Of Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Love Crafter and Princess Luna exit the royal train-car to meet two ponies who were expecting them, One was marshmallow white while the other was bright pink. The two ponies bowed to Luna who returned the gesture.

“Greeting Rarity and Pinkie Pie, how is the preparation for the ribbon cutting ceremony?” Luna asked.

“It is almost ready Princess, Pinkie Pie and myself have worked on the decorations personally.” Rarity mentioned.

“Ya, there extra super special just you and...who's that?” Pinkie Pie pointed at Love.

“Ah yes... this is a friend of mine and my favorite author, Love Crafter.”

“Oh, It’s nice to meet you Lovely!” Pinkie Pie instantly nicknamed him to his annoyance.

        “Yes...well I am merely here for Princess Luna’s biography she had me comittion, so pretend I’m not here so i can see how Luna acts with you all.” Love pulled out a note pad and quill from his saddle.

        “Sounds fun to me!” Pinkie yelled.

        “Quite, but I do love your outfit darling…”

        “This old thing? I’ve always were a proper outfit even in the field, as my father once said ‘Better to be probably dress then look like a fool.’, anyway thank you Miss Rarity.” Rarity smiled at Love’s polite nature.

        The four ponies left the train station and entered Ponyville. Love looked around to get a good feel for this town. The idle chatter of the town’s ponies and the clacking of hooves on the cobbled stones of the little town's streets were the only sounds that permeated the air.  All around where little houses with thatched roofs, brick and stucco walls, and happy ponies in the doorways. Vendors called to ponies from behind their stalls and in front of their carts. The smell of baked goods and fresh produce wafted from every corner. Within eyesight was the castle  belonging to the Princess of Friendship.

        “Meh…” Love summarized this town in one word as he walked thur the town with the other ponies.

  During the walk to the town center the group meet three more ponies, a orange earth pony, a yellow pegasus, and a pegasus with hair that made Love vomit in his mouth a bit. Luna introduced Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash to Love.

“Well, Hi there Princess Luna, nice to run into y'all.” Applejack said.

“It is rather convenient isn't it, all my freinds meeting with my favorite author.” Luna pointed at Love as he wrote in his note pad.

“Oh nice to meet you, What’s your name?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m Love Crafter, though I have a feeling none of you read anything of mine.”

“Wait one minute…” Rainbow Dash flies quickly to her house.

“Is she always like that?” Love asked the group.

“Eyep.” Applejack replied.

Rainbow Dash returned in less than a minute with a book in her hooves which she handed to Love.

“Can you sigh this please?” Dash stared at Love as he looked at the book. It was his one dark adventure style book he tried a long time ago…’The Pegasus of Storms.’.

“Wow, I almost forgot about this…Sure I’ll sign it.” Love sighing his name into the cover and gave it back to Rainbow Dash who smiled.

“I thought you liked Daring Do novels, Dash?” Fluttershy asked.

“I still do, but Twilight suggested I branch out into other stuff, either way it's a good read.”

With that said and done the group of ponies walked to the town's center where they met Twilight Sparkle, Spike the dragon and Discord. Twilight greeted Luna and Love as she and Spike were finishing the decorations. Discord was napping in a hammock nearby but awoke when he heard the ponies talking.

“Well, hello dear Princess Luna...out performing your royal duties I see.” Discord said.

“Yes, and this is my friend Love Crafter and...Love?” Luna looked as Love had his mouth opened in shock.

Love quickly ran to Discord, grabbed his clawed arm, and shook it like a fan meeting his star in real life. This surprise all the ponies, Luna, and especially Discord.

“This is the best day ever! To meet the ancient spirit of chaos in the flesh. Oh I have so much to ask you!.”

Oh, I think I left the Teapot on, bye bye…” Discord snapped his fingers and vanished as Love was dazzled by his magic.

