The Night Mare Rises

by Embernight

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Luna, Original Character, King Sombra, Tragedy, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 4493

The Princess of the Night's transition from a protector of dreams to the bringer of nightmares.

Luna's powers to walk into dreams comes with an important responsibility: to protect the kingdom from fear and nightmares and give her subjects guidance. However, after Sombra's reign, as well as the disappearance of the Crystal Empire, Equestria is in a time of uncertainty, loss, and terror. How will the increasing number of nightmares take its toll on Luna? How will she be able to face the fears of others when her own dark dreams start to become a reality?

Published 2014-07-29 20:40:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-07 02:03:48 UTC

1. The Moon's Cry

1. The Moon's Cry

Luna walked into her room after raising the moon. She yawned, still not fully awake. Each night was growing longer and longer, the sun now being set earlier each day for the approaching winter. The drapes that adorned the opening to the balcony billowed as a cool breeze drifted into the room, bringing with it the crisp smell of decaying and dried leaves. The small gust gently rushed across her face. She closed her eyes and let the air's refreshing coldness wash away the remaining bits of drowsiness.

A soft cry.

Luna opened her eyes. It sounded like a young pony. Barely more than a whisper. Luna walked out to her balcony. “Hello? Is somepony out there?” She called softly into the night. Silence. She raised her voice, “If anypony is there, answer us!”

"We are here, your Highness," A pegasus guard called up to Luna from his post. He flew away from his fellow guards and rose towards Luna, landing gracefully in one swift motion that transitioned into a bow. "Is something amiss?"

"We are not quite sure," she replied, motioning him to rise. "Have thou heard anything strange? A pony crying, perhaps?"

The guard shook his head. "Apart from mere wind and an occasional owl in the distance, the land has been quiet, your Highness."

She considered this. Perhaps what she heard was nothing more than the wind or some animal as the guard had said. "Very well. T'was most likely my imagination, but nevertheless, remain vigilant." She dismissed the Pegasus and started back to her room. An owl, she thought, how could I raise such alarm over something as simple as a bird. I believe that my mind yet plays tricks on me this early in the night. She shook her head to herself.

“Help me! Somepony, please help!” Luna jumped at the sudden cry and whipped back around towards the balcony. There was no way this was her imagination. She glanced upward, tracing the voice to the sky. It seemed like the noise was coming from the moon that she had brought up only an hour ago. The moon? How can that be? The moon does not speak, Luna thought to herself.

Yet, somehow, the moon appeared to be growing. The wind rustled around her and the air grew cold. Luna raised a hoof to shield her eyes from the harsh moonlight, which had now begun to glare like the sun. She took a few steps back into the shade of her room, but the moon followed her, somehow shining through the solid bricks of the walls and roof. This is not possible. This must be a dream. Some illusion. Yet everything felt so real. The howling wind, the searing light. The moon rumbled and roared overhead as it fell from the sky. She stumbled as the ground beneath her began to sway and tremble. Everything vanished from Luna's sight as the room was devoured by white moonlight. She gave out one final cry, which was quickly lost in the howling wind. Then the world turned black...

Luna opened her eyes. She found herself standing in what looked to be a castle, but not the one she and her sister resided at. Something also felt a bit off. The paintings on the wall felt to bright, as if the blueish tones of moonlight pouring from the windows did not affect them. The fire from the torches danced to their own rythm, the wind having no effect on them as it passed through the hall. The knights of armor along one side of the corridor almost appeared to breathe, their breastplates moving ever so slightly, but they held no soldiers in them. From what she could tell, looking out the small windows lining the hall, there were no stars shining in the sky, yet it didn't seem cloudy either. Just the moon sitting in a dark and empty sky.

She began to walk down the corridor, scanning for any movement from the dark corners. Was it possible that she had been transported? Maybe she had traveled through time? Was that even possible? Considering what had just happened, she didn't dismiss the seemingly impossible.

"Perhaps I am just dreaming," she half muttered, half wished, to herself as she walked through the empty room. "Hello? Is anypony here? Could you tell us where we are?" No answer. She swallowed, her heart beating loudly in her chest. Was she the only one in this entire castle? "IF THERE ARE ANYPONY HERE, WE DEMAND THAT YOU ANSWER US!" she shouted tensely, as she began to panic at the thought of being trapped here all alone.

