In dreams, there are no rules; you can do virtually whatever you want to, as long as you don’t become conscious about your own dreaming.

Such is the case about basic rules, which almost become like a second nature, like the breathing, the feeling of gravity, and even the day and night cycle. It can be night for as long or as short as one so desires it.

That was one of the many reasons Luna was so confused when she opened her eyes and noticed the weak light coming through the dense foliage of the trees surrounding them. Turning her head, she noticed Nightmare laying down in one of the beds. The fire had been consumed a while ago, but the light the dream’s sun provided was enough.

Looking around her, she noticed something that made her sigh of relief: there wasn’t a trace of the shadow ponies. Luna assumed they were probably back at the cave seeing as it was the only place in the whole dream realm that could give them refuge of light.

She slowly got up, ready to go and keep looking for Caeruleo.

…

Luna sighed again, not in relief but sadness and anger. It was her own fault that Caeruleo was in danger. He had been recently in an accident, not to mention his amnesia, which caused the whole channeling dreaming.

Her head turned to the ground, shame and guilt clearly reflected on her face as a lone tear made its way towards the ground, where a hoofstep was made.

Luna sniffled as she wiped the remnants of the tear, her face losing all trace of sadness as it was replaced with a burning determination. Her face became that of a warrior, ready to go to war.

She would bring Caeruleo back at any cost.

Luna stepped forward, ready to start the search again, ready to destroy any shadow pony that might step in her way. As she looked forward, she suddenly noticed something. In front of the fireplace was a pony, one that looked almost exactly like the one she was looking for.

“Caeruleo?” She asked cautiously.

The pony stopped whatever it was doing, his ears perked up at the sound of the voice behind him. Luna watched as he slowly rose to his hooves, revealing a sword she recognized instantly.

“Where did you get that sword?” Luna asked with a small hint of concern in her voice.

The pony didn’t answer, but Luna noticed his ears turning around randomly, seemingly listening to his surroundings. Finally, after a few moments, the pony got up, turning around and looking at her.

“That sword…” Luna repeated, but the pony simply lifted a hand to his lips, in the universal sign of shut up.

“You should be quieter. You’ll attract those things back to the camp in no time.”

Luna watched closely the pony in front of her: much like her nephew, this pony had white fur, almost as white as her sister’s. However, that was the only thing the pony in front of her and her nephew had in common. His mane was a light brown with a yellow streak coming from his forehead and crossing the rest of his mane, while his tail had the same pattern. His eyes were different, too: Caeruleo’s eyes were blue, while this pony’s eyes were a dark brown, almost hitting black.

Yet, the pony’s physical appearance didn’t matter much to Luna. It was the sharp object on his hand what really caught her attention.

“That sword…” Luna repeated slowly, her face emptying itself of any kind of emotion except for one: anger. “… That sword…”

The pony turned to her, cocking an eyebrow at the change on her tone. As he turned fully to her, red flags shot in his head as his grip on the sword tightened.

“… That sword… where is the pony thou stole it from?” Luna asked, her anger barely being restrained as her eyes started to shine with white light.

“… I didn’t stole it.”

“LIAR!!!” Luna shouted with anger seeping off of her mouth, her shout creating what could be described as an explosion.

Before the pony could mutter another word, both ponies suddenly felt the world around them getting colder, while the light of the “sun” started to lose its strength. The final warning of something bad was the chanting starting to sound from the trees.

Moments later, multiple couples of white, lifeless eyes opened, staring at the couple of ponies with a cold gaze.

Luna instantly conjured a couple of magical swords, one of which she took hold of in her hand, while the other one floated around her. Quickly turning around to look at the pony, she soon noticed this pony seemed to have some kind of training in combat. His posture, his stance, and the way he held the sword.

“Caeruleo?” Luna asked in a surprised tone. Most ponies wouldn’t know those techniques unless being trained by her.

“Now’s not the time for that, Luna. We have other troubles.”

Luna instantly recognized the serious tone on his voice, not to mention the way he spoke. It was relieving to finally find him, but as she turned her head away, the multiple pairs of white eyes made her realize he was right.

Both ponies got back to back, ready to fight. Yet, the shadow ponies didn’t advance to them. In fact, they merely stood where they were.

“What is going on?” Confusion was embedded on Luna’s voice as she watched them.

