What will you do…when your destiny goes…wrong?
Twilight shot up from her sleep. She squeaked as she heavily panted, sucking air in and huffing it out with short snorts. Her eyes were as wide open as they could be, feeling as though they would pop out of her face. This terrible display of unkempt vanity and fear was unbecoming of a princess. Then again, even as an alicorn, Twilight Sparkle oftentimes only seemed to vaguely remember that her wings came with the added status.
It wasn’t as though it wasn’t apparent, after all. She had more responsibility, more power, heck, even a new castle. How could she forget?
A little head popped up at the foot of her bed. The green eyes glimmered and reflected back at her. “Twilight? Is everything okay?” It was Spike, her loyal little dragon.
She steadied her breathing until she felt the dizziness she had garnered begin to subside. “Spike? I… Yes. Yes, it was just a nightmare.”
“A nightmare? What about?” Spike asked as he crawled up onto the bed and along the quilt. “Was it a monster?”
“I don’t think so,” she replied with a gentle shake of her head.
“M-maybe it’s from all the excitement over the past year,” he suggested. “I mean, you gotta admit, that whole Tirek thing was pretty scary.”
“Yes, but it wasn’t Tirek.” She forced a smile, “It was nothing.”
“Then let me get you some warm milk!” He offered. She could barely reply before he was off to the kitchen to heat her up a cup. She rolled out of her bed and looked out the window with a bit of concern. It wasn’t like she never had nightmares before, but in the time since she had come to Ponyville, she had faced so many strange things. It was hard to take them so lightly anymore. This one, for as short and obscure as it was, was eerie and it sent a chill down her back.
Spike brought the cup of warm milk to her and she sipped on it, lost in thought. She didn’t even hear anything her little companion was saying. It probably wasn’t important, anyway. Oh, that was horrible. Spike was very important to her. Then again, she knew he was probably droning on about something he had read in a comic book or…she had no idea. Her thoughts were heavy and elsewhere. She pulled her snoot from the cup and managed to giggle at the milk mustache left behind.
“You look distinguished,” Spike chuckled.
“I do, don’t I?” She played along. She then licked the milk from her lips and wiped them dry on her foreleg. She then noticed that Owloycious was staring at her. He fluffed a moment and then seemed to relax, but that stare remained. It made her uncomfortable. She had never been known to fear him. She didn’t have a need to fear him now. Perhaps her nerves were still just not settled. She put the cup down and opened the window. Out the owl flew.
“Spike,” she began, staring out into the dark, sleeping town of Ponyville rather than at him. “I’m going to go out.”
“Out?” Spike asked with concern. “But, it’s in the middle of the night.”
“I just need some fresh air. You stay here and go back to sleep. Owloycious will keep me company.”
Spike crinkled up his face a bit. He had long since abandoned his fervent jealousy of the owl, but every now and again, it still irked him whenever Twilight would spend alone time with him. Well, perhaps that was the dragon in Spike, that greed to have her time all to himself. He said nothing, though. That was his own personal vice that he would deal with alone. It wasn’t that big of a deal, after all. “Okay…” What else could he say?
***
The night was cool. A little too chilly, in fact. It was moist. That was a good sign that morning would come soon, with the beginnings of the cold dew beginning to form. There was still a few hours before the Celestia would even consider raising the sun. In this case, that was probably for the best. Twilight felt the need to walk the night streets. There was a spookiness and a cool comfort about being out at night. She didn’t do this too often without others being about. She would stargaze, sure, but she did prefer the company of her friends. They made her feel complete. Then again, wasn’t that the whole purpose of the whole herd of them?
She wasn’t sure what she was hoping to find. She just hoped that something would come to her. Why was this particular dream any different from any other? Why did this one feel more threatening than any other? It wasn’t the typical bad dream about taking a test she didn’t study for (like that would ever actually happen).
She heard a noise and spun around to look behind her. There didn’t seem to be anything there. Not a soul walked the streets. She was alone. She could only assume the sound was from an animal or that perhaps she had kicked a stone along the cobblestone road. She could hear some crickets in the distance. Maybe there were some frogs, but definitely the crickets. There was nothing to bring any concern, so Twilight continued on along the streets, walking alone upon that path she’s traveled day in and day out in the light of day. Owloyicious had flown off. He was likely still nearby, but she couldn’t see nor hear him at this point. Perhaps, he had gone to feed. The nature of that was a bit sad, but it was just that: nature, and she had to turn a blind eye to that cruel truth and could only take pity on whatever poor mouse the owl found.
