Chapter 1: The First Nightmare
Author's Note
(This author note was written in 2017)
FIRST NOTE: THIS IS NOT BASED IN ANY WAY OFF OF FALLOUT: EQUESTRIA! I began writing this story as a seventh grader, with me and my friends as the characters back in late 2012, before i was a brony. Now that the motivation for continuing it had been dead for a couple years, I'm simply putting massive edits into this to fit it for Equestria. I never came close to finishing the original; hell, i wan't even a tenth through. For example, the first 14 paragraphs are derived from my original start that was only four paragraphs, about five lines each.
Still very incomplete. i would appreciate any feedback on what i have so far so i can see how my style is working out Thanks!
Also, don't focus on the main characters list. Twilight is by far the main character, but a ton of other ponies show up as well. I just chose the ones that covered more of them.
2023 Edit: Please forgive the awful writing...
Chapter 1: The First Nightmare
A long, high-pitched scream echoed in the darkness. Twilight Sparkle's eyes jolted open, startled by the sudden noise. They were met with a dull gray sky, covered by a thick layer of cloud that cast a dim, eerie light on everything around her.
Where am I? She groaned as she climbed to her hooves, turning her head left and right as she tried to determine where she was. How did I get here? Wreckage of all kinds lay scattered around her. The debris stretched for miles in any direction without end. I squinted my eyes as my eyes scanned the ruins, searching for something recognizable. I began to trot slowly forward, searching for any of my friends, or anyone for that matter.
"Spike?!" She shouted into the dusty air, coughing straight afterwards as she inhaled the floating dust around her. She strained her ears, listening desperately for a reply. "Rainbow Dash?!"
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light directly behind her accompanied by an earsplitting peal that seemed to come from everywhere. The air cracked in half as she was instantly hit by a powerful shock wave, throwing her body several feet into the air. With a scream of pain, she smashed hard against a broken piece of wood laying on the ground. Hundreds of painful splinters dug into her back as it shattered into from the force of the impact. Twilight struggled to get up; her joints ached and it felt like a white-hot iron was pressing on her back.
When she finally gathered the strength to pull herself off the ground, she noticed a strange blue light emanating from the spot right behind where she had just been standing. As she strained her eyes, she saw that it was a small, blue crystal. It appeared to radiate with a dim cyan glow, filling her mind with curiosity. Twilight stared at it for a few seconds, wondering if she should continue her search for her friends or examine the mysterious object. Eventually her natural personality got the better of her, and she bent down one of her forelegs to pick it up. As soon as she touched it, the dim light it had been emitting rose in intensity as a feeling of warmth spread from her hoof to the rest of her body. Within seconds, the crystal's light returned to its original glow, but the warmth lingered for a few seconds longer. When the warm feeling had retreated, Twilight could feel no trace of pain in her body.
Well, that was strange. Twilight ignited her horn and levitated the crystal in front of her, studying it closely. Besides the faint cyan glow, Twilight could detect nothing unusual about it that distinguished it from any other blue crystal. Maybe if I-
A thought quickly swept through her mind, filling her yet again with anxiety. Ugh, what am I doing?! I'm supposed to be searching for my friends! She swiftly got back to trotting through the debris field, searching for anypony and avoiding bits and pieces of shattered glass every so often. Then, something caught her eye, sticking distinctly out of the broken wood about a twenty second pace in front of her. Wait, what's that over there?