“Look who’s asking, thought you would know more about them than me.” The prince said as he held the sword tightly.

“The shadow ponies are a mystery even to me, Caeruleo. They shouldn’t even be able to exist. Their race only inhabits the dream realm, and they feed off-”

“Yeah, that’s interesting and all and I really hate to interrupt other ponies, but don’t you think you can take us out of here?”

Luna’s eyes widened as she realized he was right, she achieved what she had entered the dream realm for. She had found Caeruleo, now she only needed to get Nigh-

“NIGHTMARE!!!” Luna asked as her swords were dispelled, turning around and looking frantically for Nightmare.

Mark fell backwards, suddenly losing his back’s support. However, as soon as she recovered his balance, he turned to see Luna looking frantically around, looking for something. Suddenly, his mind caught up with had she had said.

“Wait, you brought Nightmare!?”

“She insisted! She said she wanted to show you the same kindness you had shown to her!” Luna said as she kept looking around, her mind starting to panic when Nightmare was nowhere to be found.

“Where was she the last time you saw her?”

“She was right here, over this tent and-”

Luna’s speech died as a pair of white eyes stared back at her. She couldn’t exactly recall when she had felt so much fear, but upon seeing those eyes, those feelings resurfaced with vengeance.

Luna’s mouth opened in a silent scream as her legs lose their strength, dropping her to the ground. As soon as her tail touched the ground, her arms bend to the ground while her legs recovered enough strength to crawl backwards, as away as she could from the pair of eyes in front of her.

Mark turned to Luna when he heard the sound of falling, only for his eyes to widen when he noticed the pair of white eyes staring back at them. The world seemed to become slow as he ran towards Luna, who was backpedalling as fast as she could, fear blocking every ounce of control on her body she had before.

Luna started to panic once more, she wanted to use magic, but she could not; she wanted to fly away, but she could not; she wanted to run away from that being, but she could not.

Suddenly, the being started to move forwards, at the same time she felt another presence at her side, and a sword appearing in front of her. Not the only one noticing it, Luna watched as the shadow pony stopped on its track, finally allowing her mind to be somewhat more at ease.

It was at that moment that she allowed herself to look more closely to the creature, her eyes widening as she noticed many disturbing details of the creature.

The creature seemed to be some kind of combination of a pony and a shadow pony, with the defining form and the physical of a mare, but the eyes were that of a shadow pony. Its mane was one much like hers, and she realized the true form of the being.

“Nightmare?”

The shadow pony lifted a hand towards them, making Mark flinch in response. Yet, he became confused as the shadow pony turned to look at its own hand with curiosity, almost as if it was something new.

“So that’s why.” Both, Mark and Luna froze as they heard a female voice, almost as if it was chanting what they heard. “That’s the why I had that memory.”

Mark slowly got up, being followed by Luna few moments later.

“What memory?” Mark asked with a slight concern on his voice.

The shadow pony lowered its hand as it turned fully towards Mark, its eyes starting to lose their white brightness to give place to a pair of turquoise with slit-like pupils, the feminine form of Nightmare finally becoming more apparent as her armor once more assembled on her body.

Both Luna and Mark stared intently as the shadow pony in front of them finished its transforming into Nightmare Moon, her eyes finally focusing on the pair of ponies in front of her.

“… Now I remember.” Nightmare said as her eyes closed shut. Much to Luna and Mark’s fear, she started to giggle darkly. “Yes… I remember… I remember it all…” It was at that moment Mark’s mane stood up.

Nightmare started to laugh in her evil way, full evil laugh this time.

“How did I not realize it!? That was the main reason as for why I really wanted to plunge Equestria into eternal night! So my dear shadow ponies could be with me!!” Nightmare said in a sort of self-realization, not really focusing on the two ponies in front of her.

Mark turned around, finally noticing the oddest thing in that place: it was eerily quiet. As he observed, he realized the shadow ponies had stopped all activity, they weren’t moving at all, and their chanting was replaced with pure silence.

Before he could ponder on that fact, Nightmare stopped her laughing and started to walk towards them.

“It’s difficult to remember these kind of things when you possess a body of an upper pony. I think it was the main reason I was defeated so easily, My thoughts of bringing eternal night infused with Luna’s pity for her night, and so, a selfish desire to have the night acknowledged was born.”

