silent as a phantom's as it made its way through the forest haze. About it swirled a billowing cloud of impossibly dark, purple-blue smoke, further distorting its silhouette. From its face gleamed two reptilian eyes, teal as a glacial cave and just as cold, shining balefully just above a lazy, predatory grin.
This is the night.
How many times her softer self had walked amongst these very trees, watching the sun's pupil traipse about with her whimsical air and indolent smile, the dark alicorn knew not. She knew only that as time had gone on she'd found it increasingly difficult not to spring into action, to tear through the forest and wipe the unicorn's mocking smile from her unworthy face. The softer part of her had always been ironically adamant that it was not for them cause terror in dreams, but to relieve it, however deserving of punishment the dreamer was. Tonight though. . . tonight it was her night to walk the dream-scape, and oh what plans she had.
Her gentler side had been very resistant, refusing again and again to allow her access to the dream realm by herself, but tonight she had not let herself be denied. It was high time that the foal with whom she shared a body learned that if ponies would not appreciate the glory of the night willingly, then they must be made to, and that if they chose not to show respect, then they must instead be moved by fear.
It would begin with this whelp, this upstart who with every dream shunned the moon and sought instead the blinding light of the sun. It was a thing that the alicorn could never understand, but what need had she of understanding? Tonight it was the unicorn who would be taught to understand. Tonight she would learn who was truly worthy of her worship, and since she had shown that she would not bow in reverence, she would be made to bow in terror.
Besides, the shadow thought with amusement, there is a message that must be sent, and no other could so perfectly deliver it.
The alicorn's pupils contracted to slits as she lifted her eye to meet the moon's pale face, and her grin widened into something almost feral. This would truly be a night of nights, the first that would herald what was to come, the first that bore promise of the eternal darkness that she had promised herself to usher in. She spread her great wings and shot silently into the sky, moonlight glinting off of fangs revealed by a savage smile.
It was time to get started.
***
The unicorn was puzzled. She stood, her brow furrowed in a way that it rarely was in her dream forest, as she contemplated the sky before her. She'd only looked down for a second, but somehow in that second she'd either completely changed direction or the moon had moved in front of her. But for the change in the light she might not have even noticed, but she did, and now stood there feeling utterly bemused.
She could only guess how many times she'd walked through the dark forest of her dreams, but she knew with absolute certainty that every time she had, the moon had always known its place. It changed its phases with the weeks and its size with the seasons, but it had never changed position. Until now it had always been faithful to its purpose of staying at her back to guide her to where she wanted to go. Tonight though, it seemed the moon had finally tired of its monotonous task. Tonight, the moon was rebelling.
She shrugged slightly before turning around and resuming her sedate pace. It was a dream, after all. Nopony said that it had to make perfect sense, or even any sense at all. Actually, she considered as she stepped around an especially large tree, it's rather strange that the dream has been so consistent for all these years. It was probably just a matter of time before something- the thought froze in sync with her body as she finally made her way around the towering pine. She stood stock still, eyes locked on the sky, filling steadily with confusion and a little unease.
The moon had once again appeared ahead of her. Stranger still though, it now appeared larger and brighter than it had before. It's pale light illuminated every tree and bush she could see, and yet somehow the spaces between the trees seemed to have grown slightly darker. She regarded it uncertainly for a few moments before slowly turning around, keeping the moon in sight for as long as she possibly could. When at last she reached the limits of her flexibility, she whipped her head around, eyes darting up toward the sky to see. . . nothing. The moon had not followed her. She let out a relieved sigh and chuckled before starting ahead renewed vigor, determined not to take her eyes off the sky in case the moon was still feeling mischievous. Of course, focused on the sky as she was, she failed to remember the fallen log that she'd stepped over just moments ago.
She managed catch herself before her snout hit the ground, but not without taking her eyes off of the sky. For a moment she simply lay there, sighing in frustration, before a wry smile worked its way on to her face. A chuckle began in her throat as she looked up, reflecting on how exasperating something as silly as a dream could be. Before it even managed to escape her lips it had devolved into a shrill, terrified scream.