A small face peered out from an entrance way. It was a young, tan, pegasus colt with eyes as wide and blue as the sky.

"Who -- who are thou?" He asked, his eyes narrowing suspicuosly.

Luna let out a shaky sigh of relief that she wasn't alone in this eerie castle. "We are called Luna. Princess of the Night. Could thou tell us what place this --"

"Thou are not the princess!"

Luna looked at him, bewildered. "What? Thou must be mistaken."

"The real Princess of the Night has a purple mane, not a starry one," he stated, taking a few more steps into the corridor. "I've seen it on the flags, and you look nothing like her. Thou are trying to trick me, ghost."

It stung her to realize that her subjects did not know what she looked like and that they only knew her from Equestria's National flag. "We assure thee that we are the princess. Does the Princess of the Day have a green mane as are seen on the flags?" she asked softly. She knew her sister made more trips to towns and villages during the day then Luna ever did during the night. If this colt was from one of the villages, he must have seen Celestia once or twice.

"Well," The young colt bit his lip, "I guess not. Then thou really are Princess Luna?"

Luna nodded. "And now that you know whom thou speaketh to, may we ask thee to give thy name?"

He dashed towards her. "I'm so glad thou are now here. My name is Cobalt Breeze," the pegasus replied. "But just Cobalt is fine. Does this mean that thou have come to save me, Princess?"

"Save thee? From what would we save thee from?" She replied

"The castle. It's haunted."

"We have noticed that the castle is odd, it certainly seems to be surrounded in some kind of magic, but what causes thee to believe it is haunted?" Luna asked.

"Well, some things act strangely here." Cobalt looked away from her and paused, trying to recall a few events. He opened his mouth to continue, but froze, eyes opening wide in horror. He took a step backward, staring past Luna's shoulder. “Th-The armor…”

"The armor? Why would that frighten thee so? They may be a bit intimidating, but we assure thee that they can cause thee nay harm. They are empty."

“No, look! They're alive.” She turned around to take a second look at the armor, and indeed, it began to shift. Earlier, she had deemed that the armor's slight movement was just part of the eerie castle. This was no longer the case, as each one took a step in their direction. The room darkened and and a wind gusted through the corridor. One by one, the flames in the torches shifted from their golden yellow to dark violet fuchsia and lighting split across the once empty sky.

“But -- but that’s not possible.” Luna stated, sensing no spells controlling them. The armor continued to march towards them, lowering their spears towards the two. “How does it move on its own?”

“It just does. Come on, we have to get out of here!” The young colt said, pulling a bewildered Luna away from the armor.

They began to race towards the doors on the other end of the corridor, but no matter how quickly they galloped, they never seemed to be getting any closer to the doors. The armor continued to slowly march closer towards them.

“I don’t understand this,” Luna said, no longer bothering to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. She spread out her wings to try to fly to the door, but to no avail.

“They're closing in on us!” Cobalt shouted, as he looked back. “We wont make it to the door, Luna”

She gnashed her teeth in anger. How dare someone try to attack her and an innocent Equestrian. “No. We will.” Luna stated, her eyes shining with determination. She refused to let this castle best her. As she said this, a short flash of light filled the room and finally they began to approach the doors. "Hah!" She laughed triumphantly. Luna used her magic to open the heavy doors, slamming them closed shut as they both made it out of the corridor. She quickly slid the latch, locking the door, and leaned against it as she tried to catch her breath.

“How did you do that?” Cobalt asked, after a few minutes had passed.

“I know not how,” Luna replied, shaking her head. “I simply decided that we had to get to the door, and then, we
did.”

Metal clanged up against the door behind them repeatedly, causing to Cobalt to nearly jump out of his skin. “Perhaps it’s best that we leave,” Luna suggested. Cobalt nodded in silent agreement. She checked that the door was securely locked, preventing the armor from breaking out.

Luna laughed as she walked down yet another corridor in this maze of a castle. Cobalt had just finished telling her about how he had accidentally crashed through a wall of clouds as he was practicing his flying. Unfortunately, the wall was constructed to direct a river of rainbow through the village. With the wall destroyed, the river spilled out over the edge of the cloud landing on a grazing field below.

"Thou should have seen it. For a fortnight, before they could be sheared, the sheep were stuck with their colorful coats," he smiled, as he told Luna the story.

