I stood upon brown pavement, my hooves feeling uncomfortable as the abrasive surface of roughened cinder blocks, I glowered at what was before me--a flowerbed seemingly integrated beside the road that I was upon.

I grew weary; this was evident through my deadened look apparent on my face. My eyes were heavy, as were my legs as I was barely able to keep up with my own pace.

I was upon a road; it was straight and narrow, its cement being flourished with red paint. It was modern, much like that of the many back alleys of Manehattan.

Parallel from both sides were tall buildings cutting me off from going either left or right--they seemed rather modern as they were twofold the length of usual buildings in Equestria and instead of wood, they seemed to be comprised mostly out of cinder blocks of pallid gray.

'Another... one. Another place for me to be confined in... ?' I thought to myself halfheartedly.

These mysterious structures were pristine, not a single chip upon their cold stone walls. Their windows were of glass panes. As I tried to peer into these windows, they promised nothing but darkness as I couldn't see through their pitch black tint.

I looked upon to my left once more, just beside the side of a building. There stood the bed of flowers that I was previously glowering upon. Their flowers have bloomed, their petals ranging from a variety of colors. A menagerie of red to the left, a miscellany of blue flowers on the middle, and a collection of yellow-petaled flowers on the right side. I glanced swiftly towards the left--and there too, almost an exact imitation, was another flowerbed containing the same arrangement of flowers.

Ire began to swell up in my head, causing me to furrow my brows sharply as I shut my eyes. Sighing out a calming breath, I shrugged off the anger.

"I am stuck in a loop. They trapped me... in a loop." I began walking towards the end of the alley. It was eclipsed with a darkening shroud as there was a form of archway suspending over on top of it. "I... don't know how to get out of here." I was now close towards the darkness cast upon by the suspension above, having moved several feet away from the alleyway. "But I shall get out of here, and succumbing to ire will not allow me to achieve that goal."

Submersing myself in the darkness, I began passing by the alley. A few seconds passed in walking, my dull hoofsteps resounding in the darkness as I made my way through the tunnel-like construct. Finally, just a few feet away, rays of light seeped into an entrance.

I carried on my pace, looking forwards for the change in scenery. Trotting my way through the pitch black, I made it towards the exit, my figure being swathed in light.

I was greeted with a miasma of age--rust, pallid grey dirt, and mildew all pervaded around the air, striking a rather off, but nostalgic sort of scent into my nostrils.

Like prior, I was in an alleyway--nay, I daresay that I'm still in the same alleway as before. This time, however, there were some alterations made.

The buildings were still here, standing erect and firm. However, their walls and frames have decayed, withered stone and moss hanging loosely from their forms. The windows have shattered, leaving only jagged fragments on their sills. Once more, nothing but an abysmal black were present through those windows.

The sun was settled in the skies, casting an orange illumination which indicates that it was noon as opposed to morning back in the previous alley. The sunrays gleamed yonder ahead of me, catching a haze of dust in their warming radiance.

I walked forwards, expecting something else to have changed--the flowerbeds. The glower ever present on my face still being... well, present.

Setting myself in the middle of the alleyway, I looked to both sides. Accordingly, it seemed, the miniature gardens have withered, the wall of bricks encompassing them being incomplete and partially grated. The flowers hung loosely on the dirt, their stems shriveled and darkened. Their petals and leaves, of course, have long since degraded into an unsightly ashen black.

I sighed, walking towards the end of the alleyway once more, slipping into the entrance.

"Hello darkness," I greeted as the shades began to consume me, walking below the crumbling archway above, "my old friend..." I muttered out finally as I once more found the light piercing through the darkness just ahead of me.

As I approached the exit of that darkened place, I was accosted by an overwhelming scent of flora as light flecks of water began to rebound of me, a particularly annoying droplet stinging my left eye as it splashed against my face.

"Ow..." Rubbing my face, I regained my vision. I seemed to be still on a lane of some sort, albeit, there were no longer any buildings preventing me from going to far to the left or right. Instead, however, there were expanses of water that seemed to stretch for as far my eye could see into the horizon.

Ahead of me was, oddly enough, a pathway secluded with trees, the canopies of bushy leaves eclipsing a dark shadow below it. More or less, this forest acted the same as the archway-tunnels.

I sighed as I moved myself further. Glancing both left and right, I found myself at a loss for words at the two expansive overgrowths of foliage beside me that were, in pretense, replacing the flowerbeds.

"Alright," I felt something in the back of my head snap, "I've had enough of this cycle." I ignited my horn, flaring it with magic as I summoned forth blazes of midnight blue fire upon my horn. Flinging my head downwards, the flame lingering from the tip of my horn was flicked towards the miscellany of plants to the left side of me.

