(Fixing Chapter) TS/SA - Prologue
Waking Nightmare
Written by Silverness
Credit goes to MrBackpack and Yozzoy
Prologue - Twilight Sparkle/Silver Arrow
Sir Silver Arrow rushed through the Everfree Forest. He knew that he was a fool for going in alone, but he had no choice. As a Captain of the Royal Guard, it was his duty to protect the Royal Sisters at all costs. He had left his two comrades at the entrance, but did so with good reason: The princesses had been captured by one of their own, a prince named Nocturne.
Silver Arrow knew little about the prince, only that he was a noble in the royal council and the ruler of the Shadow Lands. He had only met him once, but that was when he was guarding the throne room. The prince was seething, and vented his anger on Silver Arrow’s comrade, kicking him through the open doors and into the throne room. From that point on, Silver Arrow took a disliking to him.
Silver Arrow was right in not trusting the prince, he was currently running through the forest after a message had been delivered to his patrol from Captain Swift. Two guardsponies were dead, four wounded and the princesses had been captured. One of the wounded mentioned that the prince from the Shadow Lands had committed the crime. Remembering made Silver angrier, and in his anger he almost tripped over a root, barely catching himself before he hit the ground.
Silver Arrow righted himself and looked around, shapes emerged from the darkness. Slowly, Silver trotted to the shapes, his eyes widening at what he saw. Before him, stood two large metal cages holding the princesses, and next to them, he could see a gray unicorn scribbling away on some parchment atop a massive desk. The unicorn, though Silver could not make out details in the gloom, must have been the prince.
Quietly, he drew his sword and walked over to the three of them. Celestia’s eyes darted towards him and watched as he approached the prince. When he was close enough, Silver Arrow raised his sword up high and cleared his throat.
“Prince Nocturne,” he barked.
The unicorn froze from what he was doing and turned around, his eyes meeting Silver Arrow’s. He seemed surprised, which was good for Silver Arrow. A large black cape covered his body, with the dark black star sigil, the Shadow Lands’s crest, hanging around his neck. They both glared at each other.
“By the power invested in me, I, Silver Arrow, Captain of the Royal Guard, arrest you for the murder of two of the Royal Guard, the assault with intent to kill four others, and the kidnappings of the Princess Celestia and Luna, the royal sisters and co-monarchs of Equestria,” he commanded, his gaze never leaving the Prince’s eyes.
The prince continued to stare at him, before suddenly laughing. Silver Arrow was unnerved by the sudden laughter and couldn’t help but wonder if he had missed something.
“Captain Silver Arrow, it seems that you’ve found me,” he said, once he was able to control his laughter. “Yes, I admit, I entered the throne room and killed two royal guards. You should have seen them, the last thing they saw was the bright gray light of my spell hitting them, their screams, oh how lovely they were.”
Silver Arrow growled at the prince, which only made the unicorn’s smile grow wider. “Yes, I also admit that I kidnapped the royal sisters, trapping them in a cage of my own design. Pretty neat huh? I call it, the Cage of Darkness.”
Silver Arrow had enough of this. "Prince, you can come quietly or I can take you into custody by force.”
“Captain,” The prince condescended. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to come with you. You see, I’m trying to perform a spell which will accomplish the thing I want most.”
“And what’d that be exactly?” Silver Arrow asked, he was very interested in knowing what the prince’s plans were and how the princesses were involved.
“Why, killing the royal sisters and taking the throne for myself, of course.”
Silver Arrow stood where he was, shocked. That was his plan? Killing the Princesses of Equestria and then taking over the throne to become the new ruler, but there was no way to do that, unless...
“Don’t tell me...” Silver Arrow started. “You have the...”
“What? The ancient sacred tome of Nightmare Moon? Why of course I have it,” The prince interrupted. “It took me years to find it, but I did and now I can get rid of these sisters once and for all.”
Silver Arrow lifted his sword again and glared at the prince. “You’ll have to get through me first,” he said, rage filling his voice.
The prince shook his head. “Very well, if that is what you wish. It was an honor meeting you, Captain Silver Arrow.”
