This Dream Feels Too Real
Princess Luna marched through the starry plain, scattering the shining beads with her hooves. Her face was fixated in a glare, and her nostrils were flared, with hot snorts puffing out of them. If she were out in the real world, the sky would have been going dark, and lightning would have been cracking. Her blue, twinkling mane whipped behind her, like a flag flapping in gale-force winds.
Her hoofsteps echoed in the dreamscape, and most of the environment was a blur of blues and whites, accompanied by stars of many colors. And all around her, though they were quieter than her hoofbeats, she could hear the wails of thousands of ponies in unholy torture.
It was mad. The entire country of Equestria was stuck in a forsaken state of madness. Whenever one problem arised, another took its place. It had been that way ever since before she and Celestia were asked to be princesses of the land.
Wendigos destroyed by the fires of friendship? Along came Discord. Discord turned into stone? Along came Tirek and his brother Scorpan. Tirek sent to Tartarus and Scorpan reasoned with? Turns out that sirens were causing trouble and feeding from it. The sirens banished to an unknown world by Starswirl the Bearded? King Sombra was ruling the Crystal Empire with an iron hoof.
And now that Sombra had been transformed into shadow and imprisoned in the frozen wasteland--with the unfortunate side effect of the empire disappearing--a new threat came into the picture, from a place that neither sister had expected.
Their dreams.
It had been a few years since their last disaster, and all of Equestria was at peace. The sun shined beautifully from the hour that Celestia raised it to the hour that she set it. The entire land was in bloom, and all three pony tribes were at harmony. There were smiles on the faces of everypony. When not at work in their fields, the earth ponies would frolic. When not working on the weather, the pegasi would soar. When not studying spells, the unicorns would create beauty and splendor with their magic.
Certainly it was a happy time. On the surface at least.
Luna stood on the balcony of the highest tower, having raised the moon for the night. She leaned on the railing, her mind wandering to the strange events that had been happening in the dreamscape for the past several nights.
Nightmares were hardly an unusual occurrence. Luna faced them every night, and vanquished the foes for the ponies having the nightmares. She considered them child’s play compared to the crises that had threatened Equestria during her and Celestia’s reign. They had to resort to plucking the Elements from the Tree of Harmony in order to end Discord’s chaotic reign. In a citizen’s dream, all Luna had to do was zap a headless horse or a mutant manticore and the job was done.
But a curious epidemic had been arising lately. They had received reports of ponies mysteriously dying in their sleep, writhing in agony from some kind of dark magic that had appeared out of nowhere, and reports of ponies still alive and sleeping, but unable to wake up. Starswirl had ordered Luna to investigate in the dreamscape, to see if there was anything there that was harming the ponies.
Luna had only found traces of the dark magic in surviving ponies’ dreams, not enough to quite tell what spells had been used. Then she had noticed that many of the dreams had been meshed together in a confusing and frightening wonderland, and many monsters had followed her outside of the dreams, breaking the rule of dreams staying in the head they originated from.
Luna fought these monsters night after night, and had found her physical body had sustained the very injuries she received in the dreamscape. Though she had destroyed the monsters, she wondered if they could destroy her if given the chance.
She looked at her bandaged foreleg, still feeling the sting of the gnash she had received the night before. She snorted. “That foul beast made a big mistake. Did he think he could overpower the Princess of the Night? Ha!”
She could hardly call herself afraid for her own safety—she was a warrior, gaining experience from the battles she had fought in the dreamscape. Not even this mysterious dark magic could tear her down.
But she was rightly worried about the citizens of Equestria. They were in danger, from a threat that Starswirl was guessing to be a dream demon. Whatever this dream demon was, it was wreaking havoc in the ponies’ dreams. More and more citizens were not waking up each day, some outright dying from the mysterious magic, and not even Starswirl knew a spell that could purge the demon from the dreamscape.
There was a way to imprison it, though. Starswirl and the Royal Sisters were currently studying it, hoping to utilize it before more ponies were killed. It would be a cocoon spun out of powerful magic, that could not be opened from the inside for at least a millennium. Once the spell was cast on the demon, Luna would have to tuck it into the darkest corner of the dreamscape, and make sure the demon did not ever escape.
Luna gazed at the horizon, awaiting the time that they'd go in to stop the dream demon. She was confident that they would stop it.
However, the silence was broken by a blood-curdling scream from the castle. Luna's heart skipped a beat, and she gasped upon realizing whose scream it was.
"Celestia!" She bolted from the balcony into the castle, and glided down the stairs. Her heart raced as she swiftly descended, many thoughts of what could be happening ran through her mind. Part of her was hoping that Celestia was secretly afraid of spiders, and was encountering one, but there was no way that was the case. What could be happening? Why would she be screaming?
As she reached the bottom of the stairs and raced through the hallway, a thought crossed her mind. Was she going to be the dream demon's next victim?