Luna was again on full panic again. Gone was her new dear sister, and in her place stood the monster she feared the most.

“N-Nightmare?” Luna asked in a soft voice, finally earning Nightmare’s attention.

“Ah, yes, the pathetic little princess who we stole her body from. I must actually thank you dearly, Luna. If not for you, we wouldn’t have been able to exist, and we wouldn’t have been able to remember.”

“Nightmare, please-”

“Begging for mercy, already? And here we were thinking you had become stronger. I think we can actually see it wasn’t true. Now, if you-gah!”

Nightmare suddenly flinched visibly, her hand shooting towards her chest. Luna was afraid, but that was enough to shake herself from the shock. With Nightmare no more keeping all her attention, she suddenly heard the distinctive wail a shadow pony made when they attacked.

Following the sound, Luna soon saw the source.

It was merely a hunch. Only that was enough reason for Mark to try anything. It had been barely a couple days since he met Nightmare, but she wasn’t the monster standing in front of Luna. There had to be another reason, and there were actually many reasons.

The shadow ponies hadn’t moved an inch while Nightmare spoke, more so, they had been staring intently at her all the time, and Mark had seen them blinking every once in a while. Soon, the answer was clear: It wasn’t all Nightmare’s doing, but more than that, it was the shadow ponies’ doing.

With sword in hand, he left Luna’s side, both sides, Nightmare and the shadow ponies were far too occupied with something else to notice the head on Mark was doing, until one of them vanished after a single slash, followed closely by Nightmare’s shriek.

Luna watched amazed as the prince started to strike down shadow ponies left and right. Daring to look again at Nightmare, she realized Nightmare was holding her head in a pained way, letting out pained shrieks every time the prince struck down a shadow pony.

It was then Luna also realized the shadow ponies had been silent all the time. Suddenly, as she kept pondering about this, Nightmare’s eyes opened, showing them again with that creepy whiteness filling them, but there was something else.

“… Get… Out…”

In that instant, Luna heard once again the chanting from the shadow ponies, making the white of Nightmare’s eyes to grow brighter.

“Hold on, dear sister. We’ll help you.” Luna said as a pair of swords was summoned in both of her hands. Almost instantly, she turned around, still with her horn lit, and fired a beam at the nearest shadow pony, making it scream in pain as its body vanished, much like a dust cloud blown away by the wind.

Moments later, Nightmare shrieked again.

It wasn’t much later when Mark started to get tired and backed away, retreating from a group which had stopped their chanting when they saw him. He turned around, seeing Luna battling away many Shadow ponies as she could, much to his amazement, with everything she could.

Mark had seen her fighting style, but it was then he realized she was being far too soft with him. Gone away was Luna, the princess of the Night. Right now, he could see the fierce, yet elegant, fighting style of Luna, the Night warrior.

Her movements were fluid, resembling more to that of a ballet dancer, yet her movement always ended in more than a couple of shadow ponies slain. At that moment, he decided never to make her angry, least he suffers her full might.

Still, as much as he had wanted to sit still and look at her, in all her regal grace, a shriek from behind draw his attention back to the matter at hand. As tired as he was, they still needed to vanquish as many as the shadow ponies as they could.

“… Stop… I-it…” Mark turned around once more, after securing himself a safe spot for a few seconds. In the center of the camp, Nightmare had fallen from her hooves, and now laid on the ground in a crouched way. However, her hands still held her head tightly, while her eyes were still closed. Her mouth, on the other hand, moved, almost as if she was saying something under her breath.

Mark sheathed his sword as he ran back to her. As he finally arrived, he also crouched at Nightmare’s current height. It was at that moment, he finally heard what nightmare was saying.

“… Upper… Need to go… h-higher… Need to reach… the top”

Mark frowned, not knowing what she was talking about, until he remembered.

It had been hours since Luna had left him in the dream, maybe as a punishment or maybe as revenge towards him, he really didn’t know. Yet, more monsters kept coming, and that forced him to fight, which also lead him to try to find a higher place in favor of tactic advantage.

Yet, there was no hill, mountains or any other material structure that could provide him with such thing. The only real things that could provide him with advantage were the trees, which were quickly devastated by the timberwolves’ attacks, forcing him to search for any other way.