The glow of the prince’s magic shot out at the captain, forcing him to jump out of the way, landing heavily on the ground. Picking himself up off the ground, Silver Arrow rushed at the prince, his own horn glowing with a spell...
“Twilight! Where are you?”
Did someone call my name? Probably in my head...
The prince launched another wave of magic at Silver Arrow, who jumped aside and swung his sword down at the pony. The sword bounced off of the prince and went flying to the side. Silver Arrow watched, flabbergasted, the sword didn't touch the prince at all, deflected by the faint grey bubble shimmering around the unicorn.
“Bubble shield,” Silver Arrow muttered as he ran for his sword.
The prince smiled and launched another bolt of magic at him. The captain jumped away, but the blast threw him a few feet into the air. He landed with a loud crunch and pain erupted through his side. He checked himself, hooves, horn and head. Everything appeared to be in place.
“I think I broke a rib...” he gasped in pain. His eyes found his sword, it had flown a good twenty feet away. He concentrated, snatching it up in a field of his own magic. Smiling through the pain, Silver forced himself back onto his hooves and began to make his way back to the prince, who seemed midly amused.
“So,” The prince sneered. “You’ve come back for more?”
Silver Arrow smirked. “Bring it on.”
The prince shook his head. “Very well, if that is what you want.”
The prince aimed his horn again at the captain and fired another wave of magic at him. This time, the captain was ready and dodged the attack easily. The prince, for the first time, didn’t smile and continued to blast away at the captain. Silver quickly jumped aside from the first, rolling to dodge the second, and used his sword to block the third, sending his weapon flying from his hold.
“Well, it seems that you are defenseless captain,” the prince sneered.
In response, Silver Arrow laughed.
“Why are you laughing?” The prince demanded. “That wasn’t supposed to be funny!”
Silver Arrow looked at the prince, his fire-red eyes steely in his determination.
“I’m laughing because I, too, am a unicorn; I am never defenseless. I have magic."
“Twilight! Where the heck are you?”
That voice again. Ah, it’s probably just my imagination. Now back to rea-
“There you are Twilight!” the voice finally ripped her out of the book. “Where have you been?”
Twilight Sparkle jerked from her book and stared up at the cyan pegasus.
“What is it Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, slightly annoyed. “I was in the middle of reading.”
“I can see that,” Rainbow Dash said, irritated as she looked down at the book in front of her friend. “But that doesn’t explain why you had all of us wondering where you were at!”
“You girls were looking for me? Whatever for?”
“Applejack needed your help on the farm,” Rainbow replied. “Said that a few of her apple trees had fallen due to the storm we had yesterday.” She walked over to a shelf and looked through them. “It’s not my fault I had to make sure there was a storm that day, besides I didn’t know about that stray cloud until Applejack told me about what happened to her trees.”
Twilight nodded. She was half-right. Sure, Rainbow didn't schedule the storms, she just made them happen. But, it was her job to keep an eye out for stray clouds, like the one that hit Sweet Apple Acres.
“Hey Twilight,” Rainbow had floated over to the top shelf and was looking over the titles. “When is the new Daring Do book coming out? I can’t find it.”
“Um...” Twilight said, thinking. “I think it’s this week. Not too sure though, I know I have the date written down somewhere.”
Rainbow sighed. “Well alright then, I guess I can wait a day or two, but that’s it.”
“Don’t worry Rainbow.” Twilight giggled. “You could always read another book if you’d like.”
“Nah,” Rainbow smirked. “I rather be practicing some of my new tricks.”
Twilight couldn’t help but feel saddened by her friend’s reply, she had always hoped that Rainbow would learn to love reading as much as she did. Rainbow, despite Twilight’s best efforts, was only interested in reading the grand adventures of Daring Do, the amazing archaeologist and explorer. Not to mention with the auditions for the Wonderbolts coming up, it was a wonder in of itself that Rainbow Dash was even willing to look at a book.
“Are you sure? You could read something like this,” Twilight said, levitating the book in front of her up to her friend.
Rainbow Dash looked quizzically at her, “Isn’t that the book you were reading?”
Twilight nodded happily. “Yup, I’m surprised I’ve never read it. It’s called The Tale of Prince Nocturne by Commander Gray Light.”.