It was a battered street sign barely remaining standing about a quarter mile away and quickly got up. There was something awfully familiar about it, but she couldn’t figure it out from so far away. She began galloping toward it, hooves stumbling over splintered wood, broken glass, stone rubble, and other objects that were so wrecked, she couldn’t even discern what they were. Finally, she stopped right in front of the sign and took a long look at it. It was the sign that was supposed to stand where the entrance of Ponyville was. Or used to be, judging by the pile of wreckage that seemed to extend eternally in all directions. Panic began to fill her mind for those who could be in danger. Her family...her friends...her special somepony…
Suddenly everything around her appeared to melt away as it her surroundings gradually morphed into a different scene, just as horrifying as the first. This time, she was standing on a road littered with rubble much like that of where she previously was. The sky still glowed with the same gray hue. But instead of being surrounded by an endless pile of wreckage, Twilight could see the road was surrounded by a vast, yellow-green field of grass. A flicker of golden light from the corner of her eye made her turn her head. Behind her was a single, burning building. The flames consuming it bathed the grasses around it in a rich orange glow. She recognized it instantly as the school of my assistant, Spike.
Oh no! What could all this happen in such little time?! She tried to scream his name, but before it could leave her mouth, everything around her swirled yet again into a different scene; this one being in a place she didn’t recognize. She was at the edge of a bridge, a small river churning beneath it and sending a spray of mist into the air every so often. A gray carriage was laying on its side at the start of the bridge. There were three sets of hoofprints in the dirt, starting from the carriage. Two of them began on the side of the carriage closest to the bridge, crossing it and leaving behind muddy hoofprints on the stone bridge before stretching into the distance. The third set started from the opposite side of the carriage, and seemed to follow the other two towards the bridge before ending abruptly just a meter short of the bridge.
Slowly, the earth began to rumble. The wind picked up, sending a flurry of dust and debris into Twilight's face. As she put a hoof up to block the wind, she heard a loud noise behind her that began as a low rumble before escalating into what could only be described as the sound of a passing train. She turned around, her eyes closed to thin slits to keep the dirt and wind out of them. A column of dark, twisting cloud had touched down barely fifty meters from her. A tornado. And it was heading straight for her.
At first, Twilight's ears perked as her mind jumped to a quick conclusion. Oh, a tornado! That must mean there's pegasi around! But as her gaze trailed upwards and found no blur of color typically present when somepony creates a tornado, her eyes widened and her pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.
Twilight began backing away slowly, all the while keeping her shocked gaze affixed on the swirling mass of cloud in front of her. Her hooves slipped on a banana peel [CHANGE THIS LATER] and she tumbled onto her back with a grunt of pain. The tornado began closing what little distance was left between them and Twilight shut her eyes tight with fear as the roar grew loader and loader.
"Twilight?" A voice called out to her, echoing as if it was shouting from the other end of a long tunnel. Despite the deafening sound of the tornado, Twilight could hear the voice as clear as crystal, almost as if the speaker was right next to her. She recognized the voice instantly. She slowly opened her eyes, and as soon as she did the horrifying sounds and sights vanished in an instant.
"Twilight, wake up!"
"Huh? Wuh?" Twilight opened her eyes and abruptly sat up, desperately looking around her. She was sitting in her bed in the Golden Oak Library. Birds could be heard chirping just outside the window closest to her, Celestia's sunlight shining brightly through a small crack in its purple curtains. There seemed nothing different about this morning than any other morning in Ponyville...
...Except, of course, for the purple and green dragon lying dazed on the floor next to her. Startled by Twilight's sudden movement, he had reflexively jumped backwards and off the bed, landing just to its side.
"Spike? What the hay are you doing?" Twilight asked in a perplexed manner, confused by Spike's apparent clumsiness.
"I was trying to wake you up! Normally, you wake up on your own, just like you planned out on your daily schedule-"
"Agh!" shouted Twilight, jump-scaring the confused dragon for the second time in one minute. She ignited her horn, feeling it fill up with magic for about a second before teleporting to a nearby bookshelf. She quickly activated her magic once more, frantically pulling out books and opening drawers as if whatever she was searching for would save her from impending doom. "Where's my schedule?! Where'd I put it last?! I need to rewrite it so I can compensate for all that time I wasted sleeping in!" Spike walked to where Twilight was practically pawing at a nearby pile of books, an amused grin on his face.
