Chapter 1: A new era is rising
“Augur, help me! I don’t want to die!” someone yelled at me.
I was walking in the middle of a burned forest. Piles of ashes, dead tree branches, and leaves were scattered among the floor. As I kept walking, bones began to appear among the decaying trees in the ground. The more I walked, the bone’s quantity grew. After about twenty more steps, it was just bones; no more trees, ashes, or leaves.
“Please Augur, you must help me!” The unknown voice grew louder and more desperate.
I still could not figure out where this voice was coming from. For some reason, I could only walk forwards, where this voice seemed to come from.
As I kept walking, the ground was now not only covered in bones, but also of decaying corpses. There were hands, legs, heads, torsos… It was a disgusting sight. I would have vomited right there and then, but something was stopping me from doing so.
I began to realize something. As I walked forwards, it was like seeing a time-lapse of a person’s decomposition backwards. I kept walking, and, surely enough, the bodies in the floor began to look less aged as I went. At one point even blood was staining the floor.
Blood… The blood began to cover the ground, staining my hooves. Then, it slowly rose up to my knees, then my elbows, even all the way up to my flanks. Suddenly, the blood was up to my neck and still rising. I knew I couldn't keep walking, so I decided to swim.
The blood started out almost black, but as I kept going, it turned a crimson red.
Then, it stopped.
0o0o0o0o0o0
I awoke form the nightmare frightened like a cornered mouse, making my blood run cold. I saw this dream dozens of times before, but it was the fifth time this week, and it’s only Wednesday. Surely this can't be a coincidence. Coincidences never happen so frequently and realistically.
My name’s Augur Nighttide. I was a black unicorn living in the city of Manehattan, working as a scholarly researcher for the university of Manehattan, until these dreams began happening. It was impossible to sleep more than two hours without being awoken at night by a scary nightmare. My lack of sleep and general jumpiness because of the dreams made me very unproductive in the job. I couldn't stay awake, no matter how hard I tried, so my boss got fed up and fired me. I don’t know what these dreams mean, if they mean anything, but I do know they are ruining my life and they need to stop. Today, I decided to move into the town of Ponyville, where I can hopefully find some answers to my problems. I heard there’s a very intelligent magician living there called Twilight Sparkle, working for the town library. From what I’ve heard, she knows about all sorts of magic and spells, but also knows a lot about history and prophecies, for she apparently is the one who stopped the evil Nightmare Moon from shrouding Equestria in eternal darkness. If there’s someone who can help me find out what all this nonsense is, it’s probably her.
I loaded my cart with the few items that I owned, (having received a less-than-average income from what regular Manehattan ponies get) and attached it to my back, ready for the long journey over to Ponyville. I walked to the outskirts of Manehattan, where the train station was located, and bought my one-way ticket to Ponyville with the my 30 bits I had saved. Not very many ponies appeared to be heading that way, so my train wagon was relatively unoccupied. I unattached my cart from my back, and placed it in the last wagon, where carts were being transported. From what I heard the railroad engineer say, the ride should take us about 12 hours, so I walked back to my wagon and fell on my bed, exhausted and ready for sleep to take over, the sleep that I dreaded.
Luckily, it was one of the very rare nights where my sleep was relatively undisturbed. The shaking of the train and the sound of the wheels riding on the rails was actually relaxing, so I slept through the ride pretty well, recovering from the lack of sleep I’ve attained from the nightmares. When I woke up, the train’s captain let us know that we had arrived at Ponyville. I got up from my comfortable fake leather seat and stepped outside the wagon, getting blinded by the sun’s rays. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I went to the back wagon and reattached it to my back once again, heading for the center of the town, in hopes of finding Twilight.
The town seemed pretty lively. There are many ponies walking around with large smiles on their faces, something that isn't very usual in Manehattan, as everyone is always in too much of a hurry getting somewhere to remember to smile and live their lives without the stress of life. It was a very welcoming change to say the least. Most homes seemed to be built out of white-painted wood with brown crossbeams adorning the walls, and the roofs were, strangely enough, built out of hay. There was a large circular white and brown building in the very heart of the town, which I realized must be the town hall, and there’s multiple shops around the town circle as well. There’s a bakery shop called "Sugarcube Corner", a spa, and… a store that only sells quills and sofas? That's... strange...