After that little display of fan-boying Love regained his composure. Luna giggled at that as the other ponies looked away with smiles on their faces. The ponies begin the final preparations for the ceremony as the town’s ponies arrived to watch. The new library was where the old one was but made of concrete instead of a tree. Luna took the stage as all the ponies looked on, Love took this ceremony a chance to take a small break from writing the biography.

However Love noticed something lurking in an alleyway nearby. It was hard for Love to believe but it was the cloaked pony from his dream last night, the one with yellow eyes. The pony quickly bolted away as Love chased after it. He followed the cloaked pony thur a few alleys and streets until it ran out of Ponyville and into the Everfree forest. Love needed to see this pony, it wasn’t just an illusion of his mind but something real. So Love gave full speed gallop into the Everfree Forest, hunting down this pony from his dreams.

.        .        .        .

Love Crafter found himself in the legendary Everfree Forest, hunting down the cloaked pony from his dreams. Love in all his life has never been in a forest before, it's dark lighting and moving shadows gave him both joy and concern. Love evenrally found himself lost in this gloomy forest with no pony for miles around. Love quickly tried to go back to town but in his pursuit of the mystery pony he got turned around at some point.

“You are so fascinating…” a erey voice echoes in Love’s ear.

“Where are you? Why did I dream of you?!” Love yelled at the nothingness in the air.

“You, out of all the worthless ponies I have ever seen merit my attention...you think out of the narrow views of pony society, you are of a darker nature, and you are brilliant beyond your years…You are worthy of my plan.”

“Stop speaking in riddles! What does that mean?!”

“You will find out...but first let's have some fun in your mind.”

Suddenly Love grabs his skull with his hooves in pain as his brain expands. His eyes become bloodshot and his mouth dyes as visions danced before him. Black tentacles reached out from the surrounding shadows at Love who tried to back away but found himself frozen in fear.

.        .        .        .

With this cutting of the ribbon I do declare the new Ponyville Library open!” Luna cut the ribbon as the crowd of ponies cheered loudly. Everypony trotted into the Library to see its splendor, Luna walked off the stage to join in when she noticed Love Crafter was missing. So the Princess of the Night began to search for her author friend. Luna looked around the Library and the surrounding area to find nothing at all. She thought it was strange for him to leave all the sudden, it seemed out of character for him.

        Just then Luna bumped into the Cutie Mark Crusader who were having fun in the street. Luna figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“Girls, have you seen a light brown stallion in a nice suit have you?”

“Actually Princess Luna we did see somepony like that.” Sweetie Belle said.

“You did, where did he go?”

“It was weird, he was standing there watching you on mitie then he was chasing a cloaked pony into the Alleyway over there.” Applebloom said.

“Thank you girls.”

“No problem Princess Luna.” scootaloo said as Luna golloped over to the alleway.

Luna didn’t find Love but she felt a cold feeling in her blood, something so familiar she knew what it was imminently. She used her magic to scan for Love’s tracks which she followed thru Town until she stopped at the border of the Everfree Forest. Luna spread her wings and took to the sky to have a better view of the forest.

.        .        .        .

After searching above the forest for an hour she found Love’s trail and followed it on hoof. She arrived to see Love Crafter in agonizing pain, screaming gibberish as he held his skull in his hooves. Luna places a sleep spell on Love knocking him out and relieving his pain, Luna circled Love as she sensed the familiar cold and dark aura.

“You…” Luna turned to see a Cloaked Pony appear out of the shadows of the forest.

“The Pony of Shadows, The one who turned me into Nightmare Moon a thousand years ago.”

“Ah you remembered me, I’m touched.”

“What are you doing to Love Crafter?!”

“Isn’t it funny that ponies think I’m a fragment of your old self? Not knowing I’m the one who showed you the power of Darkness and Nightmares.”

“I said what have you done to Love!”

“Oh him...Isn’t he fansianting...a true gem of a stallion, perfect for what I have planed...and no I’m not telling you anything...not yet anyway.”

Luna fired a bolt of magic at The Pony of Shadows, only for it to disappear into thin air. Luna picks up Love in a levitation spell and takes him back to Ponyville.