"Come on, Twilight! You've only been asleep for, like, nine minutes more than usual. Isn't more sleep supposed to have a goo-"
"NINE MINUTES?! Nonononononononononono! Don't you get it, Spike?! That's a whole five hundred and forty seconds!" With a flash, Twilight teleported suddenly in front of Spike. The little dragon nearly tripped on himself in surprise. "FIVE HUNDRED! AND FORTY!!!!" Spike rolled his eyes and began walking towards the front door of the library.
"Seriously, Twilight. I feel like you should be more worried about whatever kept you from waking up rather than your schedule. Plus, it's not like you to constantly twist and turn in your sleep. You really should talk to Princess Luna about this. I'm sure she'll... Twilight?" Twilight gave no response, staring curiously at her bed. Her blanket had been kicked completely off, and the pillow was...the pillow was...where was her pillow? How'd that get under the bed? Her dreams were usually fairly pleasant, and when she awoke from them, her blanket and pillow were more or less in the same position as when she fell asleep, indicating that she barely moved when dreaming.
Unlike Rainbow Dash. Her marefriend tended to have some kind of exciting dream every night. She never woke up in the same position as when she fell asleep.
The last time Twilight had a nightmare of some sort was on the day they met Zecora, after she and her friends wandered into a field of Poison Joke while searching for Applebloom. She personally blamed Zecora for it; her warning was rather ambiguous and could be taken in the wrong way easily. And Pinkie Pie. Her stupid song was stuck in her head for a week.
But this was different. The week leading up to today had been a totally normal one. It was the first week in a long time that there wasn't some sort of friendship problem that she or her friends had to deal with. Almost a full year had passed since the last time. Twilight shuddered slightly, remembering that last time. Thankfully, it was only because of that ordeal that she learned that Princess Celestia did not need her to send her a letter about a friendship lesson each week to know that she was gradually learning the true power of friendship. And with that power should come responsibility. And how can I be responsible if I can't follow my own schedule?!
"Well, I'm off to Rarity's boutique! She, um, asked me if I could help her design a, um...dress. " Spike shouted to Twilight, straining hesitantly on the last word. A thought turned itself on in Twilight's mind as he began to step outside the library.
"Wait, why exactly DOES she need you for help? Based on what I've seen, Rarity is fully capable of carrying out all the tedious steps of making one of her fancy dresses."
"Oh, well, um, of course! But she has this, er, big important, dress showcase tomorrow, and she really really really needs all the help she can get!" Spike's eyes darted everywhere but to Twilight's as he spoke. Twilight rolled her eyes, trying as hard as she could to suppress a grin. A few seconds passed before Twilight broke the silence.
"Well, just make sure you're back before sundown. I need your help as well for some research I've been doing about some kind of prophecy."
"YE-, I mean, sure... Twilight..will do!" The relief in Spike's eyes betrayed his own words. "See ya!" After backing out of the library, Spike slowly closed the door in front of him. Moments later, Twilight heard Spike sigh in relief on the other side of the door before he began whistling a familiar tune, its sounds getting quieter as he began walking to Rarity's boutique. Twilight giggled quietly to herself before swiftly returning to work on reordering her activities on her schedule.
Rarity didn't have another showcase for at least a couple of months. And Twilight was sure Spike was very well aware of this.
"Okay..." Twilight muttered to herself as she tested each combination of things on her schedule. "If I do this first, then I should be able to... no that won't work. What about-...nope that won't either. Maybe if I...there we go!" Wrapping her magic around the parchment, Twilight levitated the newly organized schedule in front of her. Her eyes scanned each line, searching for any possible error. After the third search, she finally nodding to herself in satisfaction before rolling it up in a neat, little scroll and placing it in her saddlebag, along with a small pouch of bits and a daffodil daisy sandwich wrapped in paper. She placed the saddlebag on to her back and, after using her magic to open the door, trotted outside in to the fresh air of Ponyville, closing the door behind her.