The scream subsided quickly, replaced with shallow, rapid breathing as she stared ahead with wide eyes. The moon was, as she'd suspected, now ahead of her, looking larger and brighter than ever, but that wasn't what had frightened her. When she'd looked up, she could have sworn that for an instant, just for an instant, it hadn't been the moon she'd seen. No, there had been something else. Something dark. Something that towered over her, casting her in its shadow, with cold, draconic eyes and jagged fangs bared in some cruel mockery of a grin. It had been gone before she'd gotten more than a glimpse, but she felt absolutely certain that, whatever it was, it had been there.
For several long moments she simply stood there, trying to still the nervous beating of her heart. She reminded herself that this was just a dream, repeating in her thoughts again and again, but the idea did nothing to relieve the tightness that had taken hold in her chest. Growing angry at her seemingly inability to calm her fears, she began muttering "it's just a dream, it's just a dream," each time louder than the last, until finally she looked up at the moon in defiance and shouted out "IT'S JUST A DREAM!"
As her voice faded into the heavy forest air, her defiant expression softened into something that resembled shame, and she sat on her rump hard as she looked at the ground. Even though she knew no one was here to judge her, she was still embarrassed by her outburst. It was just a dream, after all, and she was no longer a little filly. She was the personal student of the sun, and it disappointed her that she was getting so worked up over something that she knew wasn't real.
Even so, she couldn't deny that she'd been badly startled, and she didn't particularly want it to happen again. Very slowly, she lifted her gaze from the ground and turned it skyward. As she'd suspected, the moon was still there, grown even larger than before, but it was still just the moon. Doing as she'd done before, she turned her body as far as she could, and, bracing herself just in case, she snapped her head around to face away from it. Neither the moon nor the monster were in sight.
Sighing with relief, she started tentatively forward, now using a tactile spell to avoid any obstacles as she kept her eyes on the sky. She smiled, pleased with her solution as she skirted a small boulder, and increased her pace to a slow trot. She'd lost valuable mental unwinding time thanks to the moon's antics, and she wanted to make up for as much as she could. Though she'd never admit it to herself, she also felt some strange certainty that if she could make it to her clearing, she'd be safe from that. . . thing.
Those things in mind, off she went, determined to get to her sanctuary in time to watch the sunrise.
***
The unicorn decided that she wasn't enjoying this dream at all. She'd been wandering the woods for what felt like hours now, far longer that it had ever taken to her reach her special clearing in the past, and although it was a dream she could feel the exertion of both the long walk and her tactile spell beginning to take their toll. The moon hadn't moved in front of her again, for which she was grateful, but at the same time she was beginning to feel nervous about having it at her back. The longer she walked, the more she felt as though she was keeping her back to a hunting animal.
The atmosphere of the forest wasn't helping, either. The heavy silence, which she had always appreciated before, now felt ominous. The hush surrounded her like darkness made sound, distorting and concealing whatever might lurk within its depths. More than once she had paused to listen, hoping yet terrified that she might hear breathing that wasn't her own. Still, she never managed to detect anything, and so had resumed her walking with a shiver and a nervous breath.
She was no longer pretending that she wanted to reach the clearing to unwind. Dream or not, the forest as it was had become a place of foreboding, and the more unfriendly it had grown, the more she'd become fixated on the idea that once she got to her clearing, she'd be safe. It was her sanctuary, a place of peaceful reflection and relaxation, and somehow she just couldn't imagine that anything harmful could reach her there. But you aren't there yet, she reminded herself, so there's no point in-
The snap of a nearby twig froze both her body and her thoughts in the same instant. She felt her eyes grow wide, and a sensation similar to cold lightning made its way up her limbs. Slowly, very slowly, she looked around, scanning the darkness for anything out of place. Seeing nothing, she lit her horn, sending forth a spell that would ferret out any creature that might be hiding in the shadows. Nothing. Releasing a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding, the unicorn shook herself and again looked ahead, only to recoil at what awaited her.