She skidded to a stop in front of a certain door, and she bucked it open. When she galloped inside, she found that all the furniture and decor were flying around the room in a whirlwind, and she could sense an evil aura in the room. She could hear Celestia grunting and groaning, not unlike a dying animal.
As she ducked to avoid a flying wardrobe, she looked up to see her sister floating above her bed, surrounded by dark magic that crackled like lightning and bore erratic flashes of light. Her eyes and the inside of her mouth glowed a bright green, giving her an eerie look. But what hit Luna was the fact that she was writhing in pain, holding her chest, her face contorting into many different pained expressions, and she was coughing and heaving the entire time.
"Dear sister! Tell me what pains you!" Luna cried.
Celestia didn't hear her. She was still writhing in pain, and shouting, "You won't get away with this, Mara!"
Mara? Who was Mara?
Luna avoided a chair, and flew to Celestia, hoping to grab her and snap her out of it. However, once she caught the writhing Celestia in a hug, the embrace shocked Luna, and she was thrown back into a wall, shattering a table in the process.
After a few moments of stunned silence, she sat back up in a daze. She rubbed the back of her head, which ached from the impact. Her back ached as well, and she looked up at the still floating Celestia, whose coat was turning gray.
As she stood up to try again, she noticed Starswirl walk in, his eyes wide and his mouth agape as he watched the scene before him. He mouthed "No..." before striding forward, his expression not changing as he walked into the whirlwind.
"Starswirl! What are you doing?!" Luna yelled.
Miraculously, he managed to avoid the flying furniture without breaking his stride. He was soon at the bedside of Celestia, gazing up at the mess that the Princess was going through. With a deep breath, he made his horn glow, and the same aura that surrounded his horn soon surrounded Celestia.
Luna watched as a tar-like substance was extracted from Celestia's mouth, crackling with the same flashes of light and black lightning that had surrounded her body. As this was happening, she noticed that the whirlwind had died down, and the furniture was now scattered all over the floor. She felt her heart pound as the aura around Celestia faded, and her eyes and mouth stopped glowing.
Starswirl removed the rest of the substance and broke it apart with magic, and Celestia fell back on her bed, her coat still gray. She took a deep breath, and exhaled softly, her body in a deep slumber. Once all was done, the older unicorn knelt down and panted.
Luna jumped to Celestia's bedside. She gingerly touched her sister's face, and asked, "...Celly? Are you alright?"
Starswirl stood straight back up. "She will be. We're lucky we caught her before the toxic magic did too much damage."
Luna blinked. "Toxic magic?"
Starswirl nodded curtly. "An awful, awful kind of dark magic. A kind of magic that corrupts a pony's innate magic and disrupts normal magical tasks. Unicorns destroying things when trying to perform simple telekinesis, pegasi unable to fly and causing terrible storms with every cloud they touch, and earth ponies being either too weak and too strong for simple tasks, and killing plantlife with a single step. The worst case is when a pony's magic becomes so corrupted, it kills her from the inside."
Starswirl pulled the covers over Celestia's sleeping form and sighed. "Yes, we were lucky to have caught her as soon as we did. Toxic magic is an awful way to go. No doubt that this was an assassination attempt; magic always has a wielder."
Luna pursed her lips, remembering what Celestia had shouted earlier. "Before you came in, I heard Celestia shout that the assassin would not get away with this. Does the name 'Mara' sound familiar?"
Starswirl's coat went much paler than it already did. "Mara? Oh no..."
Luna tilted her head. "Mind shedding some light on this?"
Starswirl gazed at Celestia. "It all makes sense now... Mara's the dream demon attacking ponies. Her magic makes the dream world seem real, and makes injuries received in a dream a reality. She's the only one that wields toxic magic, and she can abduct ponies' souls through their dreams. And not even an alicorn is resistant to her magic."
"Why did she attack Celestia?"
Starswirl stroked his beard. "When I last met her, she mentioned wanting to see the world outside the dreamscape. Of course, she doesn't truly have a body, so she'd have to possess one..."
Luna blinked, and then her face fell into a scowl. "You mean that this Mara attempted to kill my sister to obtain her body? So she could rule Equestria?!" She raised her hoof and slammed it down on the floor, hard enough that it echoed through the castle. "I'll see to it that her head rolls!"
"Luna, you cannot kill her. You can only imprison her."
"Then I'll make sure that she stays imprisoned forever!"
Starswirl rubbed a temple with his hoof. "Celestia's still breathing, but I fear that Mara has abducted her soul. If her soul doesn't return to her body within a week, she will die. Time is of the essence; the demon needs to be stopped soon."
Luna stormed out of the room, her fierce glower unwavering. "I'll see to it that she is."