That way came in the form of a cave leading to somewhere in the underground, if the dream realm had any kind of underground. Yet, the bottleneck the entrance of the cave provided was enough for him to realize it was his better chance of survival.

Yet, things went downhill from there. As he kept going deeper into the cave, he realized the beasts following him were suddenly very cautious with their surroundings, always keeping their eyes on him, but also focused their other senses on the cave.

The answer to such enigma came in the form of chanting and multiple silhouettes of ponies with bright eyes watching them from the distance. Such ponies weren’t friendly, as he later found out.

These ponies seemed to have some sort of dark energy that materialized on their backs, reminding him of an octopus, which were used to tear their victims apart. Yet, as they turned to him, he realized their “tentacles” were drawn back to their bodies in favor of chasing, instead of killing.

As he backed away as fast as he could from those strange creatures, he found himself going deeper into the cave, going even deeper, until he suddenly saw a light in the end of the cave. Once he was outside, he felt confused as he saw a visage exactly the same as the one he left when he entered the cave.

Mark’s eyes widened as he turned around, an idea on mind.

“LUNA!!” Luna stopped her fighting as used her wings as both, a powerful push for the shadow ponies, and a powerful pull for her away from that place.

“Is it working?” Luna asked, still with her sword in hand.

“Not as much as I’d like, but she’s mumbling something about going higher.” Luna gave him a confused look as he pointed on the direction he thought the cave was. “You tracked me towards a cave, right? You were right, I entered through that cave, too, but it isn’t the same end as the one we entered through! It’s literally the other side, a lower level of the dream realm.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she turned to see the sky, finally realizing why the physics she made for the dream had gone insane. It was another ladder on the dream realm, he was right! The shadow ponies must have felt his magic-induced coma and opened a portal through the deeper part of the realm.

“We must go back to the higher level! I think that’s what she’s trying to say!” Mark said as he picked Nightmare, who kept talking lowly.

Luna quickly pulled Nightmare’s free arm towards her, adding more support to her. Lighting her horn, she prepared herself and the others to get out of there.

In a matter of seconds, a bright flash made the shadow ponies’ back away to the shadows they came from, while the three ponies vanished from their ghostly sight.

Another flash happened at the same time, throwing the trio of ponies in random directions, fortunately back at the coliseum. Luna was used to quick teleportation, but specifying the exact place, speed and such, it always eluded her how other ponies did it.

Mark groaned as he got up, his back protesting to him in every way it could, reminding him of the seemingly half day of non-stop action he had had.

“Everypony alright?” He asked in a strained voice, instantly spotting Luna, seeing a visage he’d rather not have seen.

Not that the vision was actually bad, but seeing a mare with a shredded dress, exposing her flanks to the whole world, was rather uncouth.

“We art good, Caeruleo.” Luna said as she sat, seeing the state her clothes were in. Luckily for her, this was only a manifestation of her true self. While that dress was irremediably shredded, her real dress would have been as brilliant as when she got up last night.

Yet, as she turned towards Caeruleo, she realized something curious. His physical appearance was the one she had known for quite a while. Instead of the brown mane and tail, his blonde and bright mane and tail were back, and his eyes were back to the sky’s blue they were before.

As much as she’d liked to ponder about his looks, she realized the prince had stood up and walked away, towards the unconscious figure of Nightmare, who was still out, or at least, immobile. As soon as she saw that, she instantly was at Nightmare’s side, much like Mark.

“Is she going to be alright?” Mark asked as he eyed Nightmare.

“I’m not so sure, Caeruleo. Those shadow ponies are a real pest for the living.”

Mark nodded as he turned his sight away from Nightmare, looking for anything to help her. Yet, as his gaze focused on a shady point of the coliseum, his blood froze. There, in the shadows stood a silhouette, not as frightening as the shadow ponies. No, that shadow was one he knew fairly well, if not for the scythe at its side.

“We have to go, Luna.” Mark said in a flat tone as he leaned down on Nightmare again.

Mark’s eyes widened as Nightmare opened hers, but instead of the turquoise pupils, the pure white eyes of a shadow pony greeted them. Both, Luna and Mark backed away as nightmare rose up from the ground, though it resembled more to float.