The moon, suddenly full and blazing and larger than she'd ever seen it before, hung directly overhead, beaming down on her like some impossible, sky-filling spotting torch. Its pale beams lit up the area around her, exposing her, and she felt a spike of primal fear shoot through her as the prey response buried in every pony's mind came screaming to the surface. She froze, the moon transfixing her as surely as the gaze of a hungry predator, and as the first tremors of many ran down her spine, she began to hear the laughter.
It was quiet at first, a chuckle that seemed to whisper from every shadow, that grew with each frantic beat of the unicorn's heart. By an act of sheer will, she tore her gaze away from the moon, searching frantically for the source of the rising laugh, but beyond her circle of moonlight the darkness had grown impenetrable. Forcing herself to focus, she unleashed another revealing spell, only to find that her magic would not travel beyond the shaft of moonlight that now encircled her. In response the laughter spiked, growing into a sharp, amused cackle, and still it continued to grow. Within seconds it seemed to fill the world, the sky itself ringing with cruel, arrogant mirth.
Doing her best to put on a brave face, the filly tried to shout, "Who's there?!". To her dismay, her voice came out tiny and frightened, sounding more like a plea than a demand, and the cruel laughter only increased, the edge of madness bleeding in as the heavens continued to mock her.
Then, all at once, there was silence.
The unicorn, deafened by the sudden quiet and her own hammering heart, slowly scanned the darkness around her, desperate to put a face to her tormentor, if for no other reason than to stop the procession of horrors conjured by her own mind. Her veins felt as though they were filling steadily with ice, and she couldn't stop the shivers that seemed to be traveling along every line of her body. Still, she did her best to ignore it, focusing as much as she could on finding whatever it was that took such pleasure in her fear. I will find you, she silently swore, and when I do I'll show you that this is MY dream place.
No sooner had she thought this then what felt like a wing, velvety and so cold she couldn't even gasp, draped itself across her back. She tensed, frozen in a silent scream, as a voice both sultry and scornful murmured in her ear, "Will you now?"
Grimacing, she forced herself to look to the side, hoping she was ready to finally see the entity that was plaguing her dream. Her eyes rose slowly, taking in the shape of. . . nothing. She hadn't even noticed the frigid silk of the wing leaving her back. She whimpered in frustration and fear, and began turning forward to scan the darkness before her.
"How?" the voice whispered from behind.
The unicorn had never turned faster in her life, and yet she was still too slow to catch the speaker.
"What will you do, sun worshiper" it taunted from her right. "What can you do, day serf?" it mocked from behind as she began to turn. "Has your precious princess"-she turned right-"taught you ANYTHING"-she whipped around-"that can help you now?" The unicorn found herself facing the moon again as the laughter came back in earnest. Frustration now overpowering her fear, she ground her teeth and spat, "this is just a dream. . . Maybe I can't do anything to you." She smirked. "But what can YOU do except scare me?"
The voice tittered, sounding more amused than ever. "Oh, this is but a taste of the fear I have planned for you, my dear filly. However," it said matter-of-factly, "if terror is beginning to bore you, then perhaps you'd prefer an alternative?"
The unicorn shrieked as a spike of terrible pain buried itself in her horn. She fell to the ground, writhing, her nerves screaming as though the bone was being injected with freezing acid. For what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than a few seconds, she could only twist about and scream, filled with such agony that she couldn't even beg.
Eventually the pain subsided, leaving her to lie, trembling, with fresh tears staining her cheeks. There was a moment of silence, broken only by the unicorn's shaky gasping, until the voice, still full of good humor, asked, "What is it you were saying?"
She let out a half-suppressed sob before climbing unsteadily to her hooves and whimpering, "What do you want from me?"
"Aha!" exclaimed the voice, now sounding pleased. "There's the question that I was waiting for. What do I want. . . I want a great many things, my dear filly. I want all of ponykind to realize that the way they see the world is flawed. I want the citizens of Equestria to see the sun for what it is; a garish thing that serves only to blind sight and sear flesh. Most of all, I want the land to bask in the gentle glow of moonlight until the end of time. Right now, however," it murmured, gaining an edge of merry spite, "I want you to be made aware of your crimes, and justly punished for them."