She had been warned to be careful when going after Mara. If the numerous recent deaths were any indication, Mara was a deadly being, being a menace to the dreamscape much like Discord had been in the physical world. She could take any form she desired, manipulate the dreamscape to her wishes, and possessed powers to destroy a pony if she so desired. She was literally a living nightmare, one that wanted to unleash herself into the real world. If she had to kill Equestria's ruler to do so, then she would gladly take that route.
Luna snorted. "Of course she chooses Celestia--with her being the highest authority in the land and one of the most powerful and beloved ponies on the planet. Her life was too good for you to resist, huh, Mara?"
She shook her head. Those words sounded a little bitter. She wasn't going to let resentment taint the rescue of her older sister.
The eerie wails permeated her soul, and there was both uneasiness and sorrow in her heart. Those were surely the voices of innocent ponies, who had jobs, had families, had friends... and had lives. Those souls had their lives snuffed out by a spirit invading their dream and twisting the nightmare with her magic to murder them. For what reason did Mara do that? Did they offend her? Was it for practice for the big prize? Or was it just for amusement?
The sorrow led to anger. Luna wished she could wipe that monster out of existence.
She exited out of the starry plain and entered the meshed wonderland, where ponies were frolicking with each other, crossing over into each others' dreams. They laughed, they ate lunch in lush meadows, pegasi were flying, as well as earth ponies and unicorns. One pony was on fire, while skipping around a puddle. Some were tossing fruits of blue at each other, and eating green bread.
Luna gagged at the green bread. Even if it couldn't harm anypony in the dreamscape, she still didn't want to look at it. She casually passed by it, merely looking up at the smiling sun that was overhead them, not being blinded by it.
She sighed. Of course it was the sun. Did ponies ever dream of the moon?
She merely had to turn her head to see that somepony did dream the moon. It was a crescent, with a pony sitting on it and fishing. The pony didn't even notice the cow jumping over the moon, mooing a dramatic tune.
Luna had seen so many weird dreams that she didn't question them anymore. She just walked through the wonderland, ignoring the marching cards, singing clovers, and ponies sitting on high-jumping stools. She was focusing on the task at hand, and she couldn't afford to be distracted by the oddities that frequented ponies' dreams. The land she was walking through was proof that ponies should just stay within their own dreams.
She came across a river, which chanted, "I've been walking in the, in the middle of the," over and over again, and the river was wide. The musical rapids would have been too hard to cross if Luna didn't have wings, and she was planning to cross it. There was a dark cave on the other side, with the same black lightning and colorful flashes of light that the toxic magic bore. She suspected that Mara was residing there, under the noses of unsuspecting ponies.
Of course, that's when she heard a scream. Luna whipped around to see what was happening.
A mare was caught by the neck by a large beast, which resembled a squirrel, only with sharp teeth, red eyes, and that toxic aura that was unnervingly familiar by now. The mare cried for help, while other ponies were stuck on the ground, forced to stand and watch in horror as her body developed the aura. The teeth of the squirrel started to bite through her neck, threatening to behead her.
Alarmed, Luna bolted forward, her horn igniting. She jumped forward, roaring, "Release her, you foul creature!"
She quickly vaporized the monster and the mare dropped onto the ground. Before Luna could investigate her closer, more large, dark beasts arose, and attacked the rest of the ponies. Alarmed, Luna swiftly jumped into action.
Her eyes and horn glowed as she dashed forward and impaled the first beast, and swung her head to throw it into another. She spun around to blast another one, and bucked one who came from behind. As she was glancing back during the buck, one came and attempted to slash her chest, but failed to do so because of her collar. Luna faced the creature with a glare, and used her magic to throw it into the river.
However, another creature slashed her on the flank, and she cried out. She blasted the creature to bits with her magic, and paused to stare at the wound. She gnashed her teeth, cursing the strange magic for making her bleed in the dreamscape.
She pulled another creature off a pony, and threw it in the river as well. She kept pulling the monsters away from the ponies. She grabbed a giant lizard and threw it into the river. She nabbed a black bear, threw it up, and vaporized it. She pulled a trio of manticores from a group, and smashed them into the ground, to which they dissolved upon impact.
Finally, she shouted, "Enough!" as she took to the skies. She glowed a luminescent white, and crashed back down to the ground, creating a shockwave that destroyed the monsters while leaving the ponies unharmed. She held a stony glare as the monsters wailed with their raspy roars and faded away.
She panted, wiping sweat from her brow. The dreamscape felt so real, and those beasts made of toxic magic could have killed those ponies had she not been there to protect them. She looked at the claw marks on her flank, a hefty reminder that this was a very risky endeavor.
She approached the pony who nearly had her head severed earlier, and nearly cringed at the sight. The mare's neck was bleeding heavily, and she was writhing in pain. She was pale, and gasping for air. The dark lightning crackled around her, and she was in tears, looking up at Luna with pleading eyes.