"Well, that happened."
After saying goodbye to Pinkie Pie and whatever strange (and apparently explosive) concoction she was baking, Twilight galloped out of Sugar Cube Corner before quickly closing the door behind her with her magic. She took a few moments to gather her breath, lifting a foreleg to wipe off the ash from her face. She opened her saddlebag and took out her reorganized checklist and ink quill, levitating them in front of her. She scanned the list down before reaching the final box. Hesitatingly, she moved her ink quill upwards and checked off the box directly above it. Now that...whatever THAT was is completed, I have just one last item on my list! Twilight gulped nervously. She knew she had to do this, but to her it seemed impossible. Just as impossible as it had seemed last week. And the week before that. And the week before that... One...last...item...
Twilight slowly trotted to the southwestern corner of Ponyville and gazed upward at Rainbow Dash's cloud home. Her ears fell down on her head as her emotions began to surface. The house looked the same as it always had from the day Rainbow Dash built it; its rainbow fountain continued to let out a cascade of liquid color that dissipated into shimmering light when it fell far enough. But to Twilight it felt just out of her reach. Not physically, of course. She possessed all the magic and spells needed for her to teleport that far a distance. It was like her mind was fighting her body every time she came near. Like it didn't want to face the guilt once more...
Twilight closed her eyes and sighed, letting her head drop slightly. A small tear coalesced in the corner of her right eye before falling to the ground. I can't do it. I have... more important things to worry about than the past right now. Maybe... maybe next week.
With that she took a slow, deep breath and held it in as she counted to three before releasing it, just as her favorite foalsitter had taught her as a filly. Once she had steeled her nerves she turned back to Ponyville, sparing one last glance behind her before trotting back to the library.
A few hundred million miles away from Equus, a lone meteor continued on its trajectory straight for the distant blue-green planet.
Knock knock
Twilight's hoof rapped on the giant door leading into Canterlot Castle's courtyard. The streets of Canterlot bustled with ponies, many of which were visibly upper class, trotting to and fro between various designer stores and fancy restaurants. Twilight glanced at them with a frown. While it was true that she was born and raised in Canterlot, she secretly despised many of its citizens for the sheer amount of snobbish elitism displayed by many of them whenever a pony from elsewhere came to visit. It was something she had grown up blissfully unaware of since there were rarely any visitors from out of town anyways. It was only after she talked with Rarity after she moved her birthday party to Canterlot for the sake of her friend that she realized just how harrowing a label such as "not from Canterlot" could be.
Still, she tried her best to keep it hidden. Ironically, most of the ponies who noticed her gaze returned a knowing nod, as if acknowledging one of their own. Due to spending virtually no time socializing with anypony during her life here, her face was relatively unknown to much of the populace. That, however, did not spare her cutie mark from being directly associated with being the protege and personal student of Princess Celestia, the reigning monarch for a thousand years and now coruler of the restored diarchy for the last couple of years.
I'm not one of you, Twilight thought to herself as she returned the nod likewise, as to not get on anypony's bad side. As long as she could walk through town without attracting any bad attention, she was fine with whatever status Canterlot's ponies decided to label her with.
Finally after several minutes of waiting, the giant door creaked open, and a stallion dressed in traditional royal guard armor stepped out to address her. "Whoever you are, you need-" He did a double take. "Oh! Twilight Sparkle! It's been a while since you've been around the castle. How may I assist you?"
Twilight cleared her throat. "Thank you sir, I'm here to request an audience with Princess Luna. I have a..." She pursed her lips together. "... very urgent matter to discuss with her."
The guard raised an eyebrow. "Does she know to expect you?"
Twilight shook her head. "The fastest means of communication I normally use for these issues is currently... less than ideal. And I didn't want to wait the normal estimated time of delivery by the postal service, which would be the same as just walking here from Ponyville completely on hoof." By fastest means of communication, she had meant Spike. While sending a letter through him would've been the fastest way to get a letter to Canterlot, he could only send things to Princess Celestia. For some reason, something in the far reaches of her mind told her that Princess Luna would be the right alicorn to contact about her nightmares.