"What crimes?" the unicorn asked brittlely, still too pain-shocked to be indignant.
"The crimes of turning away from the moon and stars," it replied. "For years now you've blindly followed the day, spurning the night and all the glories that belong to it alone. Even in this nocturnal forest of your dreams, you have always turned your back to the majesty of the moon, and why?" The voice paused, and when it returned it was tinged with a subtle yet terrible anger. "To find a place where you could enjoy the sunrise. You turn against the moon, and with it all of the wonders to which it might lead you, to go someplace from which you can watch the night die. Those are your crimes, foalish filly, and they are grave crimes indeed."
By this point the unicorn had recovered enough to feel angry at such an absurd notion, and her inner perfectionist bristled at being accused of any wrongdoing at all, let alone of 'crimes' that weren't even criminal. A bit of strength returned to her voice as she retorted, "Since when have any of those things been crimes?"
"Since I declared them so, little filly," the voice shot back, as though it were the most obviously thing in the world. "I deemed that neglecting the night is a crime, and you will abide by that."
The unicorn squared her shoulders defiantly. "Only a princess can declare a new law."
"Is not an empress greater than a princess?" came the condescending reply. "I am above your pathetic sun princess, my foalish filly." The voice became rather ominous as it continued, "You tread dangerous ground, young one. Do not test me."
Hearing Celestia insulted drove any thought about her own well-being out of the unicorn's mind, and, taking a step forward she shouted, "Nopony is above Princess Celestia! She brings everypony the sun and the day! She defeated Discord and imprisoned him in stone! She brought harmony and hope to Equestria! She's the best pony that's ever lived, and nopony else could ever do the things she's done!
There was a long, tense pause, and when the voice spoke again she could actually FEEL the rage boiling out of it. "You say that it was Celestia that did those things. . . You speak as if those deeds are hers and hers alone. . .You. . . Know. . . NOTHING, FOAL!" it roared, and the unicorn almost retreated a step before countering, "I know that whatever you are, you won't even show your face. What kind of empress is afraid to show her face?"
There was a low chuckle, and with equal parts amusement and hatred the voice said, "Be careful what you wish for, my foalish, foalish filly. You might just get it."
Emboldened by the fact that she was getting under her tormentor's skin, the unicorn snorted derisively and replied, " I'd love to see it. Assuming, of course, you're even ab-"
Her taunting was cut off as the darkness itself exploded, hurtling forward and tossing her into the air like a doll. She landed on her back hard, forcing the air out of her lungs as a cloud of deep purple mist swirled around her, blotting out even the moonlight. Her eyes locked on to a shape materializing in the smoke before her, and she could actually feel her pupils contracting as the face she'd seen so briefly before came into focus through the haze.
Same cold, reptilian eyes that sparkled with cruel amusement. Same massive, towering body that might well be larger than Celestia herself. Same jagged fangs gleaming from a slightly crazed, shark-like grin, and the very same thrill of terror ran through the unicorn's body as the black alicorn loomed over her and whispered through tightly clenched teeth, "Run little filly, run."
***
The unicorn had never felt so exhausted in her entire life. Her lungs were on fire, and her legs had turned to lead nearly an hour ago. The only thing that kept her going was pure, fear-fueled adrenaline, and even that was beginning to run dry. She knew it was only a matter of time before her body simply stopped obeying her and she'd collapse.
Then she heard the laughter behind her, and any thought apart from running faster was swept out of her head by yet another fresh wave of terror.
How many hours the chase had gone on, she had no idea. She knew that her pursuer was toying with her, but no matter how many times she tried to force herself to confront the dark alicorn, a single glimpse would send a fresh jolt down her spine and she couldn't help but run for her life.
Over the course of the hunt she'd acquired dozens of scrapes and bruises, tripped so many times she'd lost track, and had bashed one of her forehooves on a boulder. Still, as bad as she hurt, she found the pain easy to ignore every time she saw those glacial eyes lock on to her, followed by that sharp, triumphant cackle.