Rainbow Dash looked at the cover, which showed a silver unicorn facing off against a gray unicorn with two ponies standing in cages that looked like the Princesses. “Looks interesting, but I’ll pass. I gotta practice some more if I’m going to impress the Wonderbolts.”
“I understand, I guess you’ll be leaving then?”
“Yup,” Rainbow nodded. “I’ll catch you later Twilight!”
She unfurled her wings and flew off towards the open window on the second floor. Twilight looked at her window, wondering how Rainbow Dash opened it from the outside, but shrugged it off and turned her head elsewhere. Before she could, she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice outside.
“Oh yeah, make sure you visit Applejack later!”
Twilight sat on her haunches, staring back at the window, waiting to see if Rainbow Dash would come back. When she didn’t, Twilight sighed and dropped the book back on the floor. She waited a while longer, thinking that out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie might surprise her with something. The thought of Pinkie Pie appearing randomly made her giggle. She smiled half-heartedly and looked down at her book, which seemed to ask whether she was going to sit around, worrying about random surprises or finish reading.
Twilight opened the book with her magic and turned the pages till she came to the part she left off. She rubbed her hooves together, a large grin appearing on her face as she was absorbed back into the story.
The prince stared dumbly at Silver Arrow. He had forgotten that the captain was a unicorn, an incredible oversight considering the captain had been using his magic to maneuver his sword. Silver Arrow grinned, realizing that he had struck a blow to the prince’s logic.
‘Now!’ a voice screamed in his head. ‘Strike while you have the chance.’
Silver Arrow nodded and rushed straight at the prince. The prince didn’t even have a chance to react as the captain launched a spell at him. The spell slammed into the bubble shield before it disappeared. The prince stared at the spot where the spell hit and laughed.
"Haha, is that the best you’ve got?” he laughed. “Even my mother could aim better.”
“Really?” Silver Arrow smirked. “I think you better take another look.”
The prince raised an eyebrow and looked back at the spot. His eyes widened as he noticed a small crack in the shield. That crack grew bigger and bigger till a large cracking sound filled the ponies’ ears.
“Ah... horsefeathers...” the prince muttered as the shield broke, tiny pieces of shards falling on top of him.
Silver Arrow watched as some of the pieces fell to the ground, harmlessly. But, a few of the pieces embedded themselves in the prince’s body, causing blood to ooze out. He stomped his foot in pain.
“Damn you...” he swore.
Silver Arrow walked over and turned to where his sword laid. He levitated it back to his side and stood over the fallen prince. The prince gave a weak smile and picked himself up. The captain held the sword almost at the prince’s neck, ready to strike him down if he had too.
“As I said before,” Silver Arrow said. “You’re coming with me to Canterlot to face the charges against you.”
The prince shook his head and gave a weak laugh. “If you think... that I’m going back to Canterlot with you... then you’re more stupid than you look.”
Silver Arrow ignored his remark and pressed the sword even closer to his neck, the blade now cutting through the skin. The prince didn’t move a muscle, his eyes darting to the book on the table. The captain followed his eyes and turned to see what he was looking at.
“Oh no you don’t,” Silver Arrow glared. “If you think that you’re going to use that book to save you now, then you should have used it when you had the chance.”
“On the contrary,” The prince chuckled darkly. “I still have that chance.” Before Silver Arrow could do anything, the prince headbutted him in the face.
The captain was knocked off his captive, holding a hoof to his face. He could feel warm blood trickling from his new cut and picked himself up. He could hear the prince mumbling something, but was staring down at the table in front of him, his back to the captain.
Silver Arrow quickly realized what he was doing and snatched up his sword and galloped towards the prince, his vision blurring as blood seeped into his eyes. Instead of stopping, he pushed himself forward and was but a few feet away from the prince.
He could hear the spell:
“Shadows and Darkness, one and together
To live and survive, forever and ever
I, Prince Nocturne, Ruler of the Shadow Lands
Shall lay down my life and soul
to the eternal Darkness that is...
Nightmare Moon!”
At the last word, Silver Arrow swung his sword, prepared to do anything to stop the prince.
He was too late.