Ponies did not usually bleed in their dreams, but remembering the gash that was on her foreleg and the claw marks on her side, Luna's heart sank. She didn't know how to remove toxic magic, and this poor pony was going to bleed to death in her sleep.
She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry; I cannot help you."
With that, she turned around, flew across the river, and into the dark cave.
Using her horn as a light, Luna carefully tread through the stalagmites that jutted out from the cave floor. She could hear her own breathing and her own heart pounding, and her hoofsteps echoed through the cave. She could feel it getting colder as she went in deeper.
She thought about the battle earlier and how she was unable to help the dying mare. If it weren't for the dream demon magic permeating the dreams of those ponies, she wouldn't be worried. But the magic that was present made it so that the experiences in the dreams felt so real, that ponies could even end up dying from experiences in their dreams. And even if the mare hadn't been losing blood, there was still the toxic magic in her, transferred to her physical body.
She couldn't imagine what it was like to have her magic corrupted to the point where it tried to kill her. Did it feel like a cramp that overtook one's whole body? Did it feel like a stinging wound? Did it feel like their insides were on fire, or freezing? She did not know, and she frankly didn't want to find out. She imagined her own body doing what Celestia's did. Floating in midair, magic going haywire, body going gray, and eyes and mouth glowing a sickly lime green, all the while screaming in pain and shouting at a monster in the dream.
However it felt, Starswirl had said it was an awful way to go. She believed him.
She came to what looked like a ballroom in the middle of the cave. It was all many difference shades of blue, save for the bright green flames of the candles that were on the walls. There were several paths leading out of this chamber, though whether they were exits or dead ends depended on the individual opening. The ceiling was very high, almost seeming like half a mile. The walls bore small mini caves, where she could see small, round spheres crackling with that same black lightning. She could hear the wails of the ponies, crying out stronger and louder than before. The walls oozed a black substance, which Luna thought looked like blood.
And then she looked at the floor.
There, she could see a swirling cloud, a fierce wind blowing beneath her hooves. She could see the face of that very same mare from before, staring at her with her tearful eyes once again. She was swiftly blown away, and was followed by many a different pony being whipped about in that awful hurricane. The ponies screamed as green lightning crackled inside, torturing them with a very real threat of what happened when they were zapped. They were being contorted in ways that would injure their real bodies, and they screamed each time it happened.
She stood in horror as she watched the torment beneath her. These subjects, trapped in a terrible storm under a glass floor in the dreamscape. She couldn't tell which ones were deceased from their dream experiences or which ones had merely been kidnapped from their physical bodies. Either way, this was the work of a monster.
A monster that she found herself facing once she looked up.
She assumed the creature was Mara. She stood twice Luna's height, as if she were a bipedal creature, only she couldn't tell if she had legs or not, due to the long, black, flowing dress that covered her form from her large chest to where her toes would have been. Her skin was a light blue, with hair matching Luna's. Sharp, black lips with no nose above them formed a wicked smile as the demon gazed at Luna with her bright red eyes. Her fingers had sharp claws at the end, and a spike jutted out from both her elbows.
"So..." she began. "This is the fierce Princess Luna that I've heard about?"
Luna narrowed her eyes. "Yes, it is I. I have come to put a stop to your rampage."
Mara put a hand to her chest. "Me? Dear, sweet Mara on a rampage? You say that like I'm some mindless, violent barbarian!"
"You are not a mindless barbarian--you are a very deliberate monster, stealing away ponies' souls in their sleep or killing them with either their dreams or your toxic magic!" Luna stomped on the floor, the echos ringing through the chamber.
Mara huffed. "You've gotten to the point rather quickly. What makes you think I've been doing that?"
Luna stepped closer. "My sister. You attacked my sister, with the very intent of killing her. She spoke your name as she was suffering!"
Mara pouted. "Your sister? I've meddled with the dreams of plenty who are sisters. Surely you must be confused."
Luna stomped once again. "Princess Celestia! You know who she is, and there's no doubt that you have every intention of using her body to rule Equestria!"
Mara sat down and crossed her arms. "You are confused, Luna. Why would I want to rule Equestria? Why would I waste my time outside in the boring real world when I have all the power here? Why would I kidnap your silly sister when it's all pointless?" She flipped her hair. "Ponies are absolutely pointless, with their pointless pursuits and pointless talents and pointless cutie marks and pointless everything. They don't have anything to do out there."
She laid down and curled up in a ball, her back to Luna. "Wake me up when Discord's out of his stone prison. He made things exciting out there."
Luna lifted her with her magic and turned her around. "Do not play games, Mara! Starswirl said that the ponies' deaths out there were your doing!"
"Oh, yeah, him," Mara said dryly. "You ponies are so stuffy. Perhaps that's why everything is pointless there. If I were in charge, I'd make things a little more amusing."