Luna laughed. "Thou certainly have some incredible adventures."

"Really? Thou think so? But thou are a princess. Thou must have an amazing adventure everyday!"

"Sadly, no." Luna answered. "Being a princess is a lot of work. There is not much time for fun." She wondered to herself when the last time she and her sister had played together. Exploring through the vast kingdom, venturing the many secret passages through the castle, or laughing over a funny story. Her sister was just too busy these days, focusing her energy into Equestria's everyday problems.

"I'm so glad thou didn't turn out to be a ghost." Cobalt laughed. "I cannot wait to tell my friends how the Princess Luna rescued me. That is, if we ever get out. Hey, dost thou think this castle is somewhere in Equestria?"

"I do not know. The sky is different here, so I do not believe that this is Equestria." Cobalt gave a disapointed frown. "But," she continued, "I know we will find a way back."

"I sure hope so."

Although it seemed that they weren't making too much progress in finding a way out, the windows were locked shut and seemingly impenetrable, Luna had found that she enjoyed talking with Cobalt. She didn't realize how lonely she was before until now. Sure, back at her own castle, she was surrounded by guards and ponies who lived just outside the castle. But that wasn't quite the same. She finally saw that the one thing she was missing out on, being cooped up behind walls, was a friend to talk to. Someone other than her sister who, most of the time, was either busy with her subjects, at a council meeting, or resting as Luna guarded the night. As if on cue, Luna heard Celestia's voice cry out to her.

“Luna?” a voice boomed overhead.

"Who is that?" Cobalt asked, stopping dead in his tracks.

The voice was a bit slurred and echoed strangely, but she could recognize her sister's voice in an instant. "It-it sounds like Celestia." Did she get sent to this strange castle as well? "Sister? Is that thou?” Luna looked around her, but the alicorn was nowhere to be seen. “Where are thou?”

“Luna, wake up!” The voice shouted again. Luna gave out a startled cry as the tiles beneath her hooves began to quake and fall apart.

“What’s happening? Can thou stop it like before?" he cried.

"I am trying," Luna replied, closing her eyes in concentration. The ground tore open beneath her into a large gorge and she began to fall.

"Luna!" Cobalt shouted. Luna began to flap her wings, trying to fly out of the gorge, but strong gusts of wind pushed her back down.

"Cobalt!" she cried out. She watched the young pegasus struggle to hover above the ground, his wings not yet large enough to support his weight. "Stay where thou are!" Luna demanded, not wanting Cobalt to attempt to fly into the gorge. The pegasus obediently landed at the edge of the cliff, stretching his hoof out to her, but he was too far away. Luna fell deeper into the darkness until Cobalt could no longer be seen or heard. Luna's head spun as she tried to make sense of the stars that began to appear in the rich violet air. Below her, the moon shone brightly as it rose up towards her. Just like before, the moonlight became brighter until it's white light enveloped itself around her. Then, darkness rushed in and the world turned black.

"Luna, are thou okay?" Princess Celestia asked the younger sister. Luna gasped as she opened her eyes to see that she was back in her room. She raced out onto the balcony and stared up at the moon.

"No," She said. "No. No. No. This cannot be happening. I have to get back." Luna muttered. Celestia followed closely behind her.

"Get back where? Is there something wrong, Luna?" she questioned. Luna paused to catch her breathe before replying.

"Cobalt..." Luna looked down, tears building up in her eyes.

"Who?"

Luna walked back into her room, pacing across the floor. "Cobalt Breeze. He was this young pegasus. We were both trapped in some kind of world. He was scared, and I tried to help him... but now he is alone again. Trapped wherever that place is. And I- I don't know how to get back."

"Luna, calm down." Celestia said. "Thou were here the entire time."

"What?" Luna looked at her sister, stunned.

"The guards heard thee cry out and found thee in thy room. Thy eyes were glowing and your magic swirled around thee. They sent for me, for they knew not how to help you, but even I did not know what was wrong. Thou have been this way for at least an hour before I found you."

"Then where was I? I saw myself at some strange castle, where knights of armor came to life and attacked us. How dost thou explain that?" Luna asked.

"I believe that thou may have walked in another's dream," Celestia stated calmly.