"HA!" came the hunter's predatory laugh as she suddenly lunged from behind a tree on the unicorn's left. The unicorn veered sharply, barely avoiding the ebony hoof as it shot toward her. She felt a sharp, painful tug just above her rump, and looked back to see the alicorn snarling gleefully through what looked like half of her tail.
Too close, nowhere to go, can't escape! ran through the unicorn's mind in a panicked loop as she turned her gaze forward again. She whipped her head to and fro, trying frantically to see her hunter sooner the next time, and in doing so she happened to notice a very familiar gap in the trees
My clearing, she thought sluggishly, my. . . MY CLEARING! A tiny, desperate hope rose in her heart. Will it be safe? Doesn't matter, no where else is, only chance, HAVE TO GET THERE!
She put on one last burst of speed, fighting her stony limbs for every last bit of velocity she could get. Her heart beat in her throat as the gap narrowed. She grit her teeth as her vision began to dim, so close now that she could see the fern bed that she had so often enjoyed before this horrible night.
The cloud of smoke erupted between the trees like a geyser, condensing into her dark pursuer almost instantly. Her fangs were bared in feral triumph as she brought up a hoof to swat the unicorn like the insect that she was.
With no time to change course or dodge the blow, the unicorn acted instinctively. Screwing her eyes shut, she reached as deeply into the flow of her inner magic as she could. An emerald light enveloped her horn before rushing outward in the blink of an eye. A flash, composed of magically spawned sunlight, lit up the forest like a beacon, and the unicorn was rewarded with an agonized cry from her hunter. Cracking her eyes open, she ducked under the alicorn's flailing limbs, shivered at the sub-zero temperature as she ran through the smokey mane, and finally leaped through the gap in the trees, touching down on a patch of soft, familiar grass.
She spun around, expecting to see the predator giving chase, or at least pacing the edge of the clearing, but there was nothing to be seen. The dark alicorn had completely disappeared, but she wasn't the only thing. The cold that had accompanied her, the pall of foreboding her presence had cast, and even the rogue moon; all were gone. In their place was the solemn, peaceful silence and the benign, reliable moon which the young unicorn was used to.
For several long minutes, she simply hunkered down and watched, afraid that this might be a trick and unable to bear the thought of having it ripped away from her. It wasn't until she noticed a subtle brightening in the air, and looked to see the warm glow on the horizon, that she allowed herself to believe it. I made it. I got away. I'm safe, and soon the sun will rise.
Hot tears immediately began pouring down her cheeks as she dragged her abused body to her bed of ferns and collapsed, weeping with relief all the while. As the eastern sky gradually brightened, she sobbed and laughed in equal measure, letting the accumulated terror of the past several hours run down her snout before dripping onto the ground. She couldn't help but feel measurably lighter as the edge of the sun first peeked out from behind the mountains, and yet more joyful tears ran down her face as it took its rightful place, crowning the trees in front of her and wrapping her in the embrace of its light and warmth.
It's finally over, she thought as she struggled to her hooves. The sun has risen, and I should be waking up any-
She heard the crash of splintering wood a split second before an invisible wave of force threw her off her hooves, sending her tumbling across the clearing. She came to rest face down, ears ringing and barely conscious. She raised her head blearily, trying to figure out what had happened but too stunned to make sense of anything she saw.
As her vision swam slowly into focus, she noticed that a thick, hazy cloud of gold had touched down in her clearing. Wincing as she turned her head, she noticed the occasional twig or splinter falling from the sky, and with a cough she realized that the haze must be dust with the sun filtering through. She frowned at the grass beneath her, doing her best to form a conclusion with her shell-shocked mind, when a flicker of movement caught her eye. She looked up, and an expression of horror twisted her face as everything became clear with terrible, epiphanic certainty.
From the gap in between two splintered trees stepped the lithe, towering outline of the dark alicorn, her baleful eyes glowing even through the murky dust. Her vaporous mane billowed around her like smoke, painting the gilded cloud around her the color of dirty bronze. With every step she took the the temperature seemed to plummet, as if her presence stole the very warmth of the sun itself. She walked slowly, deliberately, until she was gazing down at the trembling unicorn at her hooves, a small, triumphant smile upon her lips.