Luna still glared at her. She had no idea where this conversation was leading. She was certain that this was some sort of distraction, and she was expecting a surprise attack at any moment.
Mara laid on her back and stared at the ceiling. "Huh, that's why I borrowed Celestia--we were having a nice discussion about how Equestria needs to be more lively, and that my fellow dream demons need bodies to experience the world outside this dreamscape. But she had to be contrary, telling me that I can't have my friends borrow the bodies of her subjects." She pointed at the ceiling. "Why, I had to put her in time out!"
Luna looked up, and her eyes widened as she spotted a cocoon, woven from a golden magic which shimmered from the light that had suddenly appeared there. She could see the silhouette of an alicorn curled up in the fetus position, and imagined the battle that must have taken place.
Mara giggled. "She was nice enough to create her own time out chamber! I may have accidentally thrown some toxic magic in there too, but at least someone in the outside world removed it from her body. Nevertheless, she's in time out for a month, naughty, naughty Celestia."
Luna growled, and lifted Mara with her magic. With a roar, she threw the demon into the wall, causing an explosion of dust in that side of the room and a pained grunt from her. Luna panted, and with a satisfied snort, started to fly up to the cocoon.
She grumbled as she flew up, "Nice discussion? Ha, as if."
When she was almost there, she flew into and bounced off an invisible force field, sending her falling back down to the floor. As she fell, she found herself being caught in midair by a giant, clawed hand. She was squeezed by the giant fist, and was lifted up to the giant disapproving scowl of Mara.
"You're more disagreeable than your sister, Lulu." Mara shook her head and clicked her tongue. "I'm going to have to eat you now."
Mara opened her mouth, revealing several rows of sharp teeth that looked like it could tear up even the toughest of hides. As she made a motion to pop Luna on her tongue, the latter thought quickly, and blasted one of the demon's teeth. As it exploded, Mara screeched, and released Luna to cradle her jaw. Luna took the opportunity to blast her into the wall once again, and to pull a chunk of rock off the wall and throw it at her.
Luna snorted, and flew up once again. She slowed to a stop, feeling in front of her for the force field. She felt her hoof touch the force field, which felt like glass. Realizing that it was one of the weaker force fields that could be shattered easily, she looked around for something to toss in order to break it.
She looked up again, and nearly fell at the sight of Mara's glowing red irises and toothy grin.
"Luna, why must you be so contrary? Surely you understand that the disagreeable must be punished!"
A blue fist jutted out of the wall and punched Luna back down to the floor. The fall was swift, and Luna could only cast a quick spell to soften the hard landing.
She felt her wings and spine scream in agony as her body made contact with the hard floor. She gritted her teeth, trying hard not to cry out, and the back of her head throbbed from the impact. She felt the glass under her crack, and the wailing of ponies' stolen souls only grew louder. She laid there, her body aching, but still intact thanks to the quick spell.
As she began to get up from the dent she made, she noticed that the floor wasn't quite glass, but a smooth earthen substance that was merely invisible. She saw Mara rise from the floor, emitting a green aura and giggling in a sinister manner.
Below her, she heard the wailing transform into screaming, and she looked down. Much to her horror, the green lightning was striking the souls of the ponies, who were being twisted and contorted even worse than before. The first ponies in her sight were the dying mare from before, some earth pony farmers, some unicorn mages, some weather workers, and several foals.
She looked up once again, and discovered that Mara grew taller. Switching sights to the floor and back to the demon, Luna quickly connected the dots. She stood up much more quickly than pain should allow, snorting and pawing the floor once again.
Mara took a deep breath, and exhaled a bright and hot stream of green flames. Luna jumped before the flames hit her, and blasted the demon with her magic. The beam hit Mara's cheek, and the giant monster snapped her head towards her and breathed fire once again.
Luna flew around the chamber, being chased by the continual flames. She could feel the heat on her backside, and her brow was sweating. She needed to think of a way out of this before the fire caught up to her. As she flew, her horn charged, and she wanted to use her magic when she had a good shot.
She glanced at her opponent. It was unsettling how Mara's neck twisted around as she continued to breathe fire at the alicorn, and it looked like it was going to snap off at any moment. Seeing an opportunity, she bounced off the wall, and fired a beam straight at the neck.
Once the beam hit it, Mara stopped breathing fire, and her head began to literally spin. She screeched as this was happening, and her arms flailed as she tried and failed to grab her head. It was an amusing sight, but Luna had no time to laugh.
Luna looked up for a brief moment, and remembered the type of force field used to guard Celestia's cocoon. So, she lifted Mara--whose head was still spinning--with her magic, and tossed her upwards. Luna's heart thumped as the large demon's body made the impact, and the force field shattered into millions of pieces. Then, Mara's body fell and slammed into the floor in an ungraceful heap.