“You fools!” Nightmare’s form started to vanish once more, now revealing a strange combination of Nightmare’s form and that of a shadow pony. “We must actually thank you all for freeing us from that place.”

Mark frowned as this being resembled more a demon than the mare, or rather filly he had known for the past few days. Yet, its voice carried something strange.

It was a double tone voice, like if Nightmare and something else was talking.

“… Something else…” Mark said as realization hit him.

Luna turned to him in confusion, but her eyes widened as she saw him drawing his sword again. She wasn’t the only one to notice it, either.

“You really think you can destroy us, you fool!? Don’t you remember we almost got your mind!?”

“Nightmare almost did that.” Mark said to the monster, conviction burning in his eyes. “Yet, I resisted, and we got her back. We will succeed again, and you… you, shadow pony… will be banished from her.”

“Nightmare” started to laugh, as her eyes started to shine brighter.

“That was merely a simple alicorn. You now are facing the darkness in the flesh.” Nightmare said while its eyes stopped shining.

Luna conjured her swords again, more by reaction than anything else, as she watched Nightmare’s form growing taller and taller, until it was almost as tall as the coliseum they were in.

“Watch in fear and despair as We crush you!!” “Nightmare” shouted as it brought its fist down, directly towards Mark.

Luna almost didn’t have time to react, she watched, much like what Nightmare had said, in despair as the giant fist fell.

Yet, that despair was replaced with confusion as she watched the prince, who was simply standing there, with a smile on his face. The last things she saw before the fist connected the ground was a wink from him.

Nightmare laughed loudly as shrank back.

“That was easy for us… but we still have one left.” It said slowly as it turned towards Luna, whose swords were dispelled as panic began to fill her again.

Those eyes were unnatural. While she was fearless on the real world, those eyes somehow managed to transform her into a weeping filly, calling for her mother. She kneeled down in a fetal pose, not really caring about anything else.

“You know…?” Luna’s eyes opened in surprise, her head turning quickly towards the other side of the coliseum. “I actually hate dying over and over. Yet, that’s one of the conveniences the dream realm has…” Luna’s eyes widened as she the prince walking calmly back into the arena. “… You don’t actually die, ever.”

Nightmare’s eyes widened in surprise and anger.

“You! We crushed you! We killed you!!”

“Yes, you did.” Mark said as he lifted his arm, revealing a crossbow. “But you forget something… this isn’t your realm… it is Luna’s and mine. And in here, we rule, not you.” Mark said, grinning the whole time.

“Then, what will you do, then?” Nightmare asked with a certain uncertainty on its voice. “Kill us?”

“No.” Mark said as he raised the crossbow. “Just Nightmare.”

Its eyes widened, the arrow had been shot. There was simply not enough time to react. It was a direct shot right towards its head.

Luna felt something else. The moment the arrow connected to the figure’s head, all the fear, all the negative emotions she felt earlier vanished.

The figure shrieked in pain, pain not from the arrow, but rather because it had been disconnected from its host.

Nightmare opened her eyes again, but this time, there wasn’t darkness around her, like there had been the many times she had tried before. Instead, she saw a face she recognized instantly.

“Are you alright?”

Nightmare blinked as she got up, her ears finally focused as she started to hear some shrieking. As she turned her head, she saw some kind of shadow in the center of the arena, seemingly convulsing and shouting all the time.

“What is that?” Nightmare asked softly.

“That… is a nightmare.” Mark said as he helped her.

“That is a shadow pony, the one that possessed your body.” Luna said as she landed softly, now looking more relaxed.

Nightmare’s face darkened, and Mark slowly let go of her. He hadn’t had much experience with magic, but even he couldn’t deny that it felt almost like a murderous intent.

The shadow pony couldn’t simply stop shouting. It was angry, it was livid. He knew THEY would be back sometime, someday, he would have another chance to claim the world of the living. Yet, he had failed once again, and the control he had over one of the most powerful creatures in the upper realm was gone from his grasp, again!

But this time, it was caused by its own stupidity. How could it have missed the obvious signs!? The blue one was almost within his grasp again, and the black one was already his! But the white one…

Oh, if filled him with rage when he turned to look at the white one. There was something different with him. He wasn’t like the others he had seen before. At first, he seemed almost like any other traveler that had dared to go to the depths of the dream realm. But, oh, he was so wrong.