The greenery soon turned scarlet red and black as the fires began to devour it, cackling out and spitting out embers. The stifling smoke arose from the burning heap of flowers, boring it into my nose. I choked and grimace as I staggered towards the forest.

That was well worth it for blowing off steam, however.

I took a step forward, preparing myself to enter the presumably identical gateway to what I assume to be is another variation of this lane. Suddenly, a blinding trail of blue smoke came from nowhere in particular, materializing itself around my legs.

I wobbled backwards, a feeling of shock and dismay striking me as I widened my eyes, clearly startled. "What- what is the meaning of this?!" I managed to yelp out helplessly as the misty wave of blue continued to slither around me, coiling itself against me like a serpent.

Choking, I found myself being placed into some sort of trance like state, a feeling of disorientation and confusion instilling itself into my head as I began to slump down, my head feeling as if it was spinning.

I felt as if I was going to fall to the ground, convulsing. Everything around me began to crack and shatter like glass--even the ground below me was replaced by an abysmal blackness.

As if pitying me, however, the trail of smoke left me, seemingly dissipating into nothingness. Still, I remained sickened and left staggering on my hooves as I shambled back and forth feebly. Fortunately, however, as the blue mist disappeared, so did the nausea as well.

I looked around my environment, my head swiveling back and forth, desperate to discern anything from the darkness. Absolutely nothing was apparent; I stood upon a realm of ink black and nothingness. I was forsaken into some sort of abyss where nothing existed, save for the exception of myself.

"W- what?" I muttered out feebly as the colors began to visualize themselves once more, the darkness fading away as faint light began to bask the space I was in.

The colors finally settled. I was no longer in the abyss; the flooring before me began to appear as the darkness faded--I was apparently standing upon black glass tiles. The shadowy tiles of mirror-like surface was seamless, seemingly letting out a luster of blue as light refracted upon them from the ceiling.

An eerie glow of azure was casting down upon me, enveloping the room in an eerie glow of blue lighting. The reflection from the tiles revealed what was responsible for the peculiar illumination; there hanging suspended by the ceiling was a chandelier whose metal was pitch black and whose wicks harbored blue flames.

My eyes grew more keen as time gradually passed. My vision normalizing, I look ahead of me--only for my sight to be blocked by what I could only identify was a resident of the Dreamscape.

It stood mere few feet away from me. It was somewhat gaseous, permeating a thick haze of dark smoke, but through it, could see a physical form. It had the physique of a pony... but its lower torso was that of a snake. Clad in black miasma, I could see nothing of his physical features other than his red, glowing eyes and... what seemed to be a recorder.

I stood steeled, but I still took a few wary steps back, my gaze still fixated on the Nightmare. A Nightmare is a part of the beings who resides within the Dreamscape. They're manifestations of unpleasant dreams of ponies. Their appearance, a shade bearing red gleaming eyes with ethereal, seemingly intangible but physical bodies whose skin are as black as a shade.

Like us ponies, they too come in three specializations. The one in front of me is of the serpent variant, a Deceit, a Nightmare whose presence was forged from somepony's dream of paranoia and deceit. One other species of Nightmare are the Overgrowths; they are beings crafted from a dream whose nature was overwhelming. Normally, said dream was based around a pony's many stresses and problems. The last type of Nightmare I can recall is the Spite. Spites are constantly immolated, engulfed in dark flames; these flames are said to be fueled from the dream of a pony who was victim to unjust cruelty.

I snapped out of my train of thought, returning my gaze towards the Deceit who was staring at me.

It tilted its head at me and was also wagging the end of its tail left to right, almost as if it was curious. Oddly enough, it looked somewhat... cute.

Suddenly, the speaker tied upon its neck suddenly buzzed out static as it whirred to life. Suddenly, words were emitted from it, the static present behind it almost making them almost unintelligible. "Hiya, Loony."

"I know that voice..." A cocktail of emotions began to whirl up in the back of my mind. "Listen here, Nightmare Moon..."

"Wow," Nightmare Moon chided as the speaker continued on relaying her words, "Recognized me even through this damning buzzing noise? Wow, Loony. You must really-"

"Not the best time for your jests, Nightmare Moon," I stated as I frowned, leaning myself over towards the speaker, inadvertently causing the Deceit to slant backwards uncomfortably. "You must be rejoicing this, aren't you? You are without a doubt taking advantage over the Dreamcatchers' attempts to merge Equestria with the Dreamscape-"

"The Dreamcatchers are dead," the words of Nightmare Moon listlessly resounded from the speakers, causing me to cease my tongue immediately as I was caught off guard.

'They're dead... ?' I thought to myself defiantly.

Clenching my teeth against each other for a bit, I spoke out, "Really... they're dead?"

"Yeah," Nightmare Moon responded absentmindedly somewhat, an eerie silence following her voice. "Anyways, thanks to them, we're also having a civil war."