"Thou mean to say that that was but a dream?" Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Thou are the Princess of the Night. I would not be surprised if thou have the power to walk through dreams," Celestia replied as she pulled her sister into a comforting embrace with her wing. "Do not worry, sister. Everything shall be okay."

Luna turned her head to look back out into the night. Yes, perhaps it was all a dream. At least that would mean that she hadn't completely failed in protecting one young and frightened Equestrian. He would wake up and realize it was all just a terrible dream, as she did. Still, it hurt her to leave her friend behind in such a frightening place, even if it was just some nightmare. Tomorrow night she would go and find him to tell him what had happened to her. Next time, she would be more prepared to enter another pony's dream. Next time, she would not fail.

Author's Note

Well, here it is, the first chapter of my first fan fic.
I got the inspiration for this story sometime after watching the episode For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, in which Luna's dream entering ability was brought up again. I hope you like first chapter. More to come soon.

*Any new character's in this piece are not intentionally named after other OC's. I tried to come up with unique names not used by others, but in a fan base so large, it's hard to be sure if a name has been used or not.
*Feel free to criticize or let me know if there are any errors.

Thanks for reading!

2. Fighting Fears

Luna closed her eyes, letting herself relax so she could focus on the moon. She was becoming better at walking into dreams. Her sister, Celestia, along with Starswirl the Bearded, a skilled unicorn who studied magic in Equestria, encouraged her to master her unique ability to watch over the kingdom within her subjects’ dreams. It had taken a few months, but she was finally beginning to feel comfortable as she stepped into the world of dreams. The moon no longer came crashing down on her. Instead, she flew towards it. She continued to drift into the moonlight until the sounds of the night vanished; her eyelids slowly lifted up.

Before, the light of the moon was harsh and she had believed that this dream world was void and empty until she blindly stumbled into another pony’s dream. Now, as her eyes finally began to adjust with her practice, she found that the world she walked in was not as blank as she had assumed. In front of her, sparkled small points of light; wavy stars and lavender mist swirled through a deep indigo sky. There was no ground below her, yet her hoofs could not tell her the difference as she stood securely in the air.

In the distance, objects of different sorts danced through the air. Sometimes they would be dolphins or butterflies, at other times they would be bubbles or leaves. They could be a household object like a candle or sewing needle. Luna learned that if she followed one of those things, she would eventually be led into a pony’s dream. But tonight, she sought out something different: An object of fear or cry of terror. She had mastered getting into the world, and even learned how to control parts of a dream, as if it were her own. Now it was time to put her powers to good use. She would seek out nightmares, conquer them, and comfort the ponies within their dreams. The only problem was finding the nightmare.

“Come out Nightmares! Face the judgment of thy Princess of the Night.

As if they had accepted Luna’s challenge, a flock of birds rushed out from the mist and circled around her. Luna squinted into the torrent of feathers and angry calls, raising a hoof to protect her face from their sharp beaks and talons. Mixed in the sound of the fluttering cyclone she could hear a pony’s voice.

“Stop!” A filly’s voice cried. “Leave me alone! Go away!”

The birds flew away from Luna and darted into the mist. Luna chased after them, her hooves silently cantering across nothingness as she tried to catch up to the birds. If she lost them, she would loose the nightmare. The fog thickened as she pursued the flock of birds, until it opened up into the pony’s dream. Suddenly, the air no longer held the princess up and she fell into the night sky. Luna opened her wings and swooped down to a nearby cloud.

This was the cloud village from beyond the unicorn kingdom of Canterlot. She recognized Cloudsdale’s distinguished architecture from the paintings in her castle. On a cloud below her, crouched a beige colored filly with a dark violet and lavender mane. The birds circled around her singing in unharmonious melodies and crashing thunder. They swelled together and became a dark cloud that began to pour rain upon the young pegasus’s head.

Luna leapt down to help her. “Be gone!” She cried as she kicked the storm cloud into nothingness. She stayed up in the air for a while longer - making sure that the nightmare was gone - before landing besides the Pegasus to help her up.

“Are thou alright?” Luna asked, as the Pegasus rose shakily on her hooves.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I thank thee, Princess.”

Luna’s joy that somepony finally recognized her was short lived as she watched the pegasus’s violet eyes dart fearfully around the village.

“Will they come back?” she asked.