He should have been the first one. He shouldn’t have used him as bait. He should have consumed him.

The shadow pony shouted once more in rage as it got up, still with the arrow on its face, and tried to get away, only to be met with another shadow. Yet, this one wasn’t like him.

For the first time in all of its dark life, the shadow pony felt fear. Fear, because that being was a bad omen, sign that something bad was about to happen. And it was seeing him. There was no escape.

In a rush, the shadow pony turned around once more, only to be met with the harsh gaze of the three ponies, the black one’s more angry than harsh.

Moments later, a sword was found almost cutting its form.

“We should kill you and your race right at this moment!” The black one said in a menacing tone, seemingly ready to finish him.

Nightmare’s mind was invaded with anger. Yes, she had been born as one of them, but now she was a pony, much like Luna, her sister. The anger receded some at that thought.

Then, she turned at the prince, seeing him looking at the shadow pony with a look she couldn’t describe. It almost seemed like if he pitied the shadow pony.

“What do you think?” Mark looked at her with curiosity. “What do you think we should do with this being?”

Is she were honest with herself, she might say she was expecting the prince to tell her to kill the shadow pony.

“… Do whatever you want.” Mark said as he turned to her, earning a confused look from Nightmare. “I am not your parent or anything like that to tell you what to do or what not to do.” Mark answered, but then put a hand on Nightmare’s shoulder. “But what I do can tell you is this: Always do the right thing.”

Nightmare turned once again to the shadow pony, which had been silent during the whole time. The more she looked at it, the more she pondered. She might have been doing ponykind a favor if she were to completely eradicate the shadow ponies. They were a menace to the whole ponykind.

…

… Right?

She then turned to Luna, who seemed to have the same conflict she had. Both had been conscious of the shadow ponies’ existence for some time, but it was in very rare cases where they would succeed in even reaching into a conscious pony’s mind.

And when they did, they reached one of the most powerful beings in the world, and that brought a lot of pain, not only to them, but to many other ponies, too.

…

And yet… If it weren’t for them… She wouldn’t be there… she wouldn’t even exist at that point.

Slowly, the sword in her grasp vanished, but the shadow pony didn’t have a moment to relax, as a deep blue grip constricted its body to that of a dark sphere.

“… No.” Nightmare finally spoke. “… Killing you… all of your race… would be low… far lower than what you are now…” Nightmare turned to see the being in her grasp, her eyes showing just how much conviction she had. “But you won’t be freed, either.”

Behind the being, a portal opened, once again leading to the forest where the shadow ponies resided.

“… If there’s anything my new sisters taught me… is that killing is never a good solution… Therefore…”

Nightmare’s full span opened, making her look far more powerful that what she seemed.

“… Therefore… I, Nightmare Moon, princess of the dreams… condemn you, and your whole race, to an eternity of living in that wretched world you call home, and never to come back. If you do come back, I’ll make sure to chase you all to the very depths of tartarus!!”

Nightmare said as her horn glowed, sending the sphere into the forest. The being assumed its form again, and stared at the portal as it slowly closed.

That was far worse than what it had thought. A new being had arisen to protect the upper realm from them.

Before the portal could close, the angry shout of millions of shadow ponies rang through the forest.

Nightmare sighed in relief as her wings closed, letting her fall to the ground. Even when she knew she should have eradicated them, she somehow felt good with herself.

“How do you feel?” She turned at the prince, who put a comforting hand on her shoulder once again.

“I… I feel… Great.” Nightmare said as she stood up. As she turned to Luna, the Night princess simply nodded to her.

“You spoke like a true princess, Nightmare.” Luna then bowed, surprising Nightmare. “… Princess of the dreams.”

“Your highness.” Mark said as he bowed, too.

Nightmare didn’t know what to say. She had been alive once again for about a week. And yet, she had suddenly found herself a destiny. Something worth to live for.

“Well!” Nightmare and Luna jumped in shock as the prince clapped his hands. “I don’t know about you, but all this dream stuff was tiring, and I want to just have a peaceful sleep this time. Let’s go back.”

Both alicorns smiled as they reached for him with their hands. With their horns lit, they vanished from the coliseum with a flash.

Celestia returned to the room shortly after leaving. She herself wasn’t too aware of how the dreams were structured, but she knew only a couple minutes on the real world were hours inside a dream. She couldn’t help but pace around in the room, waiting for anything to happen.