Blackness erupted from the prince and book, sending the captain flying away, leaving him in a crumpled heap, unconscious. Princess Celestia could only watch in horror as her captain was sent flying and as the prince was engulfed by the dark aura.
The prince looked down and laughed evilly, the spell had worked. He stared at the royal sisters, their shock clearly written all over their faces.
"I can finally end this once and for all!" shouted the prince, his magic surging. "Now I will rule over al-"
He was cut shout by the darkness around him contacting in and squeezed him out of normal pace and time; the last of him that either of the princesses saw of the prince was his face, scowling in a silent curse.
“Mark my words!” the prince yelled, his face disappearing from view. “I’ll be back to get you!”
With those words, the prince emitted a blood curdling scream as a bright light surrounded him, fighting back the blackness.
Either the light or the scream roused Silver Arrow, his vision, blinded in the intensity of the light. When the captain could finally see again, he found that the prince had vanished without a trace.
Silver Arrow sighed, fighting his shock and frustration, and picked up his sword. The blade still had blood on it. He shrugged, sheathing his weapon, and stumbled towards the cages where the Royal Sisters were imprisoned. He bowed to both cages and the mares therein.
“Your majesties, I’m sorry for letting the prince escape... please, I don’t think I’m worthy to be a Captain of the Royal Guard.”
Princess Celestia looked directly at him and smiled. “My dear valiant knight, why would you think that? You’ve certainly proven yourself as a loyal guard who performs his duty no matter what.”
“You’re not going to punish me?” he asked shocked. He wasn’t expecting this from the monarch of Equestria.
“Why of course not,” Celestia answered. “Why would you think that’d I punish somepony who risked their life to save another?” She stayed silent for a moment before, “Sir Silver Arrow, please take a bow.”
Silver Arrow did as he was commanded. Celestia looked down at him while Luna watched the scene unfold. “Sir Silver Arrow, Captain of the Royal Guard. After proving your loyalty, courage and bravery to protect and save another, I now dub thee, Sir Silver Arrow, Commander of the Royal Guard and Protectorate of the Royal Sisters.”
Silver Arrow gasped and looked up at Celestia.
Right now, he was just saying he wasn’t worthy to be a Royal Guard, let alone captain, but here was the princess, herself, knighting him as a Commander of the Royal Guard and a Protectorate! There had never been a Protectorate for the Royal Sisters, there had never been a need for one.
“Um...” he said, trying to say something, but nothing would come out of his mouth. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Thank you Princess... I’ll do my best to protect you.”
Celestia smiled and nodded. “Very well, we must make our way back to the castle,” she turned to her sister. “Luna? Are you ready?”
Princess Luna had been staring at the two the entire time. Her eyes blinked and she shook her head. “Huh? Oh right, we are ready dear sister.”
Celestia nodded back and closed her eyes. Silver Arrow watched as her horn glowed, a golden aura surrounding the cage door. He stood up and took a few steps backwards as the cage door holding Celestia swung open as if she could’ve opened it all along. Luna did the same, her aura, a midnight cobalt.
And with that, the Royal Sisters and Sir Silver Arrow walked out of the Everfree Forest, where Silver Arrow’s patrol would find them and escort them back to the castle. However, the new commander quickly ran back into the clearing and, to the remains of the wooden table. He looked down and moved away the charred remains before he found what he came back for.
“I’m not going to leave this here for anypony to get their hands on it,” he said, holding up the black book. He levitated the book and ran back to the princesses, leaving behind the scene of what had unfolded at the Everfree Forest, which became known as The Tale of Prince Nocturne...
Twilight’s nose was buried in the book, she had never known that such a book existed. It was just so detailed about what had happened. She couldn’t figure out why she’d never heard of such an event. The books of Equestrian history never depicted such an event happening which made her wonder if the book was fact or fiction. But, everything was spot on. The princesses, Canterlot, the Everfree Forest, there were some characters she had never heard about like Sir Silver Arrow and Prince Nocturne.
I might ask Princess Celestia about it when I write her a letter Twilight thought, before she yawned and rubbed her eyes. What time is it anyway?
Twilight picked her head up, her tired eyes quickly finding her clock above the door. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, last time she checked, it was 5:15 in the morning.