Luna smiled. "Huzzah! I have conquered the demon!" She looked up once again. "Now, to free Celestia."
As Luna flew up to the cocoon, Mara stirred. She pushed herself up to a leaning position, and looked up. She snarled at her opponent, and the dreaded thought crossed her mind. No more fooling around--it was time to pull out her trump card.
She melted into a puddle, and slithered across the floor and up the wall. She shot up at such a speed that Luna didn't notice her, and reached Celestia's cocoon first. Then, watching as Luna flew closer, she jumped off the cocoon, and took the form of a giant spider, with all eight of her legs keeping her on the walls and blocking the way.
Luna nearly fell back in surprise of Mara's sudden appearance, and then glared as she charged her horn once again.
The charging was interrupted as Mara spat a cow-sized wad of a tar-like substance on Luna's body, and the stuff quickly and painfully drilled through her pores. Luna cried out as this happened, and she angrily shot Mara down from her spot. As Mara fell, she returned to her old form (though smaller), stretched out an arm, and grabbed Luna's hind leg, dragging her down with her.
"You are definitely a very contrary pony, Missy! Prepare for your punishment!"
Mara spun in midair and threw Luna on the floor once again. Luna softened the fall again, though it was not any less painful. She got up once again, and took off to do a body slam on her. She rammed into her and drove her into the wall, making rocks crumble from the ceiling and rain down on them.
Luna backed up, and then threw Mara into the other wall, only for the latter to disappear in a puff of smoke. Luna blinked at the sight and scratched her head, only to be punched from behind and straight into the very spot she had thrown the demon. She slammed into the wall, causing yet another rock slide, with the ooze dripping as well.
Luna created a shield to protect herself from the rocks and blood-like ooze. However, she saw that with each hit, the rocks were cracking the shield. She heard the taps and thuds created by the rocks, accompanied by noises that rang in her ears as the cracks grew bigger. She furrowed her brow, blinking in confusion. This was not the shield she meant to summon.
She exploded the shield, and instead grabbed rocks in midair with her magic. She shot them at Mara, who turned into a snake and slithered along the walls of the chamber. The rocks exploded into dust upon hitting the wall, and caused more of it to crumble.
Once she had ran out of rocks, she flew to the middle of the chamber, and summoned a dark storm cloud. She looked up as the cloud swirled above her, coiling and flashing with lightning. She felt a strain on her magic, but she brushed it off, assuming it was normal during this kind of fight. Narrowing her eyes at the snake, she shouted, "Feel the wrath of mine lightning!"
White, hot flashes filled the chamber, striking nearly everywhere in the chamber. Rocks crumbled off the walls some more, the candles fell off the walls, and the spheres inside the mini caves exploded. Luna felt sweat soaking her body, her wounds from before stinging, and her insides cramping up. She felt a buzzing coursing through her body, but she still held the storm. She had enough of Mara, and was going to try everything in her power to defeat her.
However, the lightning soon turned from its exceedingly bright, white-hot form to jet black, cold daggers. One of the daggers stabbed her in the back, and she fell to the floor, the storm dissolving. Once any trace of the cloud was gone, Mara grew back into her usual form, chuckling darkly.
Luna laid on the floor for a few seconds, panting and staring at the ponies that were being shocked by the green lightning. She sighed, and slowly stood up, her legs shaking. As she got up and attempted to fire another beam at Mara, a sharp pain rang from her horn to her hooves, and before she knew it, her spell had exploded in her face, sending her into the wall.
The ooze dripped on her body, and she had her eyes squeezed shut and breathed heavily. The buzzing sensation was growing worse and worse, making her feel like she was on fire and sharpening the pain in her abdomen. She gritted her teeth as not to cry out, but she still clutched her stomach, feeling like she was going to throw up.
Luna cracked an eye open, and saw that same black lightning covering her form, and her fur turning gray. Upon remembering that Mara had spat at her with a tar-like substance, she cursed herself for not taking caution.
Mara laughed, and picked Luna up by the chin with only two fingers. "My, my, what's the matter, Lulu? Did you get a boo boo?"
Luna snarled at her. "Thou vermin. Resorting to toxic magic to defeat me..."
"Mm, yeah, I want to win."
"For what? Didn't you say that taking over Equestria is pointless?"
Mara let Luna drop to the floor. "Doesn't mean I can't be curious as to what life is like out there. Besides... I'd like to be acknowledged by every pony in Equestria, and be remembered for centuries to come. What better way to do that than stir up trouble and make their existence not so pointless?"
Luna looked up from where she lay. "And what... may your point be?"
"Why, giving me and the dream demons I lead a chance to lead lives out there. Of course, some ponies have to die... maybe thousands of them... and some of my minions mucked it up by making the bodies uninhabitable... but still, you understand, right?"