I kept walking north until my eyes caught a glimpse of a large tree house surrounded by other homes. It was definitely the town's library from the description I read before coming here. I slowly approached it and decided to knock on the door, hoping that she would be home. I waited a few seconds, and I heard the sound of hoof-steps coming towards me.. except they weren't hoof-steps...
"Oh, hello! I've never met you before, are you new? What brings you here, are you here to borrow a book?" A green and purple dragon asked me.
"Uh... a dragon?" I said, never having seen one before in my life. "Sorry... My name's Augur, I was looking for Twilight Sparkle, is she here?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, one second... TWILIGHT! YOU HAVE A VISITOR!" The dragon screamed, going back into the library. "Come in, come in, she'll be out in just a second! Nice to meet you Augur, my name's Spike by the way, I'm Twilight's best personal assistant!" The dragon said cheerily.
The dragon walked away, going back to organizing books, which he seemed to be doing before I arrived here. About a minute went by and I saw a purple pony descend down the stairs.
"Oh, hi! I wasn't expecting any visitors, sorry about the mess of books around here... Wait, are you new? I don't remember ever seeing you before..." Twilight said, narrowing her eyes.
"Uh... yes, my name's Augur. I'm originally from Manehattan, but I traveled here because I needed to speak to you personally."
"Oh wow, Manehattan? That's pretty far away from here, It must be pretty important then. What can I do for you?"
"Well... I've been having terrible nightmares that have kept me awake for about two months now. They have ruined my life because I can't get any sleep. I... really need to find answers. I heard you are one of the best magicians around, so I was hoping you could have some answers for me..."
"Nightmares? Oh my, I'm sorry about that... I would love to help you any way I can. Here, let's go to my basement where we won't be disturbed; come with me." Twilight said, descending down the stairs.
We swiftly went down the stairs to her basement. It was dark, with very few light sources, but filled with all sorts of strange machinery and large, antique books.
"Ok, let's see here... First, please grab a seat and make yourself comfortable. Would you like anything to drink?" Twilight kindly asked me.
"Oh no, I'm fine. Thanks for the offer though." I said, sitting down at a nearby chair next to a table. As I sat, Twilight sat across from me, paper and quill being carried by her magic.
"Ok, let me begin by asking some questions if you don't mind. First, do you think you can describe your dream for me?"
"I'll... try..." I said apprehensively. As I explained the dream to the best of my abilities to her, she took down notes furiously in her paper.
"...and that's the same dream I keep having over and over again." I concluded.
Twilight thought about what she had heard, processing the information. "Hmmm... This is very interesting. This can't be a coincidence. Someone or something is putting these dreams in you..." Twilight said, looking away from me and seemingly staring into nothingness... "...and there's only one mare who I know has the ability to put dreams into ponies and even enter them..." Twilight said, with some sort of realization hitting her because her face displayed surprise... fear even... "Luna..." Twilight said to herself.
"Luna? As in, the-goddess-of-the-night Luna?"
"Yes, that Luna."
"What could she want with me?"
"I-I don't know... you see... Luna is... missing..." Twilight explained somberly.
What!? Luna... is missing? when did this happen? How come I never heard of it?"
"Nopony knows, except the ponies living at the royal Canterlot castle and I. Celestia didn't want to alarm anyone; she just tells everypony that Luna's vacationing until she can find out what happened to her. She's been gone for... two months..." Twilight said, the realization hitting us.
"That's the same amount of time that I've been having these dreams!" I exclaimed.
"Yes... Augur, you must trust me. I need to do more research on this issue. If this can lead us to where Luna is at, or who could have kidnapped her, then we need to hurry."
"I understand. I trust you." I said.
"Good. Let us begin."