The guard stared at her for a little, causing her to shift around awkwardly on her hooves. Eventually, he nodded. "Alright then, if you think it's important enough to come here by yourself, I'll trust your judgement. Just let me run a quick test first."
Twilight nodded back and stood still as the guard lit his horn, a thin sheet of blue magic scanning her up and down. "Looks like you're the real deal, Twilight. Sorry, gotta routinely check for changelings." The guard pushed the heavy door fully open with his magic and stepped out of the way for her. "You may enter."
"No worries, I understand. Thank you sir." Twilight trotted down the pathway to the castle, the heavy courtyard doors closing behind her with a resounding boom. She spared several glances around her as she made her way through the courtyard to the open castle doors; the shrubs, flower arrangements, and statues were all just as she remembered them, save for the new statue of Discord that had been relocated there after his second defeat by the Elements of Harmony.
Discord... Twilight recalled that his return was actually the last time she had stepped foot within Canterlot Castle. She used to visit regularly growing up, due to her personal lessons with Princess Celestia, but once she moved to Ponyville she had little to no reason to return there, other than dire emergencies. However, even with her lack of familiarity with the place, she knew where to go. After helping the younger alicorn sister readjust to modern culture and traditions, Celestia responded to her friendship report with a welcome invitation to visit Luna whenever she wished to help give her company, as well as detailed instructions on navigating to her personal quarters.
Turn right here, down this hallway, up the stairs on the left, turn right again, go all the way to the end of the hallway annnnd... Finally, Twilight stood in front of a pair of dark blue doors, adorned with elegant swirls of silver along the edges, almost resembling shooting stars amongst a scattered night sky. She breathed in deeply and raised a hoof to knock at the door when-
Creeeeaaak
The doors opened on their own, rotating inwards to let a sliver of natural light into the otherwise pitch black room.
"You may enter, Twilight. I sensed your presence in the hallway."
"Oh! Yes, thank you Princess Luna!"
Twilight awkwardly scrambled in as the doors closed quietly behind her, bathing the room total darkness. She stood there for a few seconds, blinking to try to adjust her eyes. "Uhm, Princess? Where are-"
"Oh! My apologies."
In an instant, the room was basked in a mix of light blue, green, and purple glows. Twilight glanced around and identified the light sources as numerous glowing crystals seemingly growing out of the ceiling, walls, and floor corners. In the center of the room stood a tall, dark blue alicorn, whose mane shimmered like the night sky and fluttered silently in an eternal breeze. With all the royal grace of the ruler of the night, Princess Luna rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, a sheepish grin adorning her muzzle.
"Apologies for that, Twilight. We- I forgot your eyes aren't accustomed to darkness as mine are. And no need for the formalities here, Twilight. I may be your princess, but you are also my dear friend."
Twilight returned the sheepish grin, halting the bow she has paused herself in the middle of. "Thanks for meeting with me, Luna."
Luna cocked her head, leveling a curious look at her. "Just you? Where's your dragon friend? And the colorful pegasus my sister says you're never out and about without?"
Twilight looked away briefly. "Rainbow and I are... sorting through some things right now. And Spike is out helping Rarity with a new fashion line. At least, that's what he tells me." She inhaled deeply before steeling herself. "I've come to talk to you about something much more serious."
Luna noticed the tone change and responded accordingly, her eyes and ears swiveling to indicate full attentiveness. "Am I correct to assume this is about your nightmares?"
Twilight nodded. "First thing I was curious about was, well, you. The few times I recall even starting to have a nightmare about something, you were always there to calm me down and help me see the situation more clearly. My last nightmare... you weren't there at all..."