Luna tried to pull herself up on her front legs, but fell on her face as the sharp, buzzing pain coursed within her again. She growled, not willing to look at the monster above her. How dare she? How dare she threaten the lives of everypony in Equestria? She didn't want to imagine life in Equestria should the demons succeed. Somehow... some way... Luna had to defeat her.
Luna shakily stood up, coughing as she did so. It was going to be difficult with toxic magic within her, but she will find a way.
She looked down at the floor, once again looking at the face of that mare. Imagining herself in there, Celestia in there, Starswirl in there... it would most certainly be torturous. Struck by lightning to power that demon for the rest of eternity was something she didn't wish for any of the ponies in there, who had not done a thing to deserve it.
She felt the smooth floor beneath her hooves, and felt to the dent that had been made with her body earlier. Remembering that it was earthen, she got an idea. She crouched down, and charged her magic.
Mara crouched down, and asked, "What are you doing? There's no way you can--"
KA-BOOM!
The blast threw Mara back, and slammed her into the wall. Dust was filling the air, and both Mara and Luna could barely see. Luna felt her body contort in pain, but she held her tongue, settling for just a pained grunt. Still, she felt beneath her hooves, and the floor was rougher and was now a basin.
But it wasn't enough, so Luna charged her magic again.
Once the dust had cleared, an alarmed Mara saw what Luna was doing, and sprang off the wall, hissing, "Don't you dare pull that--"
KA-BOOM!
Mara was thrown back again, sliding across the floor and with a damaged face. She sat up and hissed, healing her face as she glared at Luna.
Another grunt came out of Luna's mouth. She felt like her intestines were being tangled in knots, her lungs and heart on fire, and everything else was being stabbed by knives and stung by bees at the same time. She could fell all her organs screaming in agony as she charged the next blast.
KA-BOOM!
She breathed heavily. She could hear her heart as it pounded against her chest, as if it was trying to punch its way out of her body. She could feel her own magic clawing at her from the inside, and another pained grunt escaped through clenched teeth.
As she charged another blast, thinking that one more would do the trick, she was grabbed by a giant clawed hand. She gasped, and started to struggle in its grasp. Another surge of pain flowed through, another growl came out, and Luna found that she couldn't will any of her legs to move.
She was brought face to face with Mara yet again. This time, a fierce glower, dark eyes, and mouthful of sharp teeth greeted her, with the sound of throaty growls coming from the demon.
"You sure do find new ways to try my patience, Lulu," Mara snarled. "You, the lesser princess!"
Luna breathed through her teeth as all her muscles and organs cramped up in unison. "I... I... am not... the lesser... princess!"
"Really now? Then why do ponies sleep at night? Don't you make it beautiful enough? Or are they too afraid of the dark to try and understand it?" Mara flipped her twinkling hair. "Might as well face it... should you die, they'll forget all about you."
Luna panted, glaring at the demon holding her. However, she looked away after a few seconds, pondering what Mara had just said. She knew full well she was dying--the sheer agony of her insides were telling her that much. Should she managed to succeed in this quest at the cost of her life, would ponies remember her?
She looked up at the cocoon, wondering if they'll believe that defeating Mara was Celestia's doing.
A surge of pain coursed within her, and she finally cried out. She was grinding her teeth, and she was wishing for all the pain to stop, for the dreamscape to return to its usual painless state, for everything to just be well again. Even death seemed welcome to her.
"Aww... looks like Lulu can cry. What's the matter, you hate losing?"
Luna growled. If there was anything that was not welcome, it was that foul creature holding her. If anything, Luna was going to defeat her or die trying. Her horn emitted a black aura, with the same sparks and flashes as the toxic magic.
"I... have not... LOST!" Luna let her magic explode in Mara's face once again, and she was promptly dropped. She let her body turn black, and she held it even when the pain fought against her. She held her breath, and braced for impact.
The floor exploded once Luna had reached it, and the prison that had once held many ponies burst. The souls of the ponies flew out of the hole, cheering over the freedom that they had been granted. The symphony was ghastly, but joyous, and Mara could only swing her arms and try and fail to catch the escaping souls. It grew much harder as she shrunk, and cried in dismay.
One of the souls carried Luna up to the cocoon, where she held on, and started to dig at it. Remembering that it was only indestructible from the inside, she used all the strength she could muster to tear the cocoon open, and then crawl in to her sister and shake her.
"Celestia... Celestia, awaken!"
Celestia took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She started to stretch. "Luna...? Where am I...?" Her eyes widened and she sat straight up. "Luna... what happened to you? You look weak."
Luna blinked, and looked down at her body. Her fur was grayer, and she was smaller. She felt her mane and looked at her tail, which instead of the ethereal, starry banner it once had been, it was fine, light blue hair that hung down.