“I shouldn’t be this sleepy. I’ve only been awake for nine hours and fifteen minutes, weird, maybe I’ll ask Sp-” she started to say, but felt her eyelids close slowly. She suddenly shook her head and propped her head in a hoof. “Ugh... maybe it was that book,” she said tiredly. She picked herself up and the book, levitating it to her table and left it there.
I’m still curious about this book... I’ll research more about it tomorrow Twilight thought as she walked up the stairs. She found her head drooping, but held it up with her hoof. Her eyelids begun to close faster every time she would blink and shake her head, but she kept herself awake as she tried to figure out why she was so tired. She felt her entire body land with a thud to the floor, limp. She opened her eyes as much as she could, but the drowsiness overtook her and her conscious fled.
Twilight awoke with a jolt and picked her head up. She quickly turned her head in all directions, finding herself surrounded by white walls. She picked herself up and rubbed the side of her head.
“What is this place?” she asked herself and took a step forward. When nothing happened, she assumed it safe and started walking forward to see if it would take her anywhere.
With every step, her curiosity grew as she wondered where exactly was she at. It must be a dream she thought at first, but when she rubbed her head, the pain felt so real. She couldn’t figure out how she was actually feeling and touching stuff inside a dream, but she reminded herself that this was a dream, so it probably was her imagination.
“Why am I still walking anyway?” she asked herself. “I have no idea where to go or know where to sta- wait, is that a pony?”
Twilight squinted off into the distance and could see the silhouette of a pony standing alone. Her eyes sparkled with interest and she galloped over to where the silhouette was. She wasn’t alone, now she'd get answers.
It took a while, but she came up to the pony. She could see that he was a unicorn by the gray horn on top of his head. He wore a dark black cape, which seemed to perk up Twilight’s interest more and more. The unicorn didn’t turn around, which meant he probably didn’t hear Twilight come up from behind. Before Twilight could open her mouth, the unicorn said something.
“I see you had no trouble getting here,” the unicorn said bluntly.
Twilight stood frozen in place. How could he have known she was right behind him, for that matter, how’d he know she was here? She stood silent for a few good seconds before she asked, “How’d you know I was here?”
The unicorn waved a hoof and said, “I sensed your presence and figured that you’d find me sooner or later.”
Sensed my presence? How could he sense my presence? she thought. The only ones she knew who could do that were the Princesses, themselves. “Who are you?” she asked curiously.
“That,” he started. “Is not important. What is important is that you've read a book that has been lost for over a thousand years.”
“A thousand years?” she asked. He must mean that book I found, but it’s been lost? I found it on one of the shelves, that doesn’t sound lost to me.
“Yes, a thousand years,” he repeated. “I never thought I’d see the light again after what happened, but you’ve made it all possible.”
Twilight titled her head and raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. What are you talking about?”
The unicorn looked down at the floor and gave a long sigh. “Ah, you must not recognize me, forgive my rudeness...” he said and turned around. Twilight watched and gasped as she begun to recognize the unicorn in front of her. The words that had described him in the book she read, it was all real.
“Hello, miss,” he said. “My name is Prince Nocturne, ruler of the Shadow Lands, and I thank you for awakening me from my deep slumber, you have no idea what it’s like to live in a dark place that’s filled with all these ghosts and spirits.”
“But, aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Twilight asked. “Living with ghosts and spirits?”
“I was just sleeping and yes, living with ghosts and spirits. A jolly bunch of fellows they were,” the prince grinned. “They mostly play poker or blackjack, but it was actually pretty entertaining if I do say so myself.”
Twilight couldn’t help but let out a small giggle at the thought of this evil prince playing something as mundane as cards with ghosts.
The prince gave no notice of her reaction as he walked over to her, looking her over.
“Hm... I sense great and power magic inside of you. “
Twilight blushed. “Why yes, I know a lot about magic, why I learned from Princess Celestia hers-”
The prince’s eyes widened at the mention of the name. “Celestia!? She’s still the monarch? After all these years?”
Twilight stepped back and nodded. “Yes, she’s the co-ruler of Equestria with her sister, Princess Luna, wait...” Her thoughts went back to the tale, this prince had tried to kill the Royal Sisters for the throne.