Luna closed her eyes. "For that, I am deeply sorry Twilight, but I must offer an explanation in kind. As the princess of the night, it is my duty and power to protect ponies from their nightmares, and when I sense a pony in duress, I can enter their dreams and determine the cause of their crisis. From there, I can use my power in combination with the pony's resolve to dispel the nightmare in its entirety. However, I am not all-powerful within a dream. If a pony is simply dreaming, I can't just alter it however I like; I can only do that during a nightmare as that is my duty and power. Without a nightmare, I have limited control over the landscape of that pony's dream."
Luna turned around as she began pacing the room. "All nightmares are caused by some internal struggle. Perhaps a pony watched something scary and are afraid of it pursuing them in the real world. Perhaps a filly is scared of public performance and dreads an upcoming concert. Maybe a pony is struggling with guilt over past actions. Regardless of the root cause, a nightmare can always be traced back to that pony's mind and thoughts."
Luna turned back to Twilight with a serious look. "But in your dreams, I sensed none of these. No fear, jealousy, guilt, hurt, or any emotions at all triggering the night are, meaning there was nothing for me to dispel, so I was helpless to protect you from what you saw, and for that I am sorry. I do not think these are nightmares you are having, Twilight. I believe you are having visions."
Twilight's widened. "Visions? B-but that's just an old pony's tale!"
Luna softly laughed. "And was I also not as such when you first learned of the Elements of Harmony?"
Twilight stammered. "I- I mean, I guess so, but-"
Luna raised a hoof to cut her off. "Before my banishment, Star Swirl reported to me of having similar dreams. Dreams that carried destruction, tragedy, and horror. I too tried to dispel those nightmares the following nights only to come to this same conclusion." She sighed as she turned away. "A week later, he said that something was coming and that he had to do something about it. I tried to stop him, but he insisted there was nothing the rest of us could do. That night was the last time I ever saw him. What he saw in his visions never came to pass, but I fear whatever he did only delayed the inevitable for over a thousand years."
Twilight stood there slack Jared, trying to process it all. "And... you think I'm having the same visions as he did?"
To Twilight's dismay, Luna nodded grimly. "I had sensed something off about your dreams last night, and I silently observed the last ten seconds before you woke up. As I feared, the scenes your dreams depict follow closely with the path of destruction envisioned by Star Swirl before his disappearance. When did you start having these nightmares?"
Twilight thought back to the first night she woke up in a cold sweat, panting and eyes wide open at her first time seeing such horrors in her dreams. "Just last night actually."
Luna put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Then we have plenty of time; Star Swirl began having those strange dreams over a month before he disappeared... perhaps-"
Suddenly, Luna's horn flashed twice and she gasped. "I'm really sorry Twilight, my sister needs me for something." She turned to Twilight. "I will speak with you more on this matter tomorrow, but until then, please try to remember as much details as you can from what you saw last night, and again when I bring the night today. Write it down if you must. There is always a small span of time between the realms of sleep and wake in which our memories of both experiences perfectly coexist together before your dream fades from your consciousness." Her horn flashed twice once more and her eyes widened. "Celestia has only ever needed to summon me during emergencies, I can't keep her waiting. Stay safe, Twilight Sparkle."
"Wait, but I-" Twilight could say more as she was cut off by the blinding flash of bright blue magic, followed by the slight inward breeze that always accompanied a teleport. She blinked to get the spots out of her eyes and glanced around at the now empty room, the glowing crystals adorning it gradually losing their light without their primary royal source of magic.
I'm having... visions? But visions are said to be glimpses of the future, right? And if I was seeing the future, then... Ponyville... Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. If what Luna said was true, there was nothing she could do for now except report back to Luna on whatever her "visions" were telling her. A rumble from her stomach quickly reminded her that she still had yet to eat lunch, and there was no way she could deal with both the stress of this newfound discovery and an empty stomach at the same time. With a tired sigh, Twilight trotted out of Luna's room, ready to make the trip back to Ponyville.