A hiss suddenly startled her and she let out a small cry before galloping off. So, it wasn’t the most becoming or courageous thing for her to do, but the night had overtaken her senses. She wasn’t even sure what had made the noise and she didn’t bother to look back. She ran until she cleared the city limits of Ponyville Proper and tripped on a root at the base of the statue of Nightmare Moon. She let out a grunt and a moan, her hindquarters dangling in the air over her head before finally dropping to the grass, forcing another groan from the mare.
She sat up with a grumble, glad to be right side up again and readjusting her wings. For something so light and fragile on birds, she had to admire the strength and endurance of pony wings. She peered up at the statue and considered it. As if the image wasn’t creepy enough, an eerie whistle of a breeze flew through, taking with it a few leaves, the early birds, so to speak, of the upcoming fall. In this atmosphere, she felt a twinge of fear. It only lasted a moment before that logical side of her that was generally so predominate finally took over. There was no reason to fear Nightmare Moon. She had long since fixed that issue. A visit from Luna at this point would have been more than welcome, as a matter of fact. She knew that the nightmare itself was silly and it was silly that she had let it bother her.
Then again, Twilight had to consider her own character. She was a control-freak. Everything had to be in order, and even her nightmares had to make some sort of sense, even if the logic was vague. There had to be something to accept, such as her non-studied exam dreams. She’d never be unprepared for a written test or an oral exam, but at least the strange plot of the dream was there and she could analyze it clearly. She couldn’t do that with this one. It had been so black and she saw nothing. That voice sounded so terrible and dry with eerie clanking and crackling like hollow, dry bamboo shafts clanking against each other. It was a lot like the bamboo wind chimes that Fluttershy had recently acquired. She had mentioned the bamboo was more soothing than the tinkling of the bell chimes. Maybe that’s why Twilight heard that noise. If that were the case, though, they weren’t soothing at all.
But, there was nothing. There was no answer. There was no Fluttershy. There was no Luna. All there was…was Twilight Sparkle, accompanied only by the dreary shadow at her side before the great statue of an enemy that no longer was.
Something rolled off the bedside table and onto the floor. The sound of the roll on the crystalline floor hinted that whatever it was, it was not nestled under the bed the royal couple shared. Shining Armor slowly opened his eyes and smacked at his lips to wet them.
“Are you up?” He asked groggily. There was no answer from Cadence, which meant that she was either still asleep beside him, or she had already gotten up and couldn’t hear him to offer a reply.
He flopped his head over the side of the bed and stared blankly at the floor. He blinked a few times and stared with confusion. Had he just seen a shadow? It wasn’t as if it was his own shadow in that dark, moonlit room. It moved even when he watched it so still. Now there was no shadow there at all. To make things more curious, he heard a sound from the other room of the great crystal palace. He lifted his head and looked back over his shoulder. All was right there. Cadence was fast asleep, gently chewing on her pillow and mumbling happily. It had to be the sweet dream again. Literally, it was a dream, she had been having so often these days where she would partake of mountains of candy, cake, ice cream, and other such sugary joys.
Shining Armor got out of bed quietly, careful not to disturb her. There was no point in worrying her over nothing. He then left the bedroom and close the door behind him. He summoned a bit of magic about his horn to light his way. The silence was eerie. He would have thought the soft clack of soldiers’ hooves would have resonated within walls such as these. He may have been captain, but he was also himself a prince and guarded. But there was nothing. There was no sound whatsoever.
He became a bit unnerved and continued to wander up and down the halls, feeling an eerie chill after passing every window and feeling the moonlight flood down on him. A hiss caught his attention and he tensed, staring down the direction from which it had come. He grew a look of determination on his face and hurried about the bend and stopped with a shock.
“What’s going on?!” He gasped. Before him, several of the guards were slumped over each other, passed out cold. There had been no sound of a struggle and no cries for battle or help. Had it been one or two, he would have gathered that perhaps they had fallen asleep on the job. But, six? six grand stallions of the Crystal Empire were laid out before him, tongues lolled out. “What is the meaning of this?!”
“Highnessssssss,” a voice hissed and whispered. By now, Shining Armor was alert and angry. He galloped after that noise, hallway after hallway, finding more and more fallen guards. Not a one had made a single noise, and yet every one looked as though they had lost a tough battle.
Shining Armor followed until he finally stopped just short of the atrium. The sound was coming from outside. Angrily, he burst forth, seeing nothing in the atrium before him. Confused, he began to wander about within it, eagerly keeping an eye out for anything that could be out of place.