"There was never any hope that you could escape, my dear filly," she murmured gently, "but I was impressed with that final spell." She lifted her eyes, and her gaze went far away. "Magically spun sunlight. . . that's a spell that precious few unicorns can properly cast." Her eyes fell again. "That was the first time you've actually managed it, wasn't it?"
The unicorn, no longer able to muster the will to run or resist, simply nodded defeatedly.
The alicorn gave her a single nod in return. "Well done. When this is over, you should cast it at every opportunity you can." She gave the unicorn a serious look. "After all, it won't be long before that spell and others like it will be punishable by exile, or worse ."
"Why didn't you just capture me earlier?" the unicorn whimpered. "Why didn't you just do whatever you're going to do to me then?"
The darker pony regarded her for a moment before responding, "Because you still had hope, and nothing crushes hope better than having it fulfilled, savored, and then taken away. If you are to be useful to me, I can't allow you to have any hope."
She turned her head toward the outline of the sun as her mane drifted under the unicorn's chin and made her do the same. As they watched, the golden circle began to darken into red, coloring the air crimson as the light began to fade. "Do you see it, my dear? Do you see how impotent the sun truly is? Its indolence, its blithe lack of concern?" She brought her gaze back down to rest on the unicorn's horrified eyes. "It isn't worthy of the love and devotion heaped upon it, and because of that, I am going to see it cast down, never to cast its uncaring light upon Equestria again." As she spoke, the light continued to dim, casting the two ponies into a hazy twilight, until at last the unicorn could see nothing but her tormentor's cold, glowing eyes. " The sun will fall, my dear filly. The night will reign eternal. It is inevitable."
The unicorn turned to stare into those icy, unsympathetic orbs, despair etched upon her face, and whispered a final, pleading word.
"No. . ."
The alicorn's gaze hardened, and above them the nocturnal skyscape blinked into existence, the full moon illuminating a cruel, spiteful smile. "I wouldn't worry about the sun just yet, my little pony." Her horn lit up, and a blue aura surrounded the unicorn, lifting her helplessly to look directly into her captor's face. "I have a message for the princess of the sun, but in order for her to truly understand, it must be delivered by somepony she truly cares about."
The alicorn's smoky mane began to swirl around the unicorn, encircling the two ponies like an imprisoning shroud and blotting out everything but her defeater's cruel face. The monster's eyes bored into her victim, alight with malice and something that looked like insanity. "Prepare yourself my little filly, for sun has set upon you for the last time, and the true nightmare is about to begin."
***
Celestia's eyes flew open. She rose from her bed in a single motion, any drowsiness she may have felt banished by an ominous, overwhelming certainty. Something is wrong.
As if in response, there was a frantic knocking at her door. "Majesty!" came the muffled call, "Art thou awake? Majesty!" Celestia's horn flared and the great doors to her bedroom sprang open. One of her guards rushed in, the normally stoic demeanor of all guards showing serious cracks as he drilled out, "Majesty! Something ails thy student! Our attempts to aid her yield no response, and I fear she requires-"
The rest of the guard's words were lost as Celestia teleported directly to her student's chamber. Her first reaction was to recoil as her ears were assaulted by a shrill, piercing scream. Shaking off her discomfort, she took in the scene before her.
Her student, Morning Glory, was backed up against her headboard like a cornered animal. Her purple, silver flecked coat was covered with sweat, and her emerald eyes were wide but unseeing. The sound she was making was one that Celestia recognized, but hadn't heard since she and her sister had witnessed the works of King Sombra himself. It was a scream of pure, mind-killing terror, the kind that swept away all semblance of thought and ripped away at the very psyche, and hearing it from her student sent a deep chill rolling down her spine. She had to act.
She stepped passed the castle physician and two maids, all of whom were trying to calm the poor filly down, and sat at the side of the bed as Morning Glory let loose another petrified shriek. "Morning Glory, canst thou hear us?" she called, and for a moment the unicorn's screaming broke off and a look of recognition crossed her face. However, the calm lasted only an instant before despair joined the fear in her eyes and she began sobbing, "No, no, no, please, NOOOOO!" Tears began flooding down her cheeks as she rocked back and forth, pleading with some unseen tormentor, "No, NO!"