“Ugh... I can’t believe they are still ruling after all these years...” he said angrily. He continued to rant till he stopped and stared back at Twilight. “Wait, you said you’ve learned from Celestia... that means you must be her protegee.”
Twilight shivered as he grinned at her.
“I just thought of something,” he said, stalking closer to Twilight, his smile growing bigger and bigger with every step. “I have the protegee of Celestia standing right before me. If I can’t kill the princesses, I might as well kill the next best thing: her student.”
“You can’t kill me!” she yelled scampering back from the crazed stallion. “This is all a dream! You’re just a figment of my imagination!”
The prince laughed evily at what Twilight just said. “Yes, this may be a dream, but this is all completely real. If I hurt you, you’ll be hurt out there, if I kill you right now, you’ll really die.”
“Come on! Wake up Twilight!” she said desperately, slapping herself. Each slap gave her a huge red hoof mark on her cheeks and her eyes began to tear up. The prince sighed and shook his hoof.
“I really hate to see a lady cry.” he cooed. “It’ll all be over soon, I’ll make sure it’s quick.”
Twilight sat down on her haunches and looked down at the floor, a few tears dropping to the ground. She was going to die in a dream and nobody was going to be able to help her. Her thoughts drifted to her friends, the ponies she knew would always be by her side no matter what, but now, she felt cold and alone.
“But,” she mumbled. “I don’t want to die.”
“I’m touched... really, I hate hurting innocent mares,” he admitted as his horn began to glow. “But I think I’ll make an exception for Celestia’s student.”
Twilight looked up and watched the glow from his horn grow bigger and bigger, there was nothing that she could do, any shield or protection that she could conjure would not hold up to his blast. She just closed her eyes and waited.
“Say goodbye Miss Sparkle, ” the prince sneered. “These are the last words that you’ll ever hear.”
Twilight kept her eyes closed, ignoring the prince and waited for the blast. When nothing happened, she opened one eye and found herself still alive and well, a blackened circle around her hooves. The prince was shocked to find her alive, but then noticed that she was fading away.
“No... NO! You’re not getting away that easily!” he shouted angrily as she began to fade from his sight and rushed Twilight, horn lowered intending to run her through.
Twilight looked down at herself “What’s going on?” she asked, finding herself oddly calm considering her close encounter with death. There was only one possible explanation: someone was trying to wake her up. She smiled and looked up at the ceiling. She didn’t notice that the prince was rushing her, it didn’t matter because she had completely faded by the time the prince had reached her.
“I almost had her... damn you Celestia!” The prince landed with a thud to the ground and growled. “Don’t worry... this isn’t the last I’ve seen of her. This dream is just the beginning.”
Twilight’s eyes shot open and she jolted awake. As quickly as she could, she sat up on her haunches, her forelegs searching for any trace of injury or missing parts.
“Oh thank Celestia! I’m alive... I’m alive!” she yelled with excitement.
Then a familiar voice broke her from her thoughts and she turned to see Spike looking at her. He seemed worried and waved a claw to see if Twilight could see him. The next thing he knew, he had been swept up into a big hug from Twilight.
“Oh, Thank you Spike!” Twilight cried with joy. “Thank you so much!”
Spike seemed surprised at the hug, but hugged back and said, “Uh... you’re welcome?”
Twilight gave Spike a big warm smile. She was back home, where she belonged and in this tranquil moment, memories of the prince came, unbidden to the front of her mind. He was still alive, somewhere, and if he could get her at once, there was no reason as to why he couldn't try to kill her again.
“Spike! I need you to take a letter,” Twilight said dashing down the stairs, levitating an ink bottle, a quill and a piece of parchment to Spike, who had followed her.
“What’s the rush?” Spike asked, taking the levitating items and preparing the quill.
“The rush?” replied Twilight looking out one of the library’s windows. “Spike, I just had a dream. A dream that tried to kill me, and could have if you hadn’t woken me in time.”
Spike gasped and almost dropped the quill and parchment.
“There’s more of course,” Twilight continued, still staring out the window. “But the Princess needs to hear this as soon as possible.