He heard a plunk in the fountain that stood in the center. He came close to examine the noise. It could have been a frog or a pebble. He couldn’t get a clear look. He was only just able to peer into the fountain before a firm kick was landed against his face and ribs. It sent him flying clear off the ground and into the wall. He let out a surprised and painful cry. That was some serious force, and he had a feeling that it could have been worse. As much as it hurt, that was a horrible thought. He fought against the pain in an attempt to get back to his feet and glared in the direction from whence he had come. “Who are you?!”
Standing before him a good several feet away was a large black stallion. He was larger than even Shining Armor. He towered over him like a beast of a horse rather than some stocky pony. He was massive and sleek. He was as black as pitch with flowing translucent hair somewhere between black or dark purple. It resembled that of Princess Luna but…darker, eerie, and with no glimmer but smoky waves. He wore a suit of armor, layered like sets of metal scales and a devilish helmet, exposing a long and pointy horn just as black as he was and glimmering with a soft white glow at the tip. He could see no cutie mark, but he did see a massive wingspan that made his jaw drop in absolute disbelief.
The stallion snorted and huffed, forcing steam and sparks of fire from his nose. His eyes burned a glowing red. He reminded Shining Armor of…Sombra. But this wasn’t Sombra. Far from it. This was something bigger and more frightening. He forced himself up finally and sparked up his own magic. “I don’t know who you are, but you are trespassing! Why are you here?! Answer me!”
“You don’t deserve her,” the voice boomed in a low and thunderous growl. He lowered his head like a bull about to charge and scratched one of his front hooves on the ground, ripping up the grass beneath him.
“Cadence?” Shining Armor asked with a perk, peering up to the upper part of the castle where their bedroom was located. He only prayed that she was still asleep and ignorant to all of this mess outside. She needed her sleep. She needed it! This…thing wasn’t going to take that from her! “You don’t know anything about Cadence!”
The strange stallion huffed angrily again. He reared up with a battle-cry grade neigh and flung himself down in an attempt to trample the prince. Even though he was in pain, Shining Armor managed to just barely avoid it. He slammed his weight into the stranger and knocked him aside, but not off of his feet. He was so solid! It hurt to hit him. So, he went the magical route and shot a stream of unicorn magic at him. Again, his jaw dropped in disbelief when he saw a hole disintegrate right through the stallion and then replenish itself until he was whole once more. How was that even possible?!
“You can’t best me, Highnesssss,” he hissed bitterly and shot a stream of magic back at him. There was no wall to slam into this time, bit he was slammed into the ground and slid across the grass. That would leave a mark for sure the next morning, if he even survived that long.
The stallion then peered up to the window that led to the room Cadence still rested within. He flapped his wings and rose about the ground. Shining Armor gasped, “No!” And prepared to shoot again, only to pause almost helplessly. He could shoot at the strange alicorn stallion, but the first shot had done no harm at all and simply gone through. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be shooting magic into his own bedchamber and possibly even hurt Cadence. Perhaps now, waking her up was the better thing to do.
“Cadence!” He shouted. “Cadence! You need to get out!” He hobbled as quickly as he could to one side in an attempt to shoot somewhat safely, knowing he was still taking a large risk. Sure enough, he was able to hit the rising stallion, but did no harm despite taking out huge sandy pieces of it. He merely glared back down at Shining Armor as he began to re-materialize again and again. He aimed again, and this time, the strange stallion, looming high overhead like a storm cloud, was ready to meet him with a glowing horn of his own. Shining Armor was not looking forward to this. He’d do so little damage and that thing, whatever it was, alicorn or not, would land a true solid shot. Shining Armor couldn’t just grow pieces back.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to. A shot from another direction hit the strange stallion’s horn and caught him by surprise. He dropped from the sky and dissipated into black sand, disappearing into the gardens of the atrium. Shining Armor flung his head back up to see Cadence poking her head out of the bedroom window.
“Cadence!” He called up with a relieved chuckle. She seemed okay. Confused, a little cranky, but okay.
“What is going on?” She called down. She crawled out of the window and lowered herself down with her wings until she stood beside her injured husband. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Shining Armor sighed as he dropped down. Cadence gasped and tried her best to offer him support. “I’m not sure what it was. It took out all of the guards. It almost took me out too. My magic was no match for it.”
“And…mine was?” She perked.
“He looked like an alicorn, Cadence,” he observed. “Maybe I’m just not in that league to take him on.”
“Shh, don’t talk anymore,” she frowned. “Save your strength.”
She nuzzled him with great concern. She thought she knew of every powerful alicorn in Equestria. Who was this beast though? Celestia had never mentioned a male alicorn before. Did she know? She would have to find out, but for now, her priority was Shining Armor and the fallen guards inside.