"Morning Glory!" Celestia shouted, trying to be heard over the filly's cries. "Calm thyself Morning Glory, thou art safe! Thou art in the castle! Naught can harm thee here! Morning Glory!" Celestia tried for several moments to reach her terrified student, but her attempts at comfort fell on deaf ears.
Celestia turned to the doctor, who could only shake his head in bewilderment, before lighting up her horn in an attempt to scan for magic. The trembling unicorn was ensconced in an amber light, and Celestia closed her eyes in concentration, trying to ferret out whatever dark spell must surely be at work. Despite her best efforts though, she could sense nothing but the magic of her protege, which itself was locked away by the filly's own terror.
Her magic useless, Celestia shot a look at the castle staff behind her. "We expect thy discretion," she said imperiously, before climbing on to the bed and lowering herself to look into her student's terrified eyes. "Morning Glory," she murmured, gently reaching out a wing and placing it on the filly's shoulder, "listen to me. You're safe now. I'm here for you, and I promise that nothing will harm you while I'm here." She leaned forward and nuzzled the unicorn, whispering, "It's okay, it's okay."
She felt the unicorn's hooves as they wrapped around her neck, clinging on as if for dear life, and although the sobbing continued, the pleading denials had left it. Celestia wrapped her wing around the filly, whispering comfortingly to her as she slowly cried herself out. Eventually she fell silent, and Celestia made to lay her back down.
"Nothing is okay, Princess," the unicorn croaked, startling Celestia and making her draw back to see her student's face. What she saw there was, if possible, worse than the fear that had been there before.
The look in the filly's eyes could only be described as hollow. Gone were the inquisitive spark and creative vitality that had first caught Celestia's attention, replaced with an emptiness so great that it drove out everything else. The weariness on the unicorn's face was something that Celestia was more used to seeing on veterans of war, and seeing her student wearing it felt profoundly wrong. Unsure of how else to continue, Celestia asked "What do you mean?"
The filly took a tired breath and said, "There's no hope Princess. I've seen it. I've seen what's coming. She's coming for you, Princess. She's coming for you, and there's nothing anypony can do." She took an exhausted sigh. "I've seen what she'll do, and I know that there's nothing that can stop her." She fixed Celestia with a steady, pitying gaze, and new tears began flowing down her cheeks. "There's no hope for you Princess. I want to help you, but there's no hope, and if I try it'll only hurt more when she comes." She whimpered before suddenly collapsing, as if her words had taken everything she had out of her. As her eyelids slid steadily downward, she managed the breathe out, "The sun will fall. . ." before slipping back into a fitful, uneasy sleep.
Celestia looked at her sleeping student for a long moment, digesting what she'd just heard. As much as she wanted to hear more, she'd sooner mate with a hydra than see her protege endure anything more tonight. With a flourish of magic she tucked the unicorn back in and turned towards the others. "Watch over her closely," she told the doctor, "and send for us at once should anything change. We will dispatch relief for thee at our earliest opportunity."
She had reached the door when she heard one of the maids whisper to the other, "I wonder what the nobles would have thought of that? Such impropriety!"
Celestia wheeled around and looked the mare right in the eyes, the maid wilting under the sheer force in Celestia's gaze. "Tis of no consequence, chambermaid. The nobles are not here, and should they find issue in our use of Lower Equish and a comforting embrace to calm a panicked filly, then we kindly invite them to buck themselves from the highest peak of Mount Unity." She allowed a moment for her staff to gasp at her vulgarity before continuing. "As we said, thy discretion is expected. Cleave well to thy oaths, all of thee, and attend well to the filly." With a final glance at her beloved student, Celestia swept from the room and went to find her sister.
