When Nightmares Become Real

That night, about an hour after getting warmly dressed, Twilight left Spike in his bed and walked out into the night.

It wasn't terribly cold, although the wind was a bit nippy. Then again, she had dressed in a thick jacket put a small warmth spell on herself. A thin layer of fine, white snow covered the ground, but it was nothing to worry about. The clouds that had produced the stuff had been moved out that day, leaving a perfectly clear, star-filled night.

Twilight walked and found herself alone with her thoughts on her way to Zecora's hut. It was about five minutes away, at a brisk trot, but she decided to take her time to think in the peaceful darkness.

She first thought about her most recent dream, which still disturbed her deeply but did not bring on tears. Then about the rest, and about how they might have been caused.

They only started about two months ago, so it must have been from something recent, Twilight thought. But... nothing happened other than Discord's reformation, and like Spike said, even Discord isn't that cruel, reformed or not.

She continued walking at her slow pace, seeing that she was nearing the outskirts of Ponyville. She thought back throughout her life about things that may have caused the worsening nightmares.

Let's see, it may have been something traumatic earlier in my life. The issue in the Crystal Empire with the rise of King Sombra may have caused nightmares, but that doesn't explain the... alien... or its dog. It wasn't Discord's escape, or Nightmare Moon's, so it must have something in my foalhood. But, nothing traumatic happened other than-

She suddenly stopped and found herself entering the Everfree Forest. She didn't pay any mind to the forest, though; It was a horrible memory that made her stop in her tracks. She resumed her walk and recounted the memory to herself as if it had just happened last week.

It was a peaceful Spring day at her home in Canterlot  with her parents and brother, Shining Armor. Twilight was five, Shining being a few years older. He and Twilight were out and about, having fun in the park by the fountain while their parents stayed back and watched them have the time of their lives.

While they were running from one of Shining's other friends - they were playing tag - Twilight tripped on a rock and hit her head on the fountain. She had a minor concussion and a couple of bruises from the fall, but her family had the young Twilight stay the night in the hospital, at the doctor's insistence.

Her parents stayed at home, which happened to be just a few blocks away, while Shining Armor stayed with his little sister. After all, he was her BBBFF.

Twilight awoke in the night and found Shining missing from the chair he had made his bed for the night. She looked around the room and found nothing. She was about to pass it off as nothing until she saw the open window. She said to herself, "That wasn't open before. Or was it? Oh, poop, I don't remember!" Pouting to herself, she rolled on her side, facing the window.

She silently wished he hadn't left through the window, as ridiculous as it sounded. She was about to drift off when she heard something strange... Coming from the window. She pretended to be asleep and watched the window, hoping it would just be a bird, or Shining.

Instead, it was something that scared her senseless. She almost jumped up and ran out of the room she was in.

Climbing through window, with her brother hanging unconsciously over its shoulder, was an alien; a biped. It walked over to Shining's chair and-

Twilight's flashback ended abruptly when she felt pain on her face. She blinked a few times and shook her head, confused, until she realized that she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going and walked face-first into the door of the zebra's hut. She stood silently, staring at the door and pondered whether or not to knock.

She didn't want to wake Zecora, if she was even asleep. As she turned to leave she heard the door open.

"Ah, my Ponyville friend! What brings you here, in the midst of day's end?" The zebra had in fact been awake, and heard the thud of Twilight's face meeting the wooden door.

"Oh, hi Zecora. I just came to see if you were awake and wanted to talk for a bit. I didn't want to wake you, but apparently I shouldn't have worried."

"It is no problem, my door is always open. Now, please come in, the temperature is under ten!"

Twilight hadn't realized how cold it was and quickly walked inside and shook the bit of accumulated snow off of her hooves and coat.

"Now, Twilight, what troubles you? Surely it must be something new."

"Well, it's actually been going on for a couple of months now. I'd like to start from the beginning, if you don't mind."

"First, let me brew you some coffee. Then you can tell me the story."

Zecora kept to her word and brewed Twilight some much needed coffee. It was a little strong for the princess, but was otherwise perfect. She was halfway through her first cup when she began the story.

Two hours and five cups of coffee later, Twilight finished with that night's nightmare. Zecora had a concerned look on her face throughout the tale, but seemed deeply troubled by the most recent nightmare. Before the zebra could respond, Twilight said, "Zecora, I didn't come to tell you so you could worry about me. I wanted to know if you could think of anything that may have caused them, or at least something to suppress dreams. It's hard going to sleep knowing I might have another nightmare."

Zecora sat for a moment, thinking over what Twilight had just told her. "I do have something that can help you, but your problem cannot be fixed by a simple brew. It is a problem within your mind; something rare for pony kind."

Twilight decided that Zecora's vague explanation would have to do. "Thanks, Zecora. I thought you'd be able to help. I guess I'll have to keep looking if I want to solve this permanently, though."

"It is no problem, my dear pony friend. Come to me anytime, and I may have a helping hoof to lend." Twilight and Zecora quietly went their ways as Twilight thanked her again. She decided to finish the flashback on her way home.

The figure carried the young Shining Armor over to the chair and set him down, still sleeping. The figure turned to the terrified Twilight and began walking towards her bed.

Millions of possibilities rushed through Twilight's mind, several including the early death of Twilight Sparkle that she could barely comprehend. This rush of her thoughts stopped as quickly as they started when a nurse rushed through the door. The alien leaped out of the window before the nurse could spot it.

What Twilight hadn't realized is that her heart rate increased significantly in fear of the bipedal figure, and the nurse thought something was wrong when she heard the heart monitor's beeping increased rapidly.

Twilight jumped up out of bed and rushed to the nurse, crying hysterically and trying to repeat what had just occurred through sobs. The nurse put her to bed and told her to sleep, thinking the young mare had in fact just had a bad dream, and closed and locked the open window.

Shining Armor had no memory of the night, remembering only falling asleep and waking up the next morning. Twilight tried to tell her family, but they too thought it was a bad dream from the concussion and her imagination working against her.

Twilight sighed sadly as she reached her home, remembering how nopony had believed her. She kept quiet about it for the longest time. Until now. She would tell Spike, then her friends, then maybe her sister-in-law and fellow princesses. She considered telling Discord, but knew he wouldn't take it seriously. Shining Armor and her parents had heard it already, so she would leave them out of it.

She walked quietly up the stairs so she did not wake Spike, let her jacket drop to the ground beside her bed, and went into a sad and thankfully dreamless sleep.