My eyes widened as my jaw dropped slightly, my breaths becoming faint as my heart's rhythm turned frantic, my chest constricting. "A civil war?"

"Yes, yes." Nightmare Moon cleared her throat. "You see, after the Dreamcatchers promised us that the entirety of Equestria would be ours to reign--with the simple rule of not having any dispute with the locals there of course, some controversy went along with us Dreamscape ponies. Basically, the Sweet Dreams and the Nightmares whispered among themselves that the Dreamcatchers are actually planning to actually manipulate us into giving them what they want, which was presumed to be rule over both the Dreamscape and the whole of Equestria."

"And..." Nightmare Moon drawled out, humming to herself as if she was trying to recall something.

"Just... just how long was I stuck in that cycling dream?" I muttered, my voice filled with disbelief.

"About almost two years."

My mind went blank as I simply stared at the audio device. "N- no. It can't- What about my sister? What about the others who fell victim to the Dreamcatchers? Are they hurt?!" I slammed my hooves at the ground, causing a resounding thump to play out through the room.

"No worries about that," Nightmare Moon spoke laxly. "They're still, up until now, sealed within this place that you're in."

"They're here?"" I repeated once more, a bit dazedly. "What are you waiting for then? Free them as well! They need to realize what is currently happening-"

"Can't do that," Nightmare Moon briskly stated. "You see, I already expended a lot of magic freeing just you from that cycling dream. If I were to free every single one that is currently trapped here... Well, I won't be seeing tomorrow's light as I'd pretty much exhaust all of my magic, leaving me open to attacks. After all, I am quite a significant character here in this war of ours."

"N- no..." I slumped myself over, feeling the dread loneliness once more as the realization struck me like a cascade of water. "Very well then... you speak of a civil war. I take it that the Dreamscape's inhabitants are contesting themselves over territory in Equestria?"

"Not exactly," Nightmare Moon stated. "It's actually against those that wishes to remain in the Dreamscape and those who wish to expand their dominion to Equestria. The details are even blotchy to me."

"I see..."

"Well, you don't. You don't see anything." Nightmare Moon sighed. "Things are much more complicated than they seem. Anyways... you must be worried about everypony you know, right? Well, thing is, they're all sealed where you're at--the prison those damned Dreamcatchers have built."

I shot up, my eyes lighting up with hope. "So, does that mean you can-"

"Save them? Not really." Nightmare Moon grumbled under her breath, her mutterings being undecipherable to me. "It already tolled me quite a fair amount of energy to save you. No worries, though. You don't want them to go back to Equestria in its current state."

I arched my eyebrow as I stepped a tad closer. "Equestria? What has happened to it?"

"Oh- nothing, really..." Nightmare Moon trailed off. "It's just that it's absolutely brimming with Sweet Dreams and Nightmares fighting against themselves over dominion over area."

"That- that is..." I stammered out, my words falling flat as my eyes faltered.

"Unbelievable?" Nightmare Moon finished for me. "Well, you'll have to see it. After all, seeing is believing."

I gulped down, nervousness--something that I haven't quite felt for some time now--began to well up within my head. "I take it that I'll have to drive them off back here then?"

"That's the spirit!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed. "And here I thought you'd be tired and a bit famished after being trapped inside your own dream for two years."

"I cannot feel hunger nor fatigue as it is signature to alicorn physiology. The only thing I can feel right now, is anger however," I answered darkly, my visage becoming into a frown. "I'm afraid that I'll have to question you, however; why are you helping me?"

"Easy enough to answer; in here, the Dreamscape, I'm much more powerful." Nightmare Moon let out a breath of air. "If the majority, if not entirety, of the Dreamscape were to migrate all the way to Equestria, I'd have to be deposed of my position of leading power."

"A selfish reason... but a valid one nonetheless," I responded in a mutter. "Very well then. I'll be off to Equestria now." I began channeling magic into my horn, causing it to alight with bluish embers.

"Hold it," Nightmare Moon interrupted, causing me to cease the torrents of magic whirling in my horn. "Let me choose where you should go... Trust me on this. You're gonna thank me for it later."

"Alright then," I complied.

"Good. Thanks... for listening to me, I guess." Nightmare Moon signed off from the speaker, an all too familiar of static sounding off as the speaker went dead silent.

Suddenly, blue mist began to envelop me. Engulfing me whole, my figure became a mere silhouette as sparks of magic began to emit from the bluish mist.

"I'll retake Equestria..." I whispered to myself. "That... or I'll die trying."

Author's Note

Hiya, guys. Sorry if there's a glaring lack of quality or if there are too many jarring errors. My pre-readers were unable to go through this story.

So... yeah.

If you're not busy, I'd be thankful if you decided to become a pre-reader for this story. ^w^"