***
Luna stumbled down the hall to her chambers, gritting her teeth at the splitting pain in her skull. Something had happened after she'd excused herself from the perpetually empty night court, and while she couldn't remember precisely what, it had taken a heavy toll on her. Her entire body ached as though with fever, and her skull was filled with both pain and an unsettling lightness that she couldn't explain. She also had an unshakable sense that something terrible had happened, and though her memory of the past several hours was dim and fractured, she recognized things in it that set her spine tingling.
She closed her eyes, reviewing all that she could after she'd left the throne room. She knew she'd walked to the garden, but after that everything became less clear. She was certain that she'd spent at least some time in the dreamscape, and what little she could recollect from that put her on edge. There was. . . guilt, and a feeling of helplessness. She felt as though she had failed at something important, but what it was she just couldn't place.
"Sister!" Luna winced at the shout and turned to see Celestia striding purposefully down the hall toward her. She turned gingerly, putting on a neutral face as she responded, "Yes, sister?"
Celestia gave her a mildly concerned look before asking, "are you well Luna?"
Luna considered lying, but ultimately decided against it. "I am unsure, Celestia. Something has happened in the dreamscape. I am not clear on what. I know only that I have never experienced its like before. I remember little, but. . . I believe I was defeated, sister. I cannot be certain, but I believe I have failed." Her eyes dropped in shame at the admission, and when they rose again she saw Celestia looking at her with grim affirmation.
"What has happened?" Luna murmured.
Celestia exhaled a deep sigh. "My student awoke tonight, screaming uncontrollably. When I attempted to comfort her, her condition only worsened, and she began pleading 'No, no, no'. I finally managed to calm her, but in truth her calm disturbed me more than her screams." Her expression tightened, which Luna recognized as a sign that she was struggling not to cry. "Do you remember how the crystal ponies looked before we defeated Sombra? Do you remember the utter, utter defeat in their eyes?" A pair of tears slid down her muzzle. "That same defeat was reflected in my students eyes tonight."
Luna nodded grimly, trying to hide her disgust at such an idea. As much as she disliked Morning Glory, she would never wish such despair on anypony. "Anything more?"
Celestia nodded, her gaze growing distant. "She told me that 'she' was coming for me. That there was no hope of stopping her." Her eyes flicked toward the floor. "Just before she fell back asleep, she said 'The sun will fall'. What do you make of it?"
Only a great deal of pure willpower kept the expression of shock off of Luna's face. A terrible suspicion began to take root it her mind, but until she could explore it further she would keep it to herself. "I am unsure sister, but I will begin investigating immediately."
"Please do," Celestia replied. "There were no spells acting on her that I could detect, but that would make sense if it were dream magic. I fear that a nightmare has invaded the realm of dreams, and if that is so then it is your duty to stop it. Nopony else can."
Luna bit back a retort at being told what her duty was, instead adopting a look of determination. "I will see it so." With that, she resumed her trot toward her room, secretly dreading what may lie ahead-
"Luna," she heard her sister call, and turned to see Celestia giving her a look a genuine worry. There was a brief pause before Celestia murmured, "Please be careful, sister."
Luna fought off a surge of uncertain guilt, giving Celestia a small nod. "I will. Goodnight, sister."
"Goodnight Luna."
Luna managed to hold herself together just long enough to make it to her chambers. The instant the door closed, she sat down hard, fighting back tears as she observed the terrified, disbelieving face looking back at her from her mirror. "This can't be," she whispered tremulously. "She wouldn't do this. Not to me. Not to us." She looked at the ground vacantly. "But what if she would?"
She turned her head, looking in the direction where she knew Celestia's chambers were located. "Oh sister," she said quietly, "ever since we became what we were meant to be, I have fought the nightmares. From the maddened, mind-bending dreamscapes of Discord to the nocturnal cells of terror conjured by Sombra, I have fought them all, and every time I have bested them. But now. . ." she turned slowly back to her reflection, her eyes haunted as, for the first time, she wondered what might truly lurk behind them. "Now I fear that the greatest nightmare of all. . . may be me."
Author's Note
It never ceases to amaze me how much things change over the course of the creative process. I really don't know what else to say about this except that I hope you all enjoy it!
ALL HAIL EMPRESS NIGHTMARE MOON!