What she didn’t expect to happen was a loud yawn.

“Why do I feel so sore?” Her head turned around at the male voice in the room, feeling her hearth beating faster as she saw the prince awake once more.

“Oh, my dear Caeruleo!” Celestia shouted as she hugged him from behind, not noticing the panic it filled the prince with at having such a big pony on top of him.

“Sister, you are smothering him again.” Luna said in a flat tone, causing Celestia’s eyes to widen.

“I don’t see him complaining.” Nightmare commented as she smirked at the prince’s despair.

Celestia yelped as she stopped the hug, freeing the prince from his smothering prison. Moments later, air was sucked into his lungs as if he hadn’t had it in years.

“Is it really necessary to smother me every time anything happens to me?” Mark asked as he finally stabilized his own breathing.

“Maybe…” Celestia said with a small smile, as she hugged him again, gentler this time. “I was so worried.”

“Hey, don’t worry. I’m alright. I had a lot of help, too.” Mark said as smiled at the other two alicorns, his gaze being specially fixated on Nightmare.

Celestia smiled at her, nodding slightly with her head in a sign of respect, which was returned from the dark alicorn.

Her smile vanished as she turned to her other sister, who was looking at the prince with a sad look.

“Caeruleo?” Luna called to the prince, whose gaze hardened as he stared at her. “… Umm… I… I just wanted you to know… I am really sorry.”

Mark stood up once again, but his sight didn’t seem softer on her.

“I know you are…” For a moment, Luna let out a sigh of relief, which was interrupted as the prince lifted his hand. “… But that doesn’t mean I’m not angry, because I’m basically livid at you right now.”

Luna’s eyes widened in worry as looked at him. What she didn’t expect to happen was the prince offering her a hand.

Once she was once more on her hooves, the prince pointed to the door.

“Therefore, I’m asking you kindly to leave, please.”

Luna’s eyes widened as she stared at him, almost as if he had grown a second horn. She opened her mouth to speak, but the prince turned away from her.

“Leave, please. I don’t want to say anything we both might regret later.”

Luna was about to retort, but she felt a hand taking hers. Turning her head, she realized it was her sister’s, giving her a serious, but loving look. With tears in her eyes, she left the room, being followed closely by nightmare.

Once she was away, Celestia let out a sigh of relief.

“I really was afraid things might go ugly from there on.”

“They might have if she were to retort.” The prince said as he sat down on a chair, letting out a long sigh.

“I must admit, it was rather harsh the way you said that.”

“Truth is harsh.”

Celestia nodded in understanding. As the ex-bearer of the elements of harmony, she knew how to say the truth, and many times it wasn’t easy.

Not bothering to say other things, she walked to a chair in front of him and sat down, too.

“Care to share with me what happened?”

“Not really. At this moment, I’d rather be alone for a while, and get some sleep. I’ve been asleep for a couple hours, but I feel tired as heck. And besides, I think you should have a talk with your fellow princesses, the princess of the night, and the princess of the dreams.”

Celestia tilted her head in confusion, earning a groan from Mark.

“Just go to speak with them, they’ll explain you.”

Celestia nodded, actually wanting to know more. But she saw the state the prince was, so she stood up and left.

Once Celestia was gone, Mark sighed as he turned around to a dark corner of the room.

“Why were you there?”

From the shadows, Death materialized itself.

“… I seriously thought she would give me a huge help with the shadow ponies. Those beings has been very elusive to me. Always escaping.”

“Yet, she didn’t.”

“No.”

Mark nodded as he gave Death’s the hardest stare he could muster.

“We’re just mere pawns to you, right? You just planned to use me to get nightmare on our side, and then use her to reach the shadow ponies.”

“That was the plan. But, I must admit, this was far more amusing than what I thought.” Death said as he returned to the shadow. Before he was fully vanished, he turned to him.

“Take some time to relax. Your next test will come soon.”

Author's Note

Finally! Free of some stuff I was doing!
And finally, I managed to conclude some of the games I was playing, which include gears of wars 4, Murdered, Resident Evil 7, etc.
But, oh well, now that all those games are out, I'll have some time spared now.

As always, comments and critics are welcomed, as well as any private messages you want to send.