Luna sighed. “Unfortunately yes. I’m afraid that nightmares shall continue to haunt thee until thou no longer fear them. Such is their way.” The filly looked down at her hooves, biting her lip. Luna hated to see her look of disappointment and growing fear. “However, I am here to help thee with that part. Tell me, what is thy name and why were those birds chasing you?”

The filly looked back at Luna, a frown still heavy on her face. “I am Night n’ Gale. I was named after the birds that attacked. Those were nightingales. I’m not sure why they chased me, for I do not fear them. I also doubt that thou can help me either.”

Luna was perplexed by this pony’s reply. Usually what the pony feared did come after them. Such as a spider or a colony of bats. Was this not a nightmare? “Tell me then, what do thou fear.”

“I…” Night n’ Gale paused before continuing. “ To be honest, I do not really know. I’m not so much as scared as I am troubled.” Luna raised an eyebrow, compelling her to further explain. Instead, the filly turned away from Luna and walked to the edge of the cloud. After awhile, Luna wondered if she should say something, but before she could open her mouth, the Pegasus finally began to speak.

“I haven’t gotten my cutie mark yet.” She stated matter-of -factly. “I know that it will come when I find my destiny and all. And the fact that I have yet to receive one yet does not bother me. What does bother me is that I do not know what I want to do.” She shook her head sadly to herself.

Luna walked over to the troubled Pegasus and reassuringly laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Surely by now thou know what thou enjoy?”

“I do. Sort of anyway.” She replied. “I enjoy singing. I want to join a choir or compose my own songs and sing them to others. I’m good at it, too,” she smiled. “Everypony in my school tells me that I have a beautiful voice, and our music instructor encourages me to embrace this talent. But, I want to be useful too. The most important role Pegasus ponies have in Equestria is to control the weather. It’s a busy job, and I’m an excellent flier as well. I can see myself excelling in directing weather. If I can, shouldn’t I choose the path I am most needed for?”

“A destiny is something that you will find in time. Just wait. It will come.”

“But it already has. I have two options, and I know I can be successful in both – one that I want, and one that is needed. I love to sing, but does it really help anypony? I want to be useful. I want to be important. I want a role that I can enjoy and means something. How do I decide?” she cried. Luna wasn’t sure how to react. Did she really have the right to tell this Pegasus which path she should choose? Does anypony have the right to do that?

“It is ultimately up to thee. But is what thou want really unimportant to you? How can thou thyself enjoy music if it holds no meaning? Did not other singers inspire thee and bring thee joy in singing? Every destiny is equally important.”

Night n’ Gale thought on this. “So what thou are saying is that every career has equal importance? But thou lead an entire nation. Surely that is the most important role to play in Equestria?”

“I am no more important than any other pony. Look at the Earth pony who works hard in the field growing food. His work is often overlooked as a simple and tiring job, but if nopony grew that food, we would all starve. What would a world be like if there was no music? Would it not be bland and uninteresting?

“So my voice is important? Can it help others?”

“Yes. Thou have the ability to soothe others and bring them to joy; to bring out emotions in ponies through sound and music. How is that not important? And just because thou decide upon one thing to pursue, it does not mean thou are unable to help in other ways if thou are needed.”

“Thank thee, Princess. I feel more confident with my destiny now. A pony should do what they love and enjoy. Singing is the talent I wish to pursue and build upon.” She nodded in thanks. As she did so, the dream shivered, the Pegasus now at ease and ready to move on. Luna smiled in relief as the she felt the moonlight pull her out of the ending dream. The air around her faded and took on the scene of her balcony. She had successfully completed her goal of chasing away a nightmare. And more so, she was able to help one of Equestria’s young citizens. Luna may have been gifted with the talent of raising the moon, but she decided that protecting a pony’s dreams was as equally rewarding as any other task.

The two, alicorn sisters stood in a courtyard just outside the throne room. Soft gold light lined the horizon as part of the sun began to peak out over the land. As Luna lowered her moon she grinned at her sister.

“I do not believe I have ever felt happier to be the Princess of the Night and to bring comfort and joy to others through their dreams. I’m glad that I can do just that along with my duty to raise and lower the moon.”

Celestia returned her sister’s smile. “Yes, I completely agree. And nothing makes me happier to see my dearest sister smile. Equestria is lucky to have a such a caring and compassionate leader to guard their night, and I consider myself even luckier to have you as my sister.”