She wanted to reply that she wasn't weak, and that she was strong, but a familiar face popped up at the opening, scowling at them.
Celestia gasped, grabbed Luna, and flew out before Mara could close the cocoon. Before Mara could react, Luna flew out of Celestia's forelegs, and blasted Mara inside the cocoon. Then, before she could escape, Celestia repaired the hole, and sealed it tight. A bang was heard from inside, as well as the demon's screeching.
"Once I get out of here, you ponies are going to pay!" Mara screamed.
Celestia simply glared. "As long as Luna and I rule, you will be in that prison, and powerless to threaten our subjects. We'll make sure your prison lasts more than a millennium."
She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to smile at her sister. "I am so proud of you, Luna. Not only did you save me, you saved all of Equestria. This is a victory that we won't be forgetting about any time soon."
Luna panted and nodded, forcing a smile back. "Thank you."
All of a sudden, Luna coughed violently, clutching her abdomen. A surge of pain coursed through Luna's body again, and her wings failed her. She was falling to the floor, with time slowing down and all the pain she felt throbbing within her. All of her organs felt twisted and contorted into ugly and unnatural shapes, her blood felt like it was on fire, and she felt like that all manner of beast and monster was trying to claw its way out of her body. She heard her heartbeat in her ears, and everything was beginning to fade into black.
"Luna!" she heard Celestia cry before she passed out. "Luna...!"
A few more months had passed since the battle. Equestria was at peace once again, and ponies were resuming life as normal. Though some still feared falling asleep, their troubles would be soothed soon enough.
Celestia sat at Luna's bedside, levitating a book and studying the contents by candlelight. Now that the rest of her toxic magic had been removed, she could use magic normally again, and she had resumed her royal duties, including that of raising the sun. However, she had to take on some of Luna's jobs, since her younger sister was still so sick.
She lowered the book to look at the sleeping Luna. Her fur was still a blue-gray color, and her hair was still the silvery blue strands that were in her face. She breathed shallowly, and gritted her teeth. There was a slight tremble in her legs, and she murmured in her sleep.
Celestia frowned sadly at the sight. This was not the Luna that she was used to. She felt horrible for letting her guard down during her battle with Mara and getting trapped in the very cocoon she had spun for Mara. She couldn't be there to help her sister, and make sure that she had never come in contact with the toxic magic.
Their time in the dreamscape had felt so real. The dream demon magic had made it all so real and not limited certain things to the dream world, up to and including their injuries and the deaths of many ponies. The fact that Luna still had toxic magic that needed removing was proof of that.
"Celestia."
Celestia turned her head to the doorway, where Starswirl stood. She lowered the book and shut it. "Yes?"
"It's nearly time for morning. You should raise the sun and resume your duties."
Celestia stared at him for a moment, and then turned to Luna. She sighed. "All right."
As she stood up, she walked to the door, passing Starswirl as he entered to perform the toxic magic removal spell, as he had done for the past few months. She glanced back and watched as dark magic seeped out of Luna's body and was promptly dissolved.
She stopped at the doorway and turned to Starswirl. "Perhaps you could teach me that spell?"
Starswirl turned to her. "I was planning to; Mara's not the only creature that wields toxic magic. There's no telling when those other creatures will attack. You and several others are going to have to learn this spell if we want fewer deaths."
Celestia nodded. "Good. I can't wait to learn it."
With that, she strode out the door and down the hallway, heading out to raise the sun.
Meanwhile, in a magical cocoon in the dreamscape, Mara clawed at the walls of her prison, snarling like an animal. Each scratch could not leave a mark, and she resorted to banging on the wall. She breathed fire on it, and not even scorch marks had even appeared. She snorted and sat down.
"Those ponies are tougher than I thought... oh, but I'll get my revenge..."
She created a small image of the royal sisters, and flicked Celestia away and clawed Luna. She glowered darkly at where the image once was.
"Once I escape... the elder sibling will be powerless, and the younger sibling shall fall..."
Author's Note
M'kay, how long did I take to write this? A few weeks in sporadic bursts between chapters of Brotherly Bonding Time? Yeah, that sounds about right.
So, I've had quite an interest in dreams for years, and I ended up once having the thought of Equestria having a dream demon. So, I created Mara (who's humanoid to give off a more alien vibe), and tried my best to make her a real threat.
The 'toxic magic' she wields is inspired by the poison that the Red Lotus used in The Legend of Korra. Of course, I put a different spin on it, where instead of it being mercury poisoning, it's basically magic corruption.
And I decided to poison your precious Luna, mwahahaha! 
Eh, she made the most sense for this story. I can imagine her facing a dream demon.
Nevertheless, this is something out of my niche. I'm usually writing cute and silly stuff about Pies and Sandwiches, usually rated E for Everyone. 
I'm sorry if any of you are confused by anything